Let me guess.... a deep V neckline?
Doom's Day Has Come! (Let's Read Marvel's Doctor Doom)
- Thread starter Roarian
- Start date
- Comics
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Thanks. I thought he might be but I wasn't sure because I missed the story arc where he was created and just had some of his later appearances.
Also, yeesh, another one: Reed Richards is just evil-prone.
Last edited:
- Location
- France
Was that the time period where Dr Strange wore a mask. I wonder if that design change came because he didn't look like a superhero enough. Though honestly making him look more like a crime fighter is the wrong move in my opinion, because he generally doesn't fight crime since he has bigger things on his plate. Like crimes of magic.No... Just very, very blue.
There was a Council of Reeds that the main 616 Reed ultimately declined to join to stay with his family. They solved problems across the multiverse. That isn't to say that some of their actions weren't questionable, like lobotomizing and imprisoning a bunch of alternate Doctor Dooms. The half-Doom Reed justified it as Doom being that dangerous and he would know better than most.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Yeah, sales were flagging so they tried making him 'more superhero'. They also briefly gave him a 'secret identity'. It didn't help. This was '68 or '69.
Last edited:
- Location
- The Old Dominion
No... Just very, very blue.
Dear god that is almost as bad as when they replaced the golden age Sandman gasmask, hat and trench coat with generic yellow and purple costume.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
I just remembered that even though I didn't catch this particular Fantastic Four story arc, I have been spoiled about some crucial details about Nathaniel Richards a while back:
Last edited:
Kang is not Reed's dad, he's just named after him, as Nathaniel is A: the legendary founder of the post-apocalyptic civilization that produced the utopian era Kang's from, and B: his ancestor (so far as I'm aware, he isn't descended from Reed though).
Last edited:
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
I know he's claimed to be descended from Doom before, but honestly it wouldn't surprise me if he's descended from both Doom* and Reed, Kang is from about 2,000 years in the future, that's enough time for a lot of bloodlines to intermingle, he's probably related to half the people alive in the modern day, but he's not going to be bragging about being related to some barista or Stilt-man or whoever.
*The only surprising part would be Doom actually having children, he seem to prefer appointing people as his heirs to raising them. Reed reproducing is established canon.
Last edited:
- Location
- Netherlands
I mean, there was that one guy from the Beauty and the Beast comics that proclaims he's Doom's son, Alexander Flynn. At least, until Vic shows up and pretty much disowned him for being kind of a screwup. I don't think Doom is ever explicit about whether or not the guy is a blood relative - but he looks like he could be.
There's also Caroline Le Fay, a daughter Doom had with Morgan Le Fay in the middle ages who later travelled to the modern day, as well Franklin and Valeria von Doom, children he had with Susan Storm in the Secret Wars crossover.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
I think I missed Caroline Le Fay existing, but I always thought Valeria Von Doom-Richards was the child of an alternate universe Doom, though I suppose she could be Kang's ancestor, but then he wouldn't be descended from this Doctor Doom.
I was never sure about the authenticity of Flynn's claims. I got the impression maybe his mom lied to him about who his dad was.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's a different Valeria. During the recent Secret Wars event, when Doom stole the powers of the Beyonders and became ruler of all creation, he married an alternate version of Susan Storm from a world without Reed Richards. They had 2 children, Franklin and Valeria.
Last edited:
- Location
- Netherlands
I have to wonder at those names being the same as Reed's kids. Like, Valeria I can see - Doom was the one to name that one in the first place. Franklin, though? I presume Reed caved to his wife's demands and she came up with it, and Doom was similarly helpless before the new mother's demands.
Frank is named for Sue's dad, and Doom was probably being petty, wanting Reed's family for his own.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Dr. Doom has an interesting pattern of envy-hatred when it comes to his enemies.
Consider the Latverian nobility. Doctor Doom hated the Latverian nobility for their tyranny and oppression, for taking away his family and everything that he felt was rightfully his. At the same time, he envied them for their power, their luxuries, the grandeur of their titles, all of which he felt he deserved more than them.
As a result, when he took over Latveria, he quickly adopted all the trapping of the very nobles who he fought against as a teenager. If anything, he doubles down on the opulence and demands of rank, to overcompensate for what he lacked growing up. At the same time, he tries to be a benevolent monarch, treating his people the way that he feels the nobles should have treated them in the first place. And he tells himself that everything he is doing is right, by citing examples of how much better he is at ruling then the autocrats he replaced.
It makes sense he would extend this to his conflicts with the Fantastic Four. On the one hand, he loath Richards for standing between him and the power and acclaim he feels that he rightfully deserves. At the same time, he secretly envies him for his happiness, and the family that loves him, things Doom feels he has been denied (by Richards, if only because he blames Reed for the scaring of his face).
Consider the Latverian nobility. Doctor Doom hated the Latverian nobility for their tyranny and oppression, for taking away his family and everything that he felt was rightfully his. At the same time, he envied them for their power, their luxuries, the grandeur of their titles, all of which he felt he deserved more than them.
As a result, when he took over Latveria, he quickly adopted all the trapping of the very nobles who he fought against as a teenager. If anything, he doubles down on the opulence and demands of rank, to overcompensate for what he lacked growing up. At the same time, he tries to be a benevolent monarch, treating his people the way that he feels the nobles should have treated them in the first place. And he tells himself that everything he is doing is right, by citing examples of how much better he is at ruling then the autocrats he replaced.
It makes sense he would extend this to his conflicts with the Fantastic Four. On the one hand, he loath Richards for standing between him and the power and acclaim he feels that he rightfully deserves. At the same time, he secretly envies him for his happiness, and the family that loves him, things Doom feels he has been denied (by Richards, if only because he blames Reed for the scaring of his face).
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Question: In this Let's read, will you be covering the Chaos Engine Trilogy by Steven Roman? I know it is a trilogy of novels, but I think it is canon for Earth-616. And it contains a lot of fantastic Doom material, including another view of what the world would be like under Doom's rule, and a memorable moment where Doom battles one of the most famous figures in British science fiction TV history.
Last edited:
- Location
- Netherlands
I might have a look to see if I can find those books, it'd be an interesting thing to give a read at least...
2099 - Doom 2099 #13 - Harvest of a Quiet Eye
- Location
- Netherlands
Doom 2099 #13 (January 1994)
Cover
Huh, this is a pretty cool cover. Someone else gets to be a giant background guy for a change, this time! Doom himself seems in a bad way on this cover - entirely engulfed in weird vines that presumably belong to the creepy-looking face in the background there - the titular Necrotek, if I can make a wild guess. I wonder if this is another virtual reality type situation, or if we're actually dealing with some sort of cybernetic plant-being, since there's clear hints of technology in those vines - like they're half-cybernetic. That, and the baddie has 'tek' in the name, and judging by William Shatner's rather underwhelming series of TekWar books, that's definitely a future sci-fi thing! I wonder if everything will be plas-something-or-other?
Story Overview
Harvest of a Quiet Eye
We start this issue with a gorgeously illustrated page depicting the workstation of the mystic Paulo Emerich Vasari. He's constructed a computer that seems part cathedral and part H. R. Giger painting, full of elaborate detail in every corner and bearing a large medieval volume of magical lore on a lectern. After stealing the only copy of Castiglione's 'Geometries of Shadow' from the Vatican, it seems Vasari broke its coded twelfth-century Latin to discover a treasure trove of arcane mathematical puzzles inside, all of them keys to other-dimensional energies, or magic. Hungry to obtain such power himself, he then built his baroque computer to process the geometric conundrums inside the book, letting the translation and transcription of the puzzles take over his entire life.
Now, Vasari enters the final equation into his computer, anticipating a great supernatural reward - and then the computer violently explodes in his face, piercing him with beams of energy as a weird demon-thing exits from the device. 'Human, I thank you,' the creature states. 'You have freed me from an eternity of isolation.' It seems the being that was locked away behind those arcane puzzles was called through a plane it does not recognize, a lightning-filled ether that appears to contain no magic - cyberspace. It can still draw on the power of its intricate web to sustain itself, but it needs to find further sustenance and physical form, and it requires flesh to anchor itself to the physical plane. Vasari's flesh will do, and it hijacks his body. The creature soon has form once more - and with form comes purpose! Necrotek takes shape from waves of green energy and declares that it's at long last time to seek out the power of the Vishanti, the power which banished it from this plane in the first place, and to claim it for its own! The final image is the amulet once worn by Doctor Strange in the mainline comics - the legendary Eye of Agamotto...
We move to the hills of Latveria, to a hidden Byzantine monastery where a little known but extensive collection of mystical tomes and manuscripts is maintained by the sect's last surviving brother, Theodoro. Doom is there to visit with Vox at his side, admitting that he was sure he'd exhausted all of Laveria's mystical knowledge a century ago, long before his future rebirth - so how could this entire library have escaped his notice? Theodoro explains that his order has long maintained a strict vow of secrecy, and the only reason Doom is even here right now is because Vox vouched for him - the little mystic's judgment carries greater weight than his physical age would suggest.
Doom picks up a book called the 'Lemurian Gospels' from a shelf and comments that he thought that volume existed only in legend, but Theodoro demands he hand it over immediately - there are passages in there that are far too dangerous for any but the most accomplished sorcerers to view. Doom, miffed, reminds the man that he's no mere novice. Theodoro scoffs at this claim, saying that he's well aware of the mystical hubris of Victor von Doom, who once challenged the archdemon Mephisto for the soul of his mother - but Doom is at the library to find ways to restore his fragmented memory, and he of all people should know the risks of practicing magic without a full presence of body and mind.
Doom acknowledges that his past is indeed clouded, and that he desires more clarity. Theodoro looks over at Vox, who is playing with a statuette of a dragon before animating it to fly around, and agrees to help Doom in this quest - but only because the kid has conveyed that Doom will be a force for change in this chaotic age. He trusts the wisdom of one who commands one of the Eyes of Agamotto!
Doom is confused at this statement, admitting he only knows of one such Eye. Theodoro chuckles and mocks Doom's limited mystical knowledge in this regard, explaining that Agamotto, one third of the undying Vishanti, created a total of three eyes to represent each of his spheres of might - one for power, one for truth, and one for prescience. The three Eyes of Agamotto have appeared and disappeared over the centuries, and the last mystic to hold all three at once was Caius of Lacedaemon, who bound demons in the time of the Peloponnesian war. Doom asks if Theodoro knows how Vox obtained his amulet, and the man suspects the amulet found Vox instead - for the kid is a nexus around whom many forces will gather in the coming century, and perhaps he's even responsible for Doom's own return. Doom doubts that last part, but he has no real clue what truly happened.
The mystic gestures Doom over to his computer, hoping to use it to find a solution to Doom's amnesia, and the monarch gets a little offended at the thought of reducing the ancient magical arts to a mere digital database. Theodoro replies that in these future times, there are some who practice a synthesis of magic and technology called technomancy, so he shouldn't be so quick to judge. Magic always adapts to the cultural syntax of the era, he explains, and since they now live in an era of technology, the mystics also moved on. In any case, in this monastery the computers serve as a librarian's aid to cross-reference knowledge from the volumes it contains, and nothing more. Theodoro turns on his computer's monitor to demonstrate, but the screen stays stubbornly black - and then it begins heating up! Doom tells the librarian to stand back, but he's too late with his warning as the screen explodes into light, glass… and luminous green tendrils.
