He Has Not Come To Bargain — Reviewing ‘One World Under Doom’ #4

And there came a day unlike any other when Earth’s mightiest figure stood alone against a world ending threat. On that day, the world called for Doom.

With the magical spells protecting the Earth missing, the dreaded Dormammu has come for the realm. Every hero, big or small, has been cast to another dimension, leaving the self-proclaimed Emperor and newly crowned Sorcerer Supreme to fight back.

One World Under Doom takes a pivot as Ryan North, R.B. Silva, David Curiel, and Travis Lanham bring the summer event to its halfway point.

In previous reviews, I’ve spoken about this event and the unevenness it has. Things sort of feel slowed down and decompressed to the max. There’s an overall ambition of the Doom ruling the world falling apart some with the implications of what the heroes will be wrecking. Not to mention how it feels much unconnected from the rest of what Marvel is doing, and not in a good way.

Let’s put all of that aside for the moment though.

What a visual spectacle. Let’s begin there.

Here we get a full on slugfest of magical, and physical, variety between two heavy-weight villains.

Silva draws the absolute hell out of it all. The man knows how to do big bold stuff like the rest of us know how to breathe. In previous issues even the moments where characters were just standing around and talking felt epic. The energy is there and the emotional bandwidth we are seeing is tangible at all times.

The stakes feel huge as we see the Dormammu and Doom throw down. With the chosen layout of the panels every blow and impact is felt as Doom’s bones break it creates a very visceral feeling instantly.

Because there are fewer characters, some of the wonky faces I mentioned in the last one are not an issue here. In fact, the final sequence featuring some very familiar faces was spot on and presented a rallying cry type of moment. It really felt that “On your left” portals opening kind of vibe.

Curiel’s colors really help everything hit that high level, allowing a lot of darker and heavier colors to really take hold this time around. It reflects the dark being Dormammu coming to Earth and holding it in a fiery fist. All the magical and super elements, though, are allowed to pop beyond belief on the page. Vibrant color scales serve as a reminder of just what type of fantastical world we’re bearing witness to.

Each side of the scale works together so smoothly while working as a contrast to one another simultaneously.

Two figures with egos the size of the planet itself will always have a lot to say. Lanham makes it all flow and gives the words that extra pop. He really lets the pompous self-aggrandizing ways of the two be felt with every utterance. Their fonts and bubbles are given special treatment or reflections to match. All caps dialogue feels even more urgent by making it even bigger.

Because of the focus of the issue, I can pull back on some of the comments I mentioned above.

There is urgency and power to this issue. Doom’s written so spot on with his motivations and his inability to even utter the word “lose.” He finds a million other ways to indicate that he might be defeated without actually stating the words. Despite the fact that everyone from the Fantastic Four to Squirrel Girl to the hero of the week has taken the steel-clad monarch down before.

North shows off those great character writing chops, really nailing the interactions and overall feeling of this being from a connected universe. Too bad most of the rest of the universe is being published as if this isn’t a thing happening.

This issue also doesn’t help change the fact that this event feels tonally all over the place. As cool as the fight it, there is little reason to not be skeptical of a big bold super fight arriving just in time to distract from the moral implications of the overall plot, which is how the heroes are fighting for the status quo, and not really the “greater good” which Doom speaks about.

Sure, they see not letting Doom rule the world as a good thing (which it is), but ignore that they’ll be dooming (intended) many people to worse status quo lives should they win.

Suddenly pitting the heroes and villain against another bigger threat is a play as old as time. As cool as it was, it still feels like a predictable pivot.

Honestly, this even would have benefitted from more cooking time. Perhaps having Doom have his own series as Sorcerer Supreme, building up his power, having to fight off Dormammu, learning his limits, etc. before reaching the point of being emperor. Show us more of the man with the power and what it’s letting him do. Build up the tension ahead of the predictable move born of Victor Von Doom’s ego.

One World Under Doom #4 is now available from Marvel Comics.