In Part 2 of the PPC's look at the 2006 six-issue series Books Of Doom, we reach the point where Victor von Doom has been contacted by a member of a sect of monks from a temple in Tibet, who, with his dying wish, implores him to seek them out and learn their secrets of science and magic and realize his destiny. The offer comes at a crucial time for Victor, following his expulsion from Empire State University due to an unauthorized experiment that critically injured another student and left his own face scarred and bandaged. Wandering Europe, he'd been found and comforted by the woman he loves, Valeria, who was attempting to convince him to return with her to Latveria; instead, he decides to attempt to find the temple in the vastness of the Himalayas, which long-time readers of Doom's history will recognize as the place where the character will eventually emerge as Doctor Doom.
For now, however, our focus is Victor von Doom, who strides forward to meet his destiny.
With Valeria no longer present to ease his suffering, Victor's nightmares of his mother's torment in Hell return--always with the implication that, as his mother's child, he is cursed as well. It makes his trek doubly difficult, since the voice of the demon responsible for his mother's suffering follows him, taunting him with the fear that he will share his mother's fate should he not survive; and there is also the fear that, like his father, he will die frozen in the snow.*
*Technically, Victor's father passed away in the warmth of his gypsy camp, but the traumatic memory of waking in his father's deathly frozen grip is no doubt the image that stayed with Victor.
Readers of Doom's 1964 origin tale will appreciate the scope that Brubaker and Raimondi bring to this version, turning an abridged origin into a mini-series narrated by its troubled and driven principal character. Raimondi's stunning artwork, very much in tune with Victor every step of the way, makes excellent use of the pages he's been given and adds a great deal to this part of Victor's story.
In time, however, Victor's food runs out--and, combined with the harsh environment, his dreams, and the demon's taunts, he realizes that insanity is likely just around the corner. Thankfully, Brubaker makes an effort to keep in check the demon aspect of this tale in order to prevent it from overshadowing the series and becoming more of a focus than it need be--perhaps not an easy task, considering that it was Brubaker who opened the door in that respect and continues to give the demon prominent exposure. But an acceptable balance is struck, and there is more than enough of Doom to offset the demon/mother scenes. In fact, once Doom's failure to rescue his mother was dealt with, followed by his angush over his damaged face, it's fair to argue that Victor's personal demons would likely have been more than sufficient to carry the ball from this point on.
Finally, following a near-fatal encounter with a Yeti, Victor reaches his destination, though not unaided. He ends up spending a period of five years in the temple--and steadily, as those who dwell there had predicted, his studies of their ancient secrets combining magic with technology saw him surpass those who had taught him, until they came to call him "Master."
Eager to get a taste of the outside world once more, Victor makes a brief sojourn--yet he discovered that he had changed so much that he now had little patience with the ways of mankind, and so returned to the temple where he could observe the world at his leisure, and from a distance.
But when his monitoring reveals the current status of someone from his past, he jumps to conclusions about the experiment that changed his life. And with his enmity toward a rival who now enjoys the laurels which could have been his own, Victor chooses a new title for himself--a moment which almost demands a flash of lightning among the mountaintops outside.
Unless Doom went back for his degree at some point, it's interesting to note after all this time that "Doctor Doom" never formally earned his doctorate in science, nor was he awarded one. Doubtless he considers the matter moot, perhaps feeling that his knowledge and achievement have surpassed whatever tedious requirements an educational institution requires of its doctoral candidates. It's also a fair bet that no one has brought the matter to his attention--at least, no one still in circulation.
Whether due to the trigger of seeing Richards becoming more recognizable in the scientific community or simply the turmoil of his own life to date, Doom's dreams return with a vengeance--and he resolves to end them, once and for all. "This was the demon, I knew, alive in me... trying to prove I was but a mortal man... that he could touch me any time he wished, and I would fall to pieces. This had to be stopped. Von Doom would not be like other men... no emotion, no pain, no cold or warmth would affect me again." The words are textbook Doom--his resolve, his grasp of both dignity and tenacity, reining in his demons (so to speak) and harnassing them. Deciding to leave the temple once more--for good, this time--he forges protection for himself, a suit of armor which has two primary functions.
"I would remove myself from this world. I would create a second skin... adaptive technology would line the inner working of this armor... and an enchantment would seal it from the demon's touch... would keep him from my dreams... but the cold metal on my skin would remind me of his existence, and that he held my mother's soul captive in his realm. For now.