A mass of voluminous tentacles smashes through from the other side of the screen, an outgrowth of vine-like protrusions as depicted on the cover. Once again, Giger comes to mind as they grasp Theodoro tightly. How foolish, the creature from Vasari's book states, to map the kinetic patterns of the place they call cyberspace without expecting elemental forces to be drawn into its ether - its electronic pathways entwine the physical world and give the creature an easy path to its quarry!
Doom warns Vox to stay behind him, realizing that the digital monster is using Theodoro to gain itself a new host body. Reforming into a single green-striped form, the creature claims it has been called by many names in the infernal flames, but in this place where ectoplasm melds with electronics and wraps around flesh, it may be called Necrotek. He's here for the first of Agamotto's accursed eyes!
Recognizing the amulet that's hanging around Vox's neck as the Eye he seeks, Necrotek is delighted that the keeper is a mere child - it's been eons since he last consumed such innocent blood! Vox summons a magical shield to protect himself and Doom, and the latter reflects that Vox already used his healing magic to get Doom back on his feet in the first issue of this series, and now he shields them both from this demon's onslaught. He acknowledges that Vox deserves his help, but he isn't sure he's currently prepared to face off with a threat of mystical origin for the reasons that Theodoro gave before. As such, Doom tells Vox not to waste energy protecting him - he should only protect himself!
Momentarily distracted by Doom's selfless statement, Vox is taken by surprise when Necrotek uses his magic to seemingly shatter reality and grasp Vox from behind with a disembodied arm. Caius the Spartan, Necrotek declares boldly, once required all three of the Eyes to exile him from this plane, so what hope does the kid have with only one? He again demands possession of the Eye, and in return he promises to grant Vox a painless and true death! Enticing offer, that. When the demon goes to grab the amulet by force, though, the Eye of Agamotto vanishes from between Necrotek's fingers, fading into nothingness as if it was never even there.
Necrotek drops Vox and declares that he knows the radiant energy of the Eyes too well to be fooled - it's still around, somewhere! He turns and spots the amulet again, now hanging around Doom's neck instead. What is this, some kind of game? Doom understands what Vox did, however - by hanging the amulet around Doom's neck, Vox can now guide Doom's hands in spellcasting, adding his own incomplete powers to Vox's own. Doom raises his hands and tries to bind the demon with their combined magical power, calling on the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to do so much like Doctor Strange usually does.
Unfortunately, the demon almost immediately breaks free of the chains and declares that such restraints would never hold one who swam the torrents of blood in the epoch of Sklar! Whatever that means. He also knocks a brazier over in his ire, which lights the poor library on fire around them. Necrotek announces that he has become a creature of science and magic due to being summoned through a computer, and the archaic gestures remembered by child sorcerers and their metal nursemaids won't hold him back anymore! Ouch, Doom, burn! Necrotek demands surrender, and he'll even let them witness his glorious ascension! Doom strides closer to the demon, admitting that he might well be outmatched by his foe - but only for the moment! With that he pulls a burning oriental rug from the wall, dropping it on top of Necrotek to distract him while he vanishes by phasing straight down through the floor using the intangibility technology he installed back in Doom 2099 #3...
A continent away, on the docks of Hong Kong, we catch up with Fortune and her entourage, who have recently arrived there by plane. Vitaly Morkovkin, the horny Russian pilot, apologizes for the fact that their arrival wasn't quite as secret as promised, since they're now facing a squadron of assassins. A quartet of demon-masked killers surround them, and Fortune decides that clearly someone really doesn't want her to find her brother. One of the attackers says, in Chinese, that Fortune's ally Lei Fong shouldn't have thought she could return unnoticed - their contacts in Moscow spotted her with the Russian. They should not have trusted Morkovkin, as his smuggling routes are well-known to Feng Huang! In response, Lei Fong kicks him in the face hard enough to knock him out, and tells his unconscious body that Feng Huang should tell her errand boys not to talk so much.
Morkovkin goes to grab a gun from the fallen attacker, criticizing himself for not using an alternate airstrip this time, and shoots one of the other masked ninjas in the face. Fortune kicks a third off the pier, telling him that her master should sell some proper fighters next time. She thinks to herself that it's crazy she came here with only a woman she doesn't know and a crazy Russian as companions - but she'd do anything to get to Kaz. The final masked foe charges with an electrically charged whip, but Lei Fong intercepts it with her bare hands and takes the voltage without flinching. The masked man states that he heard Lei Fong was wounded - how is she withstanding the weapon's power!? Lei Fong wonders if Feng Huang didn't tell them ahead of time... She's not human! She then pulls the whip-wielder closer by tugging on his weapon, and kills him with a vicious chop to the throat.
In the aftermath, Morkovkin marvels at her martial skill while Lei Fong warns him not to get too close to the victims - Feng Huang doesn't leave evidence of her failures. Sure enough, the dead assassins soon burst into flames of their own accord, leaving no trace behind...
Back with Doom, we see him pass through the floor of the monastery into the catacombs below, admitting to himself that he can't have bought himself very much time with this trick since Necrotek is still obsessed with gaining access to the mystical amulet around his neck. Doom understands its allure all too well, as it is a powerful and seductive talisman with many powers. Had he known that others existed besides the one Doctor Strange held, Doom might have become Sorcerer Supreme himself! Ah, but such idle speculation wastes time. Vox transferred the amulet to him knowing that he was better prepared to play cat and mouse with the demon, but that doesn't mean he likes being hunted. Doom quickly heads over to a nearby computer, accessing its information database for details about Necrotek, and finds various pictures and its traditional demonic name from before it was digitized into its new form - Nekroteque, Possessor of Souls, Host of the Broken Sphere. There's also notes on Caius of Lacedaemon, the demon plague of Sparta, and the binding spell that once sealed Necrotek away. Bonus points for giving the computer a neat stylized UI.
The demon soon enters the catacombs behind Doom, asking him if he really thought the parlor tricks of science would hide him - von Doom? Doom asks how the demon knows his name, and he helpfully explains that the memories of Theodoro became Necrotek's own once his body was possessed, and now he knows everything! Indeed, he can provide Doom with some of the past that so eludes him, since it seems Theodoro was holding a few things back... To demonstrate, he conjures an image of an armored woman, declaring that it's a tragedy that Doom lost that which he once held so dear! Doom, shocked at the sudden image that appears before him, spills a name: 'Margaretta!' Necrotek names her as the woman who loved Doom, redeemed him, and then finally cursed him. How infuriating it must be not to remember her touch on his scarred face! He again asks for the amulet, and in exchange he'll deliver Doom his lost life…
Furiously denying the enticing offer, Doom starts blasting Necrotek, declaring that he's dealt with hellspawn like him before - and once was more than enough! Never again! Doom's power bolts actually seem to harm Necrotek, much to the demon's dismay, and Doom explains that since the demon now owes his life to a combination of magic and science, that makes him vulnerable to Doom's 'parlor tricks' after all! Necrotek, realizing the implications, realizes that doesn't make him quite as vulnerable as it does Doom - for the demon can now possess Doom's technological armor, not just the man himself! Necrotek dissolves into tentacles again to assault Doom, who discovers that the extensive defenses he installed in the wake of Fever's assault aren't stopping the demon at all! Ah, shit!
With a flash of light, the Eye of Agamotto lights up and burns Necrotek through its sheer proximity, sending the demon screaming away from Doom in a manner reminiscent of how Doctor Strange tends to use the thing. A pox on Agamotto and all his eyes! Necrotek realizes that while Doom is still the one wearing the amulet, the person really controlling it is Vox, and he cannot wrest it from the mechanical man until he deals with the child first. Necrotek then stalks off to hunt the kid down, and Doom yells out Vox's name in a panic.
Elsewhere, in cyberspace, we catch up with Duke Stratosphere as he gallops around the digital wastelands on his robot horse Chaos, investigating an ominous portent on the fringes of that world. His colleague Baron Samedi apparently told him that parts of the wastelands were shifting and disappearing lately, and while normally that kind of instability wouldn't be much of a concern so far from inhabited regions of the net, this isn't a normal shift. The very ground beneath him suddenly fragments, and in very Necrotek-colored undulations, the ground explodes into a fountain of green. Whatever this weird stuff is, it's eating away at the very fabric of cyberspace like an acid. Duke has a very bad feeling about it…
Back at the center of the vandalized, burning library in Latveria, we see Necrotek looming over the floating form of Vox, who doesn't let out a peep even as Necrotek threatens to tear his soul apart. No last words, no pleas for mercy, no anguished sobs? Very well, then, muteness it is. Vox will have plenty of time to scream in the nether planes, for his purity has no place in the world to come!
He should be glad that he will not see the age of torment and corruption Necrotek will unleash once he takes possession of all three of Agamotto's eyes! Doom rushes into the room, loudly yelling at Necrotek to stop - oddly, the demon is glad to see him. He saved Necrotek the trouble of seeking him out again after he dealt with the boy. Doom, apparently out of options, offers Necrotek the Eye if he'll let Vox live - there's no Time Stone, but this seems weirdly familiar! The skeptical demon points out that Doom claimed he didn't deal with hellspawn just a few minutes earlier, but Doom morosely responds that he has no other choice.
Necrotek quickly grabs the artifact from Doom's hand before he can reconsider, rejoicing that the Eye is finally his - look how it shudders in his grip! It recognizes superior power. Now begins an era of chaos that will make even the age of Yog N'Grith pale in comparison! He shall poison the earth, dry up the oceans, darken the sky…!
'You will do nothing,' Doom states coldly, as a screen behind him lights up with a shape last seen when he was looking up information about Necrotek on the computer. The demon flinches back as he recognizes the symbol - it's the Circle of Caius, the very binding spell that first locked him away in another dimension. But Doom could not have known about such a thing! Doom dryly points out that they're in a library. He looked it up. Caius recorded the method by which he bound and banished Necrotek in the first place, and while Doom doesn't have three Eyes to power that spell, he has something that's almost as useful - a way to directly place the image within every aspect of the world Necrotek is currently channeling himself through, cyberspace! Thus, there is but one way the demon can leave - back the way he came, back to the grey lands where he was bound! Necrotek screams as he is unmade, swirling away with a final declaration that he will return, von Dooooooom...! He won't.
In the wake of the spell, the Eye of Agamotto tumbles to the floor at Doom's feet, inert. Doom notes that there is much he could do with such power - so very much. Then he picks it up, and hands the Eye back to Vox, to whom it belongs. In response to this show of faith, for the first and only time, Vox speaks, saying: 'Thank you.' Doom looks back at the child, his inexpression impossible to read behind his metal mask.
Far away, in foreshadowing land, the Guardian Reborn opens his eyes, and his gaze burns in all directions - this is the Aesir Heimdall. He senses the wind shifting directions by a fraction of a degree, hears the muffled footsteps of a cat padding through the noise generators that keep the leviathan he's on airborne. He tastes toxins dissolved in the rain carried from thousands of miles away. Hyper-aware, he stands vigilant at the Rainbow Bridge of the floating city of Valhalla, awaiting the arrival of those who would violate the sanctity of the hallowed structure. Awaiting those who would challenge the gods… He's awaiting a crossover event we'll soon cover.
