Description

Secret Wars II                                      Comics Lot
Featuring the Marvel Superheroes & Super Villains versus The Beyonder… Round 2!  Awesome!!
Writer: Jim Shooter
Artist: Al Milgrom
Inkers: Steve Leialoha & Joe Rubinstein
Colorists: Christie Scheele, Juliana Ferriter & Many Hands
Letterers: Joe Rosen & Rick Parker
Editors: Jim Shooter & Bob Budiansky
Cover #1 by: John Byrne & Terry Austin
Covers #2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 by: Al Milgrom & Steve Leialoha

Beyond time, space, and the myriad dimensions lies another universe, to which our own is as a droplet of water to the ocean. The One Who Is All in that other universe has learned of our universe, and of us… and he is coming here. Now. Stan Lee presents: Secret Wars II.

In May,1984, Marvel decided to shake up the Marvel Universe a bit. To do this, they created the granddaddy of all epic events. Before Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, House of M, Civil War, and Infinity Gauntlet there was the Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars. The Secret Wars, a twelve-issue limited maxi-series that involved almost every major Marvel character. The crossover comic-series that set the bar for all other crossovers to come, had Earth’s greatest heroes and villains being kidnapped and transported to the far side of the universe by almost omnipotent being known as the Beyonder. The Beyonder wants to know what force will be victorious, that of good…or evil so Earth’s heroes are kidnapped and pitted against their most deadly enemies. The members of winning side were promised all their wishes made true but the losers would be granted no mercy. The Secret Wars changed the lives of all involved, particularly The Amazing Spider-Man. As part of his involvement, he was given a black alien costume which gave him special powers. Eventually, however, it was revealed that this “costume” was actually a living being – a symbiote. When Spider-Man rejected bonding with it, it found another host and became known as the world famous super-villain Venom (my shout-out to Venom). The series was continued one year later with a sequel named Secret Wars II.

Now, Marvel Comics presents Secret Wars II! After “Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars – when a nigh omnipotent being from beyond kidnapped the Earth’s greatest heroes and most dangerous villains and whisked them away to the far side of the universe to fight”, the being simply known as the Beyonder has now come to Earth seeking to gain knowledge and experience about life… wanting to learn what humanity is truly about. But nothing with the Beyonder comes without destruction! The second Secret Wars erupts as Earth’s heroes try to save the planet by forcing the Beyonder to leave Earth. The X-Men, New Mutants, Iron Man and Captain America are the first line of defense…

Story/Spoilers
In issue #1, “Earthfall!”, Traveling across the infinite void of space, something has come to Earth. He crash lands outside of a Denver Colorado suburb disturbing the television watching of Owen Reece (AKA the Molecule Man) and his girlfriend Marsha Rosenberg (Volcana)’s television watching. When Owen looks out the window to see what’s messing with the television reception they see giant debris flying through the city. Owen and Volcana both use their powers to try to contain the damage when Owen notices some being among the debris. When Marsha asks who the being is Owen is scared… Half a world away, Professor Charles Xavier wakes up screaming the name of the Beyonder, alarming Moira MacTaggert and the members of the New Mutants who are with him in Scotland. Charles tries to get Moira to warn the X-Men in America, however she tells him not to strain himself after their recent ordeals. However, he is desperate and uses his mental powers to warn someone, however the strain causes him to pass out. He manages to contact Captain America, who is on his way back to America following an adventure in England. Realizing the potential threat that the Beyonder poses on Earth, he uses his Avengers priority card to get the pilots to divert the plane to Los Angeles. After explaining the situation to the upset passengers, Cap returns to the cockpit and thinks about his previous encounter with the Beyonder. While back in Colorado, the Beyonder (having taken a form that is a composite of the heroes and villains he encountered on Battleworld) has been invited into the Reece residence. Owen welcomes him in and learns that the Beyonder comes seeking to understand the nature of their reality. Owen tries to explain the best way to understand the way this world works is through experience. The Beyonder decides to take this advice, and at Marsha’s suggestion teleports away to Los Angeles, but not before Owen can suggest to him to take on a less conspicuous form. At Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, the X-Men Nightcrawler and Colossus meet with Magneto, having been summoned by Professor Xavier to deal with the Beyonder. As they are having a tense conversation Wolverine, Rogue, Shadowcat and Rachel Summers burst in through the window and attempt to attack Magneto. Colossus and Nightcrawler stop them and explain that Magneto has come as an ally not as an enemy. After explanations are made, Wolverine agrees to allow Magneto to accompany them, but he intends on watching him closely. With their jet damaged, the all pile into one of the Professor’s limos and Magneto uses his magnetic powers to lift it into the air and carry them to LA. The Beyonder, arrives in Hollywood in energy form and happens past the home of irate writer Stwart Cadwell. Drawn by Cadwell’s angry phone call with his agent, where he berates the censorship he faces with his writing. When the Beyonder manifests in human form (appearing as the Molecule Man) he tells them that he desires to understand. He tells them that he is incomplete and wishes to know all, and shows them that he can do anything — to show this he turns Cadwell’s desk (and everything in it) into a pile of apples. Elsewhere in LA, Magneto tracks down other members of the New Mutants who have been forced to fight in a mutant arena. Magneto bursts through the arena, he tries to recover the New Mutants and their allies, however only Cannonball, Magik, Dazzler and Lila Cheney accompany them back. When try to convince the X-Men to go back for the others, Magneto tells them there is no time and they are on their way. While back in Hollywood, Calder is amazed to learn of the Beyonders power and tells him that if he had power and asks to give him a display of desire by giving him some powers of his own. The Beyonder complies by transforming Cadwell’s Shazam Award to transform into a lightning shaped sword. He is transformed into his ultimate dream come true: the super-powerful Thundersword. Smashing out of his apartment, Cadwell jumps on his flying steed Boromir, that materializes out of thin air and rides off to get revenge against those who have under minded his creativity. As he rides away, the Beyonder decides to follow along. The X-Men are not far away when they witness Thundersword attacking the NBC studios. When Cadwell notices them, he attacks their car, totaling it. Wondering if this man is the Beyonder, Magneto sends Cannonball, Shadow Cat, Rogue and Nightcrawler after him but they are all knocked aside. Wolverine and Colossus stop Cannonball from harming people when he crashes through a McBurger restaurant. Inside, Thundersword uses his weapon to destroy the place, because he doesn’t like the foot. It causes a grease-fire to spread to the nearby hotel forcing Rachel to use her telepathic powers to wake everyone inside and make them flee. As Captain America is taking a cab to the scene of the battle, the news reaches the headquarters of the West Coast Avengers. Present are Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes, Tony is at a crucial phase of his new armor and sends Jim to deal with the threat in his Iron Man armor. Captain America arrives at the scene in the nick of time and saves a woman and child from the burning hotel. Working together with the X-Men, New Mutants, Dazzler, and Lila Cheney, Captain America manages to hold Thundersword at bay for Magneto to toss a number of cars at him. When Thundersword strikes the cars, he sends debris flying all over the area, one piece striking Lila in the head. As Rachel notices this, she also detects a powerful presence watching the battle, she reaches out with her mind and detects the Beyonder. Upon his discovery he makes himself visible to all. Taking interest in the New Mutants Magik, he reaches into her and brings out her Dark-Childe form. Horrified at having her full demonic form exposed to her friends, Illyana teleports away taking Shadow Cat, Dazzler, Rachel, and Cannonball with her. Noticing that the kids have vanished, Wolverine rushes at the Beyonder in a fury, with the X-Men trying to stop him leaving Captain America to battle Thundersword alone. Wolverine slashes the Beyonder’s face and stabs him in the gut with his Adamantium claws. The X-Men pull him off, and Lila, worried that the Beyonder might destroy them teleports them all away. This display distracts Captain America long enough for Thundersword to knock him down. However before he can kill Cap, Iron Man blasts him from behind and carries Cap away. Swooping back around, Captain America tosses his shield at Thundersword’s arm, knocking his sword out of his hand. It changes back into his Shazam Award and Cadwell loses his amazing abilities. The Beyonder by this point has realized that the only way to understand desire is to experience it for himself and as Cadwell begs him to restore his powers the Beyonder seemingly vanishes. When Cadwell breaks down into tears when he realizes what he has done, Captain America leaves him to Iron Man to turn over to the authorities and leaves the scene to resume his course back to New York, unaware that he is secretly being followed by the Beyonder.

