DoomQuest #5
Written by Ryan North
Art by Francesco Mobili
Colors by Frank D’Armata
Letters by VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Art by Alex Ross
Ryan North’s DoomQuest #5 is… HEY! WHAT THE HELL! HEY GET AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER! *muffled sounds of screaming* IT IS I! VICTOR VON DOOM AND I SEE THAT THE KING OF HARTS HAS FINALLY RETURNED TO GIVING HIS SIMPLETON THOUGHTS ON MY TIME TRAVELING - BODY SWAPPING JOURNEY THOUGH HISTORY. WHILE I DON’T ALWAYS AGREE WITH WHAT HE HAS TO SAY AT LEAST THAT DASTARDLY “FANTASTIC” FRANK JAROME IS NO LONGER REVIEWING MY BOOKS… HEY WAIT… UNHAND ME YOU SIMPLETON! Guys I’m so sorry about that, I pushed him off the computer as fast as I could. He could come back at any time though so let’s get into the review! Spoiler Warning Now in Effect for DoomQuest #5!
A Classic Story Redefined
First off, before we even get into the plot, the art, and all the fun stuff, this series is just plain old comic book-y fun, and I mean that in the best possible way. This is a story that fits the medium that we all love perfectly, and I love how writer Ryan North isn’t afraid to completely lean into the innate weirdness that this genre can be known for. This is an issue that wouldn’t work unless a writer and art team were completely committed to the bit, and it's been a pleasure seeing what this creative team comes up with every single month.
Our issue opens up with an excerpt from Fantastic Four #48, so those comic historians out there who know the significance of that issue will have a good idea of what story we’re about to jump into. For those that don’t know, Fantastic Four #48 was the issue where the world was introduced to not only the Silver Surfer for the first time, but the almighty Galactus as well! To say this is one of the most crucial battles in the history of not just the Fantastic Four but the Marvel Universe is putting it lightly. Galactus and the Silver Surfer are synonymous with Marvel now and have been involved in some of the biggest events and storylines in company history. Doctor Doom can cause quite a bit of chaos during his latest time-traveling event, and in case you’d forgotten from the end of last issue: he’s currently inhabiting the body of Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Woman.
The sky is on fire, and something terrible is about to happen to the Earth. The Fantastic Four spring into action to determine the cause of the incoming catastrophe, but “The Invisible Woman” stays behind while the rest of the group flies off to join the oncoming battle. For the next few pages, Doom both recounts what actually happened that day (the Fantastic Four are victorious due to help from The Watcher) and spends time learning how to control, manipulate, and master the Invisible Woman’s powers. Remember, Doom knows all of the ways Invisible Woman has mastered her powers over the years, so he immediately begins using abilities neither she nor the Fantastic Four have ever seen or even thought to use yet. He’s basically using mods to get endgame powers during the first few levels of the game… oh no… here he comes…
ARE YOU IMPLYING DOOM WAS CHEATING? HOW DARE YOU, KING OF HARTS! I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU INSTEAD OF THAT “FANTASTIC” FRANK JAROME FELLOW! IT SEEMS THE MEMBERS OF THE ESTEEMED CLIQUE OF COMIC BOOKS NEED A REMINDER OF HOW POWERFUL VICTOR VON DOOM REALLY IS! HEY WAIT WHAT IS THAT… NOOOOOOOO
Sorry everyone, but I want to give a big thank you to Reed Richards for allowing me to use his teleporting ray to send Doom to the other side of the world. Anyway, back to the review! So I absolutely love Francesco Mobili’s art. This entire run has featured some fantastic stuff (pun absolutely intended), and this training montage sequence of Doom practicing to use the Invisible Woman’s power was drawn beautifully. I love how he draws Invisible Woman’s powers, and it comes across really cool on the page. Not to be forgotten are Frank D’Armata’s colors and the ghastly glow or tint he seems to apply to Invisible Woman’s power. Two particular art highlights for me from this section are when Doom is marching down between columns of spectral constructs and the final splash page of this section, when he smashes a bunch of airplanes together with one gauntleted fist dominating the lower portion of the page. The art team absolutely cooked in this issue.
Taking the Fight to Cosmic Devourer
In the next major section of the issue, Doom finally joins the fight and takes matters into his own hands with his newly mastered abilities. He flies to the Baxter Building and destroys the machine Galactus is using to try to consume the Earth. Using the abilities of flight, energy bending, and more, Doom is able to knock Galactus on his ass with his own power cosmic and deliver a beatdown that nobody, Galactus included, can believe. Doom takes Galactus down like he’s just another random villain and makes Silver Surfer look like an afterthought.
