Secret Wars is in full swing, and there are many tie in books out there for readers to choose from.  Many of the mainstream characters are featured in these books, but some people (like myself) might be wondering about other, less featured characters and where they have ended up in Battleworld.  Well wonder no more, Secret Wars Journal brings us two shorter stories, giving us a glimpse into other regions of this new world.

Who Killed Tony Stark?

This story opens in Old Town, with Detective Logan looking over the body of Tony Stark, lying lifeless and bloodied with a dagger through his chest.  He questions Pepper Potts, the woman who discovered Tony that morning.  Logan recognizes the weapon used against Tony, tied to a Chinese gang knows as The Triad, run by the Mandarin.  Pepper reveals that Tony did discover an artifact that the Mandarin wanted for himself, thus setting Logan off after his first lead.  Logan confronts the Mandarin and quickly realizes that this is not the Mandarin he is familiar with.  Things take a turn for Logan and he almost killed, but a masked man arrives in time to help him out; Frank Castle, Jr. dubbed ‘The Punisher’.  Logan explains the situation and Frank reveals that he himself has encountered a double of his own.  The two of them put their heads together and realize there are people from another part of Battleworld sneaking into theirs and taking their counterparts place.

This was an ok story for me.  The best part for me was the reveal of a new region of Battleworld that we haven’t seen yet, and I hope there is a book coming out to explore this new part. Frank Tieri does a good enough job telling this murder mystery, and the characters felt familiar.  Richard Isanove’s art is pretty good, though a few character depictions looked a little off to me.  Not a terribly memorable story, but as I mentioned, I did enjoy the little reveal in here and hope they explore that further.

Story: Frank Tieri Art: Richard Isanove
Story: 6 Art: 6 Overall: 6

The Smashing Cure

This story takes place near Greenland, a region of Battleworld where a gamma cloud blanketed the city and every resident exposed to the radiation left with severe anger issues.  We follow Dr. Leonard Samson, who specializes in anger management therapy, and how he deals with his clients and the population as a whole in this town of Hulks.  We see through his eyes, just how easily tempers can flare and anger takes over, and his feelings that this condition will lead to the end of civilization.  Leonard then has an appointment with a young Peter Parker, who is dealing with feelings of guilt regarding the death of his uncle Ben.  Leonard talks Peter through his grief and his feelings, explaining to him that life does go on and those we have lost would want us to move on and live.  Peter has a hard time coming to grips Samson’s ideas and has an episode..to which Leonard is more then ready to deal with.  He does manage to calm Peter, and explain to him how to come to terms with his guilt and control his anger.

I really enjoyed this story.  More then once I found myself thinking about our world, and how things would turn out if everyone could turn into a Hulk every time they got angry.  Scott Aukerman does a great job of showing this ‘Hulk world’ through Leonard Samson’s eyes; his doubt that civilization can continue giving into their baser feelings, but also the change in his attitude and outlook after his session with Peter.  I loved RB Silva’s art for this story.  Every panel was used to it’s fullest, full of colour and action…and I loved how he depicted our characters in their Hulk state. This was a story that I would love to see explored deeper, and would want Aukerman and Silva to be the two to bring it to life.

Story: Scott Aukerman Art: RB Silva
Story: 8.5 Art: 9 Overall 8.75 Recommendation: Read