Infamous Iron Man #4 [SPOILER]

[Haquim]

spoilers:

First scene opens with Maria Hill doing the nails on her feet and speaking at the phone with her mother. Conversation in very mundane (apparently Hill's mother questions her being "in charge") but gets interrupted by another call warning Hill Dr Doom in on board of S.h.i.e.l.d.'s Helicarrier. She goes meet him and finds him surrounded by some goons and other containment measures that apparently didn't work. Since he seems in control Hill speaks with Victor who tries to convince her to back off from hunting him (basically saying she would just waste precious resources in doing so) and especially to call off Ben Grimm and leave Amara alone. Hill tells him he's under arrest but when Victor asks where the Thing is and Hill answers she doesn't know one of her goons speaks out of turn revealing the Thing to be in Latveria. In the blink of an eye Doom is out of the Helicarrier and Hill is pissed. In Latveria Doom has to deal with some memories of the place until he meets a group of children armed with AK47. He takes away their weapons and tells them to "go to school". Their answer is simply "what school" to which he doesn't have anything to say. Immediately after that Doom finds out a group of military soldiers stealing some crates. He overpowers them and forces them to tell him where a certain general Karadick is. That is the name of the man Doom gave Latveria before leaving. Doom reaches Karadick's base and asks to meet him. He's attacked by a group of doombots but easily overides them. Then he meets Karadick who doesn't seem too pleased to realize Doom has returned. Apparently he resents him for going away and "leaving nothing in your place". Doom claims he appointed Karadik because he agreed to a free State and to "return the land to its people", instead Doom found a mess. Victor spends 5 seconds of his time to find out about a professor named Angela Kror who according to his reaearch would be a good chancellor for latveria and would help build a "proper government structure" allowing the people to "build Latveria for themselves". Karadick doesn't seem thrilled but Doom tells him to fix the situation. Then an explosion is heard coming from Doom's castle and he flies away. The general shoots him a dark look. Doom goes investigating the castle and finds the Thing having lost a lot of his stone skin. Doom tells Grimm he doesn't need to speak and he knows who' there with them. He then greets his mother. End of issue

end of spoilers

A few notes:

-Great art.
-Doom looks cool when dealing with goons and military rabble
-Apparently he's an idiot because he couldn't realize a sudden vacuum in power would cause the collapse of Latverian central government.
-Another cliffhanger at issue's end.

[Iron Maiden]

I'm avoiding the spoiler section for now but about the vacuum in power. IMO this is where Bendis should bring in Kristoff. In Hickman's Fantastic Four, he was regent when Doom was brain damaged in the Fall of the Hulks.

[Abe]

He is not exactly an idiot... He just couldn't realize how much the others are idiots. The blame is on them. Always. (Not sure if that still include Richaaaaaaards!!!)

[theoneandonly]

shouldn't Sharon be dealing with doom given what's happening in Cap agent of hydra? Anyway it just seemed a expository kind of issue phoned in without much effort put into it. Hardly any new developments but just another set up for a dramatic confrontation that will predictably fizzle out if past form is anything to go by.

[davew128]

I'm avoiding the spoiler section for now but about the vacuum in power. IMO this is where Bendis should bring in Kristoff. In Hickman's Fantastic Four, he was regent when Doom was brain damaged in the Fall of the Hulks.

Kristoff was made (and lets be clear, Doom made him what he is) to be Doom's standin/replacement all the way back to Byrne's run.

[Haquim]

Yeah but I'm not sure Kristoff is what Bendis wants. He wanted to show how Latveria went to ruins after Doom left it. Kristoff as a replacement instead of this "brilliant" general would have ruined the that. In fact any effective replacements would have, so he needed an incompetent one.

[Kintor]

I can see the logic behind not designating someone like Kristoff as the interim head of government. Doom wanted to show the world he was making a clean break and stepping down from power in Latveria. To that end, having Kristoff placed in charge would only be counterproductive; it creates the impression that Doom would still really control Latveria thanks to his chosen (and presumably puppet) successor. At least now, with Latveria lying in ruins, no one can deny that Doom is a man of his word...

[Frontier]

I guess it's kind of endearing, in a way, that Doom felt Latveria was prepared enough, that the people and government were ready, to survive without him should he ever leave.

[theoneandonly]

I guess it's kind of endearing, in a way, that Doom felt Latveria was prepared enough, that the people and government were ready, to survive without him should he ever leave.

well it seems a midlife crisis for him where he feels like a change and ups and abdicates his throne to be a super vigilant with the iron aromr motif. Can't give up THAT armor complex so easily.

[Iron Maiden]

Kristoff was made (and lets be clear, Doom made him what he is) to be Doom's standin/replacement all the way back to Byrne's run.

Of course but in recent issues Kristoff's been pretty independent in his thinking, at least in the arc in She Hulk where he wanted to break from his father figure. I always had a bit of a soft spot for him because he's one of the few people Doom has in his inner circle, even though they've had their ups and downs.

I guess it's kind of endearing, in a way, that Doom felt Latveria was prepared enough, that the people and government were ready, to survive without him should he ever leave.

They always seem to mess up too My favorite scene was with those wayward kids and he tells them to "Go to school". He takes a sort of paternal interest in the citizens in that they all seem like children to him. Perhaps you could say it's his own fault for making them so dependent.

[Prof. Warren]

Cool issue. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Maleev would totally rock it on the art but damn this book looks nice.

I don't think Doom's decision to leave Latveria in the hands of Karadick was necessarily a foolish one but clearly Doom can't afford to take his eyes off Latveria for long...

[The Whovian]

I thought this was a good issue but I want to see Victor written as the smartest person on the planet, not as someone who gets caught off guard.

Oh, and I hate the fact that his mother is back. Hopefully, it's a trick or something.

[The Whovian]

Cool issue. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Maleev would totally rock it on the art but damn this book looks nice.

Maleev's art is, as usual, amazing. I wasn't sure how it would look on a book like this, but it's cool. I tend to think his art looks better on street level characters.

[Iron Maiden]

Maleev really carried this issue more so than Bendis IMO. But what was up with Doom's disappearring cape? He looks naked without it.

I thought this was a good issue but I want to see Victor written as the smartest person on the planet, not as someone who gets caught off guard.

Oh, and I hate the fact that his mother is back. Hopefully, it's a trick or something.

That's the one thing I worry about most is how Bendis will portray Cynthia von Doom. I prefer that her death would be left untouched and I hope Bendis doesn't ruin the GN Triumph and Torment by making her into an instrument of evil. It does appear she may be working with the Maker, if future covers are a hint of things to come.

I am glad that Doom was able to reset his Doombots so that they stopped attacking. Byrne's contention was that they would act independently until they were in his presence and then they would immediately switch over being his to command.

[Digifiend]

Of note: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was set at Halloween and guest starred Ironheart in her slim red armor. It's probably safe to say that both Iron Man books are also set several months in the past in relation to Captain America (where Maria has been fired).