In this review of Doomquest #1, Dr. Doom invokes a time travel quest to change the history of Latveria and create its prosperity.
DOOMQUEST #1
Written by: Ryan North
Art: Francesco Mobili
Main Cover: Alex Ross
Variant Covers: Fabrizio De Tommaso, John Romita Jr., Luciano Vecchio, Nic Klein, Pascal Garcin, Pete Woods, Rose Besch, Ryan Stegman
Page Count: 26 pages
Release Date: 5/27/26
This review contains spoilers
Doomquest #1 begins with Dr. Doom posing gracefully to the public while being declared the greatest man to ever live. Despite relishing in this manufactured glory, his minister, Hanāk, remarks that Latveria is still far too poor to have a global impact.
Doom ponders potential rectifications, when a monitor reveals that Reed Richards has been invited to speak at The Minds of Tomorrow Summit in Amsterdam. Victor is enraged that he did not receive an invite, while someone he considers less than him is speaking. Still, Doom listens in and learns about Reed’s hope of bringing global peace by using a time machine that changes multiple events simultaneously.
Victor is furious and implies that Reed is egotistical for wanting to use such a machine to enact his own will, before settling on doing the same. He resolves to start at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, altering the signing away of Latverian land.
Latverian citizens work day and night and expend all the country’s resources to create the machine, dubbed the “Doom Engine”. Once Doom prepares for launch, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Spider-Man arrive to stop him.
At the fight’s climax, Human Torch knocks Invisible Woman out to allow Doom an escape. Doom is confused, but runs into a frantic Mister Fantastic tampering with the Doom Engine. Reed remarks that Doom isn’t supposed to be here yet. Triumphant at his apparent victory, Doom runs through the portal.
Afterwards, Reed states that he couldn’t stop Doom here, so he found a way to stop him at the destination. Presumably, the Fantastic Four performed a ruse to ensure the egotistical Doom would run through the portal, blinded at the sight of victory. What he’s unaware of is the fact that Reed’s tampering worked. Victor wakes up aboard the RMS Titanic on the night of its sinking.
Analysis
Dr. Doom states Reed Richards desires to bend history to his will and declares it an absurd act. While that’s technically true, Reed is doing it for the consensus human goal of peace rather than for his own gain. Reed later reveals in Doomquest #1 it was intended for after humans had evolved past current concepts like nationalism and ego.
Doom’s hypocrisy is well-displayed here in Doomquest #1, as he’s the one who takes the same idea and turns it into something of his own will, for the sole gain of Latveria.
Partly, Doom seems upset he didn’t come up with the idea on his own. He punches the screen as soon as the interviewer says she can’t think of anyone capable of taking on this mission besides “the great Mr. Fantastic.” How ironic that his greatest plan for his kingdom’s prosperity comes from the man he called his lesser? Fantastic nuance by Ryan North.
On a personal level, I love how this miniseries takes place during presumably Marvel’s 2000’s era. My introduction to Marvel, and comic books as a whole was through 2006’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game. Seeing those classic outfits, such as Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men or Bendis’ New Avengers invoked a welcome sense of nostalgia for me. So did the gray scale on the color palette by Frank D’Armata, which was typical of the time.
Ending it off on a place like the Titanic’s sinking and forcing a magic-less Victor Von Doom to halt its destruction using only his intellect is a perfect cliffhanger. Behind his emotions and philosophy, Victor’s intellect is arguably his third greatest trait. This premise sets up a display of his intelligence at its fullest level, alongside seeding a creative Marvel book. Ryan North will have to utilize elements of both historical fiction and science-fiction to create both a believable Titanic atmosphere and the gigantic feat of saving it.
Another interesting element of this twist is how Doom’s likely saving of the Titanic will change history. Like something out of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Victor is playing with extremely dangerous territory, since it’s an event with global repercussions.
Final Thoughts
The latest event featuring Victor Von Doom is off to a great start with nostalgic art, creative obstacles, and a strong continuation of the iconic Doom-Richards rivalry.
