Marvel really wants you to read some of their most memorable issues before Secret Wars comes out this summer. The True Believers printings will be available in comic shops in April and cost $1 each. There's no catch. They're actual Marvel reprints for $1. To get more specific, Marvel is drawing your attention to the following heroes and issues:
- Infinity Gauntlet #1 by Jim Starlin and George Pérez, 1991
- Marvel Zombies #1 by Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips, and June Chung, 2005
- The Age of Apocalypse #1 by Mark Wade and Roger Cruz, 1995
- Civil War #1 by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, and Morry Hollowell, 2006
- The Incredible Hulk #92 (aka Planet Hulk) by Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan, and Jeffrey Huet, 2006
- House of M #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel, Tim Townsend, and Frank D'Armata, 2005
- Wolverine #66 (aka Old Man Wolverine) by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, and Morry Hollowell, 2003
- Iron Man #225 (aka Armor Wars) by Dave Michelinie, Mark Bright, Bob Layton, 1968
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 (aka Miles Morales) by Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli, and Justin Ponsor, 2011
- Age of Ultron #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, and Paul Monts, 2013
- Powers Firsts #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, 2015
A few things to know about this list. First, Powers Firsts is the only new comic series debuting with this True Believers campaign. That suggests they're going to come in real quick to participate in the massive Secret Wars event.
Second, Secret Wars is the upcoming alternate universe collision coming out in May. Marvel has been expanding its lineup of comics by creating alternate universes with alternate versions of everyone's favorite heroes. Miles Morales is the most prominent example but not the only one. Planet Hulk, Marvel Zombies, Civil War and House of M were the first big concurrent wave of alternate universes launched around the same. And even before that, you get limited run what-if? series and special issues like Old Man Wolverine.
Third, the result of Secret Wars is supposed to be a sort of rebirth of the Marvel Universe. Some of these alternate dimensions won't exist any longer when the event is done. It's a streamlining of a lot of series back into a larger core readership.
It's a scary and exciting proposition. What does this mean for new series like Spider-Gwen that literally exist because of the ever-expanding universes of Marvel? Which titles are going to disappear and which ones are going to combine into new ongoing runs? And who will come out on top in these Secret Wars?
Maybe the True Believers issues offer some clue as to what could happen when these worlds start to collide.