With a pineapple roast pork bun in hand, we’re going to be taking a deep dive into What If…? Secret Wars #1 by Alex Paknadel and CAFU, fittingly just a week after the latest incarnation of the Ultimate Universe ended. We’ll also be taking a look at Iron Man #7 and getting nice and totally PG-friendly with Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day #1.
WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS (2026) #1
WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS (2026) #1
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artists: Cafu
Colorists: David Curiel
Cover Artist: Lucas Werneck
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Don’t let the cover fool you; Miles and Peter don’t really fight in this one. But the what-if centers entirely on Earth-616’s Peter Parker and his lone survival in Earth-1610. An interesting concept that stems purely from Peter being the one to give The Molecule Man a pineapple roast pork bun to fill his stomach, over Miles. This decision seemingly shifts events so that, when all is said and done, Peter ends up in Earth 1610, and everyone else dies. The comic kind of breezes through this earth-shattering revolution for Peter in a brief conversation between him and Nick Fury, but that seems to be what always happens in these latest What if one-shots. They are so heavily focused on telling us what’s changed that they don’t really focus on a lot of the character moments. In defense of Pakanadel and the team, when you only get one comic, there’s only so many pages to work with, and this What if has to deal with a lot. This is a double-edged sword as it presents something interesting for fans of the butterfly effect in comics to focus on, but for anyone hoping there’d be a deep dive on Peter’s character in this strenuous scenario, you aren’t exactly getting that. Peter quickly becomes an Agent of Shield after discovering how madly screwed over Earth 1610 is after the Secret Wars events only to discover a monumental change to his biology that benches him for the rest of his life.
WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS (2026) #1 Preview
Now, if you were around for the Ultimate universe of the 2010’s, some of this comic will be a great blast from the past. The return of this universe’s renditions of characters like Kitty Pryde, Falcon, and the Hulk may be a great thing for fans of this universe. Pakanadel does a great job of making sure these characters feel unique, too, and of making sure readers don’t have to fully understand their character lore to get their motivations, all while keeping the characters consistent with their characterization and designs.
There’s a really great moment in the middle of the issue that I wish the entire issue kind of centered on, that paints a dichotomy between how heroism is done in 616 and 1610, and how such a change could affect Peter. The rules of Earth 1610 are so different from those of Earth 616, especially in the later, darker parts of the universe. Pakanadel could have centered the entire one-shot on this concept. Peter meets the 1610’s variants of his family, himself, his former allies, and villains, all while trying to find a place in a new world. I don’t like to speculate on “what if this comic was like this instead of this” because that wasn’t the original author’s intent, but this one-shot begins to explore the possibilities before dropping it for something less interesting. That something less interesting I’m going to call the “Get Peter home” arc.
The “Get Peter home” arc isn’t as fundamentally interesting as the parts before, but it feels necessary. Before this moment, there wasn’t much action. And well, superhero comics need a decent dose of action. Even if the action in this section is dull, it happens in a lot of flashes, with characters displaying different powers against each other. Aren’t the matchups even that interesting, and the result? Not much to write home about. But it’s the ending of this one-shot that leaves me the most baffled. What started with Peter Parker doesn’t really end with Peter Parker or Miles, for that matter. Instead, we get an ending that’s more of a meta nod. One that ties the old Ultimate universe to the new one. And while it makes for a quick eyebrow raise, it doesn’t exactly leave the issue much to chew on. Something fascinating is happening in the story it is telling. That even in this dark, depressing, and kind of broken world, some resistance will come about. And while it isn’t at the hands of Peter Parker, he does leave some influence on it.
While the comic isn’t what I wanted, it is interesting nonetheless. That’s why I’m confident to give this one a verdict of a Browse. If you’ve been collecting the What Ifs as they come out, go ahead and add this to your cart. If you haven’t been, there’s a small chance this issue may convince you to start.
WHAT IF…? SECRET WARS (2026) Preview #1
Rapid Rundown!
- Iron Man #7
Iron Man (2026) #7
In the first arc of writer Joshua Williamson‘s Iron Man run, we get a new mission for Tony, stopping A.I.M.from twisting an old idea of his into something sinister. The fallout from those events has Tony opening up his workshop, a repurposed Bruce Banner Lab, to the survivors of A.I.M.’s plot from the first arc. Tony’s ultimate goal is to make them become a team of “Tony Starks” in case he’s not around anymore to help build the future or save the day. I’m digging Williamson’s spin on Tony’s paranoia and guilt driving him to this extreme, a point in Tony’s life where it affects his dreams and relationships, especially amongst his Hero peers. A big up for this issue is guest artist Von Randal, who is doing some nice work in this issue. I love the gritty kinetic energy of his line work and designs. His interpretation of the War Machine armor, colored by Erick Arciniega, is amazing, with the metallic rendering adding a visceral quality to the artwork. This issue does what it’s supposed to do, starting a new chapter for this arc with our favorite Shellhead. – GC3
- Marvel Swimsuit Special: Brand New Beach Day #1
It’s summertime, baby and you know that means it’s time for the Marvel Swimsuit special! Marvel Swimsuit: Brand New Beach Day features 5 beach themed stories with the customary swimsuit pin ups sprinkled throughout. As with it being an anthology, the quality of the stories vary, but in this case they are all pretty great. For me, my favorite was Pool Beast by Rainbow Rowell and Phil Noto. First, I am sucker for Noto’s artwork. He draws all the X-men tastefully as not only does he make them look attractively but we still get to see his patented subtle touch to emotions. Rowell focuses the story on Beast at the pool as he deals with some razzing from the team over his fur. We get a lot of Beast angst that you can’t help but feel for this guy. The lead story Beach Bashed! by Daniel Kibblesmith, Alessandro Miracolo, and Jesus Abrutov has Namor throwing a massive beach party for the Marvel heroes to garner Sue Storm’s favor. It is fun and lighthearted. I love the animosity between Namor and, well, everyone. Of course it goes poorly. Kibblesmith and Miracolo capture the humor well. The Spider-Man story Danger By The Lake by Anthony Oliveria, Pablo Collar, and Rachelle Rosenberg is real interesting one. It has humorous moments, sure but it is a bit darker than the others with the Venom Symbiote lurking in the shadows trying to reclaim Pete. The dynamic between Pete, MJ, and Johnny Storm is interacting because there was some real throuple vibes here that would give the Krakoan era Scott, Jean, and Logan a run for their money. Moon Knights by Dan Schkade and Rachelle Rosenberg is just a one page gag about Moon Knight’s personalities at the pool but it’s a lot of fun in Schkade’s signature style of humor. Lastly, Gamma Glutes by Cody Ziglar, David Baldeón, and Edgar Delgado is easily the best looking of the stories, and that’s high praise because of the shorts are visually great. The Hulk story is a lot of fun and it’s nice to see Hulk doing something silly in a break from his current dark (and amazing) run. The pin-ups all have fantastic and varied art style and composition. It is great to see a variety of expression that is not just beefcake/cheesecake. Not that there’s anything wrong with the cake, either. Honestly this has been one well constructed special and a lot of fun. Can’t wait for next year’s! —JJ
Read past installments of the Marvel Rundown here!
Next Week? More Avengers: Armaggeddon, X-MEN ’97 Season Two, and the first issue of: It’s Symbie!
