Doctor Doom Appreciation

[Ravin' Ray]

I forgot that Chip Zdarsky also has some dealings with Doom in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spiderman. He will be helping Peter & his sister Theresa (boy, I've not been reading Spider-Man for a looooong time) JJJ to help undo some mischief dealing with alternate timelines.

Been following Spectacular thus far, and the only reason I didn't post Doom's appearance in issue before this in this thread is that
spoilers:

he only appeared in the cliffhanger final page, with those prison duds, and a mask, in a timeline that diverged where Norman Osborn is in power.

end of spoilers

[Kintor]

Maybe later?... As for

spoilers:

now or more precisely tomorrow... It's doom-centric, interesting for sure, with some answers. The writing is not bad at all, the art is not really good. Tbh I'm not sure I liked what I read... Now I have to open another issue - the last one of a series... - and I have great expectations. I hope this one won't disappoint me ! Lol

end of spoilers

The annual was an interesting read, not quite sure what to make of it yet. If nothing else it was good to get a Doom focused story again, after those last few horrible issues of Iron Man.

spoilers:

I do agree that the art was severely lacking. Marvel made a huge mistake by including that Secret Wars era art on the splash page. It just goes to show how far the visual quality of Marvel books has degraded since 2015, seeing this annual side by side against even a single panel of Secret Wars is frankly embarrassing.

end of spoilers

[Iron Maiden]

The road to returning to his villainous roots? A pity. He could be so much more...alas.

I think if you've been reading comics over the decades, you are going to see peaks and valleys. IMO the best sustained characterization of Doom that was not just a black hat villain would be Doom 2099 . It was pretty unique in that contrary to just about all the characters in 2099, this was "our" Doom.

[Kintor]

I think if you've been reading comics over the decades, you are going to see peaks and valleys. IMO the best sustained characterization of Doom that was not just a black hat villain would be Doom 2099 . It was pretty unique in that contrary to just about all the characters in 2099, this was "our" Doom.

The 90s really was a golden age for anti-heroes, doubly so thanks to the rise of Cyberpunk. The dystopian future of 2099 was perhaps the perfect setting for Doom, even better then the normal Marvel universe. It was a fascinating notion, as a character Doom didn't change much but compared to everyone else in 2099 Doom suddenly had the moral high ground.

This kind of anti-hero vibe is really what I wanted to see out of Infamous Iron Man but it never quite got there. Doom was playing it a bit too safe when dealing with the villians. I mean I wasn't expecting Doom to go on a killing spree like the Punisher but the book could've showed Doom's willingness to cross lines other heroes wouldn't even consider. That distinction between Doom and the normal heroes, especially when Doom is doing good, is a large part of what makes Doom such a compelling character.

[Michael Watkins]

Doom kind of looks like Michael Jackson in his later years, if that MTIO appearance is to be believed.

[Abe]

Doom kind of looks like Michael Jackson in his later years, if that MTIO appearance is to be believed.

Not really. He has got a nose. And a big one!

I more and more dislike the art in that Annual. And to be honest I feel the same about the writing too: it's like they tried to put an even bigger nose on the face of Secret Wars.

Obviously I finally decided that I'm not happy at all with that issue....

[Abe]

The 90s really was a golden age for anti-heroes, doubly so thanks to the rise of Cyberpunk. The dystopian future of 2099 was perhaps the perfect setting for Doom, even better then the normal Marvel universe. It was a fascinating notion, as a character Doom didn't change much but compared to everyone else in 2099 Doom suddenly had the moral high ground.

This kind of anti-hero vibe is really what I wanted to see out of Infamous Iron Man but it never quite got there. Doom was playing it a bit too safe when dealing with the villians. I mean I wasn't expecting Doom to go on a killing spree like the Punisher but the book could've showed Doom's willingness to cross lines other heroes wouldn't even consider. That distinction between Doom and the normal heroes, especially when Doom is doing good, is a large part of what makes Doom such a compelling character.

Spot on, Kintor! Now O need more than ever a Doom 2099 omnibus. Or a series in which Doom fights against the HAD A and Disney.

Sadly both are unlikely...

[Michael Watkins]

Not really. He has got a nose. And a big one!

there were two Dooms.

