Doctor Doom, Vol. 2: Bedford Falls

Doctor Doom (2019) #6-10

by Christopher Cantwell (Writer), Salvador Larroca

After uncovering the Symkarian plot against him, Doctor Doom seeks an "insurance policy" that will ensure his reign over Latveria -forever! But before Doom returns to his homeland to wage a one-man war on those who usurped his throne, he must embark on a covert mission to find a secret and powerful device -with an unlikely ally, Kang the Conqueror -while being pursued by mercenaries hired to kill him on sight! Meanwhile, the black hole on the moon is growing critical, and Doom's brilliant mind may be the only thing that can stop a catastrophe that will wreak havoc through the entire solar system. Still, Victor isn't one to just offer a friendly hand. If the people of Earth want his help, he's going to make them beg for it... COLLECTING: DOCTOR DOOM (2019) 6-10

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Science Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2021

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turned into quite a nice character study of Doom but there were no revelations here; nothing we haven’t seen before. Yes, Doom commits what may be his greatest atrocity (possibly) but even that’s been done before. The story also gets a little muddled in places and it definitely felt truncated, like it needed another issue really to explore the ramifications.

Salvador Larroca’s art was solid throughout but not his best work by any means.

Story: 2 stars
Artwork: 4 stars
Overall: 3 stars

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cantwell has a good handle on Dr. Doom's personality. I like Doom's wavering between trying to be good or not. That ending was brutal though. I like Doom when he remains in shades of gray. This volume does seem like the pacing is off though at times. I got the impression Marvel called up Cantwell around issue #6 and told him to wrap it up by issue #10.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An improvement on Pottersville in that Bedford Fall consistently makes sense. Doom must return to Latveria, regain his throne, and regain his confidence in his own Doom-ness. It's not quite as simple as all that, though, with plenty of oddly humorous twists and turns. Doom and Kang traversing the American West, for example. Or Doom's perfect plan falling apart because he assumes Reed Richards has it out for him.

Christopher Cantwell writes a near-perfect Doctor Doom, a megalomaniac misanthrope who seems to believe that only by being in complete control will he be able to best serve the world. I chuckled more than expected at Bedford Fall and enjoyed Salvador Larroca's art, even when he insisted on drawing increasingly complex and unlikely versions of Doom's armor. All the time travel nonsense with Kang pays off only in amusement, but the false future narrative arrives at a surprising conclusion. Fun, weird stuff!

[Dusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great wrap up to this short 10 issue run. Doom seeks the man inside, the man who he thinks he should be and in the end... all hope is lost. Theres a reason Dr Doom is my favorite bad guy and this book shows it. Super awesome! Great ending.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
Pretty interesting. A definitive answer to Doom's more recent skirting of the line between hero and villian. Ultimately, he can't get over himself. Literally, in the actual, denotative sense of the word.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot better than the previous volume. There are some silly things here and there (Kang and Doom literally murder their way across the country, yet spare every important character that they fight for no reason at all), but there are few books that really delve into the insane psychology of Doom as deeply as this one.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s it called when you annihilate an entire parallel reality because someone made fun of your armour and finger guns?
Cosmicide?

Asking for Victor.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Після прочитання першої сюжетної арки про Віктора фон Дума залишились змішані враження. Загалом цікаво, атмосферно, подекуди навіть несподівано глибоко, але з деякими питаннями до подачі і структури. Саме тому другий том, «Доктор Дум: Бедфорд-Фоллз» від Крістофера Кантвелла й Сальвадора Ларрока, викликав більше тривоги — хотілося, щоб історія не розчарувала. Вона не просто не розчарувала — вона виявилася в рази кращою. А ще несподівано емоційною.

