Issue- 1

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

Doom recollects his life's story beginning with his earliest memories in his mother's womb. He further narrates his early years living with his mother and father in their gypsy camp. Doom recounts how his mother made a pact with a demon for power to avenge her people against the wrongs done to them by the Baron's men. Unknown to his mother the demon filled her with power but no control. The demon also took the lives of children to pay for it. Cynthia, Doom's mother, then paid with her life as a soldiers and villagers killed her. Life continued and Doom reminisces on his childhood with his mourning father and kind hearted Valeria. Eventually Doom tells how one day the Baron demanded his father's healing expertise for his ill wife. Doom reveals that his father would return with the sad news that the Baron's wife was incurable and that the Baron would make him pay for it. Taking young Victor, his father fled from the Baron's soldiers into the cold mountains of Latveria. The freezing temperatures brought Doom's father to the edge of death until they were found by Boris, a friend from their gypsy camp. His father died shortly and Victor distanced himself from everyone. He also began to learnt he arts that had taken his mother. However when sorcery was not enough, Doom turned to science and used his talents to help his tribe. Doom also reveals for the first time his first experience killing a man. Ultimately Doom returns to camp in shock and dismay at his own actions. When a General from the United States arrives offering him a chance at an American education, Doom quickly agrees in order to escape the immediate memory of his first murder.

Comments:

I think Doom fans are broadly in two camps. Those who think Doom is pure evil, and those who think that he is misunderstood. From my countless other reviews I am quite evidently in the "misunderstood" camp. So the humanizing way in which his origin is being retold here is fine by me. I think Doom is cold hearted, but I think events have made him that way. I don't think he was evil from day one. Doom could easily have become a scientist [and hero?] to rival Reed Richards. Clearly from the events that will be retold in Books of Doom, he doesn't. In this first issue Brubaker deals with what most avid readers of Doom will already know. Some people have questioned the necessesity of retelling Doom's origin. I don't because like many other characters, Doom's origin has always been told in bits and pieces over the course of years in various flashbacks. While this series doesn't tell the origin in the present, that is only a small disappointment. The chance to have Doom's origin told in grand details in one series is a great boon.

I applaud Ed Brubaker for keeping the details from Doom's origin in FF Annual #2 intact. While this period of Doom's life was very well covered in that issue, Brubaker manages to inject new details that mesh perfectly with what we already know. He manages to focus on details that as readers we have taken for granted. The funeral for his mother, an event which had to have happened, is finally told here. The much publicized retelling of the escape from the Baron's men is also well done. Once again he doesn't change anything, rather he puts the focus on something that I for one had never really thought about. Major kudos to him for keeping true to the classic Triumph and Torment graphic novel. While there is no direct mention of Mephisto, the demon's face holds a striking enough resemblance for me. The scene in which Doom commits his first murder is chilling. It also adds a touch of realism that is welcome to the character. Similar to how Brubaker makes it evidently clear that Captain America and Bucky weren't knocking Nazi soldiers unconscious during the war, here Brubaker strikes the point clear that Doom doesn't aim to stun people when he shoots his lasers.

Using that scene as an example, the art while having gotten mixed reactions is excellent in my opinion. Pablo Raimondi's faces are very expressive. Particularly good is the way in which Victor's face progresses as he grows up from infant, child, and finally to teen. The colors are vibrant in all the right places. Doom's armor as he narrates the story a little on the classic side. The face plate is a little heavier Kirby FF#5 style. The attire however is a little more contemporary. A notable and I think unique touch is that his hood is much more round adding somewhat to the Kirby-esque faceplate.

Much has been made of Brubaker's use of a mysterious videographer taping interviews with his fellow tribes people. Some have suggested that this will entail some twist at the end about the identity or purpose. Until I see further evidence, I thinks its just a stylistic choice. I would have preferred that the origin be told in the present tense so as to make it stand apart from all the other flashback origins of Doom that we have seen. However that is only a minor gripe. I'm fine with the video tape. If there is going to be a twist, I would hope that the bookends of the story take place right before FF#5 and the last page of #6 is a re-imagining of Doom's first panel appearance.

Brubaker has stayed true to what we know so far. Next issue he will be entering more deadly ground. Let's wait and see how he handles less touched on moments of Doom's story. For now though, this issue gets a major Bottom Line: BUY IT!