Next in issue #2, “I’ll Take Manhattan…”, Following his initial interaction with humanity in LA and taking on the physical form of Captain America, the Beyonder materializes atop the World Trade Center in New York City. He has decided to experience humanity through personal experience and decides to remain in human form as much as possible. However when he tries to fall down to the crowd below he briefly changes his mind after realizing he may have a nasty fall ahead of him. Walking around New York he would find it, and its people strange. Feeling hungry, he remembers what Rachel Summers told him about eating and goes to a hot dog vendor and orders a hot dog and a beverage. He scares away the vendor when he literally eats the bottle, and finds the experience rather painful. As he continues along on his tour of New York, he finds everyone’s attire fascinating. As the Beyonder continues to try to make sense of New York, the city itself is in the grip of angry riots that are mostly focused on mutants and the super-human community. The largest congregation around Avengers Mansion, the temporary home of the Fantastic Four. The crowd is disbursed to allow a paddy wagon carrying an indignant She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot back to the mansion. While this is happening, the Invisible Girl is using her powers sneak Alicia Masters out of the mansion as well. They are unknowingly monitored by the Psycho man who sends his minion the Hate-Monger after her. Disguising himself as Reed Richards, the Hate Monger gets close enough to Sue to touch her transforming her into the absolute incarnation of her dark-side. In a bondage-inspired costume she calls herself Malice and vows to destroy her husband and the Fantastic Four. While this is happening, the Beyonder is still wandering the streets of New York. When someone throws a brick through a store window, he decides to go inside. When asked by one of the store clerks why he crawled in, the Beyonder tells him it was because it was open. When he begins asking the clerk why people have to wear clothing, he asks the Beyonder to find a friend who can help. Satisfied with this, the Beyonder leaves the store (much to the clerks relief) and begins scanning the city for someone he knows. Recognizing Peter Parker from Battleworld he teleports to the offices of the Daily Bugle and begins asking Peter about clothing. Peter, thinking the Beyonder is some loony, tries to escape him, but the Beyonder manages to follow him throughout the building. Deciding to ditch this strange man, Peter slips away and changes into Spider-Man and web-slings back to his Soho apartment, unaware that the Beyonder is invisibly following him. Thinking he is safe at home, Peter unmasks and begins drinking milk when the Beyonder startles him by appearing right before his eyes. Giving the Beyonder a punch across the face, he realizes who the Beyonder is and that he has come seeking information. When Peter suggests that the Beyonder seek out Reed Richards, the Beyonder alerts Spider-Man to the fact that he needs to go to the bathroom. Peter has the awkward position of trying to explain to the Beyonder what going to the bathroom is. When the Beyonder is done, he tells Peter that he is going to seek out Reed Richards and teleports away. Realizing what he’s done, Peter puts his mask back on and swings off to try and find Richards to warn him. The Fantastic Four meanwhile, are in a pitched battle against the Hate-Monger unaware that they are being secretly observed by the Psycho-Man. In the middle of the battle, the Beyonder appears right next to Mr. Fantastic and begins answering questions, distracting Reed enough to require Sue (now free from the Hate-Monger’s control) to save him with an invisible force field. While Reed is distracted learning who the Beyonder is, Sue grabs the Hate-Monger and before She-Hulk can nab the Psycho-Man he teleports away. Sue demands answers from the Hate-Monger, but before they can get any answers the Scourge of the Underworld blasts him and he disintegrates into a puddle of ooze. Reed has a theory of who was responsible for creating the Hate-Monger but he ignores Sue for a moment to preoccupy himself with the Beyonder. However, when Reed admits that it would be difficult to explain the intricacies of existence, the Beyonder then teleports away to find someone else who can help him. However, this upsets Reed when he realizes that he’s been neglecting Sue’s desire to find out who has been manipulating her he redoubles his attention to her. As Spider-Man continues to seek out the Beyonder, the one from Beyonder appears in front of another store front. Seeing a suit that strikes his fancy, he uses his powers to make it appear on himself. The suit is ill-fitting and he is scolded by homeless woman Elsie Gertz. She explains to him that you need money to pay for things and then points out that the suit barely fits. As she points out its flaws the Beyonder corrects them and decides to follow her to listen to her advice, finding what she says about the need of money to purchase things one wants interesting. Taking him back to the cardboard box she calls home the two are attacked by a gang led by Charlie Carcrash. Thinking the Beyonder has money on him they attempt to mug him, but when they find him as broke as the old bag lady they beat him bloody. When they run off, Elsie hands the Beyonder a business card for Heroes for Hire, telling him if he had money he could hire them to deal with those crooks. Using his powers to heal himself, the Beyonder decides to do just that and teleports away. He appears at the offices of Heroes For Hire after working hours, however after scanning the timeline he finds that its owners Power Man and Iron Fist were there earlier that day. He brings them forward in time and when Luke believes they are being attacked he grapples with the Beyonder and tells him to take it outside. The Beyonder makes him let go and jumps out the office window and falls to the ground. Luke jumps out after him, but is stopped from fighting further by Iron Fist. When they realize that the Beyonder only sought them out to learn more about the want of money, Luke pipes in with his street smart opinion of money. The Beyonder thanks them, and as Spider-Man arrives on the scene, the one from Beyond decides to pay Luke and Fist for their aid. To do so, the Beyonder uses his powers to turn the entire office building into solid gold before the three shocked heroes. With “payment” tendered, the Beyonder teleports away, and Power Man and Iron Fist are returned to the past leaving Spider-Man to wonder what to do about the giant gold building that is now collapsing under its own weight.

