Adam Chapman
January 7th 2005, 04:12 AM
Reviewer: Adam Chapman adam.chapman@sympatico.ca
Quick Rating: Good
What If Doom had taken Reed's advice in College, and the two had become colleagues?
<a href="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/1/whatifthing.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/1/whatifthing.jpg"align="left" border="0"> </a>Writer: Karl Kesel
Art: Paul Smith
Colours: Paul Mounts
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy's Randy Gentile
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Inspiration: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review: This issue is a celebration of silver age cheese. It's campy, it's fun, it's a romp, and it's well written to boot.
In this What If? one-shot, Victor Von Doom realizes that Reed Richards might be right when he criticizes some of Doom's calculations, and makes the effort to form a partnership with him as a result. Because of the two geniuses bonding, Ben Grimm drifts away from Reed, and goes through the military, not having spoken to Reed for quite some time by the time Reed, Victor, Susan and Johnny head into space.
Although Doom may have put aside his differences with Reed initially, it's his not putting them to rest permanently which causes problems for Richards, Susan and Johnny, as they still find themselves bombarded by cosmic rays, but not because of a failed calculation so much as because Doom noticed a flaw in the calculations but willingly did nothing to alert Richards to the flaw. The rocket crash lands on Earth, but Reed, Susan and Johnny find themselves transformed in Fantastic ways, as Doom finds himself hideously transformed thanks to an oversaturation of cosmic rays because of his own body armor.
The rest of the issue is a fight sequence which brings Ben Grimm back into the fray, by tying Richards' experiment to the same time frame as another important landmark experiment in Marvel history. It leads to a fun alteration on classic continuity, which leads this universe's Fantastic Four to the establishment of their team, to fight off Doom and other villains to come. It's a fun one-off issue, with classic camp and cheese to make it entertaining without being meaningless or overly goofy.
The arty by Smith perfectly compliments the fun accessible script, and further captures the sense of 60s camp which the issue seems to exude in spades.
As stated before, this issue is a classic silver age romp, will be a fun enjoyable read for some, and possibly an irritating throwback to others. Engaging, enjoyable, and fairly well crafted, storywise and artwise.
Ratings:
Story: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Art: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Overall: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World and Save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1606&cat=WHAT+IF%3F)
Quick Rating: Good
What If Doom had taken Reed's advice in College, and the two had become colleagues?
<a href="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/1/whatifthing.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/1/whatifthing.jpg"align="left" border="0"> </a>Writer: Karl Kesel
Art: Paul Smith
Colours: Paul Mounts
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy's Randy Gentile
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Inspiration: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review: This issue is a celebration of silver age cheese. It's campy, it's fun, it's a romp, and it's well written to boot.
In this What If? one-shot, Victor Von Doom realizes that Reed Richards might be right when he criticizes some of Doom's calculations, and makes the effort to form a partnership with him as a result. Because of the two geniuses bonding, Ben Grimm drifts away from Reed, and goes through the military, not having spoken to Reed for quite some time by the time Reed, Victor, Susan and Johnny head into space.
Although Doom may have put aside his differences with Reed initially, it's his not putting them to rest permanently which causes problems for Richards, Susan and Johnny, as they still find themselves bombarded by cosmic rays, but not because of a failed calculation so much as because Doom noticed a flaw in the calculations but willingly did nothing to alert Richards to the flaw. The rocket crash lands on Earth, but Reed, Susan and Johnny find themselves transformed in Fantastic ways, as Doom finds himself hideously transformed thanks to an oversaturation of cosmic rays because of his own body armor.
The rest of the issue is a fight sequence which brings Ben Grimm back into the fray, by tying Richards' experiment to the same time frame as another important landmark experiment in Marvel history. It leads to a fun alteration on classic continuity, which leads this universe's Fantastic Four to the establishment of their team, to fight off Doom and other villains to come. It's a fun one-off issue, with classic camp and cheese to make it entertaining without being meaningless or overly goofy.
The arty by Smith perfectly compliments the fun accessible script, and further captures the sense of 60s camp which the issue seems to exude in spades.
As stated before, this issue is a classic silver age romp, will be a fun enjoyable read for some, and possibly an irritating throwback to others. Engaging, enjoyable, and fairly well crafted, storywise and artwise.
Ratings:
Story: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Art: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Overall: http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/full.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/half.jpg http://www.comixtreme.com/reviews/none.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World and Save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1606&cat=WHAT+IF%3F)