Customer Reviews

Fantastic Four: Books of Doom (Fantastic Four (Marvel Paperback))

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Ed Brubaker brings his considerable writing talents to colour in the past of one of Marvel's more mysterious characters - Dr Doom. We get to see Victor as a young man, innocent and in love, travelling with his roaming family in an Eastern European-esque country before things go sour. "The Baron" is an evil noble who forces Victor and his family to go on the run, ultimately ending in tragedy, while Victor's mother dabbles in the black arts leading to more tragedy. It leads to Victor's escape to America where he first encounters Reed Richards before he returns to Latveria to wreak his revenge on the Baron and secure his country's future.

All highly dramatic stuff, "The Books of Doom" is a good read with a lot going for it. Victor even comes across as a sometimes sympathetic character though oftentimes the coldness of his character that comes from suffering so much so young makes his actions more difficult to forgive. And for long-time fans of the Fantastic Four, we get to see how their greatest nemesis gets into the Darth Vader-type suit and finally goes from Victor von Doom to Dr Doom.

Brubaker's writing is top notch as always and I enjoyed the artwork of Pablo Raimondi which suited the colourful landscapes that Victor's journey took him on. It's a fascinating read as all Origin stories should be, it's just a shame that it's fallen out of print in the UK. For fans of superheroes, as well as those of Ed Brubaker, it's a must-read.

A fabulous re-imagining of the origin of Doctor Doom, Marvel's premiere super villain. Doctor Doom first appeared as the nemesis of the Fantastic Four way back in Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). His tragic origin story, detailing the death of his gypsy parents and his rise to power through mastery of science and magic, was not fully told until Fantastic Four Annual #2 (September 1964) in a twelve page story titled "The Fantastic Origin of Doctor Doom!" in which writer Stan Lee prophetically announced, "We confidently predict that you will call this one of the greatest, most memorable "origin" stories of all time!" Well, Stan Lee was never one to shy away from hyperbole, but in this case, he nailed it. This is NOT the movie version of Doctor Doom, but the original Victor Von Doom, the armored titan, the master of menance, the guy who influenced the creation of Darth Vader and bested the god-like Beyonder way back in the original Secret Wars.

Since his first appearance Doctor Doom has appeared as a combatant or sometimes even an ally in virtually every major title of the Marvel Comics, from the Avengers to the X-Men. He has also had a starring role in more than a few of his own comic books. In the best of these books he has been villainous but enigmatic, honorable and cunning, dangerous and strong-willed, a character of enormous depth and complexity. Chalk it up to a steady stream of talented writers like Brubaker, John Byrne, Warren Ellis, John Francis Moore, Peter David, Roger Stern, Chris Claremont, and Stan Lee himself, but never has his origin story been so lovingly and respectfully rendered as it is in Books of Doom.

Writer Ed Brubaker takes that original story, and some of what has come since then, and read between the lines. Updated without being over-modernized, fleshed out in a real world way, so that you forget that these are comic book characters, and redefining moments and motivations that make complete sense and honors the humble beginnings of he who would be known as Doom. If Doom himself had commissioned an autobiography, he would have had Brubaker write it.

Pablo Raimondo is nothing short of masterful in his renderings, the book is truly lovely from cover to cover. The art is absolutely spectacular. The only criticism is that the faces of the people are sometimes inconsistent from frame to frame, but some of the character faces are wonderfully charming and real. The mood invoked in every scene perfectly reflects what's going on, whether it's a dreary stone dungeon or a sunny alpine mountainside. The scenes are richly detailed, his visions of old world Europe are lovingly detailed and a delight on every page. The frame work is natural and well paced, you feel like you are watching a movie, even though the pages never detract from painting the story before you.

And surprises abound, little visual cues that delight and invite reading again and again. The insertion of the narrator within the frame was wonderfully subtle and effective. The surprise ending was fantastic, as well. Buy it, read it, and enjoy it as I have again and again. A Must Read for any fan of Doctor Doom. It should be required reading of any fan of Marvel Comics as well.

This is a novel that will exceed any hard core Doom fans hopes. It's not for the faint hearted its six issues completely dedicated to Dr.Doom. Five time nominated best writer Brubaker turns his shadowy vision to Marvel's greatest villain, Victor Von Doom. Phenomenal art team of Pablo Raimondi and Mark Farmer you will be witness to Doom's life from his earliest moments to the day he took the throne of Latveria. A revealing examination of how an innocent boy grows up to be a cruel tyrant, of oppression in a new twist on old legend,retold this book is a sweeping epic of tragedy, madness and destiny. Victor Von Doom has always been one of the most fascinating and outstanding villains in the Marvel universe but now he tells us his story. This is a prequel into the man behind the mask and that led him on towards his dark path to alleged tyranny and all round super genius of science. This book is more to the point of view in a documentary,rather than a historic retelling of an investigative journalistic piece about the legend of the man who is Victor Von Doom. A must read for all comic fan this is one of the best pieces of literature that I've ever read. If you are a comic fan in any sort of field you must read this book. FANTASTIC FOUR: BOOKS OF DOOM is an in-depth retelling of the origin of Fantastic Four's main arch-nemesis, Victor von doctor Doom. Following the leads provided in over 40 years of stories, Brubaker actually does a good job of integrating all the little bits and pieces that other writers have laid out on Doctor Doom's fascinating history over the years, and it certainly provides us with the closest firsthand look at the dictator of Latveria himself von doom. This same extra of this book gives it an odd, sort of quality, feel to it as though it's story is told by Doom himself through an investigative media in which it is something far too personal for the guarded megalomaniac to share with the rest of the world and his people. But by the end of the story, you realize exactly why Doom would be so open to his life story with this person that youll' definitely not want to miss reading out in about and because of this He has the same over-the-top high-and-mighty speech patterns, the same florid melodramatic way with words in threats that any other high and mighty super villian has it's just that he uses a lot more clearer in exclamation points for getting his point out across to others lot clearer. Anyway, Doom doesn't need to get his message across the room with all his advanced state of the art technology that he has got such as his death-ray, and time machine. It's also clear that Books Of Doom draws on material from previous comics that have come out before such as the Super-Villain Team-Up to flesh and bring out his origin; little more mature for readers in the end of the character,which finally collates and puts together a high-and-mighty fascinating retelling story of lavteria's one and only nasty cruel armoured tyrant in the end called: doctor victor von doom.