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
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FANTASTIC FOUR #17
12 months ago: Reed and Sue go back in time to find out why an ancient skeleton identical to her own is dug up that dates back to the crossing of the Siberian land bridge in the last big Ice Age. Wouldn't you know it, Rama Tut shows up, too. They do battle, and Rama uses the trick all of us have been asking about since our first Kang story: If you're a time traveler and get beaten, why not take some time to heal and build new weapons, and return at the exact time before your defeat? Then there are two of you, and you know what your enemy is planning and have accounted for it. Rama does this multiple times and eight-year-olds everywhere are going "Yeah, yeah, about time somebody used this!" The good guys defeat this maneuver, while Rama keeps calling Sue "the Invisible Girl." (He hasn't seen her in a while!) Doom doesn't appear, but Rama Tut is related somehow, so there ya go.
FANTASTIC FOUR #25
Four months ago: The team investigates the magical barrier around Latveria. Johnny tries to melt it, when suddenly there is a loud PLLAAAAAANNGG and they are all suddenly elsewhere. Where they are and how they get back, the philosophical issues that arise, the use of the word "omnicide" and Johnny's love affair with an alien are all very interesting. But Doom doesn't appear, so I'll just say it's good issue and move on. They also decide to leave the barrier alone.
FANTASTIC FOUR #28
One month ago: Reed is still banging his head on the wall trying to learn magic, so Sue Googles "science plus magic" and gets Dane Whitman. They visit, and discover he's melted down all his magic artifacts (including the sword) to make a throne. That's weird, and he's acting weird. He does tell them of another magic sword, the "Fated Sword," which can cut through Doom's barrier. But they have to travel to World War I, where it was last known to exist. Turns out Dane has been possessed, by ... aww, you guessed it. The "Fated Sword" is "DoomSword" in archaic speech. It was created by 21st century magicians as a failsafe against Doom and hidden in time. Doom was aware of this, and used Reed and Sue to find it so he could destroy it. Sort of like the plot of Fantastastic Four #5 (1962). Someone's been reading the classics! This issue is also notable for Reed casting his first magic spell.
Captain Comics said:
I read that story and was a little baffled that Reed was having so much trouble trying to learn magic, because he encountered that same problem duiring the Mark Waid/Mike Weiringo run (one of my favorites) in yet another battle with Dr. Doom. This was the storyline, if I recall correctly, where Doom decided to amp up his magic skills because he thought he was too dependent on the science side, and in so doing, found out he had to make a sacrifice, so he did -- Valeria's soul. (It's not like he was going to sacrfice his own soul, y'know.)
In that storyline, Reed was smart enough to contact a real expert, Doctor Strange, who told him: Stop trying so hard. It isn't about exactitude, it's about feeling. It's about going with the flow, not stating the incantations with the precise words and the precise inflection and the precise pauses to get the precise, duplicable results. And, most of all -- as Reed learned when he allowed himself to accept this advice, which, of course, he did not do immediately because all of it is against his nature -- it's about being somewhat self-deprecating.
So, reading this story, I was baffled that Reed had forgotten all about that (okay, okay, I can't expect writer Ryan North to necessarily have read that storyline), and that he and Sue didn't consult a real expert like Doctor Strange (which may go to whatever's happening currently with him in comics I haven't read) and that they were dumb enough to go looking for an expert using Google. Sue's been upgraded from a shrinking violet whose only power was to turn invisible to a pose-and-point gal to an actual scientist; she ought to know better. They both should.
This is a rare misstep from Ryan North; I've been excited about his run in a way I haven't for Fantastic Four in many years. Especially because it's a lot more science-y than it was before the Waid/Weiringo days, which was a leap above what it was before that. I don't know if it's all real, but it sounds real and it's good enough to fool me if it isn't, and that's what I want out of a story.
I remembered that bit from the Waid run, but wasn't sure how it ended -- I haven't read it since it published, and my FF reading has been spotty since Byrne. Now that you've pointed it out, it does seem an odd omission from a guy who clearly read Fantastic Four #5!
I don't know why the FF didn't contact Doc Strange -- they've known hin since the Silver Age -- unless they couldn't (he's in Asgard currently) and Ryan just didn't bother to show that. That'll be my head canon explanation, anyway. Perhaps Doom was subtly manipulating them magically, as well.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #65.DEATHS
But it’s really more about Phil Coulson, the new avatar of Death, and how he became that way. I don’t know when or where that happened, and how it was not explained there, but this issue gives us some clues.
A nice little side quest, which explains the weird numbering.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #66
But he’s dropped it big time now. I don’t see how he comes back from this.
Meanwhile, Juggernaut feels the pull of Cyttorak and convinces Cyclops to take the X-Men to New York. (He’s part of that team now.)
Oh, and Black Cat tries to cheer Peter up with a little slap ‘n’ tickle. He’s not opposed to the idea.
This all feels pretty organic, and I’m enjoying it. Especially the running commentary by Cyra (the Cyttorak scion) and Doctor Strange’s astral self.
Phil Coulson became the new Death in second feature stories of the "Infinity Watch" event of a few months ago, featuring Thanos and the Infinity Stones (née Gems).
It would not kill editorial to reference that somehow.
That Death is now a gem (what?) and the gem picked Coulson was mentioned. Where that happened was not. I guess they figure that These Kids Today™ can just Google.
Challenge accepted!
The Death Stone was an artificial Infinity Stone created in the modern era. After Death rejected Thanos, the Mad Titan used his powers to subdue her before proceeding to encapsulate the embodiment of Death within a stone. Despite this, death would still persist as long as the stone was intact.
He attempted to use it to its full potential, but failed to unlock its true power. Figuring that it required to be in the vicinity of the other Infinity Stones to fully function, Thanos sought out reclaim the Stones once again. However, as he went after some of the Stones' current wielders, it caused the Death Stone to finally be activated, only to leave Thanos. The Death Stone later landed in a cemetery that Nighthawk was visiting as he witnessed it reviving Phil Coulson, choosing him as its new wielder.
Apparently, this happened in Thanos Annual (v3) #1
Nighthawk? I had forgotten he existed!
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