Take A Knee For The Monarchy — Reviewing ‘One World Under Doom’ #5

With one move, Doctor Doom became the ruler of the planet Earth. With another, his rule is all but solidified. As Marvel’s latest summer event reaches a half-way point, the reality of One World Under Doom stakes a firm grasp upon forever.

Magic fights, debates, and more are present in the fifth part of the event from Ryan North, R.B. Silva, David Curiel, and Travis Lanham.

Where to even begin?

There is a tale of two stories here in a sense, and I’m not certain how I feel about either one to be honest. So, let’s dive into the visual component and then circle back to the overall story beats. Yeah, that sounds like a solid plan.

It’s damn gorgeous. I mean come on, it’s Silva. What did you expect me to say at this point?

There is a reason this man’s name keeps being attached to big books, the work speaks for itself. So lush, detailed, deep, dynamic, and primed to tackle big superhero epics at all times. There is a tangible energy to the fights as the heroes return to fight beside Doom to pummel Dormammu. Every punch or magical hand wave or power usage has that same visceral impactful feeling from the previous issues.

It feels like this could pour off the page right into our reality and not feel outlandish at all. There is the right amount of whimsical meets realistic on the page.

Even the scenes where characters are deep in entrenched debate feel bigger and bolder than life. The emotional breadth is apparent through the facial and body languages. Showcasing these characters at their finest and their lowest, sometimes simultaneously.

All of the colors meet the same levels, as Curiel taps into the same energy well. Framing much of the sequences in the darker and heavier tones so that the more vibrant and flashy elements of the fantastical pop at greater levels. Matching that vibrancy with a counter level of toned down palette tones to keep the famed world outside our window feelings going. I point back up the aforementioned whimsical meets realistic comment as it still rings true.

Speaking of energies, once more the voices (even the ones I will disagree with later) feel authentic and true. Lanham finds ways to bring emotions and the stakes into every word on the page. They have a solid flow to them as the heroes engage in battle, both physically and verbally at times, making sure to throw in some little modifications here or there to give some more unique voices, because of their altered situations (machines, powers, etc.).

Now, about the whole disagree thing I mentioned.

Thor being out here as the voice advocating for Doom because of Asgard’s monarchy is realistic, but also feels so wrong. Part of it is that this whole discussion feels delayed and kind of predictable. It was clear that this was always the way things were going to go, that the heroes would have to reckon with the fact that Doom is actually doing “good” at the same time as being a selfish power-grabbing ruler. Except, it’s all kind of pointless.

The fact that this isn’t even a line-wide status quo tells you all that you need to know about its longevity, which isn’t a bad thing. It just means that moments like this begin to feel hollow and the event loses a lot of the teeth it’s trying to bear, because they’ve already been plucked ahead of time.

We know that the “forever magic” that Doom uses to keep Dormammu away will not last. The event he tied the magic to, his being the ruler of Earth, will not last. Comic books, especially those at Marvel, love to return to a (mostly old and tired) status quo. Despite Doom bringing education, food, health, prosperity, and other good to people, the heroes will rise up at some point to tear him down. There will be some revelation that will cost him and give them “reason” to make sure he’s taken down.

How do we know? Well the cliffhanger (to be addressed in two months for some reason) has Maria Hill show up to tell us as much. S.H.I.E.L.D. somehow knows what Doom is doing to keep on winning, and she’s here to rally the heroes! What a shocker.

I like what North is doing with Doom overall, and it’s an intriguing concept. Again, I feel like a series just exploring him doing stuff differently with the Sorcerer Supreme power, bouncing off other characters, would have been a better move. While this feels like Doom, it also feels pointless. That could be because not a single book that isn’t part of the tie-in package is touching the fact that Doom is now the ruler of Earth and has been for some time in universe.

A tip of the cap will be given for the fight scenes.

That was solid and fun, but again, the so-called forever magic and the manipulation from Doom, while accurate, felt sigh worthy. So much of it is built to make sure that we never forget that Doom is the supervillain, so that we the reader will cheer his eventual downfall, despite how that means the Marvel version of Earth will be pushed back into the same status quo we know. Where people go hungry, education is underfunded, corporations & governments screw the people over daily, and all the other ills we face.

Just like the Phoenix Five over a decade ago, the only thing more powerful than cosmic or magical abilities is the corporate status quo.

One World Under Doom #5 is now available from Marvel Comics.