Next in issue #3, “This World Is Mine!”, With no place to go, the Beyonder has been reduced to sleep on the streets. When a beat cop wakes him up and tells him that he can’t sleep on a street corner, the Beyonder doesn’t understand. When the cop asks him if he has a home, the Beyonder uses his powers to show the cop where he came from. Bewildered by seeing another dimension comprised of nothingness the cop wanders off in a stupor. They Beyonder then decides to continue his exploration of New York City. Along the way he is propositioned by a prostitute named Toots. When he asks her why she is leaning against the side of the building she sarcastically tells him that she is holding it up. When he yawns in her face, she tells him that she can bring him some place to “tuck him in” for the night at the Columbus Hotel if he has money. Remembering his “education” about money, the Beyonder makes a bar of gold materialize out of thin air, shocking the girl. As she backs away from the side of the building the Beyonder notes that she is not “holding up” the building anymore and when she defensively tells him to do it he uses his powers to create a support system on the building. The Beyonder then teleports away before the startled street walker, and materializes in the middle of the lobby of the Columbus Hotel. A complete dive, the Beyonder asks for a room for the night, and the shady owner decides to give him one believing that the Beyonder might be wealthy enough to rob in the middle of the night. The Beyonder goes up to his room, understand at least that much and goes to sleep on the floor. When he wakes up later he is in the presence of Toots who is there with her pimp Chulo, his employer Vinnie, his enforcer Laverne Lacy and his book keeper Millie. Vinnie has become interested in meeting the Beyonder as Toots brought him the gold bar that he made appear out of nowhere. When Vinnie asks the Beyonder if he really did make the gold appear from nowhere, the Beyonder confirms this. Surprised, Vinnie asks the Beyonder where he came from. The Beyonder then explains his origins, how he came from a universe where he was all and that some event caused a rift to open between his universe and this one allowing him to see it. Curious about this world he gathered an assemblage of heroes and villains to battle it out, offering them their hearts desires. He explains how one of their number, Dr. Doom managed to usurp his power and used that power to seemingly slay all the heroes. However, the heroes would revive themselves and mount a counter attack, and during the final battle the Beyonder would regain his power and banish Doom and his minion Klaw far away and return the heroes home. Interested in learning more, he had come to Earth where he was instructed by the Molecule Man that experience was the best teacher, however he found that watching others was not enough. He explains how he took on human form and wandered New York to learn what it was to desire, and learned that money was what drove people to want, but ultimately there was much he did not understand. Impressed by the story, Vinnie asks the Beyonder what his name is. When the Beyonder tells him that he is “One from Beyond”, Vinnie decides to call him Frank. Vinnie decides that he can use “Frank” and tells Toots to keep him company for the night while he makes sure his guest gets an undisturbed evening. So, Vinnie takes “Frank” under his wing and begins teaching him how to eat, and about sex, his idea of desire while at the same time having the Beyonder use his powers to help his criminal enterprises. Such as bringing him gold, and using his powers to make his prostitutes immune to illness and reducing his wife’s weight and age. The Beyonder himself begins living a life of excesses and becomes obsessed with gadgets, using his newly acquired wealth to purchase everything he could possible want. Soon Vinnie teaches “Frank” about gambling, and sometimes taking a risk to get what your want is better than using his powers to obtain it instantly. Frank over-goes a complete make-over, taking on a new wardrobe and dying his hair black. He soon begins running errands for Vinnie and aiding with the shipment of drugs, as well as collecting money for Vinnie’s protection racket. Sometime later, he happens across Toots and Chulio on the street and sees that despite the fact that she is still a prostitute and he still a pimp they are living reasonably well. Toots is very happy to see Frank, and as he leaves she admits to herself that she loves him. Soon, at Vinnie’s new mansion, Vinnie tells Frank that there comes a time when you have to make your own name for yourself and tells the Beyonder that it is time for him to go out and make a name for himself, and thanks him for all his help. For a time the Beyonder lives out a rich life style, indulging in his gadgets, beautiful women and eating. When he puts on an excessive amount of weight, to the disgust of the women who hang off him, he uses his powers to burn off the weight instantly. Realizing that he needs more, the Beyonder rushes back to the city where he has a meeting with the Kingpin. He tells the crime lord that he is taking over, and much to the surprise of Wilson Fisk, the Beyonder does just that — using his powers to make them loyal to him. Soon the Beyonder decides to use his powers to take over the entire world, not only making every human being loyal to him, but animals, nature, and even the very building blocks of life acknowledge him as absolute master of the Earth. Everyone seems to be effected by this except for the Molecule Man who detects the Beyonders work. Wondering what his friend is up to, Owen uses his powers to insure that he and his girlfriend Marsha are free from his tampering so that they can continue to enjoy their normal life of television reruns. The Beyonder at first revels over the fact that every living thing is now loyal to him, until he meets a woman named Circuit Breaker. Interested in learning about what extraordinarily desires drive her, he learns that she had been crippled by robots and that she hates all machines, especially those that believe that they are alive, that drives her. Soon the appeal of having everyone loyal to him begins to fade as the Beyonder realizes that everyone just wishes to bend over backwards to please him. When he visits from Toots for advice he finds that she too is the same way. Freeing her from his control she thanks him for changing her life, explaining that she finally gave up hooking and got a legitimate job. She thanks him with a kiss and goes off to her job. The Beyonder realizes that people drive contentment from earning what they desire most, finally realizing that fulfillment comes from earning, not taking. He then releases his hold on the Earth and decides that if he is to rule over the human race, he must earn that rule instead of just taking it. The Beyonder then decides to pay a visit to the Avengers. Teleporting to Avengers Mansion he is invited in by Jarvis who regrets to tell him that the Avengers are on a mission in deep space. Deciding to go and see them, the Beyonder teleports away. He returns to Earth a while later depressed at the outcome of that encounter. He remembers what Vinnie told him about gambling and realizes that perhaps it’s not just trying to do something that reaches fulfillment, but taking a gamble and the possibility of failure that makes it that much more satisfying. He decides that he needs to seek out the Avengers’ lawyer Matt Murdock in order to accomplish this task.

