One World Under Doom #1
B. Radtz
Recap
ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM! Six months ago, Doctor Victor von Doom became Sorcerer Supreme — then disappeared behind Latveria’s closed borders. For most, there’s enough going on in the world that Doom’s absence is not a priority, and some time without him feels like a blessing. Only a few recognize it for what it truly was... the calm before the storm. It is a storm that has now arrived. The world has woken up to a new reality: Doctor Doom, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, has magically taken over every broadcast medium on the planet and declared himself Emperor of the World — the ruler of a new United Latveria! And shockingly, impossibly, all of Earth’s leaders seem to be going along with this. Luckily, whether it’s mind control or Doombots, whatever’s affecting them hasn’t affected Earth’s heroes — and so they quickly form a strike team to stop Doom’s machinations. But will they succeed? And what happens when some begin to welcome their new Emperor with open arms, clamoring for One World Under Doom?
Review
It’s finally happening! After last year’s blockbuster event, Blood Hunt, Marvel has launched its One World Under Doom, by Fantastic Four alum Ryan North, with former FF artist supreme R.B. Silva. After usurping the role of Sorcerer Supreme from Doctor Strange at the end of Blood Hunt, where he’d use the power to save the world from an eternal night and the vampire nation, Doom has made his first move to taking over the world, dictating his demands across the globe. So let’s get on with the show, shall we?
Who doesn’t love listicles?
As laid out in the 2022 issue of Timeless by Jed MacKay, we were given a list of Tribulation Events, and it’s clear that we have finally reached the King of Magic in the timeline, and Doom has made his first move. The issue begins with Doom taking his first decree as king of the world by dictating that every nation will not be able to make war between each other, medical care will be free, as well as education to anyone who wants to take it. This obviously steps on the nations of the world’s toes, but Doom with his infinite power knows this, and he dispatches a Doombot to take them out. With that, the Avengers, and a whole host of other superheroes assemble in order to come up with a plan to take Doom down.
Ryan Murphy and R.B. Silva have set up this event with a Doom who sounds very true to character, who is full of confidence, and will do what is needed in order to keep the nations of the world in line, guaranteeing subservience from the rest of the earth’s governments to his new role in the new global political hierarchy that Doom has put everyone in. Doom taking over the world isn’t something new, it’s a story arc we’ve seen several times over the last 60 years, so it’s nothing new. While he is the current Sorcerer Supreme, we’ve seen him take over the world using the Beyonder’s powers, among other things, but we don’t really see him use these powers here until the end, but it’s not clear if he’s using magic, or some form of energy attacks from his armor. The most interesting thing that takes place is a Doctor Doom Dinosaur that attacks the heroes who are attempting to squash this global takeover by Doom.
VelociDoomtar!
R.B. Silva has grown so much over the last decade since he began to work at Marvel, developing his craft that he’s one of the best artists in the business. From starting on the X-books, helping launch the Krakoan era, to Dan Slott’s Fantastic Four, to the Sam Wilson Captain America run to here, and it just keeps getting better. Whether it’s the more quieter moments, as the heroes band together to form a plan, or when Doom is alerting the world of the new status quo, to a Dino Doom who is attacking the heroes, to seeing Captain America (Steve) chop off the head of a robot Baron Zemo, he can take a rather mundane setting, and elevate it with each panel. If I had anything to complain about, it’d be the lack of the Fantastic Four’s presence in this issue.
Final Thoughts
It’s the kickoff to the big event of the year, and it’s going to be a long one. While the premise is quite interesting, considering Doom’s new role in the Marvel Universe, but the issue seems to be decompressed for the majority of it. Ryan North’s had a celebrated run on Fantastic Four, so having him on lead this makes sense, but not a lot happened here. If he’s going to keep people’s attention for the next 9 months, he’s going to have to amp up the action.
One World Under Doom #1: Panic Lads it’s a red alert, there’s something here from someplace else
- Writing - 7/107/10
- Storyline - 8.5/108.5/10
- Art - 9.5/109.5/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 7.5/107.5/10
