- Written by: Ryan North
- Art by: R.B. Silva
- Colors by: David Curiel
- Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
- Cover art by: Ben Harvey (cover A)
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: April 23, 2025
One World Under Doom #3, by Marvel on 4/23/25, teams up the Avengers with a group of villains to attack Doom again, but this time, they have a plan.
Is One World Under Doom #3 Good?
Recap
When we last left the Earth in One World Under Doom #2, the Fantastic Four decided to show the world that Dr. Doom, now the Sorcerer Supreme, was somebody not to be trusted with leadership. What was their plan? The world’s smartest superhero family concluded the best course of action was to attack Doom in full view of the United Nations, assuming he would react by pulling out his villain card for all to see. That plan went about as well as you’d expect. The issue ended with Doom bestowing mercy on the Fantastic Four and curing The Thing.
Plot Synopsis
In One World Under Doom #3, the humiliation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes continues. We begin with the unveiling of the plan teased at the end of the last issue. The Avengers invited a group of longtime Avengers villains to the Impossible City – including Arcade, Goblin Queen, Dr. Octopus, Baron Mordo, Scarlet Witch Mysterio, and MODOK – for a strategy session. What’s the plan? Attack Doom in Latveria (again) as a distraction. While Doom is busy, the magical members of the group will secretly accost several world leaders and tap into their minds to find out what Doom did to them to get them to give up control.
The plan works, but it’s not a win. The magic wielders learn that Doom was handed control through simple negotiation and bargaining tactics. No mind control, no replacement of world leaders with Doombots, no coercion. Doom promised the world leaders peace and order, and they accepted.
During the battle, several supervillains break out of The Raft, forcing the Avengers to end the fight and re-capture the escaping criminals halfway around the world. Of course, the news media reports that the escaped criminals did as much damage as they could because the Avengers were attacking Doom again without cause or provocation.
The issue ends with a very happy Dormammu learning the new Sorcerer Supreme hasn’t been keeping up on the maintenance of the magical wards that keep the Earth safe.
First Impressions
One World Under Doom #3 contains less of Ryan North’s obnoxiously overt allusions to real-world politics, but it misses the boat by (again) painting the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as the World’s Dumbest Heroes. Now, stupidity is possibly extending to Doom, which is why this series is turning out to be a bust.
How’s the Art?
R.B. Silva’s art style waffles between good and great, depending on which page or panel you examine. In the wide panels where team-based battles are happening, the action looks great. In the smaller scenes, where you get a close-up of one or two characters expressing a key emotional beat, the scene looks very good. However, in the wide panels where characters meet as a group (read: still), Silva somehow loses detail and fidelity. It could be that the digital review copy we received isn’t scanning the pages well, but meetings look populated with colorful characters with blobs for faces.
What’s great about One World Under Doom #3?
Ryan North’s script answers the lingering question of how the world leaders were forced into ceding their power to Doom, which is a big gap in the first issue. Plus, Domammu’s arrival in the cliffhanger gives readers something to anticipate.
Plus, plus, North’s allusions to real-world politics are much less obnoxiously overt in this issue. That may be a back-handed compliment, but it still counts as a positive.
What’s not great about One World Under Doom #3?
Why does Ryan North insist on making everyone dumb? It happened in the first issue when the Avengers blindly attacked Doom. It happened again in the second issue when the FF blindly attacked Doom. It happened again here.
“Wait a minute,” you might retort. “The battle was a distraction, so it makes sense.” Yes and no. The battle was a distraction to give the magic wielders an opportunity to probe the minds of world leaders. However, sending in mind probers was the first thing the Avengers should have done in issue #1, and the Avengers would have had a much less difficult P.R. problem on their hands if they sent the mind probers in with stealth.
What makes more sense – attacking Doom outright, making a P.R. mess, and finding out all your assumptions were incorrect after the damage was done -or- sending in the mind probers in a stealth mission, finding out how Doom took control from the beginning, and making a better plan with all the information? In effect, Ryan North is elevating Doom’s threat level by making everyone who opposes him incompetent.
Also, this is the third issue in a row where the plot centers on the heroes attacking Doom in an ill-conceived plan. The incompetence of the team is infuriating, but the repetitive plot adds a layer of mundanity. Dumb AND boring is not where any major event should be at issue #3.
Further, Dormammu showing up to take control of Earth because Doom either didn’t know or was too busy to maintain the magical wards protecting Earth is idiot icing on a dummy cake. In fairness, Dormammu could be walking into a honey pot trap, but for now, it doesn’t look good.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
One World Under Doom #3 makes Doom look powerful by making everyone else look dumb, ending on a cliffhanger that ALSO makes Doom look dumb. Ryan North’s script tones down the political rhetoric and answers a key question from the first issue, and R.B. Silva’s artwork is good to great. That said, the plot is getting repetitive, and Doom’s success relies on everyone else’s incompetence in an event that’s shaping up to be Dumb AND Boring.
5/10
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