This week Marvel celebrates the 50th anniversary of four characters in a mashup unlike any other in Marvel Gold ’76. In the Rapid Rundown, the Year of Doom marches on with reviews of Doomquest #4 and Challenges of Doom: Spider-Man.
Marvel Gold ’76
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist:Madibek Musabekov
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Superhero comics have come up with a lot of different ways to do celebration and anniversary issues, with the most common being anthology collections of disconnected short stories. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of a bonafide cavalcade of disparate characters, Marvel has tried something a little different. This time, Daredevil writer Stephanie Phillips celebrates the birthdays of the supervillain Bullseye along with Star-Lord, Nova, and Jack of Hearts in a single story. This probably would make more sense without Bullseye, considering the fact that the rest of these characters are space-faring and cosmically powered. But it’s that bizarre juxtaposition that gives this celebration issue its undeniable charm.
One of the things we just take for granted about superhero comics and stories is that they are a mashup of different genres that are often completely at odds with one another. What makes Superman and Batman work so well together is that they should not work well together. The Norse god Thor sharing page space with Daredevil or Captain America, relatively grounded heroes, is meant to be bizarre. But while we have become used to heroes teaming up and their words colliding, we are far less used to seeing street level villains come into contact with the fantastical. Seeing Bullseye thrown into a sci-fi assassination scheme that draws attention from multiple cosmic heroes gives us an opportunity to explore new and different sides to the character. How does he react to being so physically outclassed? Does it make him rethink his place in the universe or give him a sense of his own purpose or meaning?
The answer is, of course not, he’s Bullseye, a sociopathic, murderous nihilist. Which makes him a natural fit to draw the attention of Thanos, who has a history of just showing up in front of random earthbound characters and being spooky (his first appearance was a complete non sequitur in an issue of Iron Man, after all). Thanos, who pines after Death herself would naturally be intrigued by Bullseye and curious if he has found a like-minded admirer. He puts a challenge to Bullseye to kill a target whose death could trigger a universal apocalypse. If Bullseye really worships death and not just the act of killing, surely he would take the job. And wouldn’t Bullseye like to know for himself, too? It’s delightfully heady and appropriately Jim Starlin-tinged for a comic that deals with intergalactic stakes.
Despite the high concept, the issue is otherwise quite straight forward and a fun romp through the city as Bullseye battles heroes that should be out his league and delights in showing just how brilliant and tactical he is. Under the pen of Madibek Musabekov it looks fantastic, too. From the pacing of the action, the dynamic panel layouts and expressive characters, it is just a joy to look at. There’s a fantastic sense of place and space as the characters crash through buildings and construction sites, giving depth and weight to the scale of the battle. Luis Guerrero dazzles with bright cosmic blasts lighting up the night sky and adding to the clash between the grounded villain and space-faring heroes. VC’s Joe Caramagna delights in the lighthearted tone, peppering the action with big, splashy SFX straight out of Batman ‘66.
This is a great spin on a tired genre of anniversary celebration books. Let’s bring back the bizarre and creative teamup book!
FINAL VERDICT: Buy.
THE RAPID RUNDOWN
- Challenges of Doom: Spider-ManYou might think, with all the Dr. Doom titles coming out lately, there’s some big movie event coming up to justify this slate of Doom-centric books. With that, Challenges of Doom is a Year-One look at everybody’s favorite Doctor of the techno-mystical arts. This is his first encounter with other heroes in the Marvel Universe besides the Fantastic Four. Written by Al Ewing with art by Dave Messina, we get an early-era Doom, soon after confronting the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man having his run-in with the Fantastic Four, and somehow Doom thinks he can convince Spider-Man to help him battle the FF. In his own ingenious way, Doom finds a way of tracking down Spider-Man, and what I liked about that It makes sense that he could figure out how to do it, what doesn’t make sense is that he would know about it, but for plot’s sake, I’ll chalk it up to Doom being Doom. Ewing really does a great job with Doom’s inner monologue, as he tries again and again to recruit Spider-Man to his side, eventually realizing it’s not going to happen and wanting to just do away with Spider-Man for rejecting his offer. The banter between them is perfect, for the most part, it’s just Spidey and Doom being themselves, with Doom using the scientific method to feel Spidey’s powers out, testing his limits and abilities against what he can do, and Spidey just trying to survive. Dave Messina’s artwork is perfect for Dr. Doom with that sinister techno edge to it, but his Spider-Man is a little stiff, it still has that quirky anatomy that should be part of Spider-Man’s visual language, but still fun. All in all, the storytelling and pacing are solid, I love the double-page spreads that are used to showcase the different battles between them. For a Doctor Doom Year-One, it’s a solid start. Looking forward to Doom’s next encounter as he meets Doctor Strange for the very 1st time, I would like to see Messina’s visual dynamic with Strange and all the weird Ditko things that should go with it. And if the level of dialogue between Spider-Man and Doom transfers to Doom and Strange, both arrogant characters, it should be amazing, and like this book, worth the read. – GC3
- Doomquest #4
- Like Challenges, this series exists as a tie-in to Avengers: Doomsday. And while Challenges is a fun comic, Doomquest –written by Ryan North and drawn by Francesco Mobili–is truly one of Marvel’s best series month-in and month-out. Each issue of this Quantum Leap style tale of Dr. Doom across time has been endlessly charming and full of fun ideas while never losing sight of Doom’s villainous and bombastically cruel and brilliant character. Somehow, North always manages to find the humor in Doom’s predicament without sacrificing what makes him such a timeless character. But here in issue 4, Doom is forced to relive his own past and one of his greatest personal losses. Here, after a series of high concept capers, Dr. Doom is forced to face his own humanity and North and Mobili sweep the rug out from the reader expecting another light hearted jaunt. It’s a perfectly executed bait and switch that elevates the entire series to something truly special. It is a human and utterly damning portrait of madness and narcissism, rendered with incredible pathos by Mobili and colorist Frank D’Armata. It might be one of the best single issues of a superhero comic all year.
