DoomQuest #1 – The Rise of the Doom Engine

Reed Richards has gone too far. Appearing at a prestigious international showcase, Reed Richards unveiled his vanity project: to optimize history. Richards plans to figure out the technology necessary to save trillions of lives through erasing all the time humanity has wasted on war and conflict. Unwilling to allow a world in which history is made in Reed’s image, Doctor Doom begins to concoct his own plan. One that will bring him and Latveria to what he sees as their rightful place of respect in the world.

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Megan and Shawn!

Creative Team

Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Francesco Mobili
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Cory Petit
Cover Artist:Alex Ross

Writing

Megan: Victor Von Doom is a person of priorities. He does whatever he can for what’s important to him, and will stop at nothing until he accomplishes his goals. In this story, it’s all about the betterment of Latveria. Doom knows that Latveria deserves more than it has now, whether it be respect or resources, and he will do anything to get his home what its deserved.

It just so happens that he catches his nemesis on the tv talking about his grand idea of a time machine. Reed Richards says he wants to create a time machine, go back into the past, and rewrite history in what he thinks is best, so no war and no violence. It’s an idea made with good intentions, but Reed doesn’t realize he sparked an idea in Doom’s head. With motivation and ingenuity, Doctor Doom creates the Doom Engine, and all hell breaks loose.

At this point, if it’s Ryan North writing for Doctor Doom, then I know I’m going to love it. No one has understood the character of Doom like North has, in my humblest opinion. North gives so much depth and so much power to the story, perfectly capturing what makes Doom such a compelling and complex character.

Shawn: In the past few years, Ryan North has become my favorite writer to take on Doctor Doom. DoomQuest #1 all but confirms that for me. In this issue, we not only see Doom’s brilliance, but we also see that for everything said about him, Doom is, at his core, a simple man. Doom’s life is simply built on the idea that he is second to no one. North perfectly captures and encapsulates that in these pages.

Through this issue, North not only treats readers to an understanding of Doom’s accomplishments, but within the 20-plus pages establishes most of the key things a reader would need to know about Doom. What makes DoomQuest #1 so interesting is that it’s not just another Doom story, but one that you can pick up with limited knowledge of Doctor Doom or the Fantastic Four and jump right in. North catches a new reader up to the basic level of understanding about Doom’s life and the relationship with the Fantastic Four in a narratively satisfying way.

Art

Megan: Francesco Mobili, Frank D’Armata, and Cory Petit perfectly capture the power of the story and brings it to life through the art in a brilliant way. Mobili and D’Armata put the emotions of the story on full display through the characters whether it be the terror coming from Doom’s associate or Doom himself. The facial expressions throughout the comic practically tells the story itself. Even with Doom’s iconic mask on, Mobili expertly displays his emotions through his eyes. D’Armata works really well off of Mobili’s drawings, having a mutant tone over the vibrant colors of the superheroes.

Shawn: Francesco Mobli and Frank D’Armata captured this issue beautifully. Near the beginning of the issue, Mobli does a beautiful job crafting depth and detail in a single panel as we see Doom surrounded by the people of Latveria. Beyond that, Mobli does a really great job of using modern techniques and technology to establish a Silver Age of comics kind of feel on the pages. Panel after panel, Mobli crafts images reminiscent of the classic Doctor Doom and Fantastic Four art. Frank D’Armata then brings those lines to life with a modern paint job.

D’Armata simply put does outstanding work on this issue. Every color has a place, and every placement is perfect. Doom still feels every bit as connected to the original stories of Doom from Lee and Kirby, with a modern, updated color palette. Cory Petit really did some unique things in this issue and used DoomQuest #1 to remind us of the weight Doom carried, using Doom’s signature font to break out of world bubbles.

Final Thoughts

Megan: 10/10. This was a fantastic issue for Doomquest with the creative team firing on all cylinders. The stakes are high, the story is compelling, and the future is very uncertain for our main character. Consider me extremely excited to see what’s next for Doctor Doom in this run!

Shawn: 10/10. Amazing first issue. If you’re a fan of Doom or a fan of the Fantastic Four this one has to be on your pull list. In one issue, North captures everything that makes the battle between Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom not only one of the best in Marvel Comics, but one of the most enduring struggles across comics history. This issue is power and intrigue in pages that reminds you why Doom has his own font in the world of Marvel.

Overall Grade: 10/10

How was that for a limited series launch? Let us know in the comments.