The final quote, this time, is from William Wordsworth. 'In common things that round us lie some random truths he can impart - the harvest of a quiet eye, that broods and sleeps on his own heart.' It's from a poem that's talking about how great poets are, so I suspect that it's mostly here for the 'eye' pun.
Rating & Comments
Well, this was a pleasant surprise, wasn't it? Not every day that you read a filler-like one-shot issue that is entirely detached from the main storyline and has no real connection to anything ongoing… but it's actually good! This odd one-and-done comic features an interestingly designed villain who has some pretty unique features, taps into a part of Doom's backstory that has largely remained unaddressed in 2099, and even includes some nice character beats for our illustrious monarch! I have to admit, I didn't expect to find an issue like this wedged in between a couple of crappy fillers and a crossover event issue…
Firstly, the villain Necrotek is intriguing and unique to this continuity. His origin is interesting, since he is an ancient demon sealed away eons ago, only to be unleashed by the modern equivalent of a wizard who uses computers in lieu of paper books of arcane lore. The entire concept of magic evolving with the cultural zeitgeist to incorporate things like cyberspace or digital code into its mechanics is pretty neat, as is the idea that a demon summoned through such means also evolves to adapt traits of these new aspects of magic. Necrotek's name updates to sound more sci-fi instead of fantasy, and his strengths and weaknesses adjust to incorporate the new context - that's all very neat, conceptually! I was particularly impressed by the fact that Necrotek's new digital aspect allowed him to possess technology as well as people, since the two disciplines of magic and science are much more merged in 2099 than they were in the past. That's clever!
Secondly, Doom is in fine form in this issue too - he is proactive about finding means to fix his memory problems since after attempting to deal with them digitally, he's now attempting to find a magical solution through his connections with the Zefiro. Then, when his ally Vox comes under threat, Doom reveals an actual degree of empathy for the youth - I can't read him willingly foregoing Vox's protection as anything but self-sacrificial to some degree or another. He didn't, as far as I can tell, have any ulterior motives for that decision. Then, when Vox entrusts the Eye of Agamotto to him, Doom not only uses the opportunity to buy Vox some time instead of leaving with the prize, but he even rushes to his aid and apparently offers up the Eye to spare the boy's life, pulling a Doctor Strange in Infinity War. Now, that was obviously a trick, but the fact that Doom willingly handed the amulet back to Vox afterwards when he could just as easily have kept it suggests that Doom actually does care for Vox's welfare.
Vox is a sweet character, that I wish we saw more of - this issue really only has five characters in total, and two of them are wizards who get killed pretty quickly, so the writers were forced to actually figure out how to convey what a mute character is thinking. Doom and Necrotek end up taking most of the text boxes, but Vox does show character in his actions - for one, he invites Doom to a secluded and hidden library of mystical arts, then protects him with a powerful magical barrier at the expense of his own safety, and even entrusts him with the Eye of Agamotto despite the inherent lure of such a powerful artifact. When all is said and done, Vox also uses his voice for the first (and only) time in the entire series, explicitly to thank Doom for his assistance in defeating Necrotek. Between healing Doom in the first issue of this series and his actions here, the boy really pulls his weight for such a tiny and relatively unassuming member of the Zefiro clan. It's too bad that a lot of those implications that Vox has a grand future as the next Sorcerer Supreme or significant figure are never really explored - I'm pretty sure he rarely pops up again after this issue.
There is one notable cutaway from the main story in this issue, and it's a fairly important one - we follow up on Fortune's journey to China to find her missing brother Kaz. This issue mostly just depicts a fight scene between her and her companions versus the hired goons of 'Feng Huang', whom we have yet to meet, but is apparently a woman that recent ally Lei Fong is familiar with. We get some hints of what's going on - Lei Fong is apparently invulnerable to electricity because she's 'not human', in her own words, while Feng Huang's minions are all equipped with some sort of self-destruct device which burns their bodies away to cover up their presence. Since we don't really get much more right now, I'll hold off on more in-depth discussion of her entire subplot until that gets center stage a few issues down the line.
I already mentioned Doom's relatively compassionate portrayal in this issue, with him showing actual distress at Vox being in danger. It can easily be read as him perceiving himself in Vox's debt for saving his life a few issues ago, or perhaps some sort of mutual understanding due to sharing knowledge of magic, but it's hard to dismiss that this is the first time Doom seems to have any real understanding with his future Zefiro kin. His relationship with Wire is much more master and servant, and he and Fortune are actively adversarial half the time - Vox gets Doom, and vice versa. As I said, I wish he stuck around more. Aside from this, we also get another breadcrumb for Doom's history, in the form of Margaretta. Apparently she's a woman from Doom's lost past, and possibly a love interest, but Doom has only vague memories of her. As such, we get minimal indications of what her whole deal is, beyond that she's important. Puzzle pieces...
Something else I have to really mention about this particular comic is the art. The artist, Enrique Alcatena from Argentina, clearly had a lot of fun here and a unique style he only rarely showed off in mainstream publications - he did some issues of Batman for DC, some issues of Conan for Marvel, and that's about it for the big two. There's some excellent shots here of Necrotek, as well as the baroque computer at the start, and a host of other things like Doom's armor or even Vox's clothes. They are honestly gorgeous in how they are depicted, and I wish the artist stuck around for more issues. There's some highly detailed and intricate images here with a vaguely Mesoamerican flair to some of the stylistic choices, mixed with an aesthetic of electronic circuitry - it's pretty great. There's even an irrelevant aside showing off Duke Stratosphere for a page which also looks cool - perhaps that character was included only to show off that mechanical horse? Who knows…
In summary, I have to give this issue the first score above 3 stars in a good while - it was genuinely entertaining rather than just tolerable or okay. Doom shows off he's more than a total bastard, Vox gets a line, the villain is intriguing and it makes sense how he's ultimately defeated here, and the art props it all up. Since it's above average for the title but is mostly an irrelevant filler one-shot that likely will never be directly referenced, save for that Margaretta bit, I'll give it a nice four stars! Next time, another filler issue - will it be similarly good? No. No it won't.
Quotations from Chairman Doom
Thoughts: 'Vox's healing magics saved me from injuries I suffered at the hands of Tiger Wylde. Now he shields us both from this demon's onslaught. The boy deserves my help, but I fear I am unprepared to face a threat of mystical origin.'
Doom: "Vox - do not waste your energy protecting me. Defend yourself."
"I admit to being outmatched - but only for the moment."
"No!!! I have dealt with your kind before. I will not deal with hellspawn ever again."
"The Eye of Agamotto. There is much I could do with its great power. So very much. But... the Eye belongs to you, Vox."
Art Spotlight
To appreciate how much detail the artist uses, this entirely irrelevant decorative detail of the library is an intricate as fuck sculpture of some mysterious demon. I have no idea if this is a depiction of an actual character from mystic Marvel lore, but it should be!
I also appreciate the image of Necrotek getting banished back through the seal that originally imprisoned him - especially the way the text swirls around the center like the demon itself. Honestly, most of the art in this issue is pretty appealing to me.
Cover
Huh, this is a pretty cool cover. Someone else gets to be a giant background guy for a change, this time! Doom himself seems in a bad way on this cover - entirely engulfed in weird vines that presumably belong to the creepy-looking face in the background there - the titular Necrotek, if I can make a wild guess. I wonder if this is another virtual reality type situation, or if we're actually dealing with some sort of cybernetic plant-being, since there's clear hints of technology in those vines - like they're half-cybernetic. That, and the baddie has 'tek' in the name, and judging by William Shatner's rather underwhelming series of TekWar books, that's definitely a future sci-fi thing! I wonder if everything will be plas-something-or-other?
Story Overview
Harvest of a Quiet Eye
We start this issue with a gorgeously illustrated page depicting the workstation of the mystic Paulo Emerich Vasari. He's constructed a computer that seems part cathedral and part H. R. Giger painting, full of elaborate detail in every corner and bearing a large medieval volume of magical lore on a lectern. After stealing the only copy of Castiglione's 'Geometries of Shadow' from the Vatican, it seems Vasari broke its coded twelfth-century Latin to discover a treasure trove of arcane mathematical puzzles inside, all of them keys to other-dimensional energies, or magic. Hungry to obtain such power himself, he then built his baroque computer to process the geometric conundrums inside the book, letting the translation and transcription of the puzzles take over his entire life.
Now, Vasari enters the final equation into his computer, anticipating a great supernatural reward - and then the computer violently explodes in his face, piercing him with beams of energy as a weird demon-thing exits from the device. 'Human, I thank you,' the creature states. 'You have freed me from an eternity of isolation.' It seems the being that was locked away behind those arcane puzzles was called through a plane it does not recognize, a lightning-filled ether that appears to contain no magic - cyberspace. It can still draw on the power of its intricate web to sustain itself, but it needs to find further sustenance and physical form, and it requires flesh to anchor itself to the physical plane. Vasari's flesh will do, and it hijacks his body. The creature soon has form once more - and with form comes purpose! Necrotek takes shape from waves of green energy and declares that it's at long last time to seek out the power of the Vishanti, the power which banished it from this plane in the first place, and to claim it for its own! The final image is the amulet once worn by Doctor Strange in the mainline comics - the legendary Eye of Agamotto...
We move to the hills of Latveria, to a hidden Byzantine monastery where a little known but extensive collection of mystical tomes and manuscripts is maintained by the sect's last surviving brother, Theodoro. Doom is there to visit with Vox at his side, admitting that he was sure he'd exhausted all of Laveria's mystical knowledge a century ago, long before his future rebirth - so how could this entire library have escaped his notice? Theodoro explains that his order has long maintained a strict vow of secrecy, and the only reason Doom is even here right now is because Vox vouched for him - the little mystic's judgment carries greater weight than his physical age would suggest.
Doom picks up a book called the 'Lemurian Gospels' from a shelf and comments that he thought that volume existed only in legend, but Theodoro demands he hand it over immediately - there are passages in there that are far too dangerous for any but the most accomplished sorcerers to view. Doom, miffed, reminds the man that he's no mere novice. Theodoro scoffs at this claim, saying that he's well aware of the mystical hubris of Victor von Doom, who once challenged the archdemon Mephisto for the soul of his mother - but Doom is at the library to find ways to restore his fragmented memory, and he of all people should know the risks of practicing magic without a full presence of body and mind.
Doom acknowledges that his past is indeed clouded, and that he desires more clarity. Theodoro looks over at Vox, who is playing with a statuette of a dragon before animating it to fly around, and agrees to help Doom in this quest - but only because the kid has conveyed that Doom will be a force for change in this chaotic age. He trusts the wisdom of one who commands one of the Eyes of Agamotto!
