Superheroes are nothing without supervillains to face. Doctor Doom is one of the best villains in the Marvel Universe, or any comic universe, for that matter. He is regal, brilliant, ruthless and complicated. This mini series is far from the first solo Doom story. He has had several starring roles in the past, and played a key role in the Heroes Return storyline. His return to the Marvel Universe was a key component of a recent Fantastic Four storyline as he returned with the inhabitants of the "Heroes Return" pocket universe to invade and conquer his home universe. That storyline climaxed with Reed Richards locked in Doom's armor and Doom banished to an alternate Earth. Of course (all together now...) "Because you demanded it", Doom's tale there can now be told!

This series begins as Doom realizes his situation on a hostile world on the other side of our solar system. In typical Doom fashion, he vows to turn it to his advantage and return to Earth. He is without his mighty armor (Richards is locked in it, remember?), so he must take on this new world with nothing more that his bare hands and arrogance. After killing a lion with his bare hands, he is captured by Al-Khalad, a desert slaver. Meanwhile, in Doomcenter, Doom's faithful right-hand babe Lancer is holding off the many enemies who wish to take advantage of Doom's absense.

The art and story borrows heavily from the "Road Warrior" movies. While this is interesting, it is also its most immediate shortcoming. This book is intended for faithful readers of the Fantastic Four, anyone else will be hopelessly confused. Yet, the story and art style are so dissimilar to the FF, those fans will very likely find themselves alienated by it. It is a case of good creators on the wrong project. Writer Chuck Dixon is always competant, but his post appocalyptic setting seems the wrong venue for Doom. Leonardo Manco is a good artist, but again, his style is simply not suited for a book in the Fantastic Four line. Perhaps Marvel wished to tell a story that expanded Doom beyond his traditional setting. If that is the case, they were ill advised to pick a story that takes place directly within an established FF story arc. Die hard FF fans will want to pick this book up, but most anyone else will be hopelesly lost.

Reviewed August 5th, 2000

Back To Review Archive A-F