The good news is that we get confirmation here that Herod is working on behalf of the corporations. Finally! Color me a happy man. I'm still not sure who he is or if he's working for all the corporations, but at least we're getting somewhere in clarifying the 2099 universe's post-"Doom 2099" #33 status quo. Moreover, Ellis fleshes out some motivations here, implying that Herod's relationship with Stark-Fujikawa was an alliance meant to remove Doom -- and his anti-corporation policies -- from office. But, it remains unclear if Herod's collaboration goes beyond Stark-Fujikawa. Based on this issue and "Fantastic Four 2099" #2, I'm actually not sure if Alchemax played any role whatsoever in the coup d'état; if it did, it would imply that someone at Alchemax was working against Miguel's leadership, since he's the Acting CEO.
Moving past the larger 2099-wide questions, Ellis does a great job of using Doom's defeat to tease out his character. Naturally, Doom realizes that he was deposed because he failed to see everything at once; he was too focused on running the United States and not on the larger battle against the corporations. Now, he sets his sights on cyberspace; by controlling it, he would have access to all the information that he needs to rule the world. It's a really brilliant take on Doom. His focus on saving the world comes only because he's now realized that it's the easiest way to run it. Somehow Doom makes good evil.
The bad news is that this issue is essentially one long information-dump. It's apparently Ellis' last issue on the title, so he's obviously clearing the decks. I'm OK with that, but Ellis does so by dispensing with any notion of story-telling here; instead, we're subjected to one long narration with no dialogue or plot to break up the monotony. Unfortunately, I've found that the 2099 books (except "Spider-Man 2099") have been using this playbook way too often lately. We're often told that something is happening instead of seeing it happen. I understand that the whole premise of the 2099 universe requires a lot of world-building, but I feel like the editors could've done a better job of making sure that the authors didn't rush the process. I feel like Ellis could've somehow presented the information that he does here in a way that actually required someone saying something.
I know that the upcoming cancelation of the 2099 line is coming. It seems hard to believe, because David is doing some of this best work in "Spider-Man 2099" right now. But, reading this issue and the "2099 Apocalypse"/"2099 Genesis" issues, I actually can see why sales started dropping. The 2099 is interesting because of the characters, not just the differences between then and now. When authors like David use the characters to show those differences, it succeeds. When authors like Ellis lose sight of the characters to focus on the differences, it fails. It's sad, but, with so many 2099 titles falling into the latter category, I can see why the line eventually lost steam.
Showing posts with label Doom 2099 (1993). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doom 2099 (1993). Show all posts
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Doom 2099 #33: "Fall"
One of the nice things about this issue is that you don't have to be a regular reader of "Doom 2099" to understand the events that occur in it, since Doom himself is equally clueless about their origins. The mysterious John Herod launches a multi-front attack on Doom that gets more and more spectacular in scope as it progress: from possibly causing an earthquake in California, to raising "Captain America" from the dead, to knocking "EMPs" from the sky over New York, to destroying Libera Cielo, and finally to slaughtering the Latverian population.
This issues clearly moves Doom to a new status quo, laying him low at a time when he believed himself to be at the pinnacle of his power. The attacks on California and New York will hurt his standing in the short term, since he lacks the resources to respond to them sufficiently (particularly since Herod has also blocked him from the Net). The resurrection of "Captain America" is a more long-term problem, since, after the dust settles, he'll still have an anti-Doom rabble-rouser running around the place. The destruction of Libera Cielo and Latveria, however, are more personal, showing that Herod isn't just aiming to destabilize Doom as President, but to attack him directly as a person. As a result, we have a lot more questions than answers:
1) What motivates John Herod? He tells Doom that he's paying for his mistake of not dismantling the corporations and their infrastructure, where he (Herod) exists. In that way, it's unclear if he's pro-corp or anti-corp. Is he mad at Doom for essentially making the corps subservient to him? Or, is he mad at Doom for not using his power to dismantle them? Moreover, why is he so mad? After all, he essentially commits genocide here, destroying the Latverian population. I find it hard to believe that he loves or hates the corps so much that he's willing to eradicate an entire country just to punish Doom for his treatment of them (either pro or con). Something else is clearly at work.
