Cover Art for DoomQuest #1
Written by Ryan North
Art by Francesco Mobili
Colors by Frank D’Armata
Letters by VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover at by Alex Ross
Normally for my reviews I take a minute with some exposition before jumping in but for this one… I only really have one thing to say before my spoiler warning. Does the concept of a Quantum Leap-style book starring Doctor Doom tickle your fancy? If it does, you've come to the right place. I can’t express how much I end up liking this concept and how much potential this series has as it continues on. Let’s get right into it. Spoiler Warning Now in Effect for DoomQuest #1.
A Quick Recap
After a few quick pages of Dr. Doom propaganda, we get into the meat of the story. Doom learns from one of his subordinates that Latveria just isn’t as impactful on the world stage as he might think. He wants Latveria to be a world leader, a place people want to go, and a place that can be seen in the same vein as some of the world’s most famous countries. He wants Latveria to be powerful. Unfortunately, in the current timeline of this series, that doesn’t seem possible until Doom stumbles upon a live television interview with his longtime nemesis, Reed Richards.
Richards, speaking at a summit in Amsterdam known as the “Minds of Tomorrow,” talks about what he considers to be the most important project in human history. That project boils down to simultaneously altering specific points in time to make it so some of the greatest tragedies and losses of life in human history never happen. Richards hopes to achieve this by sending someone's mind back in time rather than their physical bodies so the changes would be able to happen in unison. Naturally, Doom isn’t happy to hear this and thinks Richards is insane, but… then a thought comes to him…
Doom believes this is how Latveria becomes the powerhouse nation he has always dreamed of. He believes if he can achieve what Richards has proposed he can beat him to the punch and change history to Latveria’s benefit. Doom spends the next year using every resource at his disposal to build the greatest time machine of all time and plans to send his mind to many different points in time to achieve his goal. As he’s about to fire up the machine for the first time, the Avengers and Fantastic Four descend upon Latveria and Castle Doom.
The Avengers battle with the Doombots while Doom makes his way to his machine only to be confronted by two members of the Fantastic Four in Invisible Woman and Johnny Storm. The duo nearly incapacitate Doom but in a shocking turn of events, Johnny Storm hits his sister over the head and lets Doom escape towards Reed Richards. Doom stops Richards from letting him use the machine but Richards has already done damage. He alters Doom’s machine and instead of him going to 1919 and the Paris Peace Talks after WWI, he is sent into the mind of someone on board the RMS Titanic a day before it sinks.
Thoughts on the Issue
This is one of the most unique comic ideas I’ve seen in a long time. Sure, we have seen the age old battle of Dr. Doom against Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four before but not with a concept this wild before. Ryan North has been on a tear in recent years and along with Hulk Smash Everything (which I loved), he’s been creating some really fun stuff for Marvel recently. While this issue was mainly set up for what’s to come and features a decent amount of exposition, it never felt like it was dragging or overwhelming. North seems to have a knack for pulling off stories that have a ridiculous core concept. I would’ve loved to have been in the room when he was pitching his idea to the guys in the Marvel office. “Hey, do you guys remember Quantum Leap? Scott Bakula? Great! Well here's how I’m gonna do it but with Dr. Doom and more insane. What do you think?”
The sheer potential for this story is part of the reason I’m so excited to see where this all goes. With the ending of issue #1 sending us back to 1914 and the sinking of the Titanic, it makes you wonder what other major historical events Doom is going to go through. For now, we only have previews for the next three issues: issue two will see Doom dealing with the sinking of the Titanic, issue three sees Doom sent back to the U.S. Revolutionary War and issue four sees Doom ending up in the body of his younger self and electing to stay in Latveria over ever traveling to America. But… what else is going to happen in the last six issues?
Will he go further back in time? Will he experience the First and Second World Wars? What perspective could he experience then from? If we’re talking about other major disasters… will we see an issue with Doom on the Hindenburg or Doom dealing with the incident at Chornobyl? Could we see Doom enter a future version of his life after entering a past version? The possibilities seem endless, and I’m sure wherever North plans to take us on this journey, we’re going to have a great time.
The last thing with the plot I want to touch on is: why did the Human Torch help out Doom? Johnny knocking out his sister doesn’t seem like it's just going to be one of those throwaway incidents; he allowed the Fantastic Four’s greatest enemy to get to Reed and offered no explanation. Why would they betray them? Was it all a part of Reed’s plan or not? Does Johnny have a hidden agenda himself, and what could that even be? My crazy theory is that one of the events Doom visits is the origins of the Fantastic Four, and Johnny might want Doom to stop it from ever happening to give his friend Ben Grimm the life he feels he deserves. Very intrigued to see where this plot detail goes.
Don’t worry if you aren’t up to date on Marvel’s current storylines either. This first issue makes for a very easy introduction to the story, and as long as you know the basics of Dr. Doom and his relationship with the Fantastic Four, you’ll be right at home. Sometimes, comic events make you do some homework, thankfully this isn't one of them.
The art team of Franceso Mobili and Frank D’Armata do a really nice job in this first issue. The Doom propaganda section that begins the issue looks great and I love the use of all the shades of green to flesh out the art. It gave that introduction a real nice look. Continuing on in the issue, Mobili does a nice job of helping us see Reed Richards from Doom’s perspective. Doom openly can’t stand how much the world loves and respects Reed and when Doom is watching Reed on T.V., the way he’s drawn comes off extremely smug. If that was the artist's intent that he succeeded big time.
I love the montage sequence of Doom building the massive time machine; just a great looking splash page with Doom looking great as ever in the center of it all. The last highlight I want to bring up is the entire sequence from when the Avengers and the Fantastic Four get to Latveria to when Doom ends up going back in time, The battle scenes and the hero designs looks great and the powers, especially Invisible Woman’s and Doctor Doom’s have a dynamic look to them.
I had no idea what I was walking into with DoomQuest #1 but Ryan North delivered a great first issue in his ten-issue maxi-series. Dr. Doom’s journey through time has the potential to be one of the best stories in the villain’s comic history. I can’t wait to see how Doom finds his way back to the present day and what unhinged things he gets up to along the way.
Rating: 8/10