An Underwhelming Journey’s End — Reviewing ‘One World Under Doom’ #9

For months, the Marvel Universe has found itself within the tight grip of their self-appointed Sorcerer Supreme Emperor Doctor Doom. That iron grip has weakened as a grand sacrifice must be made, with the fate of the world at stake.

At long last the event that existed in its own corner has come to a close with One World Under Doom #9 from Ryan North, R.B. Silva, David Curiel, and Travis Lanham.

-SPOILERS FOLLOW-

What an event this has been.

Anyone that has read, or is willing to glance at, my past reviews will know how much of a roller coaster this has been. A lot of hoops had to be jumped in order to get to this point, some of them very messy when actually inspected deeper.

While Doom’s rule was imposed upon the world, there were things he did that benefitted people. All of that had to be put on him doing evil things, because come the end of the day the heroes of Marvel fight for the status quo. Sure people are suffering, going hungry, being caught in petty wars, buried by capitalism but at least they’re supposedly “free.”

In the end, North rests this whole series on the only thing that Doom has ever shown love and kindness for: Valeria Richards.

Last issue we saw her pretty horrifically killed (nothing like seeing a child cut into a few pieces only partially through shadows). Here it all rests on Doom making a massive sacrifice in order to undo his own magics that kept him from restoring Valeria to life. With that choice, the control of the world and his title of Sorcerer Supreme are renounced, taking the world back to what it was before. Except, after seeing what they could have, the world status is even worse now.

The heroes didn’t win anything in this day. Doom has the last word, calling out the very premise of this event and the heroes themselves. Unfortunately, the book being self-aware of these issues changes nothing- especially because no matter what, it positioned Doom to be the bad guy and that negates anything he has to say.

I get what North was going for but this even was just a long path to very little. Sure there will be a new Sorcerer Supreme (Wanda Maximoff for those wondering and missed the announcements), and Reed Richards has to execute Doom’s will, but this is an event that almost no other book touched. It was contained in its little corner, having little impact on much beyond a few books which tied into or spun out of the event.

Silva has a lot to really delve into with this issue though. Grand vistas, massive beings of power, and a lot of very intimate moments between characters.

Month after month this was the saving grace of the series. There are so many reasons that Silva keeps getting such big assignments for the publisher and this series showcases those reasons. He creates such dynamic dense and detailed work that resonates on every level- layouts that really maximize any emotional or action sequence to their utmost potential. He keeps your eyes moving at all times, both from panel to panel but also to every detail the page might contain.

Making quieter more character based issues feel just as giant as all-out battles is a talent. Not to say that most artists can’t make character based emotional pages work. We see them all the time in comics, and many artists kill it when they get the call. Talking pages though take a bit more to make sure they keep the audience’s attention, undertaken at various levels. Silva is one of the artists who pulls off all of it without a blink or a need to pause.

Matching that energy every time was Curiel, pulling out every single possible stop on the color palette for these issues. He brought a variety of more toned-down neutral colors into play to develop a familiar type of foundation in which to build from. It gave something tangible for the rest of the more vibrant, dark, and more colors to bounce off of and allowing them to seep in and pop even more than they would on their own.

One of the beauties in comic books is the regular marriage of color tones. Those of a more sedate natural level are entwined with the more outlandish vibrant colors which dominate stories with superheroes within them. Costumes, weapons, magics, and more are delivered with beyond the pale power that keeps the stories feeling just a bit away from us, while also wrapping them tightly in this notion of representation of a world much like our own.

It’s the old Marvel “the world outside your window” ideal, which Curiel handles quite well.

A lot rests on the lettering for this issue, because it’s dialogue and caption heavy. A story is being told and characters must react to what has gone down in the aftermath of events. We see and feel the emotional depths from the artwork and overall story direction, with Lanham coming into deliver the final ingredients- sprinkling that lettering spice that is so nice over everything, bringing all the emotions and personality bites to the surface.

Such venom in the exchange between Reed and Doom, feeling so visceral in the dialogue. All of the lettering really on top point in doing what it’s meant to with that Lanham touch.

At the end of the day, this event was full of some intriguing ideas. Unfortunately the nature of being an event, especially one so insular, really hampered those ideas. Chief among them the fact that corporate superheroes are inherently warriors for the capitalistic world status quo- never actually doing much to change it, just protect it and keep it stable.

One World Under Doom #9 is now available from Marvel Comics.