Doom is confused at this statement, admitting he only knows of one such Eye. Theodoro chuckles and mocks Doom's limited mystical knowledge in this regard, explaining that Agamotto, one third of the undying Vishanti, created a total of three eyes to represent each of his spheres of might - one for power, one for truth, and one for prescience. The three Eyes of Agamotto have appeared and disappeared over the centuries, and the last mystic to hold all three at once was Caius of Lacedaemon, who bound demons in the time of the Peloponnesian war. Doom asks if Theodoro knows how Vox obtained his amulet, and the man suspects the amulet found Vox instead - for the kid is a nexus around whom many forces will gather in the coming century, and perhaps he's even responsible for Doom's own return. Doom doubts that last part, but he has no real clue what truly happened.
The mystic gestures Doom over to his computer, hoping to use it to find a solution to Doom's amnesia, and the monarch gets a little offended at the thought of reducing the ancient magical arts to a mere digital database. Theodoro replies that in these future times, there are some who practice a synthesis of magic and technology called technomancy, so he shouldn't be so quick to judge. Magic always adapts to the cultural syntax of the era, he explains, and since they now live in an era of technology, the mystics also moved on. In any case, in this monastery the computers serve as a librarian's aid to cross-reference knowledge from the volumes it contains, and nothing more. Theodoro turns on his computer's monitor to demonstrate, but the screen stays stubbornly black - and then it begins heating up! Doom tells the librarian to stand back, but he's too late with his warning as the screen explodes into light, glass… and luminous green tendrils.
A mass of voluminous tentacles smashes through from the other side of the screen, an outgrowth of vine-like protrusions as depicted on the cover. Once again, Giger comes to mind as they grasp Theodoro tightly. How foolish, the creature from Vasari's book states, to map the kinetic patterns of the place they call cyberspace without expecting elemental forces to be drawn into its ether - its electronic pathways entwine the physical world and give the creature an easy path to its quarry!
Doom warns Vox to stay behind him, realizing that the digital monster is using Theodoro to gain itself a new host body. Reforming into a single green-striped form, the creature claims it has been called by many names in the infernal flames, but in this place where ectoplasm melds with electronics and wraps around flesh, it may be called Necrotek. He's here for the first of Agamotto's accursed eyes!
Recognizing the amulet that's hanging around Vox's neck as the Eye he seeks, Necrotek is delighted that the keeper is a mere child - it's been eons since he last consumed such innocent blood! Vox summons a magical shield to protect himself and Doom, and the latter reflects that Vox already used his healing magic to get Doom back on his feet in the first issue of this series, and now he shields them both from this demon's onslaught. He acknowledges that Vox deserves his help, but he isn't sure he's currently prepared to face off with a threat of mystical origin for the reasons that Theodoro gave before. As such, Doom tells Vox not to waste energy protecting him - he should only protect himself!
Momentarily distracted by Doom's selfless statement, Vox is taken by surprise when Necrotek uses his magic to seemingly shatter reality and grasp Vox from behind with a disembodied arm. Caius the Spartan, Necrotek declares boldly, once required all three of the Eyes to exile him from this plane, so what hope does the kid have with only one? He again demands possession of the Eye, and in return he promises to grant Vox a painless and true death! Enticing offer, that. When the demon goes to grab the amulet by force, though, the Eye of Agamotto vanishes from between Necrotek's fingers, fading into nothingness as if it was never even there.
Necrotek drops Vox and declares that he knows the radiant energy of the Eyes too well to be fooled - it's still around, somewhere! He turns and spots the amulet again, now hanging around Doom's neck instead. What is this, some kind of game? Doom understands what Vox did, however - by hanging the amulet around Doom's neck, Vox can now guide Doom's hands in spellcasting, adding his own incomplete powers to Vox's own. Doom raises his hands and tries to bind the demon with their combined magical power, calling on the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to do so much like Doctor Strange usually does.
Unfortunately, the demon almost immediately breaks free of the chains and declares that such restraints would never hold one who swam the torrents of blood in the epoch of Sklar! Whatever that means. He also knocks a brazier over in his ire, which lights the poor library on fire around them. Necrotek announces that he has become a creature of science and magic due to being summoned through a computer, and the archaic gestures remembered by child sorcerers and their metal nursemaids won't hold him back anymore! Ouch, Doom, burn! Necrotek demands surrender, and he'll even let them witness his glorious ascension! Doom strides closer to the demon, admitting that he might well be outmatched by his foe - but only for the moment! With that he pulls a burning oriental rug from the wall, dropping it on top of Necrotek to distract him while he vanishes by phasing straight down through the floor using the intangibility technology he installed back in Doom 2099 #3...
A continent away, on the docks of Hong Kong, we catch up with Fortune and her entourage, who have recently arrived there by plane. Vitaly Morkovkin, the horny Russian pilot, apologizes for the fact that their arrival wasn't quite as secret as promised, since they're now facing a squadron of assassins. A quartet of demon-masked killers surround them, and Fortune decides that clearly someone really doesn't want her to find her brother. One of the attackers says, in Chinese, that Fortune's ally Lei Fong shouldn't have thought she could return unnoticed - their contacts in Moscow spotted her with the Russian. They should not have trusted Morkovkin, as his smuggling routes are well-known to Feng Huang! In response, Lei Fong kicks him in the face hard enough to knock him out, and tells his unconscious body that Feng Huang should tell her errand boys not to talk so much.
Morkovkin goes to grab a gun from the fallen attacker, criticizing himself for not using an alternate airstrip this time, and shoots one of the other masked ninjas in the face. Fortune kicks a third off the pier, telling him that her master should sell some proper fighters next time. She thinks to herself that it's crazy she came here with only a woman she doesn't know and a crazy Russian as companions - but she'd do anything to get to Kaz. The final masked foe charges with an electrically charged whip, but Lei Fong intercepts it with her bare hands and takes the voltage without flinching. The masked man states that he heard Lei Fong was wounded - how is she withstanding the weapon's power!? Lei Fong wonders if Feng Huang didn't tell them ahead of time... She's not human! She then pulls the whip-wielder closer by tugging on his weapon, and kills him with a vicious chop to the throat.
In the aftermath, Morkovkin marvels at her martial skill while Lei Fong warns him not to get too close to the victims - Feng Huang doesn't leave evidence of her failures. Sure enough, the dead assassins soon burst into flames of their own accord, leaving no trace behind...
Back with Doom, we see him pass through the floor of the monastery into the catacombs below, admitting to himself that he can't have bought himself very much time with this trick since Necrotek is still obsessed with gaining access to the mystical amulet around his neck. Doom understands its allure all too well, as it is a powerful and seductive talisman with many powers. Had he known that others existed besides the one Doctor Strange held, Doom might have become Sorcerer Supreme himself! Ah, but such idle speculation wastes time. Vox transferred the amulet to him knowing that he was better prepared to play cat and mouse with the demon, but that doesn't mean he likes being hunted. Doom quickly heads over to a nearby computer, accessing its information database for details about Necrotek, and finds various pictures and its traditional demonic name from before it was digitized into its new form - Nekroteque, Possessor of Souls, Host of the Broken Sphere. There's also notes on Caius of Lacedaemon, the demon plague of Sparta, and the binding spell that once sealed Necrotek away. Bonus points for giving the computer a neat stylized UI.
The demon soon enters the catacombs behind Doom, asking him if he really thought the parlor tricks of science would hide him - von Doom? Doom asks how the demon knows his name, and he helpfully explains that the memories of Theodoro became Necrotek's own once his body was possessed, and now he knows everything! Indeed, he can provide Doom with some of the past that so eludes him, since it seems Theodoro was holding a few things back... To demonstrate, he conjures an image of an armored woman, declaring that it's a tragedy that Doom lost that which he once held so dear! Doom, shocked at the sudden image that appears before him, spills a name: 'Margaretta!' Necrotek names her as the woman who loved Doom, redeemed him, and then finally cursed him. How infuriating it must be not to remember her touch on his scarred face! He again asks for the amulet, and in exchange he'll deliver Doom his lost life…
Furiously denying the enticing offer, Doom starts blasting Necrotek, declaring that he's dealt with hellspawn like him before - and once was more than enough! Never again! Doom's power bolts actually seem to harm Necrotek, much to the demon's dismay, and Doom explains that since the demon now owes his life to a combination of magic and science, that makes him vulnerable to Doom's 'parlor tricks' after all! Necrotek, realizing the implications, realizes that doesn't make him quite as vulnerable as it does Doom - for the demon can now possess Doom's technological armor, not just the man himself! Necrotek dissolves into tentacles again to assault Doom, who discovers that the extensive defenses he installed in the wake of Fever's assault aren't stopping the demon at all! Ah, shit!
With a flash of light, the Eye of Agamotto lights up and burns Necrotek through its sheer proximity, sending the demon screaming away from Doom in a manner reminiscent of how Doctor Strange tends to use the thing. A pox on Agamotto and all his eyes! Necrotek realizes that while Doom is still the one wearing the amulet, the person really controlling it is Vox, and he cannot wrest it from the mechanical man until he deals with the child first. Necrotek then stalks off to hunt the kid down, and Doom yells out Vox's name in a panic.
Elsewhere, in cyberspace, we catch up with Duke Stratosphere as he gallops around the digital wastelands on his robot horse Chaos, investigating an ominous portent on the fringes of that world. His colleague Baron Samedi apparently told him that parts of the wastelands were shifting and disappearing lately, and while normally that kind of instability wouldn't be much of a concern so far from inhabited regions of the net, this isn't a normal shift. The very ground beneath him suddenly fragments, and in very Necrotek-colored undulations, the ground explodes into a fountain of green. Whatever this weird stuff is, it's eating away at the very fabric of cyberspace like an acid. Duke has a very bad feeling about it…
Back at the center of the vandalized, burning library in Latveria, we see Necrotek looming over the floating form of Vox, who doesn't let out a peep even as Necrotek threatens to tear his soul apart. No last words, no pleas for mercy, no anguished sobs? Very well, then, muteness it is. Vox will have plenty of time to scream in the nether planes, for his purity has no place in the world to come!
He should be glad that he will not see the age of torment and corruption Necrotek will unleash once he takes possession of all three of Agamotto's eyes! Doom rushes into the room, loudly yelling at Necrotek to stop - oddly, the demon is glad to see him. He saved Necrotek the trouble of seeking him out again after he dealt with the boy. Doom, apparently out of options, offers Necrotek the Eye if he'll let Vox live - there's no Time Stone, but this seems weirdly familiar! The skeptical demon points out that Doom claimed he didn't deal with hellspawn just a few minutes earlier, but Doom morosely responds that he has no other choice.
Necrotek quickly grabs the artifact from Doom's hand before he can reconsider, rejoicing that the Eye is finally his - look how it shudders in his grip! It recognizes superior power. Now begins an era of chaos that will make even the age of Yog N'Grith pale in comparison! He shall poison the earth, dry up the oceans, darken the sky…!
'You will do nothing,' Doom states coldly, as a screen behind him lights up with a shape last seen when he was looking up information about Necrotek on the computer. The demon flinches back as he recognizes the symbol - it's the Circle of Caius, the very binding spell that first locked him away in another dimension. But Doom could not have known about such a thing! Doom dryly points out that they're in a library. He looked it up. Caius recorded the method by which he bound and banished Necrotek in the first place, and while Doom doesn't have three Eyes to power that spell, he has something that's almost as useful - a way to directly place the image within every aspect of the world Necrotek is currently channeling himself through, cyberspace! Thus, there is but one way the demon can leave - back the way he came, back to the grey lands where he was bound! Necrotek screams as he is unmade, swirling away with a final declaration that he will return, von Dooooooom...! He won't.
