“Die a villain or live long enough to be the hero.” That may sound wrong, but Victor Von Doom never did listen to conventional wisdom. Your Major Spoilers review of Doom #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

DOOM #1

Writer: Sanford Greene and Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Sanford Greene
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg with Sanford Greene
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $6.99
Release Date: May 15, 2024

Previously in Doom: In the not-so-distant future, it’s up to Doctor Doom to save reality. With Valeria Richards at his side, Doom goes on a quest to harness more power than any human has ever wielded before in order to try to stop Galactus from bringing about the death of the universe!

THE MADNESS OF GALACTUS

We open in the remnants of a dead world, as a single spacecraft floats near a shattered giant mecha… in the shape of Doctor Doom. Valeria Richards finds the body of her “Uncle Doom” floating in the wreckage, his armor non-functional and his body in mystic stasis. She awakens him as she begins injecting him with Super-Soldier Serum, explaining what happened after his death. Two years earlier, a maddened Galactus ran rampant across the galaxy, eating planet after planet, seemingly lost to his cosmic hunger. As he neared the Earth, Doom chose to oppose him, and should have won the battle, if the rules of nature had applied. Instead, he failed. Mister Fantastic rallied all of Earth’s superhumans to defeat Galactus. It should have been more than enough power based on previous interactions with the world-eater. Instead, they failed. The Earth was shattered, and its energies propelled Galactus further into space. Now, the artist formerly known as Galan builds a planet-sized Ultimate Nullifier to destroy the entire cosmos.

But Valeria has a plan.

DOOM ENDURES

This story is one of the most horrible things I’ve read set in the Marvel Universe since Ruins back in the mid-90s (and I’ve read Ultimatum, Marvel Zombies, and that thing where the Celestials judged the Earth wanting). Victor Von Doom’s refusal to admit defeat is kind of admirable, as are the complex hoop-jumping moments that explain how Valeria manages to empower him to a level to face Galactus. The art isn’t as successful to me, as Greene’s art uses a very thick, wild ink line. While it does seem appropriate for a story about entropy and chaos and the end of all that is, it also comes across as a little cartoonish for my tastes. The final page features The Watcher, The Living Tribunal, and Eternity, but Uatu looks just enough like Elmer Fudd to throw me. The visual reveals throughout the issue are good, including all the heroes of the 616 standing against Galactus and… Well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

BOTTOM LINE: GRIM BUT EPIC

By the end of the issue, I felt absolutely hopeless, which means that Doom #1 did its job even with my problems with the art, and the ending is a rare example of a Big Two comic that chooses the Twilight Zone ending, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. I’m also impressed by how Hickman and Greene utilize Richard Matheson’s traditional titling trick, something most readers won’t catch until the perfect story moment.

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DOOM #1

60%

60%

Not The Hero Of One's Own Story

The double-meaning of the title doesn't become clear until it's too late, and it's an impressive achievement.

• Writing

  7
• Art

  5
• Coloring

  6
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
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