From: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Grade Report: "Doom 2099" #1
Date: 21 Nov 92 05:44:05 GMT
Reply-To: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Dept., Madison, WI

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
(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
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?

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 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+

-- 
Michael Rawdon				 rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department, Madison, WI

No optimistic outlook survives contact with the human race.