Після подій першого тому Доктор Дум, звинувачений у злочині, якого не скоював, повертається до пошуку технології, яка дозволить навічно забезпечити його владу над Латверією. Але шлях до неї не такий вже й легкий. поряд із ним — Канґ Завойовник, якого він терпіти не може й водночас цінує. Їхній тимчасовий альянс дивує не менше, ніж їхня подорож американськими дорогами. Паралельно розгортається космічна загроза — чорна діра біля Місяця — яку, звісно ж, може зупинити лише Дум. І все це тло для більш особистої, внутрішньої історії. Візії “ідеального світу”, де Дум — герой, змушують його задуматися, чи можна стати кращим. І чи варто це робити.

Доктор Дум в цьому коміксі не просто лиходій із класичних історій. Кантвелл показує його складним, амбітним, одержимим контролем, але водночас — глибоко вразливим. Ми бачимо його сумніви, марення, спроби зрозуміти, яким би він міг бути. І навіть коли він знову стає собою — хочеться йому співчувати. Другорядні персонажі — Канґ, Річардс, навіть його підлеглі — підкреслюють цю внутрішню боротьбу Дума, але не затьмарюють її.

«Бедфорд-Фоллз» — це хороше завершення цієї лімітованої серії, яке встигає і зачепити багато тем і залишити простір для роздумів. На мою думку цю серію варто прочитати, якщо ви хочете побачити Дума не лише як антагоніста, а як складного персонажа. Чи, якщо вас приваблює поєднання супергероїки з психологічною драмою й роздумами. Особисто я задоволений, що другий том в рази сильніший за перший, чим й витягнув цю серію.

[Sem · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you look at both this and his Iron Man run, Christopher Cantwell is eerily good at writing sociopathic dickheads. And that's why this works, Doom is deliciously awful, especially in the hilarious #9, which is like a villainous sitcom.

[Brian Garthoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmph. Cantwell’s Doom is more of a petulant turd than evil genius. This really failed to capture what I like about the character, and the art was lousy throughout. Glad to be done with it!

[Hella · Rating 5 out of 5]

این سری دو جلدی که در مورد دکتر دومه بیشتر به درگیری دوم با خودش میپردازه و نشون میده چجوری این شخصیت سعی میکنه تغییر کنه و ادم بهتری بشه. در کل این دو جلد شخصیت پردازی خوبی داشت پلات و توئیست ها هم واقعا خوب بودند و میشه گفت که یکی از قوی ترین ها بین کمیک ها هستش.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I was worried it might not, but this stuck the landing after the great setup by volume 1. Holy crap, that was GREAT!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid character study of one of Marvel's most interesting villains. Sure, there are no revelations, and nothing really changes in a meaningful way, but this book gets right to the heart of who and what Doom is.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I've read WAAAAY more books than I've had time to review, so... knee-jerk reactions!**
- An interesting character study into Doctor Doom--what he could be, what he should be, and what he is.
- References "It's a Wonderful Life," my favorite movie of all time. Of course I had to read it!

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Ok..um...well

That didn't go the way I was expecting at all. This was basically a character breakdown of Doctor Doom. A reenvisioning of how his mind works. How his hate burns. How deep his love may go.

Wow...

[Rob Schamberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Doom rode a bear.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esse segundo encadernado do Doutor Destino foi lançado pela Panini Comics Brasil ao mesmo tempo que o de Rei Deadpool. As duas séries foram lançadas em seus primeiros encadernados também no mesmo mês. As duas séries tiveram dez edições cada. As duas sofreram do mesmo problema: eram para se desenvolverem mais, mas, acredito que devido à Pandemia e outras motivações dos artistas envolvidos, tuveram de ser encurtadas. Isso fez com que seus segundos encadernados não fossem assim tão bons quanto os primeiros volumes. Mas enquanto o de Rei Deadpool me parece mais carismático e mais bem desenvolvido, esses do Doutor Destino parecem ir do nada para lugar nenhum. Um personagem desse, bicho, e desperdiçado! Sinceramente, os desenhos de Salvador Larroca também estão me cansando um pouco, e nesse segundo encadernado os autores abusam das splash pages duplas. A impresão que dá é que esses encadernados do Doutor Destino e do Rei Deadpool foram publicados pela Image dos anos 1990 e não pela Marvel dos anos 2020. Uma lástima, uma lástima mesmo... Pra piorar tudo, as duas séries foram lançadas em capa dura. Desnecessauro!

