All-New Doop #3 Review

There are more and more X-characters popping up in Doop’s margins some of whom break his heart, some of whom threaten him with physical violence and someone alludes to Doop’s mama!

ALL-NEW DOOP #3
Writer: Peter Miligan
Artists: David Lafuente and Jacopo Camagni
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Clowes
Colourist: Laura Allred
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

GETTING A BIT CRAMPED IN THE MARGINS

With each issue of All-New Doop #3 it seems that Peter Miligan takes some of the magic away from one of the strangest music to ever exist in the X-Men universe. Not only does he speak fluent English now and rarely, if ever, reverts to the classic Doop-language, but more and more characters from the outside world get pulled into Doop’s Marginalia in order to keep the issues relevant in relation to the larger plot points of the X-verse.

Raze makes a notable appearance in All-New Doop #3 solely to shove another character that no one asked for down the readers’ throats and to physically endanger the titular character. The sequence is predictable-verging-on-annoying and Doop has to be saved by another related cameo. The identity of Doop’s savior is far more compelling than Raze could ever be as they delve back into Doop’s past. To his credit, Miligan drops enough exposition into this scene so new readers who are unfamiliar with Doop’s 1980s history can still appreciate the gravity of the moment.

All-New Doop #3 moves right now past the requisite cameos (thank-you editorial), and Doop proceeds to spend the majority of the issue shattering the relationship between Kitty Pryde and Bobby Drake. Not a single reader of the X-books thought their relationship would last, but to have it broken up in so foolishly mechanical a way robs the narrative of any potential emotional value it could have had, thereby killing whatever moments of character growth it could have been the catalyst of for Kitty and Bobby in coming issues.

In its flagship issue All-New Doop knew exactly what it was an spent a good number of pages establishing the world Doop would be playing in. It was compelling, for how light and silly it was, and served to endear the weird green potato mutant to a new audience. By All-New Doop #3 this book has become the quirky-for-the-sake-of-quirky-with-no-real-substance-Zoe-Deschanel offering from Marvel Comics and that is really disappointing.

Miligan teases the revelation of Doop’s mother and her deep dark secret throughout All-New Doop #3 simultaneously managing to throw more details at a character that just doesn’t need it. If this series could get back to its roots and just be the weird story that Miligan would nail, then perhaps future generations of comics fans will look back on All-New Doop #3 and shake their heads.

THIS BOOK LOOKS COOL

The only thing firing on all cylinders in All-New Doop #3 is the art. Where the narrative has gone off the rail from its inaugural issue artistic team David Lafuente and Jacopo Camagni celebrate all the weirdness (without being so self-referential that it comes across as contrived), and pairing their cartoony characters with Laura Allred’s bright-so-bright colouring is a stroke of genius.

Appropriately, for an issue titled All-New Doop #3, Doop is the best looking thing on the page. The more humanoid mutants are all rendered with sharp lines and angles in contrast to Doop’s many smooth, organic lines. This contrast serves to make our protagonist stand out as the most alien creature admist a cast of superheroes and superheroines.

Marvel ought to make posters from this stuff.

PROBABLY PASS

Even if you’ve been reading the series All-New Doop #3 is a disappointed and is certainly not worth the $3.99 cover price. It looks really, really good, but the plot and superfluity of the English language rob Doop, and his series, of all their charm.