Dr. Doom #2: The Terror of Doom

I keep thinking all “super villain” books are going to be similar in tone to the ones in the ’90s like “New Years Evil,” or Felicia Hardy: The Black Cat, but Christopher Cantwell’s Doctor Doom series has been intelligent, well-told, provocative, and chock-full of surprises and great continuity, and this is only the second issue! This is a book I can see myself sitting down and rereading every once in a while. One of the things I really like about this book is the supporting cast. Cantwell takes some really obscure characters and lifts them up to the potential that they truly have. In addition to all the other heroes and villains, we get some great scenes of what’s happening in Latveria when their ruler is taken from them. How do they function? What failsafe does Dr. Doom have in place for a situation just like this?

Another aspect that I liked was the use of magic. That can be hit or miss for me. I’m not into the “step into this portal and we’ll go to a place where stairs go upside down and there’s a pair of lips in the wall” kind of thing, so I was happy to read that this is kind of “logical magic”, if you will. It’s magic, but not the kind that’s unbelievable or an easy out for a tough storytelling situation. Cantwell also throws in a couple of big surprises for good measure and that’s what puts the cherry on the sundae that is this issue.

Let’s talk about Sal LaRroca’s art for a second. I’m sad to report that this is not LaRocca’s finest outing. I remember when he set the world on fire when he didn’t use an inker back in X-Treme X-Men. I always want that Sal LaRrocca, and unfortunately you can’t hit a home run every time. This art is technically sound and it’s good, but it should’ve been great because then this book would easily be in the top five books that came out this week. There are some scenes that had to have been hard to draw, but LaRrocca does an okay job when a lesser artist wouldn’t have known what to do with them.