Is there interest in a real-time discussion of "One World Under Doom," as we did with "Absolute Power"? It begins in February with these titles:
- ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #1 (OF 9)
- DOOM ACADEMY #1 (OF 5)
- THUNDERBOLTS: DOOMSTRIKE #1 (OF 5)
- X-FACTOR #7
- FANTASTIC FOUR #29
- RED HULK #1
I haven't been reading Amazing Spider-Man, but I do know the "8 Deaths of Spider-Man" storyline has something to do with Doctor Doom. If that's important to "One World Under Doom," then these titles are also part of the discussion:
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #67
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #68
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #68.DEATHS
Replies
Far be it from me to discourage discussion, but I have no plans to read One World Under Doom. I'd read a discussion of it, but I likely wouldn't have much to say.
Meanwhile, we have some prelude books this month. I've ordered some from Westfield, and others from MyComicShop.com (Lone Star), and I'll be a trifle late commenting on them as well. The only one I bought at the comic shop this week was Fantastic Four #27, with Doom featured prominently on the cover (see left).
But d'oh! It was a variant cover, which I didn't notice until I got home. And it has nothing to do with Doctor Doom or "One World Under Doom." It's a story about Franklin and Valeria Richards, and Nikki and Jo-Venn Masters-Grimm. It was more enjoyable than it had any right to be, given my utter lack of interest in what children say or do. It was genuinely funny in places, mainly thanks to Nikki, who is a Skrull. The threat in this issue was Mole Man, more bloodthirsty than I remembered him being.
The next issue of Fantastic Four is a proper tie-in. It seems that since taking the title of Sorcerer Supreme, Doom has been sequestered in his castle setting all his plans in motion. They will begin to bear fruit in February, and I should get Fantastic Four #28 in my Westfield shipment sometime that month.
Meanwhile, he hasn't been seen since "Blood Hunt," with two exceptions.
One is Avengers #19-20, which came out several months ago. I failed to purchase those issues off the stands, and have ordered them from Westfield. According to the solicitation, Doom confronts the Avengers to ask why they haven't fixed the world yet. I know MY answer to that (which I'll save for now), but I'm curious what they'll say. I'll comment when my order arrives.
The second exception is "8 Deaths of Spider-Man." What I've gleaned so far is that Doctor Strange used to fight Cyttorak once a year (something we didn't know about) to keep it from expanding into our dimension. Doom has no time for such trivialities, and tapped Spider-Man to fight Cyttorak in his stead. Which, given the story's title, is nothing that's going to go well for Peter Parker. Anyway, that started around five months ago, and I've ordered those back issues as well. Look for Amazing Spider-Man to join the titles I'll discuss here.
Anybody else reading these?
While we're waiting to get started, I'm going to
the discussion right off the bat.
But d'oh! It was a variant cover, which I didn't notice until I got home. And it has nothing to do with Doctor Doom or "One World Under Doom."
I HATE when that happens! So far I've managed to avoid actually buying a comic with a "bait and switch" cover, but quite often I get a little thrill while perusing the racks only to have my expectations crushed when I realized the cover was an unrelated variant. Most recently that happened with last month's new Infinity Watch #1.
In this case, I happened to know in advance that this was a tenuously-releated variant, but although I knew in advance I had no interest in the series, I decided to buy the Starlin variant cover if I saw it. Turns out I didn't... see it that is. It was one of those "retailer incentive" covers and my LCS didn't even get one in (because they didn't order a zillion copies). [The owner of my LCS has a standing offer to anyone who wants such covers; he will be happy to order one as long as the customer buys the requiste number of standard covers.] These are usually available for $50 or so. Time was (back when comics were 60¢ or so), I buy a copy of a title I didn't read just because I liked the cover. I'd've paid five bucks for that Starlin variant, but not fifty.
Yeah, I'd probably be at least mildly interested in a cover by Uncle Joe Stalin too. I never realised that he'd taken time out from ruling Russia to be a comics artist!
