Dark Reign: The Cabal #1 (2009)
cover by Daniel Acuna
Doctor Doom barely had any time to interact with his fellows in the Cabal in their first meeting. This special has separate stories focusing on individual members, and Doom features twice.
“…And I’ll Get the Land”
by Jonathan Hickman & Adi Granov
The story begins where the previous one ended, except this Namor ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE HIM.
But then we jump into how Doom imagines how Dark Reign is going to end.
With Namor being his last remaining ally…
…after murdering Hood and stealing his cloak!!!
And then use a freaking Cosmic Cube™ to disintegrate Osborn’s Dark Avengers…
…and Namor to murder Osborn.
I’d buy Doctor Doom fantasizing about all that. Enslaving Emma Frost and FemLoki… not so much. Feels a little below his standards.
Careful Doom. If Namor gets jealous it might compromise your bromance.
What DOES Doom consider the eventual ending of his involvement with the Cabal?
As the last remaining one, of course.
“How I Survived Apocalyptic Fire”
by Matt Fraction & Daniel Acuna
The Emma Frost story is by far the weakest. I’m not saying this because Doom only has a non-speaking cameo, but it sure doesn’t help.
“Family trust”
by Rick Remender & Max Fiumara
I mean I even liked the Hood story better, despite the fact that it doesn’t feature Doom at all and that I never cared for Hood.
“The Judgment of Namor”
by Kieron Gillen & Carmine Di Giandomenico
This is one of the shockingly few stories where Namor actually has to do SOMETHING as the king of Atlantis besides fighting invaders!
He has to settle a dispute between two Atlanteans whose son has mutant powers, which he does in a very Namor way.
Is it any wonder he’s buddies with Doctor Doom?
“Dinner with Doom”
by Peter Milligan & Tonci Zonjic
Despite the title, this is Loki’s story. And it has one of my favorite opening lines of all time.
Among his fellow members of the Cabal, Namor may be the one who understands Doom the most… but Loki is his real kindred spirit.
Doom is testing to see whether this is really Loki, which is understandable. Poison and flamethrowers are a bit much, but that’s style.
Just imagine what crime these poor waiters must have committed. They probably got Doom’s order wrong once.
The Doom at the table was just a Doombot, which obviously Loki noticed immediately.
Still, if anyone understands the importance of theatrics, it’s Loki.
Loki is here to suggest an alliance with Latveria. These are exactly the kind of characters that KNOW they will betray each other and have already prepared counter-measures.
But you know Doom. He has to play hard to get.
In this period Asgard is on Earth, more specifically in Oklahoma.
Loki has a change in mind.
Something made easier by the fact that Odin is currently nowhere to be seen, thanks to some mythological nonsense.
Still, there’s a hammer-shaped elephant in the room.
Doom points out that this is just what Loki gets out of the alliance… but what Doom get?
We won’t know until a much later story, but spoiler alert: Thor is not going to like it.
Doom significance
Doom’s story: 0/10
Fluff.
Loki’s story: 6/10
Kind of the preable to the Thor storyline, but not that important.
Everthing else: 0/10
Doom’s not even there.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not even stretching the definition.
Does it stand the test of time?
Doom’s story: 9/10
The unnecessary fanservice panel prevents this from reaching a 10/10 because it doesn’t really belong there. Obviously it’s not much of a story, more of a minor extra… but it’s worth it just for some great artwork.
Emma Frost’s story: zzzzzz/10
I didn’t review it, but it basically has no reason to be here.
Hood’s story: whatever/10
I’ve grown so annoyed at Bendis shoving Hood everywhere that I forgot he was originally an interesting character. Not interesting enough to review, though.
Namor’ story: 10/10
I know I didn’t review it, but… one parent wants to exile the kid and the other wants to turn him to be a weapon. Then Namor goes “you both suck, the kid is going to join the X-Men”. What more do you want? Namor is awesome!
Loki’s story: 10/10
This version of Loki is a lot of fun, and her interactions with Doom are priceless. I kind of love that Doom is basically the only character that runs into the new Loki and never comments on the sex change, other than wanting to make sure he’s not talking to an impostor!