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the second and final story arc I couldn’t help feeling that this was a bit incomplete, as if Marvel decided the book wasn’t selling enough and told Cantwell to wrap things up. That might explain the delay between issues. However, to Cantwell’s credit the story doesn’t seem crammed. In fact, after the excitement of Issue #6 (Doom and Kang in the American West), it’s pretty much a slow burn.
Doom returns to Latveria, finds his loyal cabinet members awaiting him, and regains his throne. However, there is a traitor who allowed the Symkarian pretender to seize his throne while he was fleeing from his accusers (for taking down the moon base in Volume 1). Doom interrogates them one by one and ferrets out the mole. Larocca’s art is always good, and he messes around a bit with the look of Doom’s armor.
However, the story is really about Doom’s soul-searching, trying to decide if he wants to be a good guy and serve the world or go back to being the Doom the rest of us remember (and is more interesting, sad to say). Doom gets a glimpse of a potential future that frightens him, and so he sort of reverts to form. Interesting, and a strange way to end the series.
I read this in the individual monthly issues.My actual rating: THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot summary: After traveling back to Latveria and retaking control, Doom goes to the black hole to try to stop it. Things go wrong (he blames Reed Richards) and he gets sucked in to a wormhole. There he sees an alternate world that is utopic with that version of Doom as a benevolent leader. That other Doom tries to get 616 Doom to change, but ultimately he refuses and uses a nullifier to destroy that universe. He doesn't really learn anything or change, which feels on-brand for Doctor Doom. Overall, I feel that this series was a decent look at the character of Victor Von Doom. It's definitely not required reading, but if you're especially interested in this villain, this feels like a good rendition of him.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn’t work for me. Cantwell has a good handle on Doom, and the art is good, but the story never completely works and, much like the preceding Pottersville, doesn’t always makes sense with the chopping and changing pace and focus. At least it didn’t make complete sense to me. Swing and a miss.

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good title and I'm sad to see it fold with this.
Funny, thoughtful and extremely cold. With the bestest art I have seen in a while in a Marvel title.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shows that doom is a bad guy throughout the story and I really liked that.

[Danger]

Doctor Doom is a really compelling bad guy and this was a wonderfully messed-up ending to this two-volume arc.

[Mithun Sarker · Rating 4 out of 5]

DOCTOR DOOM by Christopher Cantwell (issues 1-10) review

This series has to be one of my favorites from Marvel comics of last year's continuation. Doctor DOOM is the alter-ego of Victor Von Doom. He's mostly known as one of the most notorious Marvel villains. And the ruler of LATVERIA. Also, he's my favorite comic villain/character.

Writing a solo story about Doom isn't easy at all. The character is wildly strange. Has multiple powers such as Magical powers, Technology, devil connections, and all sort of notorious stuff.

In this series, DOOM is seeing a future version of himself. Which is completely different from him. There's hope, family, and children, he is cured, and he's the president of the world. He's HAPPY.

This series has multiple characters like Kang, taskmaster, blue marvel, doctor strange, etc. Kang is mostly seen with doom doing their evil stuff. Kong is busy collecting the world which Doom is trying to achieve. Where DOOM is trying to prove that he is innocent.
There's a bond between DOOM and KANG, a bond of Friendship that is awkwardly interesting.

Doom is falsely accused by the world of destroying project anthlon. (Blackhole in the DARK side of the moon). He tries to prove his innocence.

In the end, it's full of mouthful moments. Highly recommend it for doom lovers. DOOM's vision and his way to pursue is the main factor here. The art style is pretty great. Character models are good as always.