Brian Reber (Colorist): "In the first issue we actually paid tribute to Kirby by recreating some of his panels. In most cases I even used the color schemes from Kirby's version. Tweaked of course to work with current coloring methods." - FF Message Board , Dec. 28, 2005

Issue- 2

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

Doom recollects his time at state university. After being recruited by the US military, a young Victor is brought stateside. There he is given access to the most state of the art research facility as well as being provided with his own private laboratory. Splitting his time between studying at university and developing new technology for the military, Victor broadens his knowledge at a rate faster than those around him, with one exception. Also attending university is Reed Richards, another brainchild. Reed shares Victor's belief in the existence of other physical dimensions. Victor however is repulsed by his optimism and innocence about what may lay beyond the barriers of their own dimension. Time passes on and Victor proves to be a valuable asset to the military that recruited him as he perfects a series of robots that can be programmed for combat. Unknown to them, he uses his private lab to construct a machine to rescue his mother. At the end of his junior year, Victor breaks away from his studies to visit a party. There he drinks alcohol for the first time and later finds himself walking alone with a young woman. Both under the influence of alcohol the two begin to kiss. Just as their interaction is about to rise another level, Victor looks into her eyes and sees only emptiness. Refusing to allow a woman with no gentleness or intelligence to be the one to get under his skin, Victor begins to strangle her. For a moment he is consumed with an urge to kill but stops when he is reminded of his mother and the man he killed in Latveria. Moving past the incident, Doom continues to impress the army with his inventions. One day at university, Reed enters Victor's dorm room looking for him. He catches a glimpse of Victor's notes and is astonished. When Victor sees him, he chastises him for nosing around. Undeterred, Reed inquires about the odd nature of the equations. Victor throws Reed out in anger. Later, Victor engages his device to rescue his mother from hell. After much searching, Victor finds his mother but she warns him to leave quickly. Victor does not heed her and a demon punishes him for trespassing. In the normal world, Victor's machine explodes and scars his face horribly. The university expels him, however the military maintains that the accident has not changed their arrangement with him. Blaming reliance on the army's technology and the cockiness from their constant praise, Doom decides to escape. Using his robotic inventions he destroys everything he designed for the military and gets on a plane headed out of the country.

Comments:

As I noted above, this issue marks the less developed territory of Doom's origin. What we've always known from this period is that Doom was offered a chance to study at "state" university wherein he also meets both Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. Eventually he has an accident while trying to contact the Netherworld and his face is horribly scarred. He is then promptly expelled. Right?

I'm beginning to think that Ed Brubaker is a Renaissance man. I don't mean that he's one of those guys who knows a little of everything [although he may be, I don't know], but I mean that I think he would feel at home with the Renaissance credo of "ad fontes," or to the sources. Renaissance thinkers were very much about going back to the original sources and discarding all of the accepted interpretations for making new, stricter ones. Take his work on Captain America for example. What is the single best justification for bringing Bucky back? As Brubaker noted, there is no single issue where Bucky actually dies. It is always an event that is told or remembered in flashbacks. Here in this issue, Brubaker discards, intentionally I don't know, the traditional meeting of Reed and Victor as both search for a dorm room. Gone is the exchange where Reed offers to room with him. Gone is also the presence of Ben Grimm who then fatefully takes up the offer that Victor declined. Instead they meet in a lab. Sure, Reed does offer to room with him, but Victor doesn't turn him down, rather he already has a place. While I was ready to jump up and scream heresy, I quickly realized that Brubaker did it again. Whether intentionally or not, he's sticking to the sources. In this case, the sources are not the ancient writings of Rome, but Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. According to Fantastic Four #5 volume 1, only Reed knows Doom's voice and his story. Ben doesn't react at all. His presence as well as the now iconic scene in the dorm room was introduced afterwards.

While I have presented a defensible argument for the interpretation that Brubaker has presented here in issue #2, I do miss some of what he has removed. Furthermore, the absence of these scenes is not really replaced by anything that gives us a sense of the rivalry between Reed and Victor. In fact, aside from a scene in the classroom, Victor doesn't really seem to take any note of Reed. The scene where Reed stumbles upon Doom's notes is somewhat intact, but is undermined by that lack of rivalry. Victor comes off as just a guy who's pissed because someone was in his room. I find this troubling as it doesn't do justice to the years worth of stories that have reiterated time and again that Victor and Reed were two rival geniuses. In fact the cover of the issue only reinforces an idea that I found to be lacking in the story.