Remember, this issue was released in 1961. Susan Storm couldn’t even fly yet. Doom is rewriting the history books with the use of abilities Invisible Woman picked up over the 60 years of publication. It’s just a really cool concept and also shows just how drastically some of these characters' power sets have changed and upgraded over the course of their publication history. So how does Doom get Galactus to leave the Earth and win the day? I won’t spoil that part for you all, but it’s through yet another creative use of Invisible Woman’s power and shows how smart Doom really is.
North and the art team did a really nice job with this sequence. Doom knows and respects how strong Susan Storm is, and he makes full use of her incredible arsenal of abilities. The easy way to do this story would’ve been to simply put Doom into Richard’s body, and I’m sure that would’ve been really cool in its own right, but the fact that Doom was thrown into Sue’s body was a creative decision that I think really works. When it comes down to it, she really might be the strongest member of that team with how her abilities work and what she is able to do with them, and also what a crazy way to get under the skin of your greatest nemesis is, being trapped inside the body of his wife. Mobili and D’Armata were really strong in this section as well.
First off, the battle looked absolutely fantastic (yes, pun absolutely intended again). There’s something about Mobili’s art that gives such gravitas to these characters. Reed, Ben, and Sue all look great, and I love that Mobili decided to keep their classic 60s looks during this issue to match their original looks from Fantastic Four #48. The 60s FF costumes always look so great, and Galactus and Silver Surfer both have great classic looks also. The way Mobili draws the powers and energy beams being thrown around makes you feel the impacts. As for the colors, I love the muted blue that D’Armata used for the FF’s costumes, the bright purples and red used to represent the Power Cosmic, and of course that ghastly glow he gives to all of Sue’s powers. I loved the work of both members of the art team during this section as well.
In one of the funniest moments in the history of the Fantastic Four and their legacy, Reed Richards is so impressed with what he saw from his “wife” during the battle that he can’t help but hold her in his arms and give her a huge kiss. Bet you never thought you’d see Reed kissing… oh no… guys, I’m sorry… *A loud bang is heard* YOU THINK IT’S FUNNY THAT RICHARDS KISSED ME, DO YOU! WELL, I’LL SHOW ALL OF YOU. KING OF HARTS, HOW FUNNY WILL YOU FIND IT WHEN I DESTROY CBC HEADQUARTERS? DOOM DECLARES THAT HE WILL DESTROY THE SOURCE OF THESE HORRID WORDS ABOUT HIM AND… OH NO! IT CAN’T BE… FANTASTIC FRANK JAROME! NOOOOOOOOOO… *Fantastic Frank Jarome hit Doom with the teleporting ray and sent him to the other end of the solar system.* Thanks for the assist, Frank! Ok, now with no further interruptions, let’s get back to the story.
Latveria Forever?
The final section of this issue is a doozy. Doom decks Richards in the face after their hilarious incident and immediately begins to enact his real plans. Doom flies as fast as he can to Wakanda, steals their massive underground mound of Vibranium, makes it invisible, and flies it all the way to Latveria to now give the Latverians exclusive access to one of the most valuable minerals in the entire Marvel Universe. I mean, first off, I can’t even imagine what that did to the overall timeline of things if Doom’s people have access to all that Vibranium instead of the Wakandans. The battles that would take place… the implications of Wakanda not being a superpower… Doom having access to Vibranium early in the timeline… All crazy things to imagine. Naturally, the FF isn’t too thrilled with what Doom just did and they go to confront him, still in the body of the Invisible Woman.
The battle commences, but it's really an insult even calling it a battle. “Invisible Woman” makes quick work of the “Fantastic Three” and puts them all on their asses. Doom gloats one final time in front of this version of the FF from the past before he departs Invisible Woman’s body. The Fantastic Four realize that they need to do something to warn their future selves about what happened and head back to New York to try to think of a way to help their future selves. Doom’s mind and spirit are once again body hopping, as has become custom at the end of these issues, and the next body he Quantum Leaps into is… well, you’ll just have to read and find out, but this next issue is going to be out of this world, that's for sure!
DoomQuest #5 lives up to the extremely high bar set by each issue before it. This series is as comic book-y as they come, and I mean that in the best possible way. This issue, featuring Doom in the body of the Invisible Woman during Galactus’ first appearance on Earth, had some fantastic sequences, great art, and a cliffhanger that makes the wait for issue #6 that much harder. Ryan North and the art team are on an absolute roll.
RATING: 8.5/10
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