Next in issue #4, “Love Is the Answer!”, The Beyonder and Sharon Ing share a kiss before he brushes his teeth and says goodbye to her without telling her who he is or anything else about himself. He gets in his Lamborghini and flies off in it. As he goes along he ponders on the human emotions such as “desire”. He means to experiment further with the humans. He believes that all humans follow predictable patterns. He finds one being though, Algrim the Elf, that does not fit this mold and he decides to restore him from the lava pits he is in from fighting Thor. He awakens him as “Kurse” and this being walks through the sea towards the U.S. He also finds Cindy Adams, Brandy Clark, the Thing, Silver Surfer, and Captain America each have desires he tries to understand. As he thinks of these desires American F-16’s try to take him down. They shoot his car and he swaps places with one of the pilots in the F-16. Later, the Beyonder shows up at Molecule Man and Volcana’s house. She leaves and Molecule Man tells the Beyonder about love and what it is and does for humans. The Beyonder thinks on this and then teleports back to Washington to find Sharon Ing has committed suicide. He revives her and asks her of love. He then decides that Dazzler is a woman he desires. He tells Sharon to leave and she does. Meanwhile, Dazzler is being transported by O.Z. chase as his prisoner. As they are talking, Dazzler is suddenly teleported to a distant place in the solar system. She is scared and strikes out at the Beyonder. He mesmerizes her and tells her about himself. She demands to be put back on Earth and he teleports her to the Antarctic, then Paris, then a Nepalese mountaintop where he kisses her. Dazzler wakes up in a hotel bed and meets the Beyonder for breakfast. He teleports to Canada to get her a gift. There he meets Alpha Flight who thinks he may be with Omega Flight and tries to subdue him to ask. He fights them off and grabs Shaman’s pouch from him. He makes it larger and Talisman is recovered from it for payment for the ring which the Beyonder takes from the pouch. He returns to Dazzler in France and tried to give the ring to her. She refuses and gets back to her band and her life. The Beyonder then teleports her to a concert stage and tells her to sing for her crowd he created for her. She refuses again and they teleport to the city. There the Avengers try to stop him since they know what damage he can do. They fight and Dazzler finally stops them. They both then teleport to Nepal. There the Beyonder tries to show her that she is not “nothing” to him as she claims. He turns her into pure energy and they kiss. She gets scared and flies off and then the energy drains from her and she falls to the Earth. There she dies and the Beyonder lashes out with an energy force that destroys a galaxy far away. Then he brings her back to life and realizes the meaning of true love and releases her from his mind control. He then tells her that she will forget all that has transpired and she will go back to being herself and living her life.