Sticking with the fateful scene where Reed sees Doom's notes, Brubaker has made another subtle, yet enormous change to Doom's origin. Reed doesn't say that his equations are wrong. While for a moment I breathed a sigh of relief, because I think that the whole Doom blames Reed plot has been done to death, I was in for another surprise. The accident which cost Doom's face was not an accident. While it has been readily accepted in recent years that Doom's experiment to contact the Netherworld was in fact to contact his mother, Brubaker takes this idea to another level by stating that the machine exploded as a direct result of the demon, Mephisto I presume, punishing Victor for intruding. While this new take makes plenty of sense, it does call into question all the stories where Doom blames Reed. Well, I suppose you could always argue that all those times it was just a Doombot. Maybe its a glitch in the Doombot's memory?

Moving on, I am still disappointed that Brubaker skirts the issue of Doom's face. While I knew this from before when he mentioned this in interviews, it's still a shame. However I can respect his reasons for not showing Doom's face. On this note however, I must say that the art in those scenes in the hospital are wonderful. My personal favorite is when Doom remembering, turns away as his younger self looks upon the mirror. That is a classic moment. The mirror motif as developed is also a great and subtle touch. That said, the choice of certain images is excellent. An earlier scene where we first glimpse Doom's Netherworld chair gave me a "Wow!" feeling reminiscent of the scene in the George Pal Time Machine film when you first see the machine.

I applaud Brubaker for his skill in expanding on tiny details, such as giving some character to the oft forgotten assistant to Doom during his experiment. However some of his other choices may divide people. I personally miss some of the details I've listed above. I think more attention could have been paid to developing Victor and Reed's competition, possibly replacing the "losing his virginity" scene. Speaking of which, Brubaker's tease proves to be no more than that, thankfully. Victor doesn't even get his pants off. Ultimately Brubaker's choices make this feel more like an expansion of the original origin presented in FF#5 rather than a amalgamation of the tid bits spread across 30 years worth of stories. While I'm not entirely pleased, I'm not displeased either. It could have been worse. The important iconic images are there, with mostly only details changed. For any newcomer to the character of Doom, I certainly would not hesitate to recommend this series as is so far. As always, let us see what future issues bring. As an aging comic fan, the little details become more and more important to me, personally, but looking at the broader scheme of things, this isn't that bad. Bottom Line: Buy It!

Issue- 3

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

Hiding among the cities of Eastern Europe, Doom contemplates his failure to save his mother, all the while nightmares fill his nights with visions of his other's eternal torture. Although trying to remain anonymous, Doom run afoul of the Soviet KGB who try to recruit him. However Doom manages to shake them off for a time. On one of his walks through the city he suddenly runs into Valeria. She explains to him that the Baron has been trying to locate him in order to win favor with the US. A local fortune teller gave her information on how to find Doom because he saw that he was in danger. Valeria's presence begins to mend Doom's soul. He no longer has nightmares. However just as they plan to return to Latveria together, the KGB ambush them. Doom is prepared to surrender in exchange for Valeria's safety but suddenly they are saved by a sudden magical force. The source of it turns out to be a beggar who had been sleeping outside Doom's home. He reveals that he was in fact a student of a order of monks in Tibet. He tells Doom that he has a destiny and that he should seek out the order.

Comments:

Unlike the first two issues, this one is more character driven rather than event driven. Not a lot happens, however we do get a better sense of how Doom thinks. Doom here openly admits to failure and the effect that it had on him. He was a "fractured" man. Notable is that there is no insinuation of blame against Reed for his failure, Doom takes it wholeheartedly. Sliding Doom's origin so that it now takes place at what is probably the height of the Cold War works very well as presented. While reading, it struck me that the classic Doom would have grown up during the second world war, as shown in Invader #32. So in a way, the classic Doom's portrayal as a psychotic dictator makes sense because of the influences around him [i.e. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, etc]. Having him see the dark side of geo-politics during the Cold War better suits a calmer more Latveria-centric characterization of Doom. It's too bad most writers don't write him that way.