[Donning his mask...] "Never again will mortal eyes gaze upon Victor von Doom. From this moment on, there is only what I have become... there is only..."
Well, no doubt you can finish that sentence, and possibly even feel the chill that races up your spine as a result.
To claim his destiny, Doom returns to Latveria to remove from power the tyrant, Vladmir. Upon arrival, he wastes no time, freeing a group of peasants from slave labor and announcing his intention to depose the King. And when the people make the connection between "Doctor Doom" and Victor von Doom, the young gypsy who fought the Baron's men, it only adds to his budding fame and helps to rally the resistance--the revolution. It's not all smooth sailing for Doom, as not everyone is on board in following this armored stranger. As we've previously seen, Brubaker again uses an interview format to provide context for the story, once more bringing in Mr. von Kampen whom we've seen commenting from some poorly-lit room: "That night, when he came back, we were stunned to see him like that, covered in armor for the first time. And he seemed a bit, er, crazy..." He goes on to describe one man who stood up to Doom, accusing him of wanting to remove Vladmir only so that he could take his place--and when Doom decides to make an example of him, von Kampen's next words almost represent an indication of what we know will be the future of the people of Latveria. "Torvalt had played the fiddle at Victor's parents' wedding... but [Doom] just cut him down without a thought. He even made us bury his remains."
Valeria, too, is shocked by what Doom has become: "All you've done is build better walls between yourself and the world!" Only this time, Doom is well aware of who and what he is, and her words fail to move him. Yet he does see to her safety, by having her uncle remove her from the country before the fighting begins in earnest--and in his drive toward Vladmir's stronghold, his men, strategy, and technology are proof against the forces that oppose them.
The tide turns not only for the resistance, but for Doom as well in the eyes of those who now see that freedom from tyranny is within their grasp and rally to the side of their liberator. As for Vladmir, he has a much different reaction to his opponent when he receives a holographic message that warns of the wrong choice in response.
Naturally expecting such a reaction, Doom has planned a final march on the capital beginning the following day--and with momentum building quickly in favor of the resistance, Vladmir's troops soon face the resources and fury of the man who would be King.
Adding to Doom's prospects for success are the surprising number of desertions occurring in the ranks of Vladmir's army--men who decide to join Doom's cause, a decision which Doom believes is due to "merely human nature... the desperate need to survive." Yet he accepts them nonetheless, knowing that they can provide intelligence which will be useful.
As Doom's forces amass outside Vladmir's castle, the King himself is aware that his fight to stay in power may be a lost cause, so much so that he sends his sons, Rudolfo and Zorba, away on horseback. Yet even Vladmir is surprised when his order to begin the attack on the rebels is ignored, a result of the messenger Doom had sent the previous night after conferring with those troops who had defected. As a result, Doom enters the city without a shot being fired--while Vladmir has his own reckoning, found and strangled by one who years ago had become a practiced hand at it.
In the months to come, when Latveria's people have begun to thrive again, Doom is formally crowned King--but this isn't quite the end of Brubaker's story. There is the matter, for instance, of Doom's bargain with the demon who holds his mother--that, one night a year, Doom will be allowed to fight for her freedom, and, win or lose, pay a price. And there is Brubaker's final twist to this story which won't be divulged here, but which helps to explain the slightly altered narrative from Doom that may or may not be factual--something that will be left up to the reader to determine. As for our mysterious character in the shadows who has been questioning Doom off-panel, Brubaker's delightful reveal to the story makes it clear why this woman can only be given exposure in the final pages of this series. For her, Doom's tale is the story of a lifetime--in this case, quite literally so.
 | Books of Doom #s 4-6 Script: Ed Brubaker Pencils: Pablo Raimondi Inks: Mark Farmer, Drew Hennessy, Robin Riggs Letterer: Russ Wooton |
Interesting stuff. I guess it more or less jives with my impression of Doc Doom. I'm reminded of a similar mini-series I ran across that chronicled the early years of the Red Skull. His days as an orphan, supporting himself with menial jobs and petty crime before joining the Brownshirts, which unfortunately a lot of desperate young German men did at the time. It ends with his introduction to Hitler as a bellboy, which it turns out he arranged himself.
ReplyDeleteI almost got the sense he could have went a different direction, once or twice, that there might have been some glimmer of humanity or compassion in him, at least at the beginning.
It ends with him grinning, and the young man had begun to look like the mask he would soon wear.
This was interesting to me in a similar way.
M.P.