One World Under Doom #5: Arguing the Point

“Normalization” is a word used frequently in today’s political discourse. People on all sides employ it to preemptively discredit a thought or a behavior, insisting that even arguing the point in the marketplace of ideas is ground that can’t be given up. Ryan North has not been shy with certain commentary in One World Under Doom. Indeed, some plot points are metaphors so thinly veiled that there is no need to change names or obscure the real world events. But North is a smart and consistently fair writer, and in One World Under Doom #5 he’s not afraid to argue a point.

One World Under Doom #5 strikes a good balance between exciting and intellectual. That excitement leads the issue. The opening pages are a straight continuation of the previous issue, and the art team goes full spectacle. Curiel’s work steals the show here. Most of the fight with Dormammu is expressed in vivid, high contrast use of color. Doom’s power dominates as Curiel runs the gamut of different shades of green, with brighter shades that lean toward straight white dominating. Dormammu’s final defeat is likewise expressed in the green of Doom’s power, with an almost crumbling Dormammu standing in the middle of a pillar of bright green.

Color also plays a large role beyond merely showcasing Doom’s strength. Wanda’s magic is depicted in bright shades of pink, almost “whiting out” Wanda behind her own power. Dormammu’s energy is depicted in different shapes of blue. All of these colors are further enhanced by contrasting with the background–a duller fiery conflagration with layer upon layer of shades of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns.

Lanham plays into Curiel’s work during this fight with the caption boxes for Doom’s internal monologue. Against the colorful tableau playing out on One World Under Doom #5’s opening pages, the white text and black background all but jumps off the page. It’s further aided by the boxes’ two outlines, an inner green one and outer red one, that create extra contrast despite being thin.

This very strong color work doesn’t imply that Silva in any way shortchanges the reader. Characters are dynamic through the extended action sequence and are always easy to distinguish in the larger group sequences. Silva’s work is also the canvas on which Curiel’s coloring can excel. Lines are exceptionally fine throughout the fight sequence, and unlike the non-action sequences, Silva uses very little shading here. The color work is allowed to take center stage.

The intellect in One World Under Doom #5 comes in North taking the series to a place it strongly resisted in the first three issues. Perhaps this was a byproduct of the series’ early inclusion of very specific real world commentary. But in any case, this series demanded a frank conversation about whether Doom’s rule is, in fact, bad for the world. Following the high stakes fight between Doom, Earth’s heroes, and Dormammu, One World Under Doom #5 examines this very topic with a lengthy exchange between the heroes.

North is still careful to limit the pro-Doom position. He also sneaks in a Mussolini reference. But North acknowledges that for the purposes of this story, there is no evidence yet that Doom has done anything nefarious and ample evidence that his intentions are charitable, magnanimous–perhaps even virtuous. Indeed, while North certainly isn’t advocating that position, he’s not shy here about making a reasoned argument. And he does it with a very smart bit of writing.

Thor is used to spearhead the pro-Doom position in One World Under Doom #5. It’s a particularly smart choice on North’s part. As Thor makes clear repeatedly in his side of the discussion, the society he extols is a monarchy. North attaches a few hanger-ons to Thor’s argument, but he doesn’t write them as giving the same full-throated argument Thor does. This choice gives North a degree of cover for the discussion’s inclusion–if Doom represents a loss of freedom, who better to support that than the leader of a monarchy?

Balancing the discussion still further is making Tony sound like an anti-Doom conspiracy theorist, resisting the pro-Doom argument with an increasingly irrational refusal to concede any point, no matter how obvious. As with Thor’s bias, Tony’s frequent financial and technological superiority allows readers to attribute his behavior to ego. With Thor and Tony’s arguments forming the extreme sides of the discussion, everyone in between comes off as rational. And while the overwhelming majority of characters still land on a generally anti-Doom position, the dialogue from those that don’t is reasoned, honest, and doesn’t assassinate their credibility.

Silva’s work shines in these post-action sequences which largely feature extended dialogue. Many of the characters’ reactions are sold visually. This is especially true of Thor and Tony. Linework on Thor’s face is fairly conservative, resulting in the appearance of calm deliberation. With Tony, though, Silva’s linework is comparatively liberal and further emphasizes the character’s intense emotion. Like the argument itself, the various other characters land on a spectrum of detail, the result of which further implies their position.