Apparently I jumped the gun. We do see Doom lose his virginity. So Ed, you got me. And guess what, I'm smiling. I think I can safely say that having Doom and Valeria consummating their love made my day. Seriously. I guess I'm a romantic at heart, and having Doom share his bed with another could easily have ruined this whole series for me. So one big thank you from this Doom fan!

The only part of the issue which bugs me is the Tibetan monk/beggar. The who, what, where, and why are a little unclear. However this may all be revealed in the next issue. It is a cliff hanger after all. One final comment. For some reason Marvel.com shows a different cover for issue #3. I can only assume that they mistakenly put the cover of #4 instead.

Bottom Line: Buy It!

VC

1/27/06

Issue- 4

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

Doom's quest for the order of monks revealed to him by Otto takes him to the mountains of Tibet. There he wanders from village to village. At night, dreams of the demon torturing his mother return and plague him pushing the limits of his sanity. On a desolate mountain slope, tired beyond description, Doom faces off against a Yeti which wounds him fatally. At deaths door he is finally discovered by the monks he sought out. After a period of recovery, Doom begins to master all that the monks offer to teach. Years go by and Doom becomes their master. Building a receiver for news stations from around the globe, Doom reconnects with events that have transpired since he went into seclusion. Plans of revenge begin to form in his mind as he witnesses the success of his enemies, namely the Baron, now King,  who murdered his father and Reed Richards, who he believes sabotaged his experiments and is a fraud. Once more the demon returns to torment him and Doom decides to construct a second skin of armor to protect himself. Ultimately he dons an iron mask to hide his face from the world forevermore and leaves the monks in order to embark upon his quest to avenge himself of the wrongs done to him.

Comments:

I think this is probably Brubaker's strongest entry into the series. Not to say that the other issues are not as good, but here we really get to see the pay off for some of the set-ups from issues 1-3. The theme of cold burning is nevermore powerful than it is here. Also Brubaker brilliantly links Victor's near death experience in the cold with his father's. The issue reminds me a lot of the old adventure movies I watched as a child. The Abominable Snowman starring Peter Cushing comes to mind. I visualized the Yeti Doom fights as a Ray Harryhausen creation. Speaking of visuals, I think Raimondi out does himself. The opening pages showing Victor's wanderings is wonderful. The monks sanctuary is beautifully rendered. My personal favorite page is the collage on page 12 [not counting ads].

Story wise the issue sticks reasonably close to what little we know of this period of Doom's life. We know he went to Tibet in search of arcane knowledge. Missing is any reference to Doom's run in with the Aged Ghengis. Doom's wounding at the hands of the Yeti is an addition which doesn't detract from the original that of course makes no mention of this. As I said, to me it adds a certain classic adventure element to the story. The origin of Doom's Doctorate title is a little bothersome but if you think about it necessary. The origin of the armor is among the pay offs that Brubaker reveals. No longer is the armor just to conceal his face and protect his body but its purpose is directly linked to his constant torment at the hands of the demon. This begs the question, could Doom's later success in freeing his mother also have freed him from the demon's torment? This concept also in my opinion makes Unthinkable all the more implausible. The scene in which Doom dons his armor for the first time is nostalgically recreated right down to the 60's style font as Doom proclaims "DOCTOR DOOM!"

The biggest deviation in this issue is that Doom, once armored, does not rocket off alone. Instead he is accompanied by a servant, Larin. What role this new character of Larin will play remains to be seen. Whatever it may be, it should prove interesting keeping in mind two things. First, we've never heard of him and so can't play that large of a role without contradicting what's come before. Second, he apparently doesn't die because he is seen to be interviewed and has notably aged. I was surprised that no mention is made of Otto in this issue. While merely a footnote in this history of Doom, I maintain that his character and his role in the story is a little weak. Why did he leave the order? Did the monks know he was going to send someone back? But then again maybe I'm just making a big deal about nothing. Bottom Line: Buy It!

VC

3/17/06

Issue- 5

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

Doom returns to Latveria and finds the state of affairs the same, if not worse. He announces his return by freeing a gang of forced laborers and killing the king's men. He takes up residence in an abandoned castle overlooking a haunted village and begins construction of an army robots, however it is not enough. Doom returns to his tribe and reveals to them his plan to take Latveria. Using the gypsies as messengers, Doom amasses an army of willing rebels. Combining his robots and human forces, Doom begins a bloody march across Latveria. Finally he reveals himself to King Vladimir and gives him an ultimatum which is refused. Doom tells his people that their final march to victory is at hand.