"Stellar Joe Stalin."
Corrected (smart alecks).
(Evidently, I am also a smart aleck. Sorry, Jeff.)
I ordered Avengers #19-21 from MyComicShop.com, as issue #19 officially featured Doctor Doom, Sorcerer Supreme, and #20-21 looked like they might. It turns out that Avengers #19 was a one-off, and issues #20-21 were about other things. I enjoyed them well enough anyway, as the writing these days (by Jed MacKay) seems to turn more on characterization than action, which is what I really like. I didn't care for the art too much in the first two issues (by Farid Karami).
Anyway, on to Avengers #19:
"Doom would speak with you."
A huge projection of Doom appears in the Assemblers' current HQ, called The Impossible City, about which I know little. But this is great! My concern with Doctor Doom in his every appearance is that he won't be the Doctor Doom I know, who is the best and coolest villain in the history of villains. Stan Lee wrote the best Doom (natch) and the closer modern writers get to that standard, the happier I am.
"Doom would speak with you" coming from a giant, projected image of Doom is ... so Doom. There's no preamble. He's playing dominance games from the start. And there's no obvious way for the Avengers to decline. This is an order (barely) disguised as a request. That's so Doom.
For those who haven't seen an image of Doom since he became Sorcerer Supreme* he now wears the Cloak of Levitation, and the demon that we usually see on the front of Doctor Strange's tunic is now on the front of Doctor Doom's tunic.
* At the end of Blood Hunt — Astringent Andrew
We don't see the discussion, but apparently the Avengers (Roll call: Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Storm, Sam Wilson/Captain America) agree to meet Doom in an Afghanistan desert. Doom picks the spot because it's the "Graveyard of Empires."*
* He's right! — Archival Andrew
Not that they're backing down. Not one of them acknowledges Doom's leverage, or his insults. They are openly antagonistic, and I'm glad to see it. You know what I don't like? Heroes who meekly go along with Doom's bullying and faux civility, and even find something attractive about him. LIke Storm playing footsie with Doom over dinner.*
* Uncanny X-Men #143-145, and soon Storm #5 — Alliterative Andrew
Scarlet Witch: "You've stolen the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Have you asked us here to justify yourself?"
Ooh, first points to Wanda! You go, girl!
Doom: "No. I have summoned you here to justify yourselves."
A sweet riposte. Iron Man says what I'm thinking: "There he is. That's Doom, all right."
Vision: "Explain yourself, Doom."
Again, I love seeing the Avengers refusing to back down or be put on the back foot. These are all vets and shouldn't give an inch to Doom's theatrics and bullying, and they don't. Some writers would have them give ground, or negotiate, or possibly go to dinner with him. (Looking at you, Chris Claremont.) So, yeah, this is EXACTLY what I want to see. Doom being Doom, and the Avengers being the Avengers, in a high-stakes confrontation where every word counts.
To continue: Doom says he's been meditating on the nature of power. (He has been absent since Blood Hunt #5, so maybe that's what he's been doing. If you choose to believe him, which I certainly don't.) He gives a pretty good speech about the dire state of the world, how nations fight over flags, and how the Avengers represent the greatest concentration of power in the world, and could put an end to it. "Why have you, the most powerful, allowed this to happen?"
This is classic Doom. He's framing the discussion so that they're on the defensive from the outset, and with no wiggle room except to allow that Doom is right. (Always!) And when Sam Wilson responds, Doom dismisses him from the discussion altogether.
Doom: "Ah, speaking of flags. An oversight. I should have clarified that while I would speak with the Avengers, I have no interest in anything Captain America could say."
Boom! That's one of his debate opponents eliminated from the discussion altogether, and possibly the one with the best arguments. Which could have a chilling effect on the others!
