Unbelievable Gwenpool #22 (2017)
by Christopher Hastings & Irene Strychalski
cover by Gurihiru
Time for Marvel’s latest fourth-wall-breaking sensation to actually meet Doom.
Before we get into this issue, however, there’s a couple of points from the previous one that are going to be important.
One is that while Gwenpool is from the real world and knows all about Marvel comics, she’s not omniscient: she hasn’t read any new issue since she entered the Marvel Universe.
Don’t ask about the purple monster possessed by Gwen’s ghost friend.
Second, Gwenpool is now trying to make a name for herself as a heroine, because if she joins the Avengers they won’t cancel her book.
And her ticket to joining the team… is defeating Doctor Doom.
And with that out of the way, we jump into issue 22.
To find Doom, she has recruited the help of the redeemed Doombot that she befriended in previous issues, and she’s taken to Doom’s secret underground castle beneath New York City.
Because of course Doom has one of those.
She almost spots herself from later in the story. Spoiler alert, I guess.
Unfortunately, being around other Doombots has made her friend regress.
This does get the attention of Doom… but in his current Iron Man identity, something Gwenpool was completely unaware of.
Doom was initially interested in Gwenpool’s new ability to pull characters out of the page… more on that in a bit… but he’s now more focused on the Doombot that got away.
His words.
Doom put Gwenpool in a holding cell, but she escapes thanks to her ability to move in the “gutter space”: the white space between panels.
In a clever bit, however, Gwenpool can’t simply use this to jump forward in the story because that would mean she’s not IN the story.
Instead she has a WAY crazier plan!!!
While this is going on, Doom has a great discussion with the Doombot.
Turns out that Doom has been aware of this escaped Doombot for quite a while, and he’s even proud.
Gwenpool shows up with a sword (don’t ask) to fight Doom, who isn’t even surprised she got out.
They always get out.
She’s angry at him because she didn’t expect to find Doom busy with his own character arc!
Doom is remarkably polite in this period.
So that’s what it looks like from inside the comic when someone leaves it.
Gwenpool wasn’t looking for a sympathetic character, though, she wants Doctor Doom.
And Doctor Doom is what she gets, by pulling the old version out of the current one!!!
Unbelievable Gwenpool #23 (2017)
by Christopher Hastings & Irene Strychalski
cover by Gurihiru
In a surprising twist, that will end up being A VERY BAD IDEA.
This is what the series calls a “paper memory”… a previous version of the character untethered from the current version.
This is Classic Doom, who is so terrifying…
…that he drops one of my all-time favorite Doctor Doom badass boasts.
Despite that, Gwenpool is not afraid of Doom.
She then pushes Doom OUT OF THE PAGE…
…and drops him to the endless gutter space.
This isn’t the first time she’s done this to an enemy in the series.
Except… since Gwenpool is in the story now, she has to obey storytelling rules.
That’s funny enough, but there’s also an in-universe explanation because Doom treats gutter space exactly like any other parallel dimension.
Which also means that Doctor Doom COULD leave the comics universe and enter reality if he wanted!!!
Well what do you know, Doom’s reputation IS getting better after all.
If Gwenpool’s meta-narrative powers are not effective, she has nothing that could harm Doom.
The redeemed Doombot is also ineffective.
“I don’t care about your insult, which is why I’m exploding you”.
Yeah maybe evoking the king of supervillains wasn’t the best idea after all.
For all her bravado and happy-go-lucky attitude, Gwenpool is just a regular person who is not mentally equipped to face supervillains.
She does try to prove her superiority to Doom, because she’s not just a comic book character like him.
Doom is not convinced.
By which I mean the actual Doom, who shows up in gutter space to defeat his copy.
Having discovered that her powers don’t have lasting effects on characters, Gwenpool is now convinced that her comic is going to get cancelled.
I love how Doom is not even fazed by this.
Admit it, when you first met Gwenpool you never thought DOCTOR DOOM would relate to her.
After giving her some words of wisdom, Doom repairs the Doombot and leaves.
To give Gwenpool some closure: Doom even shows up for the final issue!
He really did relate to Gwenpool after all.
Speaking of the last issue, her older self teaches her that as a comic book character she will never truly die.
Doom significance: 0/10
Sadly I don’t think Doom and Gwenpool have met again, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
I wonder if Doom’s ability to move beyond the pages will ever be brought up again because THAT’S TERRIFYING.
Silver Age-ness: 1/10
Way too meta to be anything higher, but Doom’s persona is closer to that incarnation.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
I fully recognize this series is not to everyone’s taste, and the artwork while perfect for Gwenpool is more than a little awkward for Doom… but this can easily be done today.
This series in a unique position in the surprisingly resilient genre of comics that tackle the metaphysical quirks of the genre. They’re typically on two opposite sides of a spectrum: they’re either doing it purely for laughs (Deadpool being a prime example) or they’re overwritten psychological treaties (this is where Grant Morrison loses me when he goes overboard).
Gwenpool is the only instance that comes to mind of a comic that manages to stay exactly in the middle between the two extremes.
It’s funny, it’s deep, it works both from a meta perspective and from an in-universe perspective, it has a lot of personality without turning Doom into a joke, it fully respects his redemption arc while having some laughs about its predictable temporary status… it’s just a great comic book all around.
And I was not kidding when I called this one of the best Doctor Doom badass boasts EVER.