In this review of One World Under Doom #1, what happens when Doctor Doom gets everything he wants (again)? Seriously does this guy ever learn?
ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #1
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: R.B. Silva
Main Cover: Ben Harvey
Variant Covers: BEN HARVEY, WILL SLINEY, JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER, ROD REIS, R.B. SILVA, CLAYTON CRAIN, NICK BRADSHAW, MIKE MIGNOLA, ROSE BESCH
This review contains spoilers
In One World Under Doom #1, it has been six months since Victor Von Doom manipulated Doctor Strange into bequeathing the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to him, and since then Doom has sequestered himself in his kingdom of Latveria while protected by an impenetrable spell.
As global chaos ensues, Doom finally makes a public proclamation that all of Earth is now an extension of Latveria, and thus is under his protection. Inconceivably, Doom also claims that every world leader has pledged their allegiance to him.
In addition, Doom announces that his forces have thwarted numerous uprisings around the globe, but it appears that he is lying about showing them mercy. It isn’t the power to reshape reality this time, but Victor Von Doom again has all of Earth in his armored clutches, with a sizable amount of the population cheering him on. But how?
Of course, many of the heroes who have often tangled with the former supervillain aren’t buying it. The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Squirrel Girl have all assembled to take him down. Because that’s what will win this thing: lots of heroes punching out bad guys. (I really miss those days).
But before the Avengers can even say “Assemble”, the villain Baron Zemo announces on the same broadcast frequency that he and his hordes of Hydra will depose Doom, (Zemo’s a Nazi, so yeah, horrible bedfellows and all). This plot twist gets its own plot twist as Zemo broadcasts again sometime later, while standing side-by-side with Doom, and announces that he backs Doom’s plan after all.
The heroes split into two teams: one group stays in Latveria to find for a way inside while the rest of the team hits Hydra’s flying island and where they discover proof that Zemo was replaced by a robot after Doom murdered him.
As the heroes prepare to broadcast this news on the same (apparently easily accessible) frequency override, Doom, astride his armored T-Rex (you heard me), steals the heroes’ thunder by foiling a Hydra attack and admits to killing both Red Skull and Zemo, a choice the heroes should have made ages ago. Doom further claims that the heroes only attacked him because he can provide what they can’t: a safer world.
As One World Under Doom #1 ends, the heroes quickly realize (not soon enough) that Doom played them, and that the effort to stop Doom this time isn’t going to be anywhere close to business as usual.
Analysis
One World Under Doom #1 is the first major Marvel Comics crossover event for 2025, one that not only tethers itself to upcoming MCU films (welcome aboard, RDJ), but also adds a spin on Doctor Doom’s classic schemes for world domination: from Secret Wars (1984), to Secret Wars (2015), and many in between (pick a random issue of Fantastic Four).
This time Doom has coupled his massive power set with fake populism and a disinformation campaign to win over the people. His bold declarations and promises of peace and security will make many overlook his unilateral takeover, illegal detentions, and summary executions of very bad people.
Doom has already played the heroes for fools by the end of One World Under Doom #1, baiting them into a pointless attack that only benefits his cause. The heroes’ flaw is that they are first responders, reacting to a crisis without fully assessing the danger presented. Does Doom have an endgame, or a true goal that he is distracting them from with this power grab?
And when the smoke clears from the fallout of this nine issue series (plus tie-ins), will the impact transform the MCU in some lasting way? Will heroes face drastic, but necessary choices in order to win? The heroes are in this story for a reason, but not to just inevitably triumph by punching Doom into submission.
Doom is a fatally flawed character because even when he wins he is never satisfied. His arrogance and his insatiable hunger for power are his Achilles heel, and thus he is typically the agent of his own undoing.
Series writer Ryan North has largely set up this story in his current Fantastic Four run, and the ominous feeling it evokes shows that North is spot on in illustrating that the heroes won’t win this by simply defeating Doom in battle.
The ideas Doom espouses in One World Under Doom #1 will still resonate, and he will be embraced by some as an embattled martyr. It’s hard to destroy that sort of belief system with a few well placed blows from an uru hammer.
North has presented us with a distorted reflection of our own current reality, a popular and effective trope that comics have utilized as far back as the Golden Age. North’s approach makes for a chilling, but well told and necessary story for our times.
Artist R.B. Silva provides some dynamic but sketchy and more stylized artwork than some of his previous efforts, and it suits the story since this is a tale of greys, not absolutes. His panel angles pull you into the action whether it’s Doom on a dinosaur, heroes in action, or extreme angle establishing shots.
Colorist David Curiel’s palette includes various computer enhanced effects that add to the impact of the fight scenes, energy bursts and explosions.
The only real drawback in One World Under Doom #1 are in some of VC’s Travis Lanham’s lettering choices. He displays a wide variety of clever effects that make the story snap and pop, but a few effects regrettably disappear behind Silva’s art and Curiel’s coloring effects. You feel the impact but are uncertain of the words.
This series will hopefully challenge the heroes’ approach to protecting this wilder, more lawless modern world, where rules are ignored and concepts such as good and evil feel anachronistic. Paying mere lip service to change rather than using this series to radically alter parts of the MCU would be a disservice. Stories are important, especially in times of crisis.
Final thoughts
Overall, One World Under Doom #1 delivers a solid opening act, but it will take time to see how or even if the series will reshape the future of the Marvel Universe.