In the wake of the spell, the Eye of Agamotto tumbles to the floor at Doom's feet, inert. Doom notes that there is much he could do with such power - so very much. Then he picks it up, and hands the Eye back to Vox, to whom it belongs. In response to this show of faith, for the first and only time, Vox speaks, saying: 'Thank you.' Doom looks back at the child, his inexpression impossible to read behind his metal mask.
Far away, in foreshadowing land, the Guardian Reborn opens his eyes, and his gaze burns in all directions - this is the Aesir Heimdall. He senses the wind shifting directions by a fraction of a degree, hears the muffled footsteps of a cat padding through the noise generators that keep the leviathan he's on airborne. He tastes toxins dissolved in the rain carried from thousands of miles away. Hyper-aware, he stands vigilant at the Rainbow Bridge of the floating city of Valhalla, awaiting the arrival of those who would violate the sanctity of the hallowed structure. Awaiting those who would challenge the gods… He's awaiting a crossover event we'll soon cover.
The final quote, this time, is from William Wordsworth. 'In common things that round us lie some random truths he can impart - the harvest of a quiet eye, that broods and sleeps on his own heart.' It's from a poem that's talking about how great poets are, so I suspect that it's mostly here for the 'eye' pun.
Rating & Comments
Well, this was a pleasant surprise, wasn't it? Not every day that you read a filler-like one-shot issue that is entirely detached from the main storyline and has no real connection to anything ongoing… but it's actually good! This odd one-and-done comic features an interestingly designed villain who has some pretty unique features, taps into a part of Doom's backstory that has largely remained unaddressed in 2099, and even includes some nice character beats for our illustrious monarch! I have to admit, I didn't expect to find an issue like this wedged in between a couple of crappy fillers and a crossover event issue…
Firstly, the villain Necrotek is intriguing and unique to this continuity. His origin is interesting, since he is an ancient demon sealed away eons ago, only to be unleashed by the modern equivalent of a wizard who uses computers in lieu of paper books of arcane lore. The entire concept of magic evolving with the cultural zeitgeist to incorporate things like cyberspace or digital code into its mechanics is pretty neat, as is the idea that a demon summoned through such means also evolves to adapt traits of these new aspects of magic. Necrotek's name updates to sound more sci-fi instead of fantasy, and his strengths and weaknesses adjust to incorporate the new context - that's all very neat, conceptually! I was particularly impressed by the fact that Necrotek's new digital aspect allowed him to possess technology as well as people, since the two disciplines of magic and science are much more merged in 2099 than they were in the past. That's clever!
Secondly, Doom is in fine form in this issue too - he is proactive about finding means to fix his memory problems since after attempting to deal with them digitally, he's now attempting to find a magical solution through his connections with the Zefiro. Then, when his ally Vox comes under threat, Doom reveals an actual degree of empathy for the youth - I can't read him willingly foregoing Vox's protection as anything but self-sacrificial to some degree or another. He didn't, as far as I can tell, have any ulterior motives for that decision. Then, when Vox entrusts the Eye of Agamotto to him, Doom not only uses the opportunity to buy Vox some time instead of leaving with the prize, but he even rushes to his aid and apparently offers up the Eye to spare the boy's life, pulling a Doctor Strange in Infinity War. Now, that was obviously a trick, but the fact that Doom willingly handed the amulet back to Vox afterwards when he could just as easily have kept it suggests that Doom actually does care for Vox's welfare.
Vox is a sweet character, that I wish we saw more of - this issue really only has five characters in total, and two of them are wizards who get killed pretty quickly, so the writers were forced to actually figure out how to convey what a mute character is thinking. Doom and Necrotek end up taking most of the text boxes, but Vox does show character in his actions - for one, he invites Doom to a secluded and hidden library of mystical arts, then protects him with a powerful magical barrier at the expense of his own safety, and even entrusts him with the Eye of Agamotto despite the inherent lure of such a powerful artifact. When all is said and done, Vox also uses his voice for the first (and only) time in the entire series, explicitly to thank Doom for his assistance in defeating Necrotek. Between healing Doom in the first issue of this series and his actions here, the boy really pulls his weight for such a tiny and relatively unassuming member of the Zefiro clan. It's too bad that a lot of those implications that Vox has a grand future as the next Sorcerer Supreme or significant figure are never really explored - I'm pretty sure he rarely pops up again after this issue.
There is one notable cutaway from the main story in this issue, and it's a fairly important one - we follow up on Fortune's journey to China to find her missing brother Kaz. This issue mostly just depicts a fight scene between her and her companions versus the hired goons of 'Feng Huang', whom we have yet to meet, but is apparently a woman that recent ally Lei Fong is familiar with. We get some hints of what's going on - Lei Fong is apparently invulnerable to electricity because she's 'not human', in her own words, while Feng Huang's minions are all equipped with some sort of self-destruct device which burns their bodies away to cover up their presence. Since we don't really get much more right now, I'll hold off on more in-depth discussion of her entire subplot until that gets center stage a few issues down the line.
I already mentioned Doom's relatively compassionate portrayal in this issue, with him showing actual distress at Vox being in danger. It can easily be read as him perceiving himself in Vox's debt for saving his life a few issues ago, or perhaps some sort of mutual understanding due to sharing knowledge of magic, but it's hard to dismiss that this is the first time Doom seems to have any real understanding with his future Zefiro kin. His relationship with Wire is much more master and servant, and he and Fortune are actively adversarial half the time - Vox gets Doom, and vice versa. As I said, I wish he stuck around more. Aside from this, we also get another breadcrumb for Doom's history, in the form of Margaretta. Apparently she's a woman from Doom's lost past, and possibly a love interest, but Doom has only vague memories of her. As such, we get minimal indications of what her whole deal is, beyond that she's important. Puzzle pieces...
Something else I have to really mention about this particular comic is the art. The artist, Enrique Alcatena from Argentina, clearly had a lot of fun here and a unique style he only rarely showed off in mainstream publications - he did some issues of Batman for DC, some issues of Conan for Marvel, and that's about it for the big two. There's some excellent shots here of Necrotek, as well as the baroque computer at the start, and a host of other things like Doom's armor or even Vox's clothes. They are honestly gorgeous in how they are depicted, and I wish the artist stuck around for more issues. There's some highly detailed and intricate images here with a vaguely Mesoamerican flair to some of the stylistic choices, mixed with an aesthetic of electronic circuitry - it's pretty great. There's even an irrelevant aside showing off Duke Stratosphere for a page which also looks cool - perhaps that character was included only to show off that mechanical horse? Who knows…
In summary, I have to give this issue the first score above 3 stars in a good while - it was genuinely entertaining rather than just tolerable or okay. Doom shows off he's more than a total bastard, Vox gets a line, the villain is intriguing and it makes sense how he's ultimately defeated here, and the art props it all up. Since it's above average for the title but is mostly an irrelevant filler one-shot that likely will never be directly referenced, save for that Margaretta bit, I'll give it a nice four stars! Next time, another filler issue - will it be similarly good? No. No it won't.
Quotations from Chairman Doom
Thoughts: 'Vox's healing magics saved me from injuries I suffered at the hands of Tiger Wylde. Now he shields us both from this demon's onslaught. The boy deserves my help, but I fear I am unprepared to face a threat of mystical origin.'
Doom: "Vox - do not waste your energy protecting me. Defend yourself."
"I admit to being outmatched - but only for the moment."
"No!!! I have dealt with your kind before. I will not deal with hellspawn ever again."
"The Eye of Agamotto. There is much I could do with its great power. So very much. But... the Eye belongs to you, Vox."
Art Spotlight
To appreciate how much detail the artist uses, this entirely irrelevant decorative detail of the library is an intricate as fuck sculpture of some mysterious demon. I have no idea if this is a depiction of an actual character from mystic Marvel lore, but it should be!
I also appreciate the image of Necrotek getting banished back through the seal that originally imprisoned him - especially the way the text swirls around the center like the demon itself. Honestly, most of the art in this issue is pretty appealing to me.
Last edited:
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
First off, you're right, the art is great this issue, which isn't something I can say about a lot of 90's books. Necrotek's got a great design and it helps make him enjoyable despite fairly standard motivations, as does his technological twist. I think his name could have been work-shopped a little more, though. It helps that everyone fights fairly smart, with Doom using that phasing tech of his and the demon figuring out that standard anti-viral countermeasures don't stop demonic possession.
Second, I really enjoyed that they linked the demon to the Vishanti. It really makes the Marvel universe feel like an organic whole, without feeling forced the way it might if it had been Strange himself who sealed it away. The Vishanti have supposedly been around for eons, so it's nice to see they've actually done stuff instead of just sponsoring Strange and that his magic amulet has a history that predates him and which continues to effect events long after his death.
Second, I really enjoyed that they linked the demon to the Vishanti. It really makes the Marvel universe feel like an organic whole, without feeling forced the way it might if it had been Strange himself who sealed it away. The Vishanti have supposedly been around for eons, so it's nice to see they've actually done stuff instead of just sponsoring Strange and that his magic amulet has a history that predates him and which continues to effect events long after his death.
I feel like this is a little sloppy though. A better explanation would be that the ancient order moved to Latveria after his 'death', possibly hoping to scoop up some of Doom's mystic resources now that he wasn't using them. Or even more simply put them in another country and have Doom visit by stealth-jet, it's not like that's beyond him, he just traveled all the way to Africa in the last issue. But that's a very minor issue overall.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This has been my favorite story in Doom 2099 so far
Doom seems much more empathetic in general in this series, much more mellow than his normal self. He puts up with levels of insubordination and disrespect that would send the 20th century Doom into a murderous rage.
I just thought of something. That monastery in Latveria has been around since Byzantine times, so it must also be there in the 20th century. I wonder if the 20th century Doom knew of it's existence or not. . .?
Doom seems much more empathetic in general in this series, much more mellow than his normal self. He puts up with levels of insubordination and disrespect that would send the 20th century Doom into a murderous rage.
I just thought of something. That monastery in Latveria has been around since Byzantine times, so it must also be there in the 20th century. I wonder if the 20th century Doom knew of it's existence or not. . .?
- Location
- Netherlands
Doom is a bit out of character, but since we still don't know exactly what his backstory is & we're clearly missing a few decades of his life regardless in between canon times and now, it might just be a matter of mellowing with age. Even though he seems to be a young man now, flashbacks confirm that at some point in the past he was elderly and suffering from the illnesses associated with that, after all...
I actually mention that in the post, Doom didn't know about it and the only justification was that the people who protected this place were very careful about hiding themselves, and the only reason Doom had access now was due to Vox. Doesn't really make sense given how tiny Latveria is, but sure?
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Especially when there are multiple reasonable alternatives, as I pointed out earlier. It's not like it had to have been in Latveria this whole time to make the plot work.
2099 - Doom 2099 #16 - Long Live… King Doom the First!
