Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1
Written by Al Ewing
Art by Mike Henderson
Colors by Mattia Iacono
Letters by VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Art by Fabrizio De Tommaso
No matter how big or small your overall comic knowledge is, it's an indisputable fact that Dr. Doom and the Fantastic Four have been at odds forever. Victor Von Doom, one of the greatest villains of all time, and Reed Richards, one of the most brilliant heroes of all time, have had legendary battles all throughout the history of comics. This story, written by the great Al Ewing, takes us back to a time when these two pillars of Marvel were just students at a university in New York and how a young man with an impeccable mind began his dark path to becoming… Doom. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning Now in Effect for Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1!
Latverian Beginnings and A Man Named Richards…
The issue opens with Doom, flanked on both sides by two hooded figures, as they create the signature armor plating he will become known for. Doom, bandaged up from head to toe, sets his first piece of armor into place on his arm as soon as he takes it off the flames. We quickly see that pain means almost nothing to this man, as his strength of will might be one of the most powerful not just on Earth, but in the Marvel Universe.
While this opening scene is short, it helps begin to establish the type of person Doom is. If you’re coming into this book with almost no knowledge of Doom and his escapades over the years, this was a solid little introduction to get you to understand how driven this character is. For long-time fans, it offers another glimpse of Doom that proves he has always been as headstrong as ever. After this quick but consequential opening, we are taken back to an earlier point in Doom’s life… before he left Latveria and before he met Reed Richards,
Victor Von Doom didn’t just become the dastardly villain of lore overnight. It began with a young adult life where his heart was ripped out and taken from him. His mother died when he was younger, and his father, a healer, was made a scapegoat for the local Baron’s wife dying and was hunted down and murdered. Losing not one, but both parents, while you’re still young, would have a harmful impact on anybody. It’s safe to say that not having these positive guiding voices negatively impacted the rest of his life. Whereas some writers would take pages to describe something like this, Ewing effectively keys us in on and starts to paint a picture of Doom within just four panels. It's a testament to how effective a writer he is, and I’ve been a big fan of his work since I first read his Avengers: No Surrender run.
The story moves a little quickly after this initial scene. We learn Victor found some magic books within his mother’s old things and figured out how to combine his technological knowledge with his mother’s magic. Naturally, whispers of his genius make their way to the United States Government, and they send someone to meet Victor with an offer: come to America and earn a doctorate while assisting the Government when necessary. Victor takes the offer, and on his first day on campus, he is introduced to another brilliant mind on campus. A man by the name of Reed Richards.
Victor Meets His Greatest Rival
The first initial meeting of Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom is one of the best parts of the issue and provides some great insight into who each of these two very distinct personalities is. Reed is developing new technology for space travel, and after taking a quick look at his formulas, Victor changes a line and solves a problem Reed couldn't figure out. Reed thinks Victor is brilliant, thanks him for his help in solving his issue, and then asks him to be his roommate. Victor stomps off, saying that he needs absolutely no one. Remember this scene because we’re going to come back to this one later.
Time again moves fairly quickly as Victor and Reed meet an indeterminate amount of time later. Reed has found a roommate in Ben Grimm, who he’ll tell you is quite smart for a football quarterback, while Victor has been working on his own experiments that have occupied his time. Now, if you haven’t guessed by now, this isn’t a book based around action scenes or massive set pieces. This is a book that uses deep conversation to help us to understand these characters. Doom and Richards have been a part of some of the largest climactic battles in Marvel history, but I have to say, to have this time with them both early in their lives when they were still crafting the people they become makes for a really cool issue. These next conversations that they both have in the school’s food hall, followed by a Romanian food joint, are both great for so many different reasons.
I’m not going to go over every single line of their conversations between the two eateries; I think you’d be best served reading how it all unfolds in the issue, but I’ll break it down as best I can. Essentially, Reed just wants to get to know who Victor is, what his “true face” looks like. We, as readers, begin to see how the differences between these two expand even further. Victor is a loner. He doesn’t want to answer to anyone or humor anyone who he feels is beneath him. They would only hinder whatever plans or goals he has in front of him. Victor feels his smarts and knowledge should be flaunted, humility be damned. He’s better than you, and he wants you to know it. That's a stark contrast to the type of person Ewing shows us that Reed is.
