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doomfans2016-01-15 03:57 am
nomadicwriter) wrote in doomfans2016-01-15 03:57 am
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Secret Wars #9
The big finale at last!
Doom faces off against T'Challa and Namor, who have been sent to distract him while Reed gets to Molecule Man. Sue seems to recognise Reed at first, but it's only because she saw his picture a few issues ago. She still thinks he was the one who murdered Strange, but Reed tells her it was Doom. "You mean God." / "I mean Victor." (I find it kind of interesting that he goes with that "Victor" line there instead of many other possible responses; I feel like there's a bit of a theme going on in this issue of Reed and Victor having come to see each other more clearly as human beings instead of just larger-than-life archnemeses.)
Doom realises he's being distracted and makes for Molecule Man's cave, where he meets Sue and Val outside. Sue asks if everything Reed told her was true. Doom basically says it's complicated, and asks her to trust him. "Like Stephen trusted you?" she says. Doom hangs his head and says nothing - but, fascinatingly, as he leaves, we get a thought bubble (well, caption box): I'm sorry, Susan. I tried.
And then we get a classic "RICHARDDSSS!" Doom's not surprised that Reed just had to meddle: "Of course you did. You're a meddler." (I'm not sure why I find this line completely hilarious, but I do. Classic petty petulant Doom, right on the tail of a moment of seeming new maturity and character growth. Oh, Victor, never change.) He asks what the grand plan is this time; Reed says he just came to try to convince Molecule Man that there might be a better solution.
Doom chides Reed for having spent his whole life distracted with "modern concerns" like ethics, order and society when all that has ever mattered was survival. (I feel like you could write whole essays about that little speech and what it says about Doom's mindset and how he's been shaped by his backstory and origins.) He points out that he saved millions when Reed couldn't even save his family. It turns into a physical struggle, Molecule Man intervening to block Doom's powers so they're on an even footing.
Reed says it's not so easy for Doom now that he's no longer omnipotent; Doom is outraged that he thinks any of it's been easy. "You think power makes impossible choices more palatable? I have always had power, Reed. Nothing has ever been easy." (Wow. I was so bowled over by that line on the first readthrough, I didn't even notice the use of Reed's first name, but that's also fascinating.)
Reed says Doom stole his family; Doom insists they chose him, they believed in him: "If you wish to believe that they only did so in the absence of you, very well... but they chose." Doom wants Reed to give him some credit and accept that he's done good things (which is kind of astonishingly revealing for him to be pushing for out loud). Reed does accept it, but he thinks Doom could have done more: "You're so afraid of losing the things that you've saved that you hold them too tight." Doom counters that Reed's problem is ditching a good thing in pursuit of perfection. (I think they're both on-target. Some great character stuff and fab lines throughout this whole confrontation.)
Doom says it's what it always comes down to between the two of them: Reed thinks he's better than Doom. Reed says it's not that, but that he thinks Doom could be better. Doom presses him about the fact Reed believes that he would have done better than Doom given the same ultimate power. Reed says he would have and they both know it. Doom: "Yes, damn you... NOW DIE!" (I say we should embrace the fact that he managed to make that admission at all rather than focus on the fact he immediately tried to kill the only witness, heh.) But at this point, Molecule Man steps in, taking Doom's agreement as licence to transfer his powers over to Reed and bring about the end of Battleworld.
Some glimpses of the new world (AKA 616 rebooted with some continuity tweaks and added Ult-verse characters) and then we check in on Reed, Sue and the kids of the Future Foundation, who are occupied restoring the multiverse one universe at a time with a combination of Franklin's powers, Molecule Man's abilities, and the Beyonder-powers he transferred over to Reed. So that's going to keep them busy - and presumably out of the comics - for a while. :(
Apparently Reed has changed history so that Sue now remembers him having saved her and the kids when the life raft broke apart (guess that means Franklin and Val won't remember Doom having been their daddy, either, boo); however, Reed modestly admits: "Well... I had some help. And that help bought me just enough time to fix so many things I've been wrong about." Fade in on Doom standing on a balcony in Latveria as he takes off his mask, touches his healed face... and laughs.
So... whoa. This was kind of a whiplash issue for me, I must admit. The Reed and Doom stuff was very, very good, pretty much everything I could have asked for, but the rest of the issue had a bit of a whiff of editorial demands dictating the story; things felt overly rushed to fit in fairly irrelevant scenes like the one with the two Spider-Men that's obviously just there to establish the new status quo, and I can't say I'm thrilled to have all my favourite F4 characters benched for who knows how long just when they're doing something new and interesting with Doom.
