Monday, November 15, 2021

When they say "aim high," this probably isn't what they mean.

What better way to make your mark in the Marvel universe, than by killing Doctor Doom? I feel like Gwen should've been more than familiar with the concept of plot armor, but okay. From 2018, the Unbelievable Gwenpool #23, written by Christopher Hastings, art by Irene Strychalski.
Gwen already knows the writing's on the wall, and her title was bound for cancellation; so she was looking for a way to cement herself in the Marvel U. Killing Doctor Doom and getting on the Avengers should do it, right? Wait, wasn't Doom a hero then? Remember the Infamous Iron Man? OK, it took me a minute; I had to look up his figure at OAFE and work backwards from there. Gwen has restored "the one that's a little less Bendis and a little more Kirby," but as classic Doom puts it, "you would open a dam because it is not satisfying to drown in a puddle." He thinks the insulting little girl is beneath him, but couldn't have anticipated her dragging up between the panels! ...oh, wait, he could? 

That's either the majesty of Doom, or on Gwen for thinking she could wrap this up by the fourth story page. A renegade Doombot confronts his master--and it seems like there's more than a few of those, aren't there? That just got fed up with their boss and walked, but this one gets severance--no, I'm sorry, that's severed, as in limb by limb. Gwen makes an attempt to escape on the Doombot's jet-propelled leg, before having to confront Doom again between the panels. Gwen is only saved by the return of Infamous Doom, who chops up the classic Doom, like some kind of "paper memory." Not that it does Gwen much good: previously, when she decided not to become a villain, she saw she only had a few issues worth of pages left.
Infamous repairs the Doombot, and doesn't seem to be mad or anything: there's a real genial vibe from him, very Mr. Rogers, like he's really over-compensating. He even encourages Gwen, which of course she may take the wrong way: does she have any choice but to be the bad guy? Another question might be, does Doom have any choice either? I haven't read Infamous, but Bendis at the height of his powers would have had trouble selling that as any sort of lasting change.

1 comment:

  1. Honestly if anyone thought Doom would be allowed to progress past his default villainous setting than they really hadn't paid attention to the history of comic characters owned by corporations. Yes, it was worth exploring the idea of what Doom would be like if he was given a 2nd chance, be we all know he'd eventually revert to his old self in story because of his own ego & because of the demands of the company that owned him. Still not sure of Bendis was the right one to write those adventures though. Maybe Hickman would've been a better choice.

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