- Location
- Netherlands
Doom 2099 #16 (April 1994)
Cover
Yes, I know that this is issue #16, not one that would make sense in the numerical order of publication. Unfortunately, the Doom 2099 title was a bit of a mess with its timeline around this period, since the next proper comic is part of the larger 'Fall of the Hammer' crossover, followed by parts 1 and 2 of a later story-arc which is interrupted by this one-shot. I'd really rather get it out of the way now than slotting this in later when those issues all neatly follow each other narratively. So what are we dealing with here, exactly? Say it with me now - filler content. Much like the random filler during the cyberspace arc, this issue was slotted in to fill time while artists and writers finished up the proper canon. Promising, huh? The cover is decent at least, though it's just a generic shot of Doom holding his hand out towards the screen while being all shiny…
Story Overview
Long Live… King Doom the First!
You know how to get me in a terrible mood real fast? Opening your blatant filler with Doom and Wire flying through the technicolor void of cyberspace. Yeah, it's another one of these! Wire explains that he wants to show Doom something he downloaded from the Alchemax servers. Apparently they were made by Jordan Boone, a recurring 2099 character in some other titles and also the Fall of the Hammer event that I'll be covering soon. Boone received an almost unlimited budget from his corporate superiors, and used it to make something called Virtual Unreality - it's basically a virtual reality/alternate universe thing which is part of a single story arc in Spider-Man 2099, and not much else. Before he parted company with Alchemax, he must've tried to link that project with Cyberspace, and Wire found signs of its presence online. Doom muses that things are stranger than they can suppose, and that this can be of use to him; he exploits ignorance, and knowledge is power, and other such empty platitudes.
Wire leads Doom to his digital discovery, which turns out to be a mysterious figure in rags. Doom acerbically asks Wire why someone would voluntarily make themselves look like a ragged beggar when they could be anything they wanted to be in cyberspace, but the digital surfer explains that this person did not have a choice - he is exactly as he appears to be. He's a man from before the dark ages - or at least his icon. The question is, how could someone from those backwards times access cyberspace, since there's not a lot of microchips in a bale of hay? Doom warns Wire not to make assumptions, recognizing some barely visible symbols across the beggar's face as hints that in his unspecified culture, this man is a Prince. The beggar addresses Doom directly when he hears that, and says that he's come to find him in particular!
When Doom asks the icon what it needs from him, the beggar responds that it's actually about what the world needs - nay, what it demands from him! Doom bears an iron hand - and perhaps it's symbolic of the iron hand he must wield! A second icon jumps down from above and calls the first a cretin not worthy to shine the boots of the man he seeks to command. No, Doom should instead talk to a peer - to Attila, greatest of the Huns! Yup, we're doing this. Attila states that he sees himself reflected in Doom, while seeing himself literally reflected in Doom's shiny mask - har har.
Still, the Hun is disappointed that Doom, despite all the various means available to him in the future, has never done what all of the conquerors in history have attempted - to take over the world! He has no excuse - what Doom wants is his, so what's he waiting for?
While Wire is wryly amused at the exchange between historical simulation and modern monarch, Doom admits he is a little flattered that his reputation precedes him - by a lot, apparently, since Attila has been dead for hundreds of years! He explains that an ascent of power like Attila proposes would require him to pit his will against the majority of the world's population - where would he find those willing to be governed? Where would he find the consensus to rule? Attila is disappointed at the suggestion that any conqueror would need a consensus to conquer, but if Doom wishes to have one… here it is! Voices suddenly start speaking up, some of them voting Doom in as President, Caesar, or Emperor, and so forth. Doom demands to know who's talking - where are all these voices coming from?
More historical figures start appearing from nowhere - Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar. The latter offers his help in conquering the world, and intuits that even behind that metal mask, Doom must feel impressed by this collection of famous luminaries coming to his aid. Surely he won't turn down such assistance? Doom isn't convinced by this, dryly naming them history's greatest losers. Alexander points out that he owned a stable larger than Latveria, so if he's a loser then he's lost more than Doom has gained in a lifetime! Julius decides that Doom is ready for command with this small ragtag collection of followers, and offers him an army - one that consists of the fighting men of a hundred centuries, from Rome to Mongolia, from Macedonia to Olympia. As one person falls, scores take their place! An unquestioning, unstoppable force! What say you, Doom?
Doom asks what the motive is for this grand offer of support, and Napoleon explains that while each of them brought sweeping change to the places they subjugated in their respective pasts, those same changes were removed again after they died. No matter who built the Library of Alexandria - it was destroyed by vandals nonetheless. Indeed, Napoleon himself brought a new word for defeat into the language at the Battle of Waterloo. But now, he states boldly, they have come to a critical time - in 2099 there is great disorder in the world, and never would there be a better time for a man like Doom to step in and take over. Now there is an opportunity to lay down laws and values of perfection that will last for all time, and such an undertaking must have history's greatest captain at its helm!
Doom ponders on being described as the 'greatest captain' and figures that if destiny beckons even in this featureless digital expanse, who is he to deny the call? Wire comments that Doom doesn't know what he's really in for - the world is a far larger place than when any of these historical conquerors did their thing. The territory of cyberspace, the realms of the mystic, the dimension that Jordan Boone linked up in Virtual Unreality, the Nanotech Sphere, to say nothing of space - the globe may have grown smaller, but the universe continued to expand. Doom declares that they should expand their horizons with it, and graciously accepts the offer to lead an army of history's greatest conquerors. DOOM WILL LEAD!
He then quickly decides that what the establishment of his new order requires is the complete destruction of the old. The despots and dictators of the world must be cleared away to start anew - they've done nothing but fill their fat coffers since they first took office. Wire asks what they'll do with all these guys who used to run the show, and Doom declares they'll execute them all! For some reason Wire grins at this, before wondering if there will be a trial. Doom says there will be, but they'll emulate one of the greatest jurisprudential sages of all time - the Queen of Hearts. Sentence first, verdict afterward! And, of course, her most famous command - off with their heads!
Before he forgets, Doom commands Wire to address him as 'Emperor' or 'Your Highness' from now on, and the boy quickly agrees. Wire then asks why all the old leaders have to be killed - surely they don't pose a real threat to Doom? The Emperor explains that first they'll destroy this criminal upper class, a burden on the old society that won't take down the new. Next comes the military leaders, steeped in traditions that have outlived their usefulness, people who cannot see past their original purpose. We see a general demand a firing squad in honor of his career, but Doom orders him to hang instead just because of that request. Wire, aghast at all the lives that are lost, asks for a reason behind all the lawless murders Doom is committing in this takeover.
Doom just calls the victims expendable, and asks what Wire really feels for these people. What has Doom done that society has not? The only difference between the fate Doom delivers and the one they'd receive in polite society is the speed with which it arrives. Like Caesar, like Hammurabi, he now proclaims a new and universal form of law. Judges, because of their humanity, cannot approach the impartiality they pretend - justice is not blind to them, and they see class and race too clearly. From now on computers, fed every legal precedent, will judge cases based on their merit and nothing else - the old judges are dismissed.
Wire moves on, asking what Doom will do about the military - how will he keep them from rising up? How does he keep generals from thinking they could run things better than the Emperor? Doom decides he'll eliminate them entirely. He'll get rid of the military by first eliminating borders. Borders are an evil, he proclaims, the reason people fight and die. Borders feed the foolish pride of nationalism, and too many have died protecting them. Under Doom's reign, all maps will be redrawn, and there will be but one nation - one homeland! HIS!
Napoleon comments that they've placed their trust in the right man, as while they all placed their own borders through conquest, none of them had the means to place their banner beyond the borders of the known world. Doom declares that a world united under a single flag is a goal that can be met. Wire points out that most nations aren't gonna be happy to have their borders erased, their national identities melded with neighboring nations they might hate. Settling border feuds that have lasted for centuries won't happen overnight - there will be pushback. So-called foolish nationalism runs deep. The various historical generals aren't convinced, proclaiming that Doom's forces will pacify the world, and they will be brought to heel beneath a single banner! The army is ready for its final ride - they thirst for that which they were born for, blood!
Caesar comments that uniting all men under a single banner might not be enough - they can curb men's loyalties, but not their appetites for battle and war. In response, Wire decides he can contribute to the new world order, and if he's going to be an architect of what comes next, it deserves far more than what he's getting from the likes of these warmongers. Why should only warriors of history decide the future, when it needs philosophers? Wire flies off to find some historical philosopher icons, including Socrates, Mahatma and Indira Gandhi, and Francis Bacon. They immediately start bickering among each other over the relative necessity of Philosophy, and the subject of religion comes up too. When Wire asks for a simple answer, they get offended and point out that that's exactly what Doom is offering.
Wire decides that he'll have to find the answer himself and takes off again, confident he knows where to find the answer - somewhere in the chaos Doom has caused!
Switching over to an unspecified border, we see people firing guns at endless rows of historical troops marching in, taking down the invaders to protect their land from falling into the would-be Emperor's control. They slaughter thousands, and yet the enemy still keeps on coming! The defenders reload, however, declaring that they'll fight and die on the border if need be - their fathers and brothers spilled blood to keep this land safe, and they will do the same! Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes!
Doom is watching over this process and admits that he hadn't expected things to drag on this long - pacification should have been embraced by the world, the people grateful for taking the burden of governing off their shoulders. Still they resist, however - what do they have to gain? A foreign emotion intrudes in his mind - doubt. His sense of purpose must not be allowed to be so clouded! A door suddenly slams open and reveals a man who shouts: 'Doom!' The Emperor is immediately offended at being addressed so informally, but the angry man at the door storms in and declares that the people will decide how he is addressed. He dumps a pack of paper on Doom's desk and declares it proof that men he had executed, men whose lives he's played god with, were actually loyal subjects - innocent. All of them! If doubt crosses Doom's mind, perhaps that's a good thing.
Wire reappears, and Doom asks him where exactly he's been. The boy explains that he went looking for someone who could help them in this 'dilemma', and from all the nameless lands and timeless times in virtual reality, he ironically found his answer right where he started - in Latveria. He found a prince of the royal blood, 'or something' - Wire never got it straight. A white-haired, older man in an elaborate military uniform appears and starts off by calling Doom a pup and a fool who has surrounded himself with deposed despots, and yet learned nothing from their failures. Their lesson is simply this: no one man can hold dominion over all. Doom must cease, or he will rule over a desert of dead bodies, a wasteland of carnage and ruin. He will achieve his exacting standard of perfection only because the only man left standing will be himself!
Doom gets upset at being talked down to, and declares that here his world is absolute - here he wields ultimate power! The Prince responds that Doom still doesn't understand - no matter how great someone is, there is always someone with more power! He then unleashes his magical might, effortlessly destroying Doom's armies, his stranglehold on the world's resources, his chance to control the world's future. Gone! The newcomer's magic is greater because while it flows from the same wellspring as Doom's, the Prince's is tempered with more experience and the wisdom of age. If Doom lives as long as he has, he might one day wield the same power - the inheritance of his gypsy forebears that he's squandered. Perhaps nobody in Doom's time can equal him, but once upon a time he would have been judged a novice - and the Prince is from that time. His lore has been forgotten, and now the Prince's lore will force Doom to forget his visit to this place, the Nexus of All Realities, and all that has transpired there. It will be as if none of them had ever arrived!
