Marvel’s yearly crossover event is a tradition for comic book collectors. Like a blockbuster movie, Marvel usually uses its summer months to unleash a mammoth storyline upon readers, spanning its entire character roster that promises big battles and even bigger changes to the status quo.
This year, the House of Ideas has raised the bar with its Multiverse-spanning Secret Wars event.
Written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Esad Ribic, the series imagines a new earth, comprised of dozens of countries where different versions of the Marvel characters from across the Multiverse exist.
So you have multiple Spider-Men running around, about half a dozen Hulks, numerous X-Men teams and more Avengers than can even fit on the page. Oh, and they’re all ruled by Doctor Doom in a thinly-veiled take on Game of Thrones.
Confusing, right?
Well it gets even muddier when you take into account the near-endless amount of prelude series (like the "Time Runs Out" storyline) and tie-in titles that Marvel is putting out for fans looking to get the full Secret Wars experience.
With that many books and all those different plots working together, how much money would the full Secret Wars story cost if you were to go to your local comic book shop?
Well we broke down all of the math for you - with an emphasis on the word "broke," which is what you’ll be once the dust clears:
Number of titles: 60
Number of issues in the entire storyline: 252
Number of mini-series storylines: 4
Number of different domains on Battleworld: 41
Number of titles starring X-Men characters: 12
Number of Fantastic Four titles: 0
Publication length, including the "Time Runs Out" prelude: 15 (months)
Price range of all the issues: $2.99 - $4.99
Cost of reading the main Secret Wars series: $33.92
Cost of reading all of the Time Runs Out issues: $98.76
Cost of reading all of the Battleworld issues: $228.43
Cost of reading all of the Last Days issues: $655.40
Cost of reading everything: $1,016.51
Number of minimum-wage work hours required to afford the entire series: 116
* Since Secret Wars has been such a fluid event with issues being added late in the process, a few of these numbers could still change.
Sources: Marvel; Midtown Comics; Comics Alliance