[JasonEsta]

I think if you've been reading comics over the decades, you are going to see peaks and valleys. IMO the best sustained characterization of Doom that was not just a black hat villain would be Doom 2099 . It was pretty unique in that contrary to just about all the characters in 2099, this was "our" Doom.

I never read the whole run..only when he took over the United States...lol.

[Biclopcicle]

Not really. He has got a nose. And a big one!

I more and more dislike the art in that Annual. And to be honest I feel the same about the writing too: it's like they tried to put an even bigger nose on the face of Secret Wars.

Obviously I finally decided that I'm not happy at all with that issue....

I thought that moment where Doom was bound and Reed was talking to him cheapened the ending of Secret Wars #9. Reed wouldn't have to sit there and contemplate how to manage Victor, and Victor already had his epiphany during the battle. There was no need for him to have his memory wiped.

Having said that, I did like the overall theme of the Annual, tying Victor's humanity that he possessed in his childhood to his current status, and placed in counterpoint to the Interdimensional Council of Reeds 2.0. The self-split thing is totally a Reed Richards solution

[Coulson]

I have never read any of the 2099 stories, they looked trashy to me. Is the Doom 2099 worth checking out?

[eaebiakuya]

This annual was the best Dr.Doom story after Secret Wars. Zdarsky understand very well the characther. To bad the infamous iron man was written by Bendis.

[Iron Maiden]

If no one has started a separate thread, maybe I should start one for the MTIO annual so it can have spoilers?

I have never read any of the 2099 stories, they looked trashy to me. Is the Doom 2099 worth checking out?

Oh definitely! Lucky that Marvel finally decided to put part of it in a collection. Doom 2099 is one of Marvel books Warren Ellis worked on early in his career. He takes over the title in the issues that are collected in the TPB. It begins with resolving the mystery of Dooms of 2099....is the Doom of the past or some other imposter? Then comes the One Nation Under Doom crossover.

The early issues by John Francis Moore are worth checking into also. He did the first 24, co-writing #24 with Ellis. It was good to see Doom with his own cast of supporting characters like Fortune (descendant of Boris), Poet, Wire, etc.

[Iron Maiden]

The 90s really was a golden age for anti-heroes, doubly so thanks to the rise of Cyberpunk. The dystopian future of 2099 was perhaps the perfect setting for Doom, even better then the normal Marvel universe. It was a fascinating notion, as a character Doom didn't change much but compared to everyone else in 2099 Doom suddenly had the moral high ground.

This kind of anti-hero vibe is really what I wanted to see out of Infamous Iron Man but it never quite got there. Doom was playing it a bit too safe when dealing with the villians. I mean I wasn't expecting Doom to go on a killing spree like the Punisher but the book could've showed Doom's willingness to cross lines other heroes wouldn't even consider. That distinction between Doom and the normal heroes, especially when Doom is doing good, is a large part of what makes Doom such a compelling character.

You are so right about Bendis and his Infamous Iron Man. And the thing is it did have some good elements in the first arc, and then this being Bendis he had to throw the Hood in the mix. The parts I disagree with is how much involvement Victor had with his mother. His origin is explicit in that the knowledge about her involvement with the dark arts was kept from him until after his father died. I also wish that the Maker really was part of the story instead of being a disguise used by Mephisto.

And as for his dealing with the assortment of villains the Hood had with him (and was that really Graviton they threw in there in IM #600????), it made no sense that he easily dispatched them in that first battle and then later struggles just to escape from them.

I wonder how or if Slott is going to deal with Amara.

This annual was the best Dr.Doom story after Secret Wars. Zdarsky understand very well the characther. To bad the infamous iron man was written by Bendis.

Parts of it I liked and parts I didn't. spoilers:

Was that parallel scene with Victor as a child and Victor delivering a killing blow to the other Doom meant to show that young Victor killed the beggar?

end of spoilers

[Abe]

The pages you point to in your first paragraph, Biclopcicle, and in the spoiler part of your last post, Iron Maiden, are those that I disliked. And I'm not a fan at all of this new version of the Council of Reeds.

To summarize I can't help thinking that not only it adds nothing to Hickman's book but also that it makes them less interesting. In other words I feel like I don't need that issue at all, and I regret another missed opportunity : the meeting we see in that book should have been much more interesting. It seems more like a move to get things where Slott wants - as what happened with Galactus - and it makes me less excited about the return of the FF tbh.

Or maybe I'm just in a bad mood this week.