Secret Wars (1984 Event)

Secret Wars is the title of Marvel's first ever company-wide crossover event. It was the first crossover event to include all company properties in the history of comics. Secret Wars was developed at the request of the toy manufacturer , who wanted to capitalize on the resurgence in popularity of action figure toys in the early 1980s and create a new line of toys for popular Marvel characters. The company asked for an editorial concept to be published that tied-in with the new toy line and brought all of the characters together.
The toy line that inspired the Secret Wars event did not sell exceptionally well. However, the limited-edition line of comics that it produced became the best-selling comic book series in 25 years. This inspired the idea of having all of Marvel's characters appear in an annual crossover event, and has been a tradition that Marvel Comics has continued to this day.
A sequel, Secret Wars II was published the next year in 1986, tying-in almost every Marvel comic book written at the time and featuring a plot involving the original Secret Wars architect, Beyonder, visiting Earth. In 2015, Marvel released another large event under the name Secret Wars.
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