An omnipotent Cosmic Entity by the name of The Beyonder, chooses groups of both heroes and supervillains and teleports them against their will to a planet created by him in a distant galaxy, stocked with alien weapons, technology and mismatched parts from different worlds. He tells them to kill each other, and, to the victor, his greatest desire will be granted.
Sound familiar?
Inspired by, but not to be confused with, the original Marvel Comics publication Secret Wars (1984).
Deviantart member Kostmeyer, started the project in December 2008, inviting artists and writers across the Deviantart community. The series officially kicked off in January 2009, and is currently ongoing, with the finale planned for mid/late 2010. The story is split into twelve parts like the original, each one starting off with a special intro by Kostmeyer, setting the stage for the events to transpire and guidelines to follow for all artists involved.
The plot starts off identical to the original Marvel version, with heroes and villains getting plucked from different dimensions and placed on opposing sides by the Beyonder. From then on, however, it becomes more apparent that it's not a retelling, as each and every character follows their own agenda, making for an original storyline filled to the brim with sub-plots.
Can be found in Kostmeyer's gallery here.
This Work Shows Examples Of The Following Tropes:
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Chapter eight: Zerkov ambushes a group of heroes and proceeds to kill two of them, knock out several, and really scare the shit out of the rest. And when Dr Destiny finally drops the Idiot Ball and starts mind raping Zerkov? Plague comes in to to destroy the odds.
- Death from Above: Played straight in Chapter 9 with Shas dropping a satellite on Dr. Ignatious' head at the end of the attack on his arctic fortress.
- Enemy Civil War: The villains did have an all-out brawl in the beginning of this story and even after they united, they are still conspiring against each other.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: In Chapter 7, Vigil calls for aid from a second wave of heroes. Slight variation though, as she has absolutely no idea who will respond to the call.
- Groin Attack:
- Wren pulls one on one of Crowe's mooks... with a mini ROCKET LAUNCHER.
- Angel gives Aqualung a well-deserved knee to the junk before finishing him off for good.
- Humiliation Conga: Adrian Axiom's authority over the other villains was always tentative at best, but it all went downhill at the beginning of Chapter 9. Zerkov kicks the conga off by bringing in Joe Hero alive and well, thus exposing Axiom's failure to kill him. Joe destroys Axioms superpower erasing gun, thus regaining his own powers. The Kind-Eyed Father burns Axiom's face as the villains fight amongst themselves. The captured heroes escape after surviving his Death Trap (see the Gladiator Games entry below). And just to kick him when he's down, Aqualung hocks one of his signature toxic loogies right on Axiom's burned face before taking off. Sucks to be Adrian.
- Just Friends: GLOB and Yenna; They have been getting along well as friends so far. They have each other's backs in battle and have frequent and friendly chats. Since Yenna is obviously romantically interested in Virtus, it is safe to say that GLOB and Yenna are just good friends...or is it?
- Oh, Crap!: There are many moments like this, the most recent being Axiom seeing Joe Hero alive (proven wrong for killing him), watching his gun get destroyed (granting Joe Hero is powers back) and as to face an onslaught of villains for losing their trust.
- Shout-Out:
- The original Secret Wars, obviously.
- Virtus' short-lived dual-symbiote costume is both a shout-out to Spider-Man's and the symbiotes being claimed by villains is one to both Venom and Carnage, right down to their colors.
- Supervillain Lair:
- The Villain Base itself, also they have more Mad Scientist Laboratory than everything else
- The Flame-Clone Factory of Professor Ignatius is a Mad Scientist Laboratory itself
- Foundry of Greater Aether is an alternate realm where Professor Haze keeps his laboratory "The entire realm is basically his laboratory". Only Haze can open a portal to his constructed realm of perfection. Inside the realm lurk his massive army of horrors, abominations, and many other pieces of his work and research.
- When Trees Attack: Normal Trees and cacti start to attack heros while Slaughter Gray commanded the planet.
Following Character Types can be found:
- Accidental Pervert: GLOB; He's not a pervert (in fact he's chivalrous and respectful to women) but for some reason he has accidentally been one in the Secret Wars! He bumped into 9-foot tall Ripley...from behind! And when trying to keep Yenna from killing Aella, he holds her back but also unintentionally holds her breasts. It seems he never gets a break in any situation!
- Berserk Button:
- Never EVER mess with Suit's... suit. Tick Tock and his goons learn the hard way after getting him wet in the bathroom. Suit still seems rather peeved since losing his jacket among the cacti.
- Impfrit's wrath is demonic if you say anything that makes him feel you either fear, mistrust, or hate demons. Also if you make nicknames like Hell Boy.
- If you value your life, don't even SPEAK of harming dragons in front of Yenna. This contributes to the animosity between her and Aella.
- Chick Magnet: Virtus. He and Angel were once an item long before the war started. (Still are, to some level, due to his polyamorous nature) Yenna and Aella are drawn to his 'good guy charm' as well, sparking a love triangle to fuel their cat fights amongst one another.
- Civvie Spandex: basically anyone who wears regular clothes, including...
- Empty Suit (the Coat, Hat, Mask variety minus the mask)
- Janie Steed, though she wears her Leotard of Power under her pantsuit.
- Distressed Damsel:
- Vigil; Captured and tortured by the most powerful villains, even Vigil needs rescuing at this point!
- Tilia; Though not helpless and can fight well, she seems to be in so much trouble in battle that every now and then she needs a helping hand.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Several of the heroes have taken to calling Zerkov "Jerkov".
- General Failure: Adrian Axiom. Nothing seems to go right since he took command of the villains.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Janie Steed qualifies, as she's transported to Battle World with drink still in hand.
- Jack of All Trades: John Vaugner shows great flexibility in the usage of his powers (all the way from telekinesis, to power beams, to heat vision), but doesn't show mastery in any certain one (though he may use some more than others). He's a balanced character, through and through.
- Knight in Shining Armor: GLOB; Noble to his allies, always helpful to those in danger, and willing to fight for good, GLOB fits well for this role.
- Squishy Wizard: Jasmine is physically very weak also rarely in the condition to communicate. Her psychic powers on the other hand are rather strong.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting
- GLOB; he usually changes body parts into different things like chainsaws, fly-swatters, and other weapons. He can also change his form entirely if he wishes to.
- Lord Worm; skilled shapeshifter who has more of a stretchy style.
- Warrior Poet: The Philosopher fits this, being a proud Scotsman and quoting famous tacticians and thinkers.
- Weak, but Skilled: There are a few of them.
- The Empty Suit; though it's never said he has any other ability than shooting his pistols and Good Old Fisticuffs one can assume that he gained some experience in his job.
- Redd Rocket; since beside the over average agility and healing powers her biggest "strength" is her superior intelligence the gadgets she use.
- Grifter; even though he can stand a fight he wouldn't stand a chance against the real bad guys. On the other side he has a lot of life-experience and has the ability to pull out all kind of stuff from his pockets.