It figures, doesn't it?
Back in cyberspace, Doom rubs his head, feeling a throbbing headache forming as he looks around the digital void. He hears a voice, and realizes Wire is talking to him, explaining that this 'Jordan Boone' guy received a nearly endless budget, and used it to build something called Virtual Unreality. Doom scoffs at that statement, declaring he has no time for 'unreality' - only the pragmatic concerns of the real world merit his attention now. What could he possibly find in the virtual world that would be worth his time? The comic ends with another quote, this time from Nicholas of Oresme: 'Whenever kingship approaches tyranny it is near its end, for by this it becomes ripe for division…'
Rating & Comments
What a difference from last issue, huh? I don't know what the writers were thinking, coming up with this plot. Not only do they make multiple stupid one-off filler issues, but now they don't even come up with original concepts anymore! ...Okay, so maybe it's not the exact same story as that previous filler comic from the cyberverse storyline, but it's very close in concept - Doom and Wire are once again wandering around a weird cyber adventure, there are spontaneous story changes without any attempt at bridging the gaps or explaining anything in any detail, and there's yet another last-minute retcon which makes it all irrelevant and down the memory hole. In this case, the entire adventure is retroactively made to have never happened to begin with, thereby making it not even canon - even if someone wanted it to be for some reason.
Virtual Unreality was a dubious concept to begin with in the comics were it first came up, but since we never even saw it in the Doom 2099 storyline, it's hard to figure out how much of this comic is supposed to actually be 'real' to some extent, and how much isn't. It's not a full on VR adventure, or nobody would give a shit - it'd basically be a videogame at that point. But it doesn't really make sense to make this out to be the real world either, since it all comes off as very dreamlike and kind of incoherent even while the troops are invading and Doom is supposedly making big decisions. When Wire leaves Doom's side he's still in his VR clothing, and the same is true when he returns from his trip with another simulation, which suggests Doom never actually left VR in between those points. It's not clear how much actual time has passed either, since the scenes just sort of flow into each other without such menial details. With the mention of the Nexus of All Realities at the end, perhaps we should envision this as a weird multiverse thing where VR and an alternate universe merged… but that's kind of nonsensical too. What is this?
Leaving that aside for the moment, we have to discuss the characters. This comic has a variety of random historical figures show up, largely to be window-dressing for the artist to play around with - they don't really do much related to their historical personas beyond exhibiting the most surface-level stereotypes imaginable. The historical generals are all warmongers obsessed with global conquest, the philosophers are barely coherent and keep nattering on about esoterica, and the armies just want to murder people real bad. Riveting. I presume that these are all bad historical archetypes, much like the shitty takes on the Fantastic Four from the cyberverse arc, just so I don't get too annoyed with the juvenile take on history. The various bits of quasi-philosophy the characters spout aren't exactly deep either - they're all basically trying to push Doom into conquering the world, proclaiming that somehow he's the best leader ever and then giving him all their armies. Why? What is this all related to? Who came up with this?
Doom's personality defaults to 'sure, I'll conquer the world' pretty quickly in this issue, but I suppose that's pretty close to canon - if given the opportunity, it's obviously something he'd do. I'm not sure if his rather simplistic take on global politics really makes sense for him, though. He's apparently surprised that people defend their borders, since he was convinced that if he just kind of invades everyone they'll roll over and form a peaceful global society. Then he intentionally murders political leaders, and gets doubts because someone tells him they weren't all total baddies? The emphasis on political and military leaders is also a bit odd for 2099, since the whole point of it is that the mega-corporations are in charge. Why not show some familiar faces like the CEOs of those groups rather than random generals in 20th century-or-before uniforms rather than anything futuristic?
Wire's role in this issue is weird again, just like in the last filler issue - he reacts oddly to almost everything, variously smiling in the face of atrocities, or asking really simple questions and then just sort of wandering off before he gets even the beginnings of an answer. In canon, Wire is pretty sure Doom is a good guy, but he's also only seen minimal evidence of his dark side, which allows him to fill in normal excuses for his superior's more outrageous actions. If Doom actually started conquering the world like he does in this issue, Wire would probably want to have a few words. Instead, he actively tries to help out in this comic, and it's not until near the end that he goes to find help from outsiders - although I'm still not sure what the mysterious Latverian Prince was supposed to help with to begin with. Wire states he's there to solve a 'dilemma' but I'm not sure what that is supposed to be. The comic is quite vague on that. It also doesn't really make sense for there to be a super-powerful Latverian mystic recently enough that he'd wear a 19th or 20th century uniform, but also be a complete unknown to Doom. The guy had a time machine. He's travelled through history so many times and never ran into the Sorceror Supreme-level super-Prince that apparently hung out in his neighborhood? What?
In summary, this issue… is a weird and pointless mess. It's a childish take on global politics and philosophy combined with a goofball idea of virtual reality armies somehow conquering the real world, and then it's all thrown into a mixer with a dreamlike fantasy plot condensed into vague soundbites which all take place in the same featureless rooms with blank or kaleidoscopic fractal backgrounds. Characters are either entirely one-note, completely irrelevant, or they're barely explained at all, and nobody quite acts like you'd expect they should. Combine all that with the dreaded global retcon at the end which makes it all null and void, and this issue gets only one stinking star.
Let's get to something interesting again, please…?
Quotations from Chairman Doom
"Gentlemen, wherever the road heads... whatever the challenge... DOOM WILL LEAD!!"
"Under my reign, the map will be redrawn. All borders eliminated. There will be but one homeland. Mine!"
"Pfagh! I have no time for 'unreality!' Only the pragmatic concerns of the real world merit my attention."
Cover
Yes, I know that this is issue #16, not one that would make sense in the numerical order of publication. Unfortunately, the Doom 2099 title was a bit of a mess with its timeline around this period, since the next proper comic is part of the larger 'Fall of the Hammer' crossover, followed by parts 1 and 2 of a later story-arc which is interrupted by this one-shot. I'd really rather get it out of the way now than slotting this in later when those issues all neatly follow each other narratively. So what are we dealing with here, exactly? Say it with me now - filler content. Much like the random filler during the cyberspace arc, this issue was slotted in to fill time while artists and writers finished up the proper canon. Promising, huh? The cover is decent at least, though it's just a generic shot of Doom holding his hand out towards the screen while being all shiny…
Story Overview
Long Live… King Doom the First!
You know how to get me in a terrible mood real fast? Opening your blatant filler with Doom and Wire flying through the technicolor void of cyberspace. Yeah, it's another one of these! Wire explains that he wants to show Doom something he downloaded from the Alchemax servers. Apparently they were made by Jordan Boone, a recurring 2099 character in some other titles and also the Fall of the Hammer event that I'll be covering soon. Boone received an almost unlimited budget from his corporate superiors, and used it to make something called Virtual Unreality - it's basically a virtual reality/alternate universe thing which is part of a single story arc in Spider-Man 2099, and not much else. Before he parted company with Alchemax, he must've tried to link that project with Cyberspace, and Wire found signs of its presence online. Doom muses that things are stranger than they can suppose, and that this can be of use to him; he exploits ignorance, and knowledge is power, and other such empty platitudes.
Wire leads Doom to his digital discovery, which turns out to be a mysterious figure in rags. Doom acerbically asks Wire why someone would voluntarily make themselves look like a ragged beggar when they could be anything they wanted to be in cyberspace, but the digital surfer explains that this person did not have a choice - he is exactly as he appears to be. He's a man from before the dark ages - or at least his icon. The question is, how could someone from those backwards times access cyberspace, since there's not a lot of microchips in a bale of hay? Doom warns Wire not to make assumptions, recognizing some barely visible symbols across the beggar's face as hints that in his unspecified culture, this man is a Prince. The beggar addresses Doom directly when he hears that, and says that he's come to find him in particular!
When Doom asks the icon what it needs from him, the beggar responds that it's actually about what the world needs - nay, what it demands from him! Doom bears an iron hand - and perhaps it's symbolic of the iron hand he must wield! A second icon jumps down from above and calls the first a cretin not worthy to shine the boots of the man he seeks to command. No, Doom should instead talk to a peer - to Attila, greatest of the Huns! Yup, we're doing this. Attila states that he sees himself reflected in Doom, while seeing himself literally reflected in Doom's shiny mask - har har.
Still, the Hun is disappointed that Doom, despite all the various means available to him in the future, has never done what all of the conquerors in history have attempted - to take over the world! He has no excuse - what Doom wants is his, so what's he waiting for?
While Wire is wryly amused at the exchange between historical simulation and modern monarch, Doom admits he is a little flattered that his reputation precedes him - by a lot, apparently, since Attila has been dead for hundreds of years! He explains that an ascent of power like Attila proposes would require him to pit his will against the majority of the world's population - where would he find those willing to be governed? Where would he find the consensus to rule? Attila is disappointed at the suggestion that any conqueror would need a consensus to conquer, but if Doom wishes to have one… here it is! Voices suddenly start speaking up, some of them voting Doom in as President, Caesar, or Emperor, and so forth. Doom demands to know who's talking - where are all these voices coming from?
More historical figures start appearing from nowhere - Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar. The latter offers his help in conquering the world, and intuits that even behind that metal mask, Doom must feel impressed by this collection of famous luminaries coming to his aid. Surely he won't turn down such assistance? Doom isn't convinced by this, dryly naming them history's greatest losers. Alexander points out that he owned a stable larger than Latveria, so if he's a loser then he's lost more than Doom has gained in a lifetime! Julius decides that Doom is ready for command with this small ragtag collection of followers, and offers him an army - one that consists of the fighting men of a hundred centuries, from Rome to Mongolia, from Macedonia to Olympia. As one person falls, scores take their place! An unquestioning, unstoppable force! What say you, Doom?
Doom asks what the motive is for this grand offer of support, and Napoleon explains that while each of them brought sweeping change to the places they subjugated in their respective pasts, those same changes were removed again after they died. No matter who built the Library of Alexandria - it was destroyed by vandals nonetheless. Indeed, Napoleon himself brought a new word for defeat into the language at the Battle of Waterloo. But now, he states boldly, they have come to a critical time - in 2099 there is great disorder in the world, and never would there be a better time for a man like Doom to step in and take over. Now there is an opportunity to lay down laws and values of perfection that will last for all time, and such an undertaking must have history's greatest captain at its helm!
Doom ponders on being described as the 'greatest captain' and figures that if destiny beckons even in this featureless digital expanse, who is he to deny the call? Wire comments that Doom doesn't know what he's really in for - the world is a far larger place than when any of these historical conquerors did their thing. The territory of cyberspace, the realms of the mystic, the dimension that Jordan Boone linked up in Virtual Unreality, the Nanotech Sphere, to say nothing of space - the globe may have grown smaller, but the universe continued to expand. Doom declares that they should expand their horizons with it, and graciously accepts the offer to lead an army of history's greatest conquerors. DOOM WILL LEAD!
He then quickly decides that what the establishment of his new order requires is the complete destruction of the old. The despots and dictators of the world must be cleared away to start anew - they've done nothing but fill their fat coffers since they first took office. Wire asks what they'll do with all these guys who used to run the show, and Doom declares they'll execute them all! For some reason Wire grins at this, before wondering if there will be a trial. Doom says there will be, but they'll emulate one of the greatest jurisprudential sages of all time - the Queen of Hearts. Sentence first, verdict afterward! And, of course, her most famous command - off with their heads!