Comments:

Brubaker delivers another great issue. His skill at weaving threads together still amazes me. An interesting choice is that he has King Vladimir not holding the throne in Hassenstadt. Instead we are led to believe that the unnamed town, which presumably is Hassenstadt later Doomstadt, is in fact the same town where years prior Cynthia von Doom unleashed her uncontrollable powers. Clever. There's lots of nice touches to be found here in this issue. I like how Doom refers to his fellow gypsies as family. I like how Brubaker, whether intently or not, maintains that Doom does frequently refer to Boris as old man. His reciprocal calling him master is also a nice bit of continuity. Boris' first meeting with Doom after returning to Latveria is altered if my memory serves. Originally Boris recalled that Doom came to his home and woke him from his sleep. I can't recall where I read this, but I think I did somewhere. This version shows Doom emerging from the forest. Admittedly Doom breaking into Boris' bedroom must sound pretty creepy, but I think that was the intention. It's a shame that moment wasn't preserved, but this is a period in Doom's history which is virtually unrevealed so I can understand the desire to embellish and modernize. I find it a shocking [in a good way] how Doom's take over is portrayed as a bloody revolution. Shocking [in a bad way] is the implication that Doom puts guns into the arms of children. I'll leave it at that. I don't want to give the impression that Brubaker doesn't understand the character of Doom, because frankly he does. I think the one line in this whole series to date that demonstrates that he understands the character is not even one of Doom's, it's Valeria's. "All you've done is build better walls between yourself and the world!" Making me anxious is that we have not seen Rudolfo, Vladimir's son. I'm hoping that he shows up in #6 and that if Brubaker doesn't maintain what was previously established in Astonishing Tales #2, that he at least he mirrors the events in some way so as not to retcon what came before. Bottom Line: Buy It!

VC 3/29/06

Issue- 6

Writer- Ed Brubaker

Art- Pablo Raimondi

Summary:

With his ranks grown to that of a massive army, Doom marches his people through Latveria defeating King Vladimir's forces. Before the final march on the King's castle, Doom recruits his defeated forces into his own. As dawn breaks, the Kings forces face off with Doom's awaiting the moment when the other will strike. However the moment never comes, for Doom had already won the army over and they allow him to pass through them. Doom follows King into the cathedral where he strangles him to death. The King's death marks the end of the revolution and the beginning of his reign. In the days that follow, Doom is officially crowned and he begins to bring about change and reform. In secret, Doom summons the demon who holds his mother's soul and demands her freedom. The demon makes a deal with Doom, once a year Doom will battle for his mother's soul. If he wins, his mother goes free, but each time he loses his people will grow to hate him. Doom's narrative of how he came to power ends there. The young woman who has been interviewing him all this time makes one final request, if he can remove his mask. Doom does so and reveals a face which is remotely human. As the reporter exits she is accompanied by Boris whom she thanks for the exclusive opportunity. As Boris leads her he explains a little about the origin of the Doombot which she has actually been interviewing all this time. He quietly leads her into a dungeon in which he promptly imprisons her in. The panic stricken reporter demands to know what he thinks he's doing. Boris reveals that like all that know too much about Doom's past, she must remain locked in the dungeon, forever.

Comments:

Doom is my favorite villain in the Marvel universe. Of course, I run a website about him. As I finished reading the final issue of this modern retelling of his origin, I felt flooded with dozens of thoughts and feelings. I'll do my best to organize all those thought into a coherent review. As I closed the book, my first reaction was, 'it's a Doombot?! That sucks.' Indeed I still sometimes think that way. I ask myself, why and was this necessary? I think there is an argument that the answer to both questions could be a 'yes.' Doom comes and goes about as often Jean Grey does. In fact when the series started, wouldn't you know it, he was dead and rotting in hell. By not having the real Doom present the story Books of Doom manages to be timeless. It could arguably take place at any time in Doom's history after he took over Latveria. Another rationale if you will, if this is the 'ultimate Doom story' then how could Brubaker not throw us a Doombot. After all, much like LMD's of Nick Fury, Doombots are a staple of the character. The story of his life would probably be remiss without at least one.