Reed is the other side of Doom’s coin. He’s nearly, if not just as, brilliant. He creates technology that defies the imagination. He feels that having virtue, having friends and family who appreciate him and support him, and getting to know others are just as important as the mind he possesses. This isn’t the leader of the Fantastic Four yet; he’s earning his doctorate while trying to figure out his place in the world. He wants to help the world and help humanity, whereas Victor cares about himself and his own ends. I loved getting to know these two characters more throughout the two restaurant scenes, and Ewing did a brilliant job with their interactions in this issue.
A Consequential Experiment…
After finding a mutual common ground of discussing what Reed is actually working on, which I won’t spoil here, Victor invites Reed back to his dorm room to see what his true project has been while at the university. When Reed discovers Victor’s true objective… he is shocked to say the least. This is yet another development I won’t spoil here, but before Reed leaves the room, he notices Victor made an error in one of his mathematical formulas for his project and tells him to change it, or the results could be deadly. Remember earlier when I said to remember the scene in Reed’s dorm room? Well, this one certainly couldn’t have played out any differently.
Whereas Reed took Victor’s advice and it ended up helping his project, Victor screams at Reed to get out of his room and that he doesn’t care about his “opinions.” This little scene, combined with the one from their first meeting, is a great microcosm of who they both are: one doesn’t want anyone’s help, and the other couldn’t be more grateful for it. We see this play out in real time, and this scene in Victor's dorm, combined with the scene in Reed’s, was yet another great part of Ewing’s narrative.
Victor’s experiment ends up going haywire, and he nearly dies. He would have if not for the timely assistance of Reed Richards, who was able to pull him out of his machine. Victor is not only expelled from the university because of his dangerous experiments, but Victor is also left with horrible scarring from the attack. He vows vengeance on Richards for his pain and sets off on his path to find someone to help him with his new goal. Victor finds an order of satanic ancient monks who help him construct his new armor and we are brought back to the moment the issue began. The metal mask is finally constructed as Victor dies and Doom is born.
Final Thoughts and Rating
This is somehow not the first, not the second, but the third book featuring Doom that I have now reviewed for CBC, and I loved each and every take on the character. Marvel has been featuring the good doctor in quite a few of their series recently… hmm… I wonder why? Is there a movie coming out or something? Anyway, Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1 was yet another take for this character. I liked that we got to see the man behind the mask, so to speak, and see how a damaged upbringing ended up giving birth to someone who has been among the most vile villains to ever grace a comic book. Ewing’s narrative really held me, and I liked how the story was mainly told through these huge conversations with Reed Richards. The dichotomy between the two couldn’t be clearer.
I want to shout out the art team of Mike Henderson and Mattia Iacono as well. The art in this issue gave me a very early-2000’s comic kind of feel, and I thought that ended up being a really good fit. It’s crazy to think, but the early 2000s were twenty years ago, so for an issue that deals with the past, it makes sense to have an art style that can fit that time. There were also some great design choices in different scenes throughout this issue.
One of my favorite design choices was that the suit Victor wears for most of the issue has the same color scheme as the famous armor he is most known for. I didn’t pick that up on my initial read through, but when I read it a second time, it was like a lightbulb went off. I really like it when artists do things like that. Another fantastic design choice was that Reed’s room was bathed in light and had a very open feeling, while Victor’s was presented as dark and closed off. Yet another piece of this issue that shows the dichotomy between these two. Finally, one last really cool highlight from the art team is when Victor imagines his true face and then his shock when he actually sees his face after the scarring. Both panels feature his eyes in a crazed state that radiates anger, and I liked how the darkness he holds inside ended up manifesting physically on him.
Challenges of Doom: Mr. Fantastic #1 continues Marvel’s strong line of current books featuring Dr. Doom. The dichotomy of Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom is made clear in this origin story of their never-ending rivalry. This brief glimpse into Doom’s early years provides a really interesting take on how he starts to become the villain who eventually shakes the foundations of the multiverse. Bravo to Al Ewing for his great narrative and to the art team of Mike Henderson and Mattia Iacono for some great highlights and designs.
RATING: 8/10