On the other hand, wow, they really are doing something new and interesting with Doom. His apparently turning over a new leaf in the Iron Man comics could still be just a scheme, but after this issue I do think they've got the groundwork in for me to buy it if they're playing it straight. There's a lot of character stuff going on with Doom here that truly is new territory for him in terms of acknowledging and facing his failures: the fact that he clearly does regard his betrayal of Stephen Strange as wrong and something that he can't defend - complete with that, "I'm sorry, I tried," in his private thoughts - and most of all him actually acknowledging, however grudgingly and murderously, that yes, Reed would have created a better world than Doom himself was capable of. So while he may not have actually turned good guy overnight, I could definitely believe that he's trying out some new and different approach to "saving the world" than his usual plan of gaining ultimate power in order to conquer it.
Plenty of interesting stuff on Reed's side of things too (which only makes me more irked he's been taken off the board for now, though I guess it does give Doom a chance to take advantage of his new state without the resentment of owing Reed for it getting in the way); it may be less of a dramatic turnaround for Reed, but I do still feel like he's taken a step forward in understanding Doom and his motivations, and hence we see him take the new approach of trying to tackle Doom's underlying issues instead of just thwarting his plans. It could still blow up in his face - there are essays to write on Reed's own brand of arrogance too in that "I'm the one who fixes things" comment - but at least it's a step outside of their previous pattern. Looking forward to seeing how it goes the next time they encounter each other.
The art maintains its usual high standards for the finale, of course; I don't think all the shouty dramatics quite play to Ribic's strengths (some of the open-mouthed and wide-eyed expressions do look a tad goofy in his ultra-naturalistic style) but he sells the more understated emotional moments beautifully: Reed's beaten-down sullenness, Doom's bowed head when Sue confronts him about betraying Strange's trust, and some fantastically emotive expressions from Reed on his last page talking to Franklin and Sue.
So, flawed in some aspects, and I'm not thrilled with where it leaves the F4, but damn, that whole Reed-Doom confrontation was great, with tons of fantastic lines and character insights, and I'm really excited to see where they take Doom from here. Overall, colour me pretty happy!
Doom faces off against T'Challa and Namor, who have been sent to distract him while Reed gets to Molecule Man. Sue seems to recognise Reed at first, but it's only because she saw his picture a few issues ago. She still thinks he was the one who murdered Strange, but Reed tells her it was Doom. "You mean God." / "I mean Victor." (I find it kind of interesting that he goes with that "Victor" line there instead of many other possible responses; I feel like there's a bit of a theme going on in this issue of Reed and Victor having come to see each other more clearly as human beings instead of just larger-than-life archnemeses.)
Doom realises he's being distracted and makes for Molecule Man's cave, where he meets Sue and Val outside. Sue asks if everything Reed told her was true. Doom basically says it's complicated, and asks her to trust him. "Like Stephen trusted you?" she says. Doom hangs his head and says nothing - but, fascinatingly, as he leaves, we get a thought bubble (well, caption box): I'm sorry, Susan. I tried.
And then we get a classic "RICHARDDSSS!" Doom's not surprised that Reed just had to meddle: "Of course you did. You're a meddler." (I'm not sure why I find this line completely hilarious, but I do. Classic petty petulant Doom, right on the tail of a moment of seeming new maturity and character growth. Oh, Victor, never change.) He asks what the grand plan is this time; Reed says he just came to try to convince Molecule Man that there might be a better solution.
Doom chides Reed for having spent his whole life distracted with "modern concerns" like ethics, order and society when all that has ever mattered was survival. (I feel like you could write whole essays about that little speech and what it says about Doom's mindset and how he's been shaped by his backstory and origins.) He points out that he saved millions when Reed couldn't even save his family. It turns into a physical struggle, Molecule Man intervening to block Doom's powers so they're on an even footing.
Reed says it's not so easy for Doom now that he's no longer omnipotent; Doom is outraged that he thinks any of it's been easy. "You think power makes impossible choices more palatable? I have always had power, Reed. Nothing has ever been easy." (Wow. I was so bowled over by that line on the first readthrough, I didn't even notice the use of Reed's first name, but that's also fascinating.)