2) Why did Doom's assistant want to "sniff around" the "Chicago Arts Labs?" It seems pretty clear that they would have a connection to the Chicago Reserve, Herod's HQ, but how did she know that? I'm guessing that it's the one question connected to something detailed in a previous issue of "Doom 2099."
3) Who is "Captain America?" Doom is convinced that it's not Steve Rogers, since "Cap" tells the world that Doom had previously conquered America (or came close to it) during his time and Doom says that such an event never happened. One of the most interesting parts of that mystery isn't just its connection to the story at hand, but also the idea that history in the 2099 world is so like "1984" that the American population wouldn't know whether Doom had or hadn't actually invaded around the new millennium.
Beyond the story itself, perhaps the most fascinating part of this issue is the implications of the use of the various weapons of mass destruction that had previously been banned: the wave spiders, developed to fight guerrilla warfare but banned in 2064, now used now to disrupt computer systems and allow for the sneak attack on Libera Cielo and the White House; the air cavalry, salvaged from a "timequake" in 2081 but unusable since a 2049 accord banned the use of future weapons, now used to attack Latveria; and, most hideously, the necrotoxins, used by America to reduce the population of Makhelastan to "protein-rich sludge," now used to do the same with the Latverians. On one hand, the list of bans and treaties implies a level of governmental power that seems counter to the corporate-dominated culture that we've seen so far in the 2099 world. It raises all sorts of questions for the political-science major in me. But, it also addresses something that's been in the back of my mind since I started reading 2099 series, namely the fact that you'd think that such an advanced society would have better weapons of mass destruction and, as a result, be under threat of their use at all times. Here, as we see them unleashed, you begin to realize the answer to my previous questions, why even corporation-dominated governments would seek to ban certain weapons. Even weapons manufacturers would have to know that you're unlikely to have return buyers if everyone necrotoxined each other. But, as far as I'm aware, we still haven't really seen the world beyond America, Latveria, and Mexico. This issue reminds us that a whole other world (and history) exists out there and makes me wonder how much more of it we would've seen had the 2099 line continued.
I'm excited to see where we go from here. Spidey's only in this issue for a brief moment, but I've got at least one more "Doom 2099" issue coming in my remaining "Spider-Man 2099" project, so I can't wait to see how Doom responds to this affront.
This issues clearly moves Doom to a new status quo, laying him low at a time when he believed himself to be at the pinnacle of his power. The attacks on California and New York will hurt his standing in the short term, since he lacks the resources to respond to them sufficiently (particularly since Herod has also blocked him from the Net). The resurrection of "Captain America" is a more long-term problem, since, after the dust settles, he'll still have an anti-Doom rabble-rouser running around the place. The destruction of Libera Cielo and Latveria, however, are more personal, showing that Herod isn't just aiming to destabilize Doom as President, but to attack him directly as a person. As a result, we have a lot more questions than answers:
1) What motivates John Herod? He tells Doom that he's paying for his mistake of not dismantling the corporations and their infrastructure, where he (Herod) exists. In that way, it's unclear if he's pro-corp or anti-corp. Is he mad at Doom for essentially making the corps subservient to him? Or, is he mad at Doom for not using his power to dismantle them? Moreover, why is he so mad? After all, he essentially commits genocide here, destroying the Latverian population. I find it hard to believe that he loves or hates the corps so much that he's willing to eradicate an entire country just to punish Doom for his treatment of them (either pro or con). Something else is clearly at work.
2) Why did Doom's assistant want to "sniff around" the "Chicago Arts Labs?" It seems pretty clear that they would have a connection to the Chicago Reserve, Herod's HQ, but how did she know that? I'm guessing that it's the one question connected to something detailed in a previous issue of "Doom 2099."
