Secret Wars - The Original Reality Comic

What would happen if you put a bunch of superheroes in a home and forced them to live together? Better yet, what would happen if you did the same with a bunch of supervillains? As the line goes, what happens when masks stopping being nice and start being real?

After writing A review of Wildstorm, the first comic to mimic the "reality" show, it occurred to me that there had been a reality show comic before. Marvel Comics's Secret Wars was a reality show for superheroes. Certainly, it wasn't billed that way. Secret Wars was published at least five years before the first broadcast of The Real World, the first reality show. But Marvel's classic mini-series, the one that started the mini-series team-up format, was in every detail a reality show. It was The Real World crossed with Survivor. Please bear with me while I explain.

The Beyonder gathered together a bunch of superheroes and supervillains. He put them in an isolated environment, in this case a planet beyond inhabited space. He put the heroes in one home. He put the villains in another. And then the Beyonder gave both sides the same mission, and whoever won got the grand prize: in this case any wish they wanted.

The Beyonder was the producer of the show. He rolled the cameras and saw what wackiness ensued. It was all for his amusement, his entertainment, and we got the pleasure of watching, too.

We got to watch factions form and dissolve and reform again. We saw both sides bicker with one another as much as they competed against the other side. We saw short term romances and love triangles. It was twelve issues of voyeuristic fun.

Of course, The Beyonder didn't reckon with Dr. Doom. Doom reacted the way I imagine he would if he were placed on the set of Survivor. Instead of being the plaything of the producers, he took over the show itself. Maybe that will happen one day on the set of a real "reality" show; the cast will revolt en masse and refuse to finish the game.

If you enjoyed this article, then you're probably one of these "comic book collectors" we keep hearing about.