Issue- 536
Title- The Hammer Falls
Writer- J. Michael Straczynski
Art- Mike McKone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summary:

Six months ago an object crash landed in Oklahoma. Flash forward to the present and Reed Richard is returning from a meeting of the elusive Illuminati, a group of representatives of factions of Earth's super-powered community. Sue joins Reed and they observe breaking news of a proposed Super-Hero registration act which will require all costumed heroes to register with the government. Suddenly they receive an emergency call from Oklahoma that a crisis is brewing. The FF arrive quickly at the site and find a large dome being defended by the US military from an army of Doombots. The team's effort to defeat the Doombots is interrupted when a missile strikes and destroys the dome. Seemingly out of nowhere, the true Doctor Doom emerges from the mass of robots and reveals to him the object he seeks to obtain. Reed gazes down into the newly formed crater in awe as he sees Thor's hammer.

 

Comments:

This issue has a classic feel to it. I am reminded of Doom's return in Fantastic Four #246. The FF are going about their lives as normal, suddenly they are drawn into battle with a seemingly endless number of Doombots, finally after they've been overwhelmed the real Doctor Doom shows up. He then quickly reveals the next big plot point and the issue ends on a cliff hanger. That's the formula. Not bad, right? This is the first issue of the FF I've read written by JMS. My first impression is that he's got the banter between Thing and Torch right. He also once again displays great skill at portraying relationships, in this case Reed and Sue. His portrayal of Doom? Too soon to tell. This is a set-up issue. It's all shock and awe. However that's necessarily a bad thing. Countless Doom stories begin like this. What remains to be seen is if the story that follows will be able to live up to the set up. One thing that strikes me is that Reed says, "they'd risk reprogramming their leftover Doombots..." I thought the whole point of the Authoritative Action plot was that there would be NO MORE DOOMBOTS and Doom would not have a cache of ready made gadgets when he eventually comes back. While I am not a fan of either of Mark Waid's Doom stories, I do feel somewhat bothered by this. Regardless of whether I liked his stories, Waid did lay the groundwork for what could have been an interesting comeback for Doom. Doom would have returned to a Latveria no longer under his control and he would have none of the resources he left behind. But then I may be speaking too soon. I'll reserve judgment until I know more. If the issue suffers from anything, its that we know what the object is before hand. I think that ending an issue with Doom revealing that its Thor's hammer he's after when we already know that is a little weak. Showing him pick it up, now that I think may have been a stronger way to finish it off. I fear that the next issue may suffer the same fate. Marvel has already revealed the cover and it shows Doom holding the hammer. So much for suspense.

 

Art wise I feel I should mention that Mike McKone's Doom rocks! It's amazing. McKone drew Doom back in 1997 for the Heroes Reborn one shots Doom and Doomsday. His Doom today looks identical. I really like his rendition of Doom. For some reason it reminds me of the 90's Dr. Doom action figure which is one of my favorites. His Thing on the other hand I don't care for. In some panels he looks great. Mostly he looks too much like Mike Weiringo's cartoonish  version. One particularly bad shot is when Thing proudly proclaims, "it's clobberin' time!" He looks like he has a hat on. Apart from that, the issue is a solid read despite the story not really moving forward. Doom has been dead for three years. Let's hope that Marvel has some good stories planned for him. Bottom Line: Buy It!

 

Notes:

 

Issue- 536
Title- The Hammer Falls

Writer- J. Michael Straczynski
Art- Mike McKone

 

Summary:

A missile strike destroys the large dome which housed Thor's hammer, leaving it in the open for Doom to get. A startled Reed questions Doom on how he could possibly have escaped hell, this prompts to recall recent events. Stranded in hell, Doom remembers he was at the mercy of the of its flesh eating denizens. Standing ready to go down in battle, fate would have that at that same moment the Gods of Asgard were engaging in a final battle, Ragnarok. From their climactic battle a single object escapes cut through all planes of existence, including hell. Doom flung himself in its wake only to discover that the object is Thor's hammer. However the power is too much and after riding his way out of hell, he falls out of its wake and back into his normal plane. After sometime, he travels back to Latveria and resumes power by killing the Prime Minister. Shortly there after he tracked the hammer to Oklahoma. Reed lungs Ben into Doom's path in order to prevent him getting the hammer so the two become locked in combat. Ultimately Thing is briefly overpowered and Doom reaches for the hammer. A giant flash of energy erupts and when it recedes, Doom discovers he cannot pick the hammer up. Refusing to suffer the gloating of his enemies, Doom withdraws. The team is left to ponder if the energy was meant as a signal. Meanwhile, elsewhere, an individual with initials DB boards a bus for Oklahoma.

 

Comments:

I finally got my hands on this, not through my regular comic shop, but through the Road to Civil War TPB at Borders bookstore. So I've had to wait a longtime to read this. So my review, unlike most that are already out there, have the benefit of hindsight. Looking at my review of the previous issue, which was written at the time of publication, I must say that my hopes for lots of good Doom stories have not come to fruition. On the contrary, while Doom has become very visible, it has been mostly through small token appearances which have not built anything. To add insult to injury, some appearances have been downright out of character...Black Panther #19 anyone? Luckily this issue delivers (delivered) quite a punch. While some of the continuity is questionable (Doom ended up back in his body after being 'killed' in Ben's body? But wasn't his body in Reed's prison?) the flashback to Doom's time in hell is fantastic!

 

Doom's escape is competently handled, although once again his character is merely being used as a vehicle to facilitate another character's story (i.e. Thor's return). However the same cannot be said about his return to Latveria. Continuity established by Authoritative Action, and picked up by Secret War, is essentially trampled on. It was clearly established that Doom would not have a power base to return because of the FF's / UN/ SHIELD's effort to democratize Latvaria. And yet here Doom just waltz's right in, kills the Prime Minister and boom, he back in business. While one could argue he did the same thing back in John Bryne's classic FF 247 (wherein he just kills Zorba), that was handled with a lot more scale.

 

With that, we come to the main (at least my main) problem with the issue. In fact the same could be said about most stories with Doom. The issue is not about Doom. The issue is an excellent FF issue guest starring Doom and advertising an upcoming Thor series. It just proved bad timing that Doom has a lot of little continuity questions surrounding him that have to be brushed aside to make room for the all important story of Thor's hammer. With that still in mind, this issue proves that the previous issue is somewhat superfluous. What was covered last issue could easily have been fitted here.

 

Overall, the issue is good. I feel JMS may have a good handle on Doom, given time. The art continued to be excellent. I wonder if the moment when Ben punched Doom across the face was supposed to echo a similar moment in Unthinkable? My only other qualms are issues of continuity. Like for instance, the Prime Minister says that Doom's absence was entering its second year. That seems a little fuzzy given that Secret War is very clear about there being a year between Nick Fury's insertion and Lucia von Bardas' revenge. And that series of course has its own continuity problems. Nevertheless, its Doom's come back. It may be hard to find, except in TPB form, so Bottom line: Buy It!

 

 

Notes:

 

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