Next in issue #5, “Despair!”, The Beyonder is walking down a stretch of railroad track near Washington D.C. when he hears an oncoming train. When it’s almost upon him he uses his powers to make it disassemble disorientating its passengers and crew. As he walks away he is joined by a young mutant named Tabitha — nicknamed Boom-Boom for her ability to create energy time bombs — who has run away from her abusive parents to find a secret school of mutants she heard about that exists in upstate New York. Thinking the Beyonder himself is a mutant asks to accompany him, the indifferent One From Beyonder doesn’t care. When he sets up their camp for the night she tells him about life, and gets him to open up about his most recent sorrows. He explains how he had fallen in love with Alison Blaire, the mutant musician known as Dazzler, how he attempted to give her everything — including a portion of his own infinite power — to win her love for her to ultimately reject him. Tabitha provides the Beyonder with her nihilistic views on friendship and love, that eventually everyone who you care about will leave you and you will become more miserable until you either commit suicide or die. The Beyonder doesn’t like this outlook and decides to leave, but not before allowing Tabitha to hug him before teleporting away. The Beyonder returns to the blank void that he used to exist in prior to gaining awareness of the universe that he has explored. He contemplates becoming what he once was, but fears losing his awareness and need for desire. He even intimates creating a world for him to habitat complete with a copy of Alison Blare that will love him unconditionally, but decides against this because it is not love earned. Before he can contemplate further, a time bomb planted in the seat of his pants by Boom-Boom explodes, earning the Beyonder’s ire. However, the next morning the Beyonder decides to help Tabitha out, finding her hitchhiking he takes her for a ride in his car. Using his powers to heal her swollen eye, he tells her that he is going to take her to the secret school she heard about. He takes her to Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester New York. There Tabitha knocks at the door, however as she stammers to explain to Piotr Rasputin why she is there, Rachel Summer’s detects the Beyonders presence. Before Boom-Boom can explain anything, the members of the X-Men and New Mutants spring out of the mansion and attack the Beyonder car. Finding their threat negligible, the Beyonder repels them and drives off. Frightened and confused and feeling abandoned by the Beyonder, Tabitha flees into the woods, leaving the X-Men and New Mutants to wonder why the Beyonder brought her to them. Boom-Boom, alone in the woods begs for the Beyonder to come back and threatens to blow herself up with the biggest time bomb she can muster. However, when she makes it go off, he saves her in the nick of time and offers to take her for a ride. She gets one that is totally unexpected as his car suddenly flies into the air and travels light years into space to the Worldcomplex, the headquarters of the Celestials. Partaking in the tourist trade that has generated on the Worldcomplex’s surface, the Beyonder explains to Tabitha how the Celestials and other cosmic beings fear him and are now contemplating what to do. When Tabitha points out that the Celestials just seem to be standing around and don’t seem that afraid, the Beyonder tries to prove his point by approaching the massive cosmic beings and threatening to destroy the universe if they do not stop him. When the Celestials spring to life and attempt to stop him, he easily blasts them all aside, causing chaos and panic below. When the Beyonder returns to Tabitha, she is frightened by him. He tries to smooth things over by making her prettier, older or taking away her powers. None of these placate the girl and she demands that he leave him alone and return her to Earth. The Beyonder does so and tries to hide the fact that he is more miserable than he was before. As the Beyonder returns to Earth, he checks on the progress of Algrim the Elf and sees that he is crossing the ocean to try and find Thor in America. When he decides to listen to some music, he upsets himself when he realizes the record he put on was one of Dazzler’s. Meanwhile, Boom-Boom has called the Avengers hotline and warned the Avengers of the Beyonder. Taking her call seriously, and learning that she can get the Beyonder to see her, the Avengers tell her to help them capture him. When Tabitha convinces the Beyonder to come to the campsite they first met, he is duped into another time bomb planted hug and soon finds himself attacked by the combined forces of the east and west coast Avengers, Fantastic Four and Doctor Strange. When the assembled heroes realize that the Beyonder is not fighting back they stop, and the Beyonder wanders away. When they try to make sense of the encounter, Captain America notes that the Beyonder mutters “ten points, I win” — Tabitha’s numbering game of loneliness — and wonders what effect the Beyonder’s involvement with the girl will mean to the planet Earth.

Secret Wars II #6 – December 1985
Next in issue #6, “Life Rules”, The Beyonder has chosen to be a “Champion of Life”. He builds a massive headquarters in Sparta, Illinois. The headquarters is several times larger than the entire city of Sparta, Illinois. He then heads out and helps Power Pack stop a bunch of thugs who had found Jakal’s lost laser gun. Meanwhile, a reporter from Sparta, Illinois named Dave goes to the Beyonder’s new headquarters to interview the Beyonder. Dave is so mesmerized by the Beyonder that he becomes the Beyonder’s best friend encouraging the Beyonder in his role as a “Champion of Life”. Molecule Man returns home to his wife but they are interrupted by a visit from Uatu. Uatu pleads with Molecule Man to intervene with the Beyonder because Uatu and the Watchers sense that the Beyonder’s plans are about to go too far. After saving millions of lives throughout the universe, the Beyonder is growing dissatisfied with his role. He gets a visit from Captain America and Mr. Fantastic but Dave’s enthusiastic belief in the Beyonder prevents Captain America and Mr. Fantastic from fully discussing their concerns. In fact, not long after this meeting, Dave’s enthusiasm encourages the Beyonder to believe that he must destroy Death itself. The Beyonder believes that his dissatisfaction with his role is because it isn’t big enough and only by putting an end to death can he fulfill a role big enough for him. Mephisto learns of this and attacks and then all the great entities of the universe gather to try to stop the Beyonder. But Dave keeps encouraging the Beyonder and so the Beyonder destroys Death. The Molecule Man appears and yells at the Beyonder. Dave has a change of heart and agrees to become the new Death in order to reset things back to the way they were. The Beyonder destroys his headquarters in Sparta, Illinois and decides that he will try being a champion “with one arm tied behind my back, sort of …”

