Invincible Iron Man #6
Feb. 5th, 2016 01:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nomadicwriter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
doomfansI wasn't sure if Doom was going to be appearing in this issue, but he turns out to have a cameo after all, showing up to interrupt Tony's breakfast waffles with his biochemical engineer girlfriend Amara. Doom introduces himself as "Victor" and tells her he's a big fan of her work, but Tony's not having it and tries to get either him or failing that Amara to leave. Instead, Doom pulls up a chair and explains that "I want to prove my intentions to your new boyfriend." (The fact he knows enough to say 'new' there suggests that he's paying a remarkable degree of attention to Tony's love life. Been following the gossip magazines, have you, Victor?)
Tony is pretty pissy that he keeps showing up like this: Doom asks if he'd pick up a phone call, which he wouldn't, which is why Doom does it this way. He's here to check up on whether Tony's suffered any aftereffects from their brush with the demon. (Which sounds like a manufactured excuse to hang out if ever I've heard one, heh. Also, Tony's response when Doom asks if he's had any weird dreams is, "Define weird..." So what exactly have you been dreaming about, Tony?) Tony tells him to go to hell and asks how Doom has been tracking him; Doom's parting line is, "I'm smarter than you. You know that."
...Plus also there is some stuff with Rhodey investigating things in Japan, but as it doesn't yet relate to the Doom storyline I won't bother recapping it.
Anyway, very happy to see Doom is apparently going to stay on as a recurring character beyond just the first five-issue arc. (And the fact he now has to come up with ever more tenuous excuses for showing up to see Tony only makes it even better.) I'm enjoying the tack Bendis is taking with the "reformed" Doom here, where he's seemingly being genuinely solicitous and helpful but is still his ruthless self when it comes to things like suggesting Amara skip straight to human testing to advance her research. It's also interesting that Doom speaks of wanting "to reverse some of the damage I have inflicted"; even if his turn to the light side is all part of some scheme, it still seems like he must have had some kind of epiphany or shift in mindset post-Secret Wars just to be able to tame his ego enough to accept that other people see him as a villain.
I also like that he gets occasional little barbed comments that are pretty much bare-faced cheek coming from him yet also still have a kernel of a fair point underneath, like when he tells Tony, "Follow-up is not something you super heroes are very good at." Because yes, that may be pretty rich coming from a supervillain, but on the other hand as the ruler of a country that frequently gets levelled in one battle or another Doom does actually have some experience with all the aftermath and rebuilding work that the heroes usually get to walk away from.
We've had an artist switch for the new arc, to Mike Deodato, who is a perfectly decent choice I'd normally be pretty happy to have on a book, but unfortunately still feels like a bit of a step down after the gorgeous David Marquez art in the first five issues. Doesn't help that he's brought with him a new colourist as well, Frank Martin, and the combined effect is a dark, shadowy look that's much less to my taste than Marquez and Ponsor's clean lines and brighter colours. But that's a purely stylistic thing, so YMMV.
Anyway, it looks like we can expect Doom to keep popping up in this book, plus there's also a new Iron Man series starting in March, International Iron Man, which refs "his strange new quasi-ally Doctor Doom" in the solicits, so it seems there is plenty more Tony-Doom team-up action to come! And I look forward to it.
Tony is pretty pissy that he keeps showing up like this: Doom asks if he'd pick up a phone call, which he wouldn't, which is why Doom does it this way. He's here to check up on whether Tony's suffered any aftereffects from their brush with the demon. (Which sounds like a manufactured excuse to hang out if ever I've heard one, heh. Also, Tony's response when Doom asks if he's had any weird dreams is, "Define weird..." So what exactly have you been dreaming about, Tony?) Tony tells him to go to hell and asks how Doom has been tracking him; Doom's parting line is, "I'm smarter than you. You know that."
...Plus also there is some stuff with Rhodey investigating things in Japan, but as it doesn't yet relate to the Doom storyline I won't bother recapping it.
Anyway, very happy to see Doom is apparently going to stay on as a recurring character beyond just the first five-issue arc. (And the fact he now has to come up with ever more tenuous excuses for showing up to see Tony only makes it even better.) I'm enjoying the tack Bendis is taking with the "reformed" Doom here, where he's seemingly being genuinely solicitous and helpful but is still his ruthless self when it comes to things like suggesting Amara skip straight to human testing to advance her research. It's also interesting that Doom speaks of wanting "to reverse some of the damage I have inflicted"; even if his turn to the light side is all part of some scheme, it still seems like he must have had some kind of epiphany or shift in mindset post-Secret Wars just to be able to tame his ego enough to accept that other people see him as a villain.
I also like that he gets occasional little barbed comments that are pretty much bare-faced cheek coming from him yet also still have a kernel of a fair point underneath, like when he tells Tony, "Follow-up is not something you super heroes are very good at." Because yes, that may be pretty rich coming from a supervillain, but on the other hand as the ruler of a country that frequently gets levelled in one battle or another Doom does actually have some experience with all the aftermath and rebuilding work that the heroes usually get to walk away from.
We've had an artist switch for the new arc, to Mike Deodato, who is a perfectly decent choice I'd normally be pretty happy to have on a book, but unfortunately still feels like a bit of a step down after the gorgeous David Marquez art in the first five issues. Doesn't help that he's brought with him a new colourist as well, Frank Martin, and the combined effect is a dark, shadowy look that's much less to my taste than Marquez and Ponsor's clean lines and brighter colours. But that's a purely stylistic thing, so YMMV.
Anyway, it looks like we can expect Doom to keep popping up in this book, plus there's also a new Iron Man series starting in March, International Iron Man, which refs "his strange new quasi-ally Doctor Doom" in the solicits, so it seems there is plenty more Tony-Doom team-up action to come! And I look forward to it.
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Date: 2016-02-05 09:36 pm (UTC)Doom does have a point about the human testing though -- mice can only help so much.
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Date: 2016-02-05 10:43 pm (UTC)I'm pondering maybe writing a fic connecting the dots between the end of Secret Wars and Doom's decision to be Tony's new best friend - my theory is that he's decided the whole "working with an equal partner" thing kind of worked for him, but he's a bit wary of trying it with Strange again so he's picked Tony as the best prospect. But I'm pretty busy at the moment and half expecting to get Jossed before I get my act together enough to actually write anything.