Secret War (miniseries discussion/spoilers)

Random said:
I think she was trying to be a kingpin type, recieving profits from their criminal activities and gaining power. Like she funds the guys with some tech and makes back her money and more through them so that to shield it doesn't seem like she's spending their money like that.
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Doesn't work. Like it was stated in the mini several times over, the criminals didn't make enough money robbing banks and such to finance their hi-tech equipment. Lucia (and her backers) wasn't funding these villains to make money, she was funding them to cause problems here in the US.

Lucia acted like a friend of the US, but secretly hated it just as badly as Doctor Doom or her other predecessors did. The difference is that Lucia was smart enough to play along with the Americans until they helped put her in control of Latveria. Then, she got the US to keep aiding her by donating $70 Million a year to her country. She turned right around and used this money to help finance the building of a techno-meta-human army. The way she did it was by involving the Tinkerer.

Since many techno-villains can't afford the Tinkerer's services on their own, Lucia provided the funding in exchange for the villains either "doing favors" (robbing this bank here, knocking off that person there probably) or by allowing the Tinkerer to examine and copy the technology of whatever equipment the villain's had. This served two purposes for Lucia. 1: It caused the US and their heroes a little trouble to keep them occupied, and 2: It allowed the Tinkerer to gather new technologies for Lucia and Latveria.

So, with new technology in one hand, and money from US financial aid in the other, Lucia was ready to start building a techno-villain army (the type of which we saw Nick Fury and Co. beat up on in the flashbacks). She could use this army for one of two purposes (neither mutually exclusive). Either to further cause "terrorist-like" attacks against the US or a simple takeover of the entire country. To add insult to injury, it would all be done with the US's own money. Just one more way for Lucia to stick it to the man.

However, Fury and Shield caught wind of this. But since the US Administration was unwilling to do anything about it, Fury took matters into his own hands and rounded up a bunch of heroes to go take out Lucia and her operation. But, as Fury told Captain America, his 'secret war' only served to delay Lucia. While the heroe's attack in Latveria was a victory, it was only short term. The capital of Latveria was leveled to the ground, and Lucia seemingly killed. But Lucia survived and as we saw on her attack on New York, became very "borgified". I take what we saw to mean that she was saved after the Latveria attack by being turned into a cyborg of one form or another. Obviously, Lucia was able to salvage enough of her operations to mount what was now going to be a revenge attack on the US and its heroes. Specifically the heroes that helped Fury's secret war.

So, Lucia's attack on New York was the attack Fury had been originally anticipated a year earlier, except now it was motivated just as much (if not more) by revenge as it was by hate for the US.

Any other questions?
 
No thanks, I'm good.

I'm just kinda surprised that there would still be questions as to the motives or happenings of this series. But then again, it was poorly paced and plotted. It had a very promising start, but having the entire Secret War ultimately detailed in flashback (a two page splash at that) and monologue is very disappointing. I personally would like to have seen the series build up to the secret war as it did for the first four issues, and have Fury explain what happened to the heroes like he did, but devote the next couple of issues to actually showing what happened in Latveria picking up from where they left off with the holo-briefing back in issue 2 (I think).
 
E said:
Are you serious? They hate the US for supporting Israel and maintaining a military presence in their region. The US is not a Muslim nation.

People don't just attack a country for no reason, not even in comics.

This is a pretty huge plot hole.



I know what the plot of the book is, but the question still isn't answreed WHY she was funding the tech-themed criminals/the Tinkerer in the first place...? And, probably a related question, why maintain a false friendship with the US if she hates them.
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Doom does. Or Namor if he didn't eat his cereal.
 
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Sax - good theory and it may very well be right, but as far as I can tell it is just that, and not *officially* the explanation.

I really thought I was just missing something, but I guess not.
 
E said:
Sax - good theory and it may very well be right, but as far as I can tell it is just that, and not *officially* the explanation.

I really thought I was just missing something, but I guess not.
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*Sigh*

Book 1 of 5 from the Secret War Mini, pg. 20, panels 5-8
{Nick Fury} We have always been aware that many of these more technological themed criminals were getting their materials from an underground figure...Phineas Mason, a.k.a. the Tinkerer...in return for what we imagined was a piece of the action. And for years, the Tinkerer had eluded our agents. But during Macendale's interrogation, he admitted to us that someone else was, in fact, backing the Tinkerer's operation. A decision was made to actively renew our efforts in pursuit of the Tinkerer. Because if someone is backing these criminals financially, brankrolling them through the Tinkerer...then, by definition, these are no longer crimes and these are no longer criminals...they're terrorists. In pursuit of the Tinkerer, we began interrogating any tech criminal that was brought into custody. The Tinkerer continued to elude our agents. Until this week when the Black Widow I.D.ed the Tinkerer in Latveria being escorted by Latverian intel to the castle of Lucia Von Bardas.
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Book 2 of 5 from the Secret War Mini, pg. 19, panel 5
{Nick Fury} It is our belief that these people are being placed and positioned for what would be a huge single act...or a scheduled series of acts...of terrorism.
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Book 5 of 5, pg. 18, panel 5
{Nick Fury} Von Bardas wanted to punish us by funding our criminals--use our criminal system against us...
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Book 5 of 5, next to last page
{The President} We were going to use the information to put Lucia in her place. We were going to black mail her with it. You see, that region, for as long as the world has turned, has been oppressed by people like that Victo Von Doom. We finally got his arrogant *** out of there, and it's insane to expect total peace and cooperation. They hate us over there. It's in their blood. Give them money to rebuild and they only resent you more.
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So there you have it. It isn't explicitly stated that Lucia would have used part or all of the money from the US to fund the Tech-villains, but if Latveria was needing outside money to rebuild their post-Doom country, it would make sense they're a little cash strapped anyways. So some of that money would have gone into the villain funding.
 
I know where the money is coming from. I know all the channels it's going through. Fury says she wants to punish the US - what is she punishing them for? It doesn't say.

He says that Latveria has always hated the US, but if that's the answer it's a pretty weak one. The whole point of the US putting her in power was to combat the anti-US sentiment.
 
E said:
I know where the money is coming from. I know all the channels it's going through. Fury says she wants to punish the US - what is she punishing them for? It doesn't say.

He says that Latveria has always hated the US, but if that's the answer it's a pretty weak one. The whole point of the US putting her in power was to combat the anti-US sentiment.
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For letting Super-powered humans run rampant like they do. Hopefully this is how it ties into Civil War.
 
2 posts, 2 completely unrelated and different answers. Neither of which appear in the comic.

Question answered. Thank you.
 
I re-read this yesterday and although the art is pretty, this is probably one of Bendis's worst works ever.

I still have no idea what Lucia Von Bardas is getting revenge against the US for, and for the life of me I cannot figure out WHY Fury needed Cage, Spidey, et al to go when he only planned on using 9and needed) Daisy Johnson (which is probably the worst name in comics history).

This mini accomplished exactly two things - Fury left SHIELD, and Daisy Johnson (Ugh) was introduced. She's pretty cool and Fury going off the grid led to some improtatnt developments, but an entire 5 issue (really 6, if you count the Files one-shot) full of nothing for that? What a waste.

Definitely Bendis at his worst.
 
She wanted revenge for them trying to kill her in the first place. and they were there b/c she was funding all those tech villains. Basically it only answered the question only hardcore fanboys would ask and that is, "where do these crappy tech villains get the money for all the expensive equipment for their suits?"
 
The Scorched Earth idea in the file was genius.



Especially the part on dropping The Punisher on one side and The Hulk on the other and seeing who gets to the middle first.
 
J. Agamemnon said:
She wanted revenge for them trying to kill her in the first place.
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They killed/tried to kill her AFTER they invaded Latveria secretly. The funding of the tech villains had already been going on for a long time.
 
E said:
They killed/tried to kill her AFTER they invaded Latveria secretly. The funding of the tech villains had already been going on for a long time.
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I know, but I'm saying that I think that was they're whole reason for invading Latveria and killing vonbardas.
 
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