Title Page
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by John Layman & Scot Eaton
Synopsis: The issue starts out with Victor von Doom recounting how his team came to be. It all started with a rocket capsule that landed in Latverian territory. Victor von Doom and his ship's crew recover the capsule, which belongs to Reed Richards. The dead bodies of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and James Jameson are found magnificently altered, giving Doom an idea. The last member of the capsule, Ben Grimm, is still alive and recovered by Doom. Grimm begs Doom to be killed but Doom decides not to, stating that he has plans for "The It" and his team. Using dark magiks and alchemy, Doom decides to use the closet people to him, his family: his wife Valeria and son Kristoff, as well as himself to form a team that would bring down the House of M. Thus forming The Fearsome Four. Cutting back to the present, Magneto asks a "favor", meaning an order, form Doom to find an alternate dimension to incarcerate insurgents to the House of M and gives Doom until the end of the week. Doom decides that this is the final straw. Magneto will be dead by sundown and uses his "favor" as a way to aid him. Doom enters one of his laboratories where scientists are operating on The It to discover more about cosmic rays. The It asks if the testing will help change him back, too which Doom says the concepts are beyond The It's intelligence. The two FF members enter the chamber housing the Extradimensional transporter and meet up with Valeria and Kristoff. Together, they enter the transporter and arrive in some alien dimension before The Fearsome Four obliterate the entire village. Afterwards, Doom then explains his plan to overthrow the House of M to the only people he trusts and that this dimension is the proper setting because his magiks are at their pinnacle here and the Earthly laws of physics and science don't apply, including.electro-magnetics. He goes on to say that he has been planning and aiming everything toward this goal for a long time, including the use of cosmic rays to enhance them, to which The It bulks at. Valeria and Kristoff announce their support while Doom automatically includes The It on his plan. Back in Latveria, Doom meets his mother, who knows what Doom is up to. Doom admits to his mother that he has just about everything he wants, a great family, his mother, an obedient kingdom, and asks if all this should be enough, too which Doom's mother quickly shoots down and tells her son to kill Magneto. The Fearsome Four then go and meet the House of M. After some pleasantries, Polaris leaves because she doesn't like the FF; especially The It. Doom then invites Magnus and Pietro to see the dimension Doom has "found". They are about to leave when Quicksilver pulls over his father and speaks of treachery, which doesn't go unnoticed by the Fearsome Four, but Magneto dismisses it, saying what use does Doom, who can change into liquid metal, have against the Master of Magnetism? The group then enters the transporter as Doom says "...After you".
Review: This was a very good issue. It was really a step up form the first part too, which wasn't bad either. Doom's plan is simple, but easy to enjoy. A dimension where Magneto's powers are weak and Doom's magiks are strong. I like it. We also learn that Valeria and Kristoff get their powers form sorcery. I kind of wish one of them had scientific powers so show the mix of Latveria's strengths within the world. Not as big deal though. While The Inhuman torch's powers are clear-cut, I wish they had hashed out The Invincible Woman's powers more. It's clear she has telekinesis, but the use of the smoke is ill defined. Is it part of her Telekinesis or some extra sorcery? Doom's mother is quite a character. I dare say she's more evil than Doom himself. She has five panels and that's all you need to just say to yourself "Whoa.that old bag is CRAZY!" Polaris came off as being very racist toward the FF, which inferred she felt that way to humans too since they're.you know, humans. Polaris hasn't gotten much airtime in this series (I haven't read HOM Iron Man and don't know if she's in it) so I can't say if this is out of character. I also liked the inclusion of James Jameson to replace Johnny Storm on the mission. It seems a little off though that Kristoff isn't very proper like his parents or to any royal family for that matter. It keeps with the hotheaded member thing though, which I do think is important to the Fantastic Four or any parody. The art was consistent and good here too. I wouldn't say the style was unique or that Eaton is a great artist, but nothing seems misplaced or ill defined. I loved the page where you see the corpses of the capsule crew. Sue's corpse was especially disgusting. The colors seemed appropriate too. An overall dark, shadow like feel is good for Doom, the sorcery, and treachery. Very visually appealing. Overall, this is a solid issue story wise and artistically. I can't say anything about it was done badly. Good job Layman.