Reed says Doom stole his family; Doom insists they chose him, they believed in him: "If you wish to believe that they only did so in the absence of you, very well... but they chose." Doom wants Reed to give him some credit and accept that he's done good things (which is kind of astonishingly revealing for him to be pushing for out loud). Reed does accept it, but he thinks Doom could have done more: "You're so afraid of losing the things that you've saved that you hold them too tight." Doom counters that Reed's problem is ditching a good thing in pursuit of perfection. (I think they're both on-target. Some great character stuff and fab lines throughout this whole confrontation.)
Doom says it's what it always comes down to between the two of them: Reed thinks he's better than Doom. Reed says it's not that, but that he thinks Doom could be better. Doom presses him about the fact Reed believes that he would have done better than Doom given the same ultimate power. Reed says he would have and they both know it. Doom: "Yes, damn you... NOW DIE!" (I say we should embrace the fact that he managed to make that admission at all rather than focus on the fact he immediately tried to kill the only witness, heh.) But at this point, Molecule Man steps in, taking Doom's agreement as licence to transfer his powers over to Reed and bring about the end of Battleworld.
Some glimpses of the new world (AKA 616 rebooted with some continuity tweaks and added Ult-verse characters) and then we check in on Reed, Sue and the kids of the Future Foundation, who are occupied restoring the multiverse one universe at a time with a combination of Franklin's powers, Molecule Man's abilities, and the Beyonder-powers he transferred over to Reed. So that's going to keep them busy - and presumably out of the comics - for a while. :(
Apparently Reed has changed history so that Sue now remembers him having saved her and the kids when the life raft broke apart (guess that means Franklin and Val won't remember Doom having been their daddy, either, boo); however, Reed modestly admits: "Well... I had some help. And that help bought me just enough time to fix so many things I've been wrong about." Fade in on Doom standing on a balcony in Latveria as he takes off his mask, touches his healed face... and laughs.
So... whoa. This was kind of a whiplash issue for me, I must admit. The Reed and Doom stuff was very, very good, pretty much everything I could have asked for, but the rest of the issue had a bit of a whiff of editorial demands dictating the story; things felt overly rushed to fit in fairly irrelevant scenes like the one with the two Spider-Men that's obviously just there to establish the new status quo, and I can't say I'm thrilled to have all my favourite F4 characters benched for who knows how long just when they're doing something new and interesting with Doom.
On the other hand, wow, they really are doing something new and interesting with Doom. His apparently turning over a new leaf in the Iron Man comics could still be just a scheme, but after this issue I do think they've got the groundwork in for me to buy it if they're playing it straight. There's a lot of character stuff going on with Doom here that truly is new territory for him in terms of acknowledging and facing his failures: the fact that he clearly does regard his betrayal of Stephen Strange as wrong and something that he can't defend - complete with that, "I'm sorry, I tried," in his private thoughts - and most of all him actually acknowledging, however grudgingly and murderously, that yes, Reed would have created a better world than Doom himself was capable of. So while he may not have actually turned good guy overnight, I could definitely believe that he's trying out some new and different approach to "saving the world" than his usual plan of gaining ultimate power in order to conquer it.
Plenty of interesting stuff on Reed's side of things too (which only makes me more irked he's been taken off the board for now, though I guess it does give Doom a chance to take advantage of his new state without the resentment of owing Reed for it getting in the way); it may be less of a dramatic turnaround for Reed, but I do still feel like he's taken a step forward in understanding Doom and his motivations, and hence we see him take the new approach of trying to tackle Doom's underlying issues instead of just thwarting his plans. It could still blow up in his face - there are essays to write on Reed's own brand of arrogance too in that "I'm the one who fixes things" comment - but at least it's a step outside of their previous pattern. Looking forward to seeing how it goes the next time they encounter each other.
The art maintains its usual high standards for the finale, of course; I don't think all the shouty dramatics quite play to Ribic's strengths (some of the open-mouthed and wide-eyed expressions do look a tad goofy in his ultra-naturalistic style) but he sells the more understated emotional moments beautifully: Reed's beaten-down sullenness, Doom's bowed head when Sue confronts him about betraying Strange's trust, and some fantastically emotive expressions from Reed on his last page talking to Franklin and Sue.
So, flawed in some aspects, and I'm not thrilled with where it leaves the F4, but damn, that whole Reed-Doom confrontation was great, with tons of fantastic lines and character insights, and I'm really excited to see where they take Doom from here. Overall, colour me pretty happy!
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