The Will of Doom #1 Is a Good Epilogue That Doesn’t Do Much to Sell the Future (Review)

Marvel’s event cycle has broken down completely in recent years. What was once exciting has become commonplace, and Marvel’s events lack a certain oomph because we know in a year none of it is going to matter. One World Under Doom is the perfect example. Fans loved the first issue, but as the story went on and we needed to hit nine issues and fit in all those unimportant tie-ins (Marvel’s tie-in game has gotten super weak), the pace and logic of the story died. It’s by no means a bad story, but it doesn’t have the importance of older events like Civil War. The Will of Doom #1 serves as an epilogue to the whole story, as well as the beginning of the road to Marvel’s next big event Armageddon, and it’s kind of a mixed bag.

To begin with, the book is written by Chip Zdarsky, a writer who is honestly a master of the Fantastic Four, and that makes a lot of difference in how the book reads. I remember back when the Marvel Two-In-One reboot came out under Zdarsky, and he proved how well he understood the team; I was hoping he’d get to write the reboot of the team that we eventually got. The Fantastic Four is one of Marvel’s greatest groups, and Zdarsky is a creator who certainly understands the characters and how they all fit together. The dialogue in this book is great, all because of that understanding. This is a cool little Fantastic Four story, and that does a lot of heavy lifting.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Pros	Cons
Zdarsky unsurprisingly nails the Fantastic Four	Repeats the Marvel superhero idea we’ve seen so many times
Interesting main plot	Repeats Marvel superhero idea we’ve seen so many times
CAFU’s art is great throughout the issue; it feels like he had a lot of time to draw the issue and it paid off

One World Under Doom became a victim of Marvel event comic shortcomings, and this issue is meant to bridge the gap between it and what comes next. As far as that goes, it does a serviceable job. The main plot is fun, but the subplots that are going to build to the next event aren’t great. In fact, there’s one big idea in the issue that Marvel has used numerous times for events in the present day — superheroes being above the law — and it’s easy to see that will be a part of Armageddon. If this were the first time this kind of story was being told, I’d be okay with it, but Marvel pulls this idea out every couple of years around the time that the next event is being built. There’s nothing bad about any of it, but it’s so obvious who’s going to do what and why in the future that I can’t really say anything good about it.

CAFU’s Art Is Exciting and Emotional

This is the first time I’ve read an issue with CAFU’s art, and it was kind of surprising. For some reason, I expected him to have a more anime/manga-influenced style (honestly, mostly because of his name; it reminded me of UDON). So, the art wasn’t what I expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing. This figure’s work and detail are very good, and I love his renditions of the Fantastic Four and Red Hulk. He modified the Doombots a bit, and it definitely works. What I really liked about his art, though, is his character acting.

Zdarsky’s understanding of the Fantastic Four wouldn’t work as well without an artist who could bring forth the characters’ personalities and emotions. CAFU is up to the job. I felt what Zdarsky wanted me to feel because the art was able to bring that out. My favorite panel isn’t one of the action panels, but the one where Sue breaks down because Valeria died in One World Under Doom. It’s heartbreaking and captures the complexity of feeling of the moment. Finally, the action is exciting and fluid. The page layouts do a great job of pacing the fights, and it gives the action the kind of oomph it needs.

I love Doctor Doom and Zdarsky writing the Fantastic Four, so I was excited by this book. What I got, though, was kind of what I thought it would be, and I was slightly disappointed. I expected Zdarsky to write a cool Fantastic Four story, but I also expected the plots that would build into Armageddon to be lackluster. None of it is bad; it’s just basic. The art is one of the book’s strengths, so that’s a plus. Read this for a cool Fantastic Four story, but don’t expect it to build the hype for the next event. Hopefully, Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon will do a better job.

The Will of Doom #1 is on sale now.

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