Next in issue #7, “Charge of the Dark Brigade!”, Down in his netherworld dimension, Mephisto and his consort Death watch over the Beyonder, whom has occupied much of the Lord of Lies thoughts of late. Following their previous encounter, and the Beyonder’s temporary destruction of Death has Mephisto worried about what he Beyonder will do next. Watching at the One From Beyond takes up solitude on a deserted island to think, Mephisto has begun staging a plan that will hopefully destroy the Beyonder once and for all. He explains that he had witnessed the Beyonder becoming week and vulnerable during a period when Dr. Doom had previously absorbed the Beyonder’s power. As such, when the Beyonder expended power to destroy Death recently, Mephisto captured that excess energy and collected it into a device which he has called the Beyondersbane. With a limited time before the power gathered reaches critical mass, Mephisto begins his plot to destroy the Beyonder. When he asks Death for her thoughts, she responds that the death of a god for her would be sweet, leaving Mephisto to wonder if she means the Beyonder, or himself. While on Earth, the Beyonders lone vigil is spotted by a man named Ed Strunk, who is vacationing on another island nearby. Curious as to what the Beyonder is doing, he is completely inspired by the fact that the Beyonder is simply on the island to think. Not far away, the Thing is participating in a shoot for one of his latest film roles. After the shoot is done for the day, a pilot brining a supply of beer for Ben remarks about the island where the Beyonder has gone to think. Hearing the Beyonders name angers Ben into crushing the beer and he explains how the Beyonder ruined his life. Explaining how he was one of the heroes brought into his original Secret War, then staying behind on Battleworld after the fight and returning home to find that his girl Alicia was now in a relationship with his former best friend the Human Torch. He then talks about how he wandered, became a wrestler and eventually battled the Beyonder in the ring. He remembers how he had the chance to kill the Beyonder but backed out at the last minute and wonders just who he is, a hero or an unrequited murderer. While back on the island, Ed Strunk is so inspired by the Beyonder’s idea to “just think” he gets permission to bring a bunch of people to the island to follow the Beyonder’s example. As this is happening, Mephisto has sent one of his agents out to Earth to recruit an army of super-villains to battle the Beyonder. Be begins by making deals with the Juggernaut, Electro, Baron Mordo, Absorbing Man and Titania. With each deal made, a handshake is made marking each villain connecting them to the Beyondersbane. As Mephisto watches from his realm, he explains to Death that if only one of the villains manages to make contact with the Beyonder it will complete the circuit with the Beyonder’s bane unleashing it’s power. He explains that he force of the power would be enough to not only destroy the Beyonder, but a great part of the universe. As he explains this, he shows that the universes many cosmic beings are behind him and that the Beyondersbane is being operated from within by Eternity itself, the very manifestation of the universe itself. He explains that Eternity is willing to amputate part of itself to end the potential menace of the Beyonder from destroying its existence. Soon one of Mephisto’s minions reports that the collection of 99 super-villains has been completed and that they are ready to strike at any moment. Back on Earth, the Beyonders island of thinkers gains worldwide attention, bringing the news media and people from around the world to emulate his example. When news reaches the Denver suburb where the Molecule Man lives with his girlfriend Marsha, the Owen excuses himself from an evening of Trivial Pursuit to go into inspect the universe. When Marsha catches up with him, Owen tells her he tells her that he sense that the powers in the universe are all conspiring to destroy the Beyonder. Owen then breaks down, admitting to his lover that he is torn: part of him wants to aid his friend, but another part of him hopes that they succeed in destroying him. The news reaches others in the super-human community, notably the X-Men and New Mutants who’s leader Magneto decides to wait to see what the Beyonder does next. Spider-Man watches the news and wonders if the Beyonder’s new thinking movement might help his life as well. Lastly when the news reaches the Thing, it causes him to lose his temper. Back in Mephisto’s neither world, Mephisto has gathered his Legion Accursed and is about to unleash them at the crucial moment when he spies on the Beyonder considering to leave to get away from the throng of people who have invaded his island. Seeing this as a determent to his plan, he comes up with a means to keep the Beyonder in one spot so that he can attack. Appearing before the Thing, who has just woken from a nightmare, Mephisto uses illusions to trick the Thing into signing a contract to go after and kill the Beyonder, providing him with enhanced strength to do so. Thing signs it and dives into the ocean to swim to the Beyonder, unaware that he has played into Mephisto’s plans and will forfeit his soul in the process. Just before the Beyonder can depart, the Thing arrives ready to beat him to death. Before he can, Ed tries to stop him. When Ed says the Thing is a hero, this confuses the Thing and he begins to lose his nerve. This provides an ample distraction for Mephisto to unleash his Legion Accursed on the island. As the creatures rush toward the Beyonder, the powers that be wait in anticipation to see how things play out. While the Thing struggles with his morality as a hero and his desire to kill the Beyonder, the Beyonder considers letting the attack happen or simply escaping. It’s finally the Thing who decides that despite the fact that he hates the Beyonder, killing him is against his code as a hero and begins fighting off the villains who have to come slay him. With the enhanced strength provided to him by Mephisto, the Thing easily trounces all the villains who have come to slay the Beyonder. Horrified by this turn of events, Mephisto destroys the contract he forced the Thing to sign to reverse the power he gave the Thing, willing to give up the heroes soul to succeed in destroying the Beyonder. Even reduced to his regular strength, the Thing manages to prevent the last villain, the seemingly unstoppable Juggernaut from touching the Beyonder. With all the villains defeated, they are teleported away as the Beyondersbane reaches critical mass and explodes. This is a great defeat for the Beyonder, who is furious at this loss. When Death abandons him, his grief causes those tortured souls in his realm to experience a moment of joy, and Eternity — unscathed from the Beyondersbane’s destruction departs from Mephisto’s realm as well. Across the universe the powers that be mull over the outcome of the battle while Owen Reece breaths with a sigh of relief that the Beyonder survived. Back on the island, the Thing passes out from his ordeal, having been pushed to his limits. With the battle over, the Beyonder realizes that he had managed to make the Thing realize his true potential as a hero, and decides that his mission in life should be attempting to better the lives of others.