Before he forgets, Doom commands Wire to address him as 'Emperor' or 'Your Highness' from now on, and the boy quickly agrees. Wire then asks why all the old leaders have to be killed - surely they don't pose a real threat to Doom? The Emperor explains that first they'll destroy this criminal upper class, a burden on the old society that won't take down the new. Next comes the military leaders, steeped in traditions that have outlived their usefulness, people who cannot see past their original purpose. We see a general demand a firing squad in honor of his career, but Doom orders him to hang instead just because of that request. Wire, aghast at all the lives that are lost, asks for a reason behind all the lawless murders Doom is committing in this takeover.
Doom just calls the victims expendable, and asks what Wire really feels for these people. What has Doom done that society has not? The only difference between the fate Doom delivers and the one they'd receive in polite society is the speed with which it arrives. Like Caesar, like Hammurabi, he now proclaims a new and universal form of law. Judges, because of their humanity, cannot approach the impartiality they pretend - justice is not blind to them, and they see class and race too clearly. From now on computers, fed every legal precedent, will judge cases based on their merit and nothing else - the old judges are dismissed.
Wire moves on, asking what Doom will do about the military - how will he keep them from rising up? How does he keep generals from thinking they could run things better than the Emperor? Doom decides he'll eliminate them entirely. He'll get rid of the military by first eliminating borders. Borders are an evil, he proclaims, the reason people fight and die. Borders feed the foolish pride of nationalism, and too many have died protecting them. Under Doom's reign, all maps will be redrawn, and there will be but one nation - one homeland! HIS!
Napoleon comments that they've placed their trust in the right man, as while they all placed their own borders through conquest, none of them had the means to place their banner beyond the borders of the known world. Doom declares that a world united under a single flag is a goal that can be met. Wire points out that most nations aren't gonna be happy to have their borders erased, their national identities melded with neighboring nations they might hate. Settling border feuds that have lasted for centuries won't happen overnight - there will be pushback. So-called foolish nationalism runs deep. The various historical generals aren't convinced, proclaiming that Doom's forces will pacify the world, and they will be brought to heel beneath a single banner! The army is ready for its final ride - they thirst for that which they were born for, blood!
Caesar comments that uniting all men under a single banner might not be enough - they can curb men's loyalties, but not their appetites for battle and war. In response, Wire decides he can contribute to the new world order, and if he's going to be an architect of what comes next, it deserves far more than what he's getting from the likes of these warmongers. Why should only warriors of history decide the future, when it needs philosophers? Wire flies off to find some historical philosopher icons, including Socrates, Mahatma and Indira Gandhi, and Francis Bacon. They immediately start bickering among each other over the relative necessity of Philosophy, and the subject of religion comes up too. When Wire asks for a simple answer, they get offended and point out that that's exactly what Doom is offering.
Wire decides that he'll have to find the answer himself and takes off again, confident he knows where to find the answer - somewhere in the chaos Doom has caused!
Switching over to an unspecified border, we see people firing guns at endless rows of historical troops marching in, taking down the invaders to protect their land from falling into the would-be Emperor's control. They slaughter thousands, and yet the enemy still keeps on coming! The defenders reload, however, declaring that they'll fight and die on the border if need be - their fathers and brothers spilled blood to keep this land safe, and they will do the same! Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes!
Doom is watching over this process and admits that he hadn't expected things to drag on this long - pacification should have been embraced by the world, the people grateful for taking the burden of governing off their shoulders. Still they resist, however - what do they have to gain? A foreign emotion intrudes in his mind - doubt. His sense of purpose must not be allowed to be so clouded! A door suddenly slams open and reveals a man who shouts: 'Doom!' The Emperor is immediately offended at being addressed so informally, but the angry man at the door storms in and declares that the people will decide how he is addressed. He dumps a pack of paper on Doom's desk and declares it proof that men he had executed, men whose lives he's played god with, were actually loyal subjects - innocent. All of them! If doubt crosses Doom's mind, perhaps that's a good thing.
Wire reappears, and Doom asks him where exactly he's been. The boy explains that he went looking for someone who could help them in this 'dilemma', and from all the nameless lands and timeless times in virtual reality, he ironically found his answer right where he started - in Latveria. He found a prince of the royal blood, 'or something' - Wire never got it straight. A white-haired, older man in an elaborate military uniform appears and starts off by calling Doom a pup and a fool who has surrounded himself with deposed despots, and yet learned nothing from their failures. Their lesson is simply this: no one man can hold dominion over all. Doom must cease, or he will rule over a desert of dead bodies, a wasteland of carnage and ruin. He will achieve his exacting standard of perfection only because the only man left standing will be himself!
Doom gets upset at being talked down to, and declares that here his world is absolute - here he wields ultimate power! The Prince responds that Doom still doesn't understand - no matter how great someone is, there is always someone with more power! He then unleashes his magical might, effortlessly destroying Doom's armies, his stranglehold on the world's resources, his chance to control the world's future. Gone! The newcomer's magic is greater because while it flows from the same wellspring as Doom's, the Prince's is tempered with more experience and the wisdom of age. If Doom lives as long as he has, he might one day wield the same power - the inheritance of his gypsy forebears that he's squandered. Perhaps nobody in Doom's time can equal him, but once upon a time he would have been judged a novice - and the Prince is from that time. His lore has been forgotten, and now the Prince's lore will force Doom to forget his visit to this place, the Nexus of All Realities, and all that has transpired there. It will be as if none of them had ever arrived!
It figures, doesn't it?
Back in cyberspace, Doom rubs his head, feeling a throbbing headache forming as he looks around the digital void. He hears a voice, and realizes Wire is talking to him, explaining that this 'Jordan Boone' guy received a nearly endless budget, and used it to build something called Virtual Unreality. Doom scoffs at that statement, declaring he has no time for 'unreality' - only the pragmatic concerns of the real world merit his attention now. What could he possibly find in the virtual world that would be worth his time? The comic ends with another quote, this time from Nicholas of Oresme: 'Whenever kingship approaches tyranny it is near its end, for by this it becomes ripe for division…'
Rating & Comments
What a difference from last issue, huh? I don't know what the writers were thinking, coming up with this plot. Not only do they make multiple stupid one-off filler issues, but now they don't even come up with original concepts anymore! ...Okay, so maybe it's not the exact same story as that previous filler comic from the cyberverse storyline, but it's very close in concept - Doom and Wire are once again wandering around a weird cyber adventure, there are spontaneous story changes without any attempt at bridging the gaps or explaining anything in any detail, and there's yet another last-minute retcon which makes it all irrelevant and down the memory hole. In this case, the entire adventure is retroactively made to have never happened to begin with, thereby making it not even canon - even if someone wanted it to be for some reason.
Virtual Unreality was a dubious concept to begin with in the comics were it first came up, but since we never even saw it in the Doom 2099 storyline, it's hard to figure out how much of this comic is supposed to actually be 'real' to some extent, and how much isn't. It's not a full on VR adventure, or nobody would give a shit - it'd basically be a videogame at that point. But it doesn't really make sense to make this out to be the real world either, since it all comes off as very dreamlike and kind of incoherent even while the troops are invading and Doom is supposedly making big decisions. When Wire leaves Doom's side he's still in his VR clothing, and the same is true when he returns from his trip with another simulation, which suggests Doom never actually left VR in between those points. It's not clear how much actual time has passed either, since the scenes just sort of flow into each other without such menial details. With the mention of the Nexus of All Realities at the end, perhaps we should envision this as a weird multiverse thing where VR and an alternate universe merged… but that's kind of nonsensical too. What is this?
Leaving that aside for the moment, we have to discuss the characters. This comic has a variety of random historical figures show up, largely to be window-dressing for the artist to play around with - they don't really do much related to their historical personas beyond exhibiting the most surface-level stereotypes imaginable. The historical generals are all warmongers obsessed with global conquest, the philosophers are barely coherent and keep nattering on about esoterica, and the armies just want to murder people real bad. Riveting. I presume that these are all bad historical archetypes, much like the shitty takes on the Fantastic Four from the cyberverse arc, just so I don't get too annoyed with the juvenile take on history. The various bits of quasi-philosophy the characters spout aren't exactly deep either - they're all basically trying to push Doom into conquering the world, proclaiming that somehow he's the best leader ever and then giving him all their armies. Why? What is this all related to? Who came up with this?
Doom's personality defaults to 'sure, I'll conquer the world' pretty quickly in this issue, but I suppose that's pretty close to canon - if given the opportunity, it's obviously something he'd do. I'm not sure if his rather simplistic take on global politics really makes sense for him, though. He's apparently surprised that people defend their borders, since he was convinced that if he just kind of invades everyone they'll roll over and form a peaceful global society. Then he intentionally murders political leaders, and gets doubts because someone tells him they weren't all total baddies? The emphasis on political and military leaders is also a bit odd for 2099, since the whole point of it is that the mega-corporations are in charge. Why not show some familiar faces like the CEOs of those groups rather than random generals in 20th century-or-before uniforms rather than anything futuristic?
Wire's role in this issue is weird again, just like in the last filler issue - he reacts oddly to almost everything, variously smiling in the face of atrocities, or asking really simple questions and then just sort of wandering off before he gets even the beginnings of an answer. In canon, Wire is pretty sure Doom is a good guy, but he's also only seen minimal evidence of his dark side, which allows him to fill in normal excuses for his superior's more outrageous actions. If Doom actually started conquering the world like he does in this issue, Wire would probably want to have a few words. Instead, he actively tries to help out in this comic, and it's not until near the end that he goes to find help from outsiders - although I'm still not sure what the mysterious Latverian Prince was supposed to help with to begin with. Wire states he's there to solve a 'dilemma' but I'm not sure what that is supposed to be. The comic is quite vague on that. It also doesn't really make sense for there to be a super-powerful Latverian mystic recently enough that he'd wear a 19th or 20th century uniform, but also be a complete unknown to Doom. The guy had a time machine. He's travelled through history so many times and never ran into the Sorceror Supreme-level super-Prince that apparently hung out in his neighborhood? What?
In summary, this issue… is a weird and pointless mess. It's a childish take on global politics and philosophy combined with a goofball idea of virtual reality armies somehow conquering the real world, and then it's all thrown into a mixer with a dreamlike fantasy plot condensed into vague soundbites which all take place in the same featureless rooms with blank or kaleidoscopic fractal backgrounds. Characters are either entirely one-note, completely irrelevant, or they're barely explained at all, and nobody quite acts like you'd expect they should. Combine all that with the dreaded global retcon at the end which makes it all null and void, and this issue gets only one stinking star.
Let's get to something interesting again, please…?
Quotations from Chairman Doom
"Gentlemen, wherever the road heads... whatever the challenge... DOOM WILL LEAD!!"
"Under my reign, the map will be redrawn. All borders eliminated. There will be but one homeland. Mine!"
"Pfagh! I have no time for 'unreality!' Only the pragmatic concerns of the real world merit my attention."
Last edited: