Comic Book / Secret Warps

First published in 2019, Secret Warps was written by Al Ewing as a continuation of Arachknight, Ghost Panther, Iron Hammer, Soldier Supreme, and Weapon Hex from Infinity Wars (2018), bringing the Warp World Defenders together for the first time.

Each of the five issues also comes with a new, "back-up" stand-alone strip that functions as a sort of Flashback for each hero.

• Part 1 "Acts of War" has "Symbol of Liberty", written by Mark Waid and featuring Soldier Supreme.
• Part 2 "The Inferno Gauntlet" has "Late Dinner", written by Tim Seeley and featuring Weapon Hex.
• Part 3 "Days of Future Mars" has "Midnight Mass", written by Daniel Kibblesmith and featuring Ghost Panther.
• Part 4 "Supremeuniversal" has "A Terrific Triangle", written by Jim Zub and featuring Arachknight.
• Part 5 "Secret Infinity Warp Warps" has "Fenris in a Bottle", written by Tini Howard and featuring Iron Hammer.

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Tropes featured in Secret Warps:

• Adaptational Badass: Everyone. In-Universe. Each Composite Character has the combined powers of whichever characters were merged to create them.
  • Speed Weasel actually gets more of an upgrade than anyone else because, unlike Gabby Kinney/Honey Badger/Scout, her bone claws have Adamantium on them.
• All There in the Manual: Each issue comes with a post-script indicating who composes each warped character.
• All Your Powers Combined: Soldier Supreme, Iron Hammer, and Weapon Hex zap Dr. Wyndham with a combination of their different types of magic to defeat him.
• Anti-Magic: U.S. Archmage's magic is capable of nullifying Soldier Supreme's light magic. But it can't do squat to Weapon Hex's chaos magic.
• Anything but That!: As Arachknight fights Ulysses Klorb, and Soldier Supreme cuts in, we hear the webslinger declare "not the earwax!" (Klorb has an ear for a head, see...)
• Apocalypse How: In Issue 4, the Supreme Seven - heroes from another dimension - arrive in the Soul World (aka the Warp World). They eventually reveal that the Soul World is heading for planetary annihilation. As they explain, there is flaw in the Soul World, and as that cosmic instability grows, that universe is becoming a four-dimensional black hole that threatens to implode all of time and space.
• Atrocious Alias: Arachknight's opinion on Blurrer's codename, though he notes that with the guy's lemon-yellow outfit it could have been worse (since one of Blurrer's components is the even more mocked "Whizzer").
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Speed Weasel is hyperactive and easily distracted. She gets it from Quicksilver and Honey Badger, and it's made worse by her young age.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Speed Weasel is around 8 years old, and during her time with the Warp World Defenders, she's the only child in the group.
• Bad Future: 2099, where the greedy Alchemars Corporation invades Earth in order to pillage it. In accordance with the theme, it's also got elements from Dargo Ktor's timeline, and Iron Man 2020 in there as well.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: Arachknight versus Hawkmask. Arachknight's multiple personalities allow him to boot Hawkmask out.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Everyone brings up how Ulysseys Klorb has an ear for a head, but of the villains involved he manages to last several issues before Arachknight can beat him.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The villains behind everything are Stane Odinson, Madame Deathstrique, Dormammu Red and Mephichthon.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Dormammu Red talks a big game, but the minute he steps onto the field in issue 2, Iron Hammer smashes his head open.
• Big Sister Instinct: Weapon Hex's involvement comes because the villains kidnapped Speed Weasel. However, by the time she's gotten the Mad Ghost at clawpoint, Speed Weasel has long since freed herself.
• Blatant Lies: At the end of "Late Dinner", Laura tells Gavrill she's not getting any more sugar, lest she get a sugar-high and be unable to sleep (and as punishment will be grounded for the rest of their trip). Gavrill insists she didn't sneak any with her super-speed, though this does leave the question of why she's suddenly got what looks an awful lot like brain-freeze...
• Bluff the Imposter: Iron Hammer to "Madame Hel" (actually Deathstrique) in issue 2, asking her to take her mask off. Since Deathstrique doesn't know what Madame Hel looks like under the mask, she immediately gives up the disguise.
• Breather Episode: "Late Dinner", Laura's flashback strip, serves as one after Issue 2's intense climax and cliffhanger ending.
• Call-Back:
  • Deathstrique is a little tetchy over her being kicked off a roof by Diamond Patch, as happened back in Infinity Warps issue 2.
  • The fact Loki didn't get merged with Obadiah Stane, a major part of Stane's motivation in Iron Hammer, is still his motivation, and turns out to be the reason everything's been going screwy.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: When everything's wound down, the Terrific Two start cracking puns. Captain Peace tries joining in, but she can't manage it, and sheepishly admits puns "aren't my thing".
• The Captain: Stephen Rogers/Soldier Supreme. He is half Captain America, after all.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Hellfire, a character from Weapon Hex's miniseries in Infinity Wars turns out to be very important in Ghost Panther.
  • The back-up strip for Soldier Supreme establishes a guy called Mephichton as one of Stephen's enemies. He's also backing Red Dormammu's scheme.
• Composite Character:
  • The entire point of the Warped universe, introducing a few new ones into the mix (and, in Arachknight, another mashed-up universe, this time between the Squadron Supreme, and the heroes of The New Universe.)
  • Exaggerated when Ghost Panther and Iron Hammer become Ghost Hammer, Arachknight and Soldier Supreme become Spider Supreme, and Weapon Hex and Captain Peace become Weapon Peace. Taken Up to Twelve when Ghost Hammer and Spider Supreme become The Hammer Supreme. They, at least, are able to function. Everyone else is lying there trying to work out their names.
• Compressed Vice: Iron Hammer's backup story has him having a severe alcoholism problem, which wasn't an issue for him in any other story.
• Conflict Ball: Iron Hammer and Soldier Supreme's argument gets so bad Hammer attacks him even when they've been merged even further.
• Continuity Snarl: Deconstructed. As the Warps start to warp into each other and those Warps start to warp into each other, the sheer mess of the incompatible origin stories of their component characters starts to put these characters into great existential confusion. Only the Hammer Supreme (Doctor Strange, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Moon Knight (who himself is several people), Black Panther, and Ghost Rider in one body) can handle such a convoluted merge because the Eye of a character whose name is now The Unpronounceable gives them a higher sense of self-awareness.
• Crisis Crossover: Even the events in this world are a mash-up of major Marvel events. Issue 1 is named "Acts of War", as a mix of Acts of Vengeance and Civil War. Issue 2 is "The Inferno Gauntlet", after the X-Event Inferno and The Infinity Gauntlet.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Weapon Hex's fight with Wentigra takes all of two hits, one to stab out the curse, and the other to stab the curse itself.
• Damsel out of Distress: Speed Weasel is kidnapped by the Mad Ghost, but by the time Weapon Hex catches up to him, Gavrill's already freed herself and run around the planet twice.
• Dating Catwoman: Iron Hammer is still dating Madame Hel, who even shows up to the Terrific Two's party to dance with him. This comes back to bite him when the supervillains attack, and Soldier Supreme assumes he's involved.
• Depending on the Writer: Weapon Hex's Lost Tongues.
  • In Weapon Hex, when Laura spoke in the Lost Tongues, the translations had consistency thanks to writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacket. For example, Laura's first word was her own name.
  • In the main Secret Warps comics, written by Al Ewing, that consistency is gone. For example, when Laura uses Hex Nihilo, the word she says translates as "FGRTYDH". When she uses Hex Position, the words translate as "HDGDYEU SGSFS". When she uses Hexterminate, the word translates as "DFGHVB". When she uses Hexagone, the words translate as "SDDG HDJKEBE". Later, when Captain Peace uses Hex-Purgatory, what she says translates to "BACON LHTTUCHAN TUMATUH”.
  • Weapon Hex's back-up story, Late Dinner, written by Tim Seeley, has some consistency. When Laura uses Hexpulsion, the word she says is a correct translation, but when she uses Hexollection, the word she says translates to "HXOLECTO".
• Do Not Call Me "Paul":
  • Gavrill still prefers to be called Speed Weasel.
  • When Wyndham refers to Weapon Hex as Hex-23, she requests that he call her Laura.
• The End... Or Is It?: At the end of the last issue, Korvos the God Titan, having watched the proceedings, takes note of the Soul Stone, and decides he now has to find the Soul World's equivalent himself...
• Exact Words: Dr. Wyndham has a sigil made from the souls of the Punisher Pack, which gives Stane some pause given they're kids (and last he checked, alive). Wyndham says that they are now, but "death comes to us all in time".
• Fictional Accent: Laura Kinney/Weapon Hex apparently speaks with a Wundagorian accent. Since Gavrill Kinney/Speed Weasel also grew up there, it's implied that she has one as well.
  Greer: Where's that accent from?
  Laura: Wundagore.
  Greer: "Won-da-gore"? Is that a place or a prize at a horror convention?
  Laura: It is in Transia.
• Foreshadowing: The name Wyndham drops when mentioning his Storm Sigil, Gallows, as well as his words on what became of the Power Pack. Jake Gallows being the name of the Punisher of 2099, and part 3 deals with 2099.
• Frame-Up: Madame Hel apparently attacks Soldier Supreme, looking to repay death's books. It's actually Deathstrique pretending to be her to drive a wedge between Soldier Supreme and Iron Hammer.
• From Bad to Worse: Part 4 has Speed Weasel make off with the Hyperbrand. Then the Squadron Seven reveal reality inside the Soul World is starting to break down, threatening all the realities inside it. Just as Arachknight wonders how much worse things can get, the Defenders get warped even further. And then, in part 5, everyone gets merged even further, so much so even they can't figure out their own names.
• Fully-Embraced Fiend: In Weapon Hex's back-up story, Detective Greer Baptiste reveals that she likes being a people-eating cat-wendigo.
  Laura: What if I told you we can help you, Greer? What if I told you that you aren't alone?
  Greer: And what if I told you that before the raid my life was a boring misery. That I was a weakling. That I was pathetic. What if I told you that becoming Wentigra was a blessing not a curse…and that eating Shirlee was the most alive I've ever felt?
• Fusion Dance: Arachknight gets merged with Soldier Supreme, Iron Hammer with Ghost Panther, and Captain Peace with Weapon Hex.
• Future Slang: Part 3 has a visit to a version of 2099, so naturally the 2099 all-purpose swear word "shock" makes an appearance.
• Gaia's Vengeance: Ghost Panther defeats the Alchemars Invasion of 2099 by infusing Mars itself with Zarathos, allowing the planet to get revenge on its former inhabitants.
• Genki Girl: Pietro's super-speed in the body of a preteen girl means Speed Weasel is ludicrously energetic at all times. She's apparently worse when she has sugar in her system.
• Genre Throwback: Arachknight's backup story is partially written in the bombastic style of the swinging Silver Age Spidey stories. Nuff said!
• Go Mad from the Revelation: A variant; when the warps are further combined with others they remember new backstories to accommodate their new selves, but are also aware that they just came into existence. The fusion of Weapon Hex and Captain Peace affects their combined self so severely that she has to lobotomize her past from herself to be functional. It gets worse when they are further fused together and struggle to function at all.
• Good Is Not Soft: When the Defenders come face to face with their enemies, they don't hesitate. Iron Hammer smushes Dormammu Red, while Soldier Supreme disintegrates Deathstique.
• Hero of Another Story: The second issue makes clear the other heroes of Warp World are dealing with their own problems at the same time as the Defenders, which is why they're not around to help.
• I Have to Go Iron My Dog: When everything's returned to normal (or as normal as the Warp World gets), Iron Hammer scares off all the various villains who'd gathered to attack them, and they suddenly declare they've got places to be.
• I Lied: At the end of issue 3, Captain Peace admits what she told the Defenders was something of a lie. Erik Killraven's actions were always going to happen, and there was nothing that could prevent it.
• Informed Attribute: A rare Justified example. In Late Dinner, Weapon Hex is stated to have a Wundagorian accent. Since it's a comic book, the audience can't actually hear her speak and must take her word for it.
• Insanity Immunity: Because he's used to holding multiple personalities, the Arachknight causes whoever he's fused with to cope much quicker. Combined with Soldier Supreme's insight into their metaphysical nature, fusions with them can fully comprehend the contradiction of their being, and they ultimately resolve the crisis.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite T'Challa preventing the Martian invasion, Erik Killraven still grows up trying to revenge on Wakanda anyway, just for slightly different reasons.
• Irony: Soldier Supreme notes that Iron Hammer, who's not a particularly cheery sort, is made from two party-animals, Tony Stark and Thor.
• The Leader: Soldier Supreme is the unofficial leader of the Warp World Defenders.
• Let's You and Him Fight:
  • As with all crossovers, there's the obligatory super-heroes fighting over misunderstandings. Here, Soldier Supreme confronts Iron Hammer, thinking he's playing a part in the supervillain attacks, who refuses to just let Steve examine him. Things get worse when U.S.Archmage gets involved.
  • In part 3, Ghost Panther appears just as Hellfire 2099 had done a runner, and the other heroes of 2099 assume he's done something and attack, causing Zarathos to attack them in response.
  • At the end of part 3, the Squadron Seven arrive in the warped universe, looking for a fight. Part 4 is Arachknight having to hold his own against them.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Arachknight has the proportionate agility and strength of a spider, making him strong, tough, and incredibly hard to hit.
  • Speed Weasel has Quicksilver's Super-Speed, and she can tank powerful hits thanks to Honey Badger/Scout's Healing Factor.
• Logical Weakness: During his fight with the Supreme Seven, Arachknight is set upon by Megalodon, who's been given a boost in size. His alters realize that someone that big given a boost in size is going to have trouble with their tendons, and attack accordingly.
• Magical Girl Warrior: Weapon Hex combines X-23's claws and healing factor with Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic.
• Magic Knight: Iron Hammer, who combines the Asgardian magic of Thor with the advanced technology and armored suit of Iron Man. He uses magic in combat, and he also wields a massive 2-handed hammer.
• Magic Versus Science: An unusual version - human magic versus the ultra-science of the Ten Realms, and in this reality, it's science which has the upper hand.
• Military Mage: Stephen Rogers/Soldier Supreme is a soldier who was granted superhuman abilities from magic. He is also a powerful sorcerer capable of using various spells, which he uses during his time serving in World War II.
• Mind Rape: Machine Mandrill tries doing this to Weapon Hex. This turns out to be a bad move.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In addition to all the mashed-up superheroes, the Terrific Two operate out of a mix-up of the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building and Four Freedoms Plaza.
  • Continuing the Civil War references of the first issue, U.S.Archmage likes imprisoning folk in Purple Dimension 42, a mix of the regular Purple Dimension and the otherdimensional Prison 42.
  • Weapon Hex's back-up story has her fighting the warped version of Wendigo. Wolverines and Wendigos have a history of fighting.
  • Dr. Wyndham uses his magic to make the streets of New York come to life, much like what happened in Inferno.
  • The first thing one of the Supreme Seven (the mash-up of the Squadron Supreme and the DP7 say? "We've found a way into this new universe".
  • Arachknight's issue is titled "Supremeuniversal", after Supreme Power and Newuniversal, the modern day reimaginings of the Squadron Supreme and New Universe settings.
  • Hyperbrand, the merged version of Hyperion and Starbrand, mentions causing a disaster in Pittsburg. In the original New Universe, Starbrand turned Pittsburg into a crater trying to get rid of his powers, in a one-shot labelled "The Disaster".
  • The Supreme Seven refer to super-powered folks as "super-normals", a mix-up of the usual "superhuman" and the NU's own "para-normal".
  • Arachknight's back-up story is a warped version of Spidey's own attempt to join the Fantastic Four, all the way back from Amazing Spider-Man issue 1.
  • As he goes off to find the Terrific Two, Arachknight quotes the words Spidey said on the front page of Amazing Fantasy issue #15, his debut issue.
  • In Iron Hammer's back-up story, he temporarily loses control of his hammer, and it's taken up by a Distaff Counterpart partially made from Jane Foster. The difference here is he's not unworthy - Jane just messed with his hammer because Sigurd is too drunk to trust with it.
  • Ghost Panther's fight with Kraven the Bushmaster begins pretty much the same way an old fight between Black Panther and Kraven the Hunter did.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As long as the Storm Sigil remained intact, the Martian invasion could've been prevented. Then the Defenders smash it in three, thwarting Dr. Wyndham. Fortunately, T'Challa finds a work-around.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Bucky Wong is a cyborg ghost soldier in the present day.
  • Nico Cage, Soldier Supreme 2099, is a super-soldier sorcerress from the future, and also a vampire. The last part is noted to be inherited from her parents, which is confusing since neither character she is a warp of (Nico Minoru and Danielle Cage) nor their parents are vampires.
• Oh, Crap!: Weapon Hex's quite understandable reaction when Speed Weasel manages to steal the Hyperbrand out from underneath Hyperbrand's nose before running off with it.
• Once an Episode: Each issue begins with narration showing the Soul Stone, and explaining what it is.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Speed Weasel. Thanks in part to her young age, Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!, and general immaturity, she often makes jokes during serious situations and goes off on tangents only semi-related to what she was talking about.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: Dr. Wyndham returns, empowered by what he calls the Storm Sigil, taken from Daimon Gallows and forged from the vengeful souls of the Punisher Pack.
• Pungeon Master: The Terrific Two both like making puns based on their powersets.
• Punny Name: Laura's various magical spells/powers. Though they're never said out loud, the displayed names of all her spells play on the word "Hex".
  • Hex Nihilo: Used to force the intangible Mad Ghost to become tangible.
  • Hex Position: Laura uses this to read Mad Ghost's mind.
