Reviewer: Kevin S. Mahoney
Story Title: The Books of Doomâ€â€Book Two
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Penciled by: Pablo Raimondi
Inked by: Mark Farmer
Colored by: Brian Reber
Lettered by: VC’s Rus Wooton
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
This, the second issue of Dr. Doom’s own miniseries, might be subtitled “Doom, The College Years” if one were flippant enough to assert the claim. Fortunately, the plot of this installment is anything but frippery. Readers witness Von Doom’s initial foray into academia, America, and modern society alongside his first efforts at time travel, the dissolution of interdimensional barriers, and arson. Certain fantastic characters are introduced this issue, though their impact on the young Doom is minimized. While that might seem an improper choice, it’s an interesting decision not to force the lifelong antipathy between Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Dr. Doom right away. The slow construction of a feud that now spans over three decades certainly can be teased through a few issues. Also, the roles of those two Americans on the young Victor would certainly be de-emphasized by the tale’s narrator, the present day monarch of Latveria. So while longtime readers may ache for Doom to tell off Reed or Ben (or they him) it hasn’t happened… yet. Still, their presence in the tale is well done and in character, a remarkable feat of gymnastics (or at least highly flexible and creative writing).
The guts of the remainder of the issue certainly match that particular feat. It’s one thing for readers to learn Doom is an arrogant sociopath. It’s quite another to learn how he became one, without ever once making him appear one dimensional or singularly evil. Combine the slow twist of the crazy knife into Doom’s psyche with his first foray into dating, mad science, luxury living, and his unresolved maternal issues, and there’s more plot here than you can program a robot doppelganger with. The many separate strands of this tale are all given adequate weight and detail, which borders on amazing.
The art of this issue serves the writing well enough. The settings contain adequate regional and period details. The figures all have individual looks and features, with well rendered facial expressions and body language. The more creative set pieces (the interdimensional interlude, the various gizmos shown throughout this segment) have an avant garde visual flair that most mainstream comic books rarely attempt let alone accomplish.
Unfortunately, the performance isn’t flawless. The font used throughout the issue lacks something. The letters P and D are hard to distinguish due to the stubbiness of the characters, and while that never quite mangles the text, certain passages were harder to read than others. A less creative approach to the lettering would have taken little unique flavor out of the installment, but would have made it easier to read. Conversely, some of the color choices in this book are extremely pedestrian. All the longtime readers of Fantastic Four already know that Von Doom will become a green cloaked despot and Richards will develop into the blue-togged brain trust for the FF. Do those same readers need to see Victor compulsively wear green shirts and Reed model nothing but blue ones? In an issue full of daring writing and skillful pencils, these touches seem heavy handed.