Captain Marvel demands he get to the point, and as he does, he summons the spirits of dead warriors from the "Graveyard of Empires" to battle the Avengers. These six taking on ghosts of 13th century Mongols, 19th century Brits, 20th century Russians, and so forth, isn't much of a battle, and there's no significant danger. But we get our obligatory "action scene" for the issue. I nod approvingly. Jed MacKay works for Marvel Comics, and Marvel Comics must have an action scene in every issue, so MacKay includes one. But it's really the bare minimum, and doesn't impede the conversation, which is what I'm here for.
Doom continues to scold the Avengers (as if they are children) for their failure to take the world in hand and set things right. He wonders if it is "the cloak of cowardice you call morality" or a "lack of imagination." On the latter point he shows them visions of themselves lording over a just and violence-free world (with their uniform colors now reflecting Doom -- mostly green).
Doom: "A good world. A right world. An Avengers world."
Boom again! Doom takes the Avengers' own words and ideals* and throws them back in their face.
* From the story "Avengers World" in Avengers #1 (fifth series, by Jonathan Hickman, 2012). — Astute Andrew
But these are the Avengers, and they won't go down (verbally) without a fight. And it's Ororo who shoots him down.
Storm: "You ask a question in such a way that the only answer possible is the one you wish!* But the answers we have are not the ones you would like."
* Told you so! — Overachiever Andrew
So now the Avengers go into the reasons why they don't, essentially, conquer the world. Each of them (except Captain America) give an answer. Most are specific to their character, which I won't spoil. They're pretty much in line with what I say when people ask me why Superman doesn't fix the world. Nor will I spoil Doom's response, which ... hoo-boy. Things are gonna get ugly.
Which is the perfect end to a perfect issue.
The issue opens amusingly, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Spidey's dialogue during battle scenes. This is one of my favorite kind of battle scenes, where we see the hero easily handle a lesser villain. I like seeing these occasionally, because when the hero loses every battle, issue after issue, even when he wins, you wonder how he's lived so long. (Looking at you, Batman.) These quick B-list wins remind me that our guy really is formidable, no matter what the story to come has in mind.
Which is Doctor Doom.
"Inefficient, unfocused, immature ... you rarely garner Doom's attention, Spider-Man, but now that you have ... "disappointing" is an understatement." Not the best Doom dialogue I've read, but the overbearing attitude is spot on. Also, since Doom's here to set Spider-Man on a task, one wonders why he'd pick someone so "disappointing."
I also like that Spider-Man admits to himself to being a bit scared, but stands up to Doom anyway.
Which doesn't work, because a "Scion of Cyttorak" shows up, looking for "a Champion" to defend "the Covenant," and using gravity as a weapon. Doom reappears, and having no choice now, Spidey accepts his "help." Doom launches into some expository dialogue about how Strange made a deal with Cyttorak for a MacGuffin that protects our dimension from all mystical attacks from other dimensions. (Apparently Dormammu didn't get the memo.) Doom mixes grudging admiration for Strange's tenacity and cleverness, but buries all that with insults about his inefficiency, altruism, lack of intelligence, blah, blah. Doom just can't be nice, can he? But the Doom-iness takes the sting out of the exposition.
Anyway, now that Spidey's the Champion of the Covenant, he gets mystical armor and a basic working knowledge of magic, plus eight "Reeds of Raggador" that can restore his life. But only eight times, and he's facing eight foes.
Amazing Spider-Man #62-65
There's no more Doom/One World, so I won't get into too much detail. Being Peter Parker, Nerdus Maximus, he starts boning up on magic. Doctor Strange's astral form shows up to help mentor him. He shouts his spell names as he fights the first couple of Scions, who point out that he's being amateurish. So he starts shouting the wrong spell names as he's doing the correct spells, and it's kinda funny.
The Scions all look different (but with the same color scheme) and have different powers. Spidey keeps beating them (and keeps dying). But the one in #65 seems to break him: This one convinces him that nothing he does matters. The world will end someday anyway. He's going to die someday. Everyone he loves is going to die. They're all going to be forgotten, too. So why fight? So he quits.
That's as far as I've gotten. Kind of a turning point, I think.