Next in issue #8, “Betrayal!”, Frustrated over his recent interactions with the super-hero community on Earth, the Beyonder has returned to the suburban home of Owen Reece and his girlfriend Marsha where he unleashes his frustrations causing universal wide destruction. Calming the Beyonder down, Owen suggests he talks about his problems and quietly repairs the damage caused by the Beyonder. Having him stretch out on a couch like a therapists patient, Owen and the Beyonder travel through time and space to see the root of the Beyonders problem. They start at the beginning in Beyonder-Realm where, although the Beyonder cannot recall what it was like before he became aware of Earth’s universe, he can recreate the event that caused him this awareness. When Owen looks through the “pin prick” through reality he is shocked to see the event that caused the rift was the accident that gave the Molecule Man his powers. This shocks Owen and he has no explanations to the Beyonder when the One From Beyond asks if Owen was responsible for creating him. Moving forward to the point in history where the Beyonder came to Earth and conquered it, the Beyonder explains that even ruling over everything did not provide him fulfillment. Even when he attempted love, attempting to win the love of Dazzler was met with disaster. When pushing the Beyonder to talk more about his lost love causes the Beyonder to become more irritable. When visiting the time that Dr. Strange put him on the path of enlightenment angers the Beyonder as he now thinks it was a crock. He points to the time that he attempted to get those to find their true potential and his failed attempt to get the Puma to realize his potential by slaying him. Returning back to Owen’s apartment, this trip through the Beyonders past has done little to change his mood, in fact it has done worse and he is ready to wipe out the entire multiverse so that there is nothing but him. Owen pleads the Beyonder not to, that he just needs to try harder at finding his personal fulfillment. When Owen suggests the problem is the Beyonder’s lack of mortality, the Beyonder decides to give all existence twenty-four hours to convince him not to destroy it and departs. Leaving Owen and Marsha to wonder what to do. The Beyonder appears in San Francisco where he uses his powers to get the most expensive room at the most prestigious hotel. Going out to a fine restaurant he uses his powers to coerce the waitress into going home with him. Finding these excesses not enough he decides that he should destroy things that he doesn’t like, and is about to destroy San Francisco with is powers when the girl he brought with him suggests that it’s mortality that is the problem. Not liking this same answer, he uses his powers to make her elderly, but seeing her fright at being aged he changes her back telling her to enjoy her supposed “fleeting moments” of mortality before he destroys the universe. Deciding to leave, he is attacked by the X-Men whom he easily manages to fight off — deciding that destroying them outright is beneath him and their end will come soon. When Phoenix attacks him with all of her might even this is not enough. As he chokes the life out of her he asks why the X-Men were foolish enough to go on a kamikaze run against him. When Rachel tells the Beyonder he came and endangered San Francisco knowing that it is under the X-Men’s protection was reason enough. Realizing that Rachel is correct the Beyonder teleports away. Witnessing this from a view screen, Owen believes that the Beyonder is coming to destroy him and uses his powers to create a dome around the city hoping it will be “Beyonder proof”. The Beyonder, on his way elsewhere finds the effort hilarious and uses his powers to shatter it with ease, leaving Owen to clean up the mess before anyone is hurt. Appearing in the deserts of the American southwest, the Beyonder goes looking for the Hulk and is attacked by the brute. As the Hulk furiously pounds the Beyonder to a pulp, the One From Beyond realizes that the Hulk seems to be more savage than ever before. Stopping the gamma spawned monster he peers into his mind wondering what happened to Bruce Banner since their last encounter and is shocked to realize that Banner and the Hulk are two separate beings. Seeing the Hulk as some unchecked being of raw power (reminding the Beyonder of himself) he lets the Hulk go so that he can be alone for a while. Back at the home of Owen and Marsha, Owen begins pulling in energy from across the multiverse hoping that he can either use it to destroy the Beyonder or use it to save himself and Marsha — spiriting them away to the Beyonders universe where they can hid. When Marsha realizes how scared Owen is she tries to comfort him by pointing out the Beyonder must be interested in what Owen has that he does not — her. The Beyonder meanwhile pays a visit to Peter Parker, the only being in the multiverse that he has come to like. When he asks him about human mortality and why it makes fulfillment so easy, Peter has no questions but points to a time when he rescued a roof jumper who — despite the fact he was committing suicide — reached out to be saved in the end. When Peter has no easy answers, the Beyonder becomes more angry than ever and tells Parker that he may have saved the universe from ultimate destruction before leaving. Outside, he is attacked by the New Mutants who were informed of his location by the X-Men. The Beyonder, not wishing to be bothered with mere children easily swats them aside and begins heading back to Owen’s home. There, Owen is busy trying to pack up whatever he can, having decided to flee the multiverse however Marsha convinces Owen to stay and fight. Owen decides to do so, unaware that Marsha has come up with another plan should Owen fail to destroy the Beyonder. When the Beyonder arrives he is about to tell Owen he has decided to spare existence when Owen attacks him. Seeing this as an unprovoked attack and that Owen intended to try to destroy him all along the Beyonder is about to destroy him when Marsha gets on her knees. She begs for her life, telling the Beyonder that Owen means nothing to her and to destroy him and spare her. Owen is completely shattered to hear this and collapses into a heap on the floor while the Beyonder kicks Marsha away in disgust. Ashamed at what she had to do Marsha flees the scene, leaving the Beyonder to see how worthless Owen is without the love of his life with him. Watching this display, the Beyonder decides to maintain a temporary reprieve for the universe to once more give its total offering a last look before wiping it all out. Outside, Marsha flees to her car in tears, upset that she had to hurt the man she loves most in order to save the universe and leaves the city in shame. Later the Beyonder appears over the Rocky Mountains more frustrated than ever. The Avengers, using a device created by the Black Knight have tracked the Beyonder down in a Quintet and confront him. However the Beyonder attempts to blow them all away with a energy tornado, and all the Avengers save Captain America are caught up in it. Furious that he Captain managed to jump away the Beyonder grows in size and grabs the Star-Spangled Avenger telling him that perhaps the can provide some insight on the human race — a race that is about to face extinction…

