From: pmm34393@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Dr. Vincent Vaugn )
Subject: Re: Grade Report: "Doom 2099" #1
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 07:50:37 GMT

In article <rawdon.722324645@cs.wisc.edu> rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu writes:
>Spoilers for issue #1 of Marvel's comic book Doom 2099...
>
>Well, it's a nice start, but what next?
>
>Doom 2099 involves the return of someone who may or may not be Victor Von Doom
>(though he sure acts like him) to Latveria.  This man has an unscarred face

Hmmm...we don't really know if Doom's face is scarred or not--all we know
is that he has at least a long thin scar on the side--whether his mask
truly severly injured his face when he first put it on or not is 
very ambiguous and inconsistent throughout all the Dr. Doom stories that
have been told. 

>(unlike the one we all know) and has severe memory loss.  He also appears to
>have traveled through time to arrive in 2099.
>
>What he finds there is a man named Tiger Wylde who now rules Latveria, and who
>dispatches and nearly kills Doom with ease.  Through the aid of some of
>Latveria's famed gypsies, Doom find the resources with which to continue the
>battle, which presumably will occupy the series in the future.
>
>It's an interesting premise, but the execution here was less than enthralling.
>This may be one of the worst Pat Broderick art jobs I've ever seen, and writer

As far as Marvel is concerned, I thought the art wasn't really that bad.

>John Francis Moore seems a bit wet behind the ears as a comics scripter (I
>have no idea how much experience - if any - he's had before).  However, there
>is certainly space for this book and its creators to grow.  (Maybe Broderick
>just needs a good inker to ease some of the pressure.  Are there any left in
>the Marvel stable these days?)  And Broderick's eye for costume and background
>design is still keen, even if his renderings are a bit lackluster.
>
>What I would like to see over the next year is a resolution to at least one
>(and preferably both) of the "Who is Doom?" and "Oust Tiger Tylde" storylines,
>neither of which is *really* the raison d'etre of this series.  What is really
>interesting here is that we have Doctor Doom - the quintessential villain, and
>yet, not an entirely unsympathetic character - as the protagonist of a story
>which lacks a clear heroic figure.  Does Doom become a heroic figure?  (Under
>John Byrne, Doom was a hero to his subjects, a twist which was actually rather
>appealing and lent some provocative ambiguity to the character.)  Does he
>remain a firm anti-hero, if not villain?  Will he remain largely morally
>ambiguous?

I seriously doubt they will ever tell if it is the true Doom or not--if this
is the "mainstream" Marvel future, then it would pin Doom's fate down and
they would eventually have to reach the point in the current Universe where
Doom gets sent to the future.
>

>There are also plot questions waiting in the wings.  I have trouble being
>enthusiastic about Tiger Wylde because he seems to generic now.  If he's
>developed properly, this could certainly change.  I am assuming that this Doom
>*is*, indeed, the genuine article (though a clone could be an interesting
>twist, if handled well).  This Doom clearly still possesses the obsession
>regarding Reed Richards.  With Richards long gone (supposedly), how will he
>feel; will he feel the need to find a new heroic nemesis?  Will he compare
>Wylde in his mind to Richards, and measure them against each other?  How will
>this Doom interact with the rest of the Marvel 2099 universe?  Stay tuned.

I couldn't really tell--did the nerve modifications that were done on him
strip away his memories of his identity and Reed Richards or not?

>
>I passed on Ravage 2099, and have been entertained, but not really
>*enthusiastic* by Spider-Man 2099, but Doom 2099 seems to have real potential.
>I hope that Moore and Broderick will rise to the occasion as they settle into
>their groove and get things moving.  They can do great things here.
>
>Grade: C+
>
>-- 
I would give it a B or B+--it could have _really_ been botched. One complaint
I have is the new costume. Spikes are _not_ Victor's style, and I will
miss seeing his eyes behind the holes in his mask.

-- 

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