Greene and Hickman Ask: “What If…?” in Doom #1

“Doom is…”

After the big, bold opening pages, the credits page does something interesting. It holds both Sanford Greene and Jonathan Hickman on the same pedestal, Greene on art, Hickman on the script, but the two together on the plot. From my time of reading all of Hickman’s Marvel work, this was a first, and it made me ever so more curious on how the story would pan out. 

A little dip into my life before I get into this book: I finished my re-read of Hickman (and co.)’s Avengers/New Avengers, as well as Hickman/Ribic (and co.)’s Secret Wars just last week, and having reread it now – years after I had initially – through a wholly different lens than back then, it was sort of eye-opening not only how much better it was than I remember it being, but also just how insane it is in what it’s trying to do and how it manages to pull off everything it wanted to do. I would argue it’s the finale to a trilogy that consists of Morrison/Porter (and co.)’s JLA, Ellis/Hitch (and co.)’s Authority, and itself – wherein it takes the idea of the superhero team and elevates their scope to something beyond ‘villain of the month’ – about real concepts and ideas that govern us characterized in some form – and just stretches those boundaries as far as possible.

Doom operates on that very essence too. Obviously, as a 41 page one-shot, it isn’t going to do what Avengers did, but it’s kind of insane exactly what it manages to do. Doom is for – well, Doom, what Dark Knight Returns is for Batman – a story about the character at the very end of days. In a way, it’s very much like Marvel’s recent “Timeless” one shots too, that are a mix between showcasing what the Marvel Universe is like, far removed from the context it is in today and a sort of showcase/advertisement of what’s to come in the next year of comics (given that those come out in December), except without the advertisement bits. 

Where Doom succeeds though, is that its context is easier to connect to. You might be a little lost if you haven’t read the Fantastic Four comics of the past decade or so that build on the relationship between Doom and his goddaughter Valeria, daughter of Reed and Sue, but otherwise, you’re golden. It is however infinitely more rewarding if you’ve read Hickman’s Marvel saga, or atleast the stretch of Fantastic Four – Avengers – Secret Wars, since it’s riffing on thematic ideas that he likes playing with. 

The artistic venture this book takes is also interesting. Admittedly, I have not read much of Greene’s work, but from what I have this seems like a departure from it, in the best way possible. Every single page, every single panel is bursting with life, so much detail carved into every little crevice. In a way it reminds me of Hickman’s work with Huddleston in Decorum, where every so often there’s something cool to throw you off. You’ll go from a panel that’s very detailed to one that zooms out, cuts the detail to a minimum and shows you intensity, shows you scope – and that absolutely rules.

When this story is set is vague, but we just know it’s a few years after all our favourite heroes took their last stand against a Galactus who has changed, who is different than how he has been since forever, with Doom and Valeria as the last survivors. Hickman’s Marvel work very frequently showcases what it’s like at the end of everything – we see it in S.H.I.E.L.D., we see it in Fantastic Four, we see it in Avengers, we see it in Secret Wars, we see it in Powers Of X. It’s what makes Doom being the protagonist so interesting. It was he who orchestrated the death of the multiverse in Avengers, followed by reshaping the last universe in his own image at the beginning of Secret Wars – and here he is fighting to protect his own from being reforged into something else even as everyone he’s known has been reduced to ash. 

The thematic resonance is key too. Hickman’s work usually posits itself as optimistic, hopeful, and in the case where it doesn’t (Avengers), showcases how things go wrong when that isn’t the worldview one has. Doom exists within that framework too. The world, everything, everyone, loses because they got comfortable in the idea of mundane-ness, the idea of stagnancy, the idea that things aren’t really changing, when the truth is, nothing’s truly like that. In its own way, it’s very reflective of today’s world, and a lesson as well.

Go pick up Doom. It’s out today. It’s absolutely phenomenal. I hope Hickman and Greene do more comics together.