Finally in issue #9, “God in Man, Man in God!”, The Beyonder is still mulling over the possibility of destroying all existence, however the hardest thing to consider is that in doing so, he must also wipe out all memory of it — making his decision a difficult one. While elsewhere at a roadside diner in Colorado, Marsha Rosenberg finally gets through the Avengers hotline. When Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four is brought into the call, he tells Marsha that the Avengers are off confronting the Beyonder. She tells them of her encounter with the Beyonder recently, wherein her boyfriend the Molecule Man battled the Beyonder and barely spared the universe from destruction. Reed and the other members of the Fantastic Four rush off to meet with her. However, before they can leave Avengers Mansion they find themselves teleported to a remote location in the Rocky Mountains. The Fantastic Four are not alone as they also find the Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Alpha Flight, Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Thing, Silver Surfer, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Heroes for Hire, Cloak and Dagger have also been brought to this location. As they get their bearings they learn that they were teleported to this location by Phoenix who arrives with her fellow X-Men. Setting aside their animosity with the X-Men for having former mutant terrorist Magneto in their ranks, the other heroes agree to help Rachel (who still has a portion of the Beyonder’s power) stop the Beyonder once and for all. When Marsha Rosenberg offers to use her powers as Volcana to help, Rachel tells her she isn’t needed and teleports her back to the apartment she shares with Owen Reece. Unsure what to expect after she pretended to give herself to the Beyonder, Marsha goes upstairs to their apartment to find it in shambles. When she sees Owen sitting in a recliner she is shocked to see him there. Meanwhile, not far from where the heroes have gathered, the Beyonder has created himself a secret hideaway miles below the surface so that he can think. Creating a camera to record his thoughts, the Beyonder muses that part of the problem with being unable to find fulfillment for his desire comes from the fact that he is omnipotent and that reality exists the way it does entirely on his belief of how it should operate. Considering what he has learned about his time on Earth, he finds that the only true way he could possibly know what it is to have desire fulfilled would be to assume a mortal form, as it is the only thing that he lacks. In order to facilitate this, the Beyonder creates a massive machine that can recreate him into a mortal body. In order to test it out, he pulls together the stray remains of the New Mutants (whom he recently killed and erased from the universe) and uses the device to resurrect the human members he wiped out: Cannonball, Mirage, Karma, Magik, Wolfsbane and Cypher. He is impressed that they are recreated to the final detail with the exception of their minds being in a zombie like state. He makes the necessary adjustments to the device and then creates a giant container for his massive power so that he can resume his omnipotence at any time. Without further hesitation, the Beyonder transfers his power to the container and sends his essence through the machine. He is reborn into a full grown adult and upon his rebirth as a mortal he finds the experience frightening and instantly runs to the container, regaining his power. In Colorado, the Molecule Man tells Marsha that when she pretended to give herself to the Beyonder, it completely shattered him to the point where he wanted to die. After unleashing his frustrations he realized that he didn’t need her to live, and that to truly be alive and truly love her, he needed to learn to not need her. Happy to hear that Owen still loves her, the two kiss. After, the Molecule Man decides that the Beyonder must be stopped at all cost, and with the universes cosmic beings too scared to act, he decides that he has to be the one to do it. Back at the Beyonder’s hideout, the Beyonder decides to give mortality another go. This time through the machine he is less frightened and finds the limitations his mortal body gives him exciting. However, these new experiences are cut short when Mephisto arrives with a horde of demons to get revenge on the Beyonder for his constant meddling in his affairs. Despite the Lord of Lies’ attempts to torture the now mortal Beyonder, the One From Beyond realizes that Mephisto can only project illusions and manages to fight through them and regain his powers. With the Beyonder restored to normal, Mephisto flees. While not far away, the gathered heroes are joined by the Molecule Man and Volcana who offer their aid, which the heroes accept allowing him to lead them to the Beyonder. Finally detecting their presence, the Beyonder realizes that he will always be a target no matter what and that the next time through his machine he will recreate himself as a mortal — but still maintaining his vast cosmic powers. Needing time to make the necessary adjustments, the Beyonder recreates Warlock and sends the New Mutants to keep the assembled heroes busy. The New Mutants, who none of the heroes remember due to the fact that the Beyonder wiped out all memory of them, attack the heroes and keep them busy for a bit. The heroes soon defeat them, and when Phoenix mind scans them she learns the truth and tells the others she will restore the Beyonder’s damage once the battle is over. Traveling down into the Beyonder’s hideout, the heroes attempt to stop him from recreating himself as a cosmically powerful mortal while the Beyonder tries to keep them at bay. This fails and soon he is locked in a battle with the Molecule Man. However Owen is not strong enough and the Beyonder manages to land a killing strike that rips a huge swath across the Rocky Mountains. The Beyonder uses his powers to re-stabilize the planet long enough to enter the machine. The heroes have survived thanks to the Molecule Man who used his remaining strength to protect them and teleport any humans that could have been killed by the Beyonder into a pocket dimension until the damage can be repaired. As the machine begins creating him as a mortal body and infusing it with his power, the heroes attempt to stop the machine again. However it has a defense mechanism that almost kills them if not for the quick shielding provided by the Invisible Woman, Phoenix and Silver Surfer given Spider-Man’s warning. With the now infant aged Beyonder about to be reborn, the heroes consider killing the Beyonder however many of the heroes are at odds about killing an infant child — even one that is omnipotent and has the power to destroy all existence. As Reed Richards keeps those willing to kill the baby Beyonder at bay, he is distracted long enough for the Molecule Man to fire the killing blow. As the baby dies its incredible power unleashes threatening to destroy everything. However the Molecule Man saves the entire multiverse by channeling the energy back into the universe the Beyonder lived in before learning of Earth. In the aftermath of the battle, the heroes are filled with sorrow to find that the baby is dead. As they all walk away, Captain America tells Owen that he is a hero for saving everything from the Beyonder’s power. In the empty universe where the Beyonder once resided, his immense power returns creating a big bang that creates an entirely new universe that begins to teem with life much like that from the heroes universe. With new, mortal life coming into existence, the Beyonder finds in death the fulfillment he sought in life.

Comics lot contains: Secret Wars II (1985 – 1986) Issues #1-9.  Marvel Comics

Comics are bagged & boarded and will be carefully / securely packaged then shipped via USPS Priority Mail to ensure that it arrives to you perfectly and quickly.

All First Printings
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publication Date: 1985 – 1986
Format per comic: FC, 32 pages, Comic, 10.25″ x 6.5″
UPC: None Stated

Collectible Entertainment note: Comics 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, are in Very Fine to Very Fine + condition.  Beautiful Set!  Please See Scans!!  A must have for any serious Marvel Universe and/or Secret Wars collector / enthusiast.  A fun & entertaining read.  Very Highly Recommended.

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