  • Hex Filtration: Used by Laura to teleport Iron Hammer and Soldier Supreme to her location.
  • Hex Terminate: Laura uses this in an attempt to kill Herbert Wyndham for the second time.
  • Hexagone: Used by Laura in combination with Soldier Supreme and Iron Hammer's teleportation spells to separate Wyndham from the Storm Sigil and hopefully kill him.
  • Hexollection: Used by Laura to see a vision of what happened to Detective Greer Baptiste.
  • Hexpulsion: Laura uses this to remove the cat-wendigo spirit from Greer.
  • Hextermination: Use by Laura to destroy the cat-wendigo spirit.
  • Hex-Purgatory: When Laura becomes merged with Captain Peace (herself a Composite Character of Captain Marvel and Justice Peace) and becomes Weapon Peace, she uses this spell to surgically remove her own past.
    Ghost Hammer: By the storms of my fathers-
    Spider Supreme: What-what was that spell-?
    Weapon Peace: Temporal magic. I just surgically removed my own past-it was going gangrenous. Hopefully that will stabilize things.
• Recursive Reality: The opening narration of the annuals establishes that the Soul Stone now contain its own multiverse, called the mergiverse, where amalgamated universe other than the mainstream Marvel one exist. This is illustrated in the Arachknight Annual cover, which shows warps of the Squadron Supreme and characters from the New Universe.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: As part of the villains' scheme, this is invoked. Heroes come under attack from other heroes's villains, so Weapon Hex has to fight the Mad Ghost and his Android Apes, while the Terrific Two fight Cameron Belasco.
• Running Gag: People bringing up the fact that Klorb does in fact have an ear for a head.
• Self-Applied Nickname: Gavrill is the first to call herself Speed Weasel, and she repeatedly reminds people to call her it.
• Shoot the Dog: The Squadron Seven travel to the Warped Earth to blow it up, in the hopes this will prevent their world being destroyed. By the time they've been calmed down, it's pointed out this wouldn't work.
• Sibling Team: Laura and Gavrill, natch.
• Sins of the Father: T'Challa's back-up has him dealing with vampires, some of whom are from Africa and more than happy to take their grievances with Wakanda out on its exiled prince.
• Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Unlike the normal universe, the Ten Realms of the amalgamated universe is consistently described as having extremely advanced science rather than magic. Science so advanced it consistently stands up to and defeats magic.
• Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Stane is now so ragingly jealous about not being a proper warp like everyone else he's quite prepared to let the entire warped multiverse go down out of spite.
• Super Team: The Warp World Defenders.
• The Smart Guy: Peter Parker/Arachknight. Especially Science Pete.
• The Smurfette Principle: When Gavrill - sorry, Speed Weasel - isn't around, Laura Kinney/Weapon Hex is the only woman in the Warp World Defenders. Doesn't stop her from being one of their most powerful members.
• Tempting Fate: Bushman the Hunter is convinced he can still take Ghost Panther with his special enchanted weapons. Which, thanks to his backer getting his head smashed open, promptly fizzle out.
• Terrible Trio: The villains behind everything are Madame Deathstrique, Stane Odinson and Dormammu Red.
• Two Girls to a Team: Weapon Hex and Speed Weasel.
• Villain Team-Up: The villains behind everything are Stane Odinson, Madame Deathstrique and Dormammu Red.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Weapon Hex apparently speaks with a Wundagorian accent. Since Speed Weasel also grew up there, it's implied that she has one as well.
  Greer: Where's that accent from?
  Laura: Wundagore.
  Greer: "Won-da-gore"? Is that a place or a prize at a horror convention?
  Laura: It is in Transia.
• Wingdinglish: Laura speaks in the Lost Tongues which, written out, are just English with the letters replaced by various symbols. It appears to be the same language used by Scarlet Witch and Loki for their spells. Unlike in Weapon Hex, the translations here don't line up. Here's a cypher that lines up with examples found in the Weapon Hex comic.
• Wreathed in Flames: Ghost Panther, like Ghost Rider, is sometimes covered in flames.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: T'Challa assumes if he prevents the Martian Invasion of 2099, Erik Killraven won't go back in time to kill him, and he won't become the Ghost Panther. He does thwart the invasion, and waits for reality to change... a few minor details in his memory shift, but that's it. No matter what, Erik will always want T'Challa dead. The price of Wakanda's freedom is T'Challa's own freedom.
• You Are Not Alone: In her back-up story, Weapon Hex tries doing this with Detective Greer Baptiste. Unfortunately, Baptiste likes being a people-eating cat-wendigo.

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