Story: 8.5/10
Artwork: 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10

Note: This is an old review, from the first quarter of 2020.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume in this Doctor Doom comic series rather intrigued me, so I remained on board to explore this second book. And the way it started with Doom and Kang traveling together was so bonkers, I can't believe this is the direction they chose. And I rather loved their banter because there's nothing quite like the craziness of Kang and Doom being made to work together.

The central part of this story is Doom's continued exploration of these visions of a utopian future he keeps getting while he continues his plans to re-gain control of Latveria. And it's hard to determine if he is getting a glimpse of the future or just some alternate reality. But the impact of these visions has been strong enough to get Doom to reconsider the direction of his life and determine if there's a way for him to achieve this utopia.

Ultimately, I really liked how this second volume continued this exploration of this larger meta plot and found a way to add more nuance to Doom's character while still fully embracing who he has been established to be. There are two key scenes towards the end of this book that are totally Doom but also somewhat sad since his own character potentially holds him back or keeps bringing him back to paths like this.

[Shivesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being an older comic reader, I am naturally a traditionalist when it comes to legacy villains from the Silver Age of comics. Victor von Doom is such a villain. However, the newer writers' takes on single-shade characters like Doom and Kang have been quite refreshing at times, like with Kang the Conqueror: Only Myself Left to Conquer.

Doom is a anti-hero with comic elements in this collection, which does remove some of the menace from his persona. I was not a fan of Doom falling victim to some psychological warfare from Reed Richards at the end. This was meant to be funny but just ended up nerfing Doom by undercutting his superhuman intellect.

The art throughout this series was spectacular - detailed, realistic and dynamic.

[Sleepseeker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. There was some parts that felt rushed, where they were telling a lot of information, but not really showing it.

There's a lot of stories in the Superhero world, where they keep the status quo for certain characters, this was one of them. I wasn't expecting Doctor Doom to emerge a hero, he has too big of an ego to change, but I wouldn't mind a little growth of character. I don't think this one had any, it just reset to same old Victor at the end. Maybe I'm a little jaded because I've seen it too much lately in other comics, where everything goes back to being the same after the author is done.

The art was great.

This one isn't terrible, if you want to read it. It was a fun ride, just nothing new.

[Neil Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plays out like a classic tragedy

There are a lot of elements here that remind me of Jonathan Hickman - big sci-fi concepts, alternate realities and lots of political maneuvering. I think what separates them, though, is Cantwell's characterisation which goes a lot deeper and doesn't feel like the characters are there merely to drive the plot (something Hickman is guilty of with non creator owned work).
Doom is excellent here, and the use of his pride as his fatal flaw drives the entire story and twists in a believable way.
The story wraps up with a definite conclusion but I would welcome more Doom from this creative team and I'll definitely be checking Cantwell's other work. He has the potential to be "the next big thing".

[Chandler Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first volume in this story, but I loved this volume even more. It starts off with Doctor Doom and Kang on the run in America from everyone. After a plan from the hero to neutralize a black hole on the moon fails, Doom sees his opportunity to become the beloved world leader that he has envisioned. However, his pride and hatred for Reed Richards gets the best of him. We come to find out that the black hole is actually a wormhole to an alternate reality that Doom is entangled with. In this alternate world, Doom finds the prosperous leader version of himself. Doom longs for this life, but he just cannot let go of his tyrannical ways. It’s a dark story, but such a great look at the character of Doom. Highly recommend!

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long Live Doom!

Who is Doctor Doom? A god among men? A sad, pathetic man-child hiding behind his intelligence and firepower? Or is he something more?
What do you do when you see that you can be more? Do you try to live up to that example? Or is the humility you always wanted too much?
Victor von Doom at his best is more than just someone who wants more than he has. He is a deadly villain who takes pride in his flaws as much as his achievements. But it's the fact that he would defy his ultimate fate that makes him compelling. Because he would rather laugh at destiny while accepting it.