Dr. Doom #3: To Hell With The Devil

This issue of Doom is a little light on the actual action, but it’s very story heavy. Author Christopher Cantwell knows his pacing when it comes to storytelling. The previous two issues have featured a lot of things going on. Besides the “villain” of the story, we’ve seen fellow super-villains, superheroes, scientists, astronauts, and servants all join the fray. We’ve also seen Dr. Doom shot dead!!!!! I’m dedicated to keeping my reviews as spoiler-free as I can, so if this review is a little light on details, you’ll have to forgive me.

This issue has a TON of story and every bit of it is really important. Not saying that he’s alive or dead, but we get a pretty deep look into Victor Von Doom the man, instead of Dr. Doom, the arch-enemy of the world. There are a couple of events that move the story forward, but most of the book is an in-depth character study into what motives Doom, and why he thinks and feels the way he does and I will tell you this, it’s not a sad kid crying about his mother kind of story. I’d really like for comics to get back to villains that were evil just because they were just bad guys. This is sort of a return to that. A lot of Doom’s motivation is because he wants things a certain way, and that’s it. Cantwell teaches us here that not everyone’s cause is noble. A very solid and well crafted script which translates into a very good comic.

But, that would only be half the battle if it wasn’t for artist Salvador Larroca. Larroca is a legend in this business. I honestly believe that people will be talking about him 30 years from now. His work on this issue is up to his usual high standards. There’s some very unique locations in this issue and Larroca pulls them off beautifully, making them look not like anyplace else in the Marvel universe. There’s also a really great fight scene in this issue. Larroca makes this high intensity karate fight suck the breath right out of your chest like you’re watching an excellent, fast-paced, action movie. After seeing it, it made me realize how awesome Larroca on James Bond, GI Joe, or Iron first would be. The writing on this issue is the hard uppercut, and Larroca’s  art is the knockout blow.