Brubaker's greatest achievement here is that he has managed to weave together the various points of Doom's origin scattered throughout comicdom and collect them into one coherent story which is true to all the pieces. In so many places where he might be perceived as retconning and revising, he leaves just enough window for a hardcore Doom fan to make obscure connections which are not explicitly stated. For example, in this final issue Boris all but states that the Doombot which the reporter is interviewing is the infamous retcon Doombot which waged a war against Kristoff [see Fantastic Four #350]. The causal reader can just assume that this could be any one of the hundred of malfunctioning Doombots which have appeared, but that I tell you is a nod to the fans. Brubaker also managed allay one of my fears which is the lack of presence by Rudolfo. Not only does he mention Rudolfo but also Zorba whom I had forgotten myself. In fact I was worried that the fighting and bloodshed from last issue would culminate in a huge battle in this issue which would contradict Astonishing Tales. Once more Brubaker is vague enough in his retelling that a fan can argue that nothing was actually changed. When we see his coronation we do not see who is putting the crown on his head. Arguably this could still be a robot duplicate of Rudolfo as stated in Astonishing Tales.

Brubaker makes two notable enhancements to the Doom mythos here. First is the origin of his green cloak. Since issue #4, Doom has correctly been portrayed as wearing his original costume from Fantastic Four #5. Here after killing Kind Vladimir he claims the King's cloak, presumably a symbol of the Latverian monarchy. This make sense, sort of. If we take this to be anything other than revisionist history, i.e. his wearing the costume is just a nod to the original but in reality that is no longer the costume he wore when he first met the FF, then this implies that perhaps in between Doom leaving his Tibetan lair and his revolt in Latveria he fought the FF as told in Fantastic Four #5. I don't think this is that much of a stretch. It may even retroactively explain why Doom isn't in Latveria in FF#5. Again, it's vague and leaves the door open for geeks like me.

The second addition is 'the deal.' What is the deal? Doom and Mephisto [not called by name, but probably is] agree that Doom will battle for his mother's soul once a year. Thus setting up the magical story told in Astonishing Tales #8. However the major revelation is that with each loss to Mephisto, Doom's people will grow to despise him. This is a development I think of incalculable proportions. It opens the door to all sorts of thoughts about Doom and his relationship to his people. In a twisted way, perhaps Doom started off pleasing his people, but as they grew to hate him he was forced to become more iron-fisted in order to keep his throne? It certainly brings up the question as to what happened to this curse after he saved his mother in Triumph and Torment?

Gustav von Kampen, Sylvana Rosetti, Daniel Kurtz, Cristos Malachi, and Larin. All these are names of people interviewed by the unnamed reporter. The implication at the end of the story is that Doom has imprisoned all these people in order to keep the secret of his beginnings. This is an interesting idea somewhat in keeping with impression we are left with in FF#5. Presumably, Reed like other people who attended State University knew about the accident, knew that he left off to somewhere, but not much else. The details were known only to those he encountered and he has them under lock in key. I think this idea works the least only because there have to have been others in his tribe who know the details of his early life. Likewise the military would have records of his time with them. Still I suppose its not that big of a deal. My only lingering question is in regards to Larin. I don't see the point of his character. I was bothered at the end of issue #4 that Doom does not rocket off alone as he historically was said to have, instead he flies on a platform with a monk. I presumed that this would mean that Larin would serve some purpose in subsequent issues, however he really doesn't do anything in #5 and disappears totally here in #6. His fate as implied by Boris' final line is that he, like the others, are imprisoned in the dungeon. My lingering question is why? If Larin was his faithful servant ala Boris, why imprison him? I suppose there is a story there, but his character seems a little extraneous.

Having covered I think all the finer details of the story, allow to speak once more about the amazing art. Pablo Raimondi's art has been a delight from start to finish. If I ever had the opportunity of writing a comic, he would definitely be one of my choices to go to for art. Something should also be said of the series' covers by Paolo Rivera. Let's just say that they are one reason why it is good to collect monthlies. My personal favorites are the covers to issues #2 and 3. My least favorite is #4 whose Doom looks too, un-Doomish. Bottom Line: Buy It!

VC 6/2/06