3) Who is "Captain America?" Doom is convinced that it's not Steve Rogers, since "Cap" tells the world that Doom had previously conquered America (or came close to it) during his time and Doom says that such an event never happened. One of the most interesting parts of that mystery isn't just its connection to the story at hand, but also the idea that history in the 2099 world is so like "1984" that the American population wouldn't know whether Doom had or hadn't actually invaded around the new millennium.
Beyond the story itself, perhaps the most fascinating part of this issue is the implications of the use of the various weapons of mass destruction that had previously been banned: the wave spiders, developed to fight guerrilla warfare but banned in 2064, now used now to disrupt computer systems and allow for the sneak attack on Libera Cielo and the White House; the air cavalry, salvaged from a "timequake" in 2081 but unusable since a 2049 accord banned the use of future weapons, now used to attack Latveria; and, most hideously, the necrotoxins, used by America to reduce the population of Makhelastan to "protein-rich sludge," now used to do the same with the Latverians. On one hand, the list of bans and treaties implies a level of governmental power that seems counter to the corporate-dominated culture that we've seen so far in the 2099 world. It raises all sorts of questions for the political-science major in me. But, it also addresses something that's been in the back of my mind since I started reading 2099 series, namely the fact that you'd think that such an advanced society would have better weapons of mass destruction and, as a result, be under threat of their use at all times. Here, as we see them unleashed, you begin to realize the answer to my previous questions, why even corporation-dominated governments would seek to ban certain weapons. Even weapons manufacturers would have to know that you're unlikely to have return buyers if everyone necrotoxined each other. But, as far as I'm aware, we still haven't really seen the world beyond America, Latveria, and Mexico. This issue reminds us that a whole other world (and history) exists out there and makes me wonder how much more of it we would've seen had the 2099 line continued.
I'm excited to see where we go from here. Spidey's only in this issue for a brief moment, but I've got at least one more "Doom 2099" issue coming in my remaining "Spider-Man 2099" project, so I can't wait to see how Doom responds to this affront.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Doom 2099 #14: "Fall of the Hammer" Part 4 ("The Anvil or the Hammer")
*** (three of five stars)
Summary
Enraged by the defeat of Heimdall, Thor asks who's responsible. Loki directs him to the X-Men and Meanstreak tells his former friend to stop playing games, having been the one to give Meanstreak the means to defeat Heimdall in the first place. Doom appears, telling Meanstreak not to waste his time on the fake Aesir and noting that the real threat is Valhalla itself. Bloodhawk advocates destroying the Floating City, though Meanstreak urges caution, given the enormity of the structure. Fitz and Krystalin commit to defeating Thor, who attacks Doom with Mjolnir in fury at having his divinity questioned. Doom is surprised that the ionic energy-field that powers the hammer is more powerful than he thought. Loki arrives to warn Doom from attacking Thor directly, observing that Mjolnir is the source of all his power. Thor attacks Doom again and Doom uses the information provided by Loki to recalibrate his systems and block the flow of power from Mjolnir to Thor. The pent-up power results in a huge explosion that sends the two of them plummeting to Earth. Meanstreak tries to stop Loki from leaving, but Loki mutates into his wolf form, telling Meanstreak that he brought him and Ravage to Valhalla to sabotage it. The storm building outside the Floating City causes it to rock and Loki reveals that the gyroscopes aren't working because the ship's reactor can't maintain its weight at that altitude for that long, something the top officials at Alchemax knew because they designed Valhalla to fail. Downtown, Alchemax has created a perimeter around an unconscious (or dead) Thor, using a machine to lift him from the crater that his impact created. Doom watches from the shadows, expositing that he phased his body into intangibility before the crash, which is why the Alchemax workers don't find a second impact crater.
Thor awakens in a lab, disturbed both by the loss of his hammer and finding Sif in a tube. The CEO appears, informing Thor that the geneticists missed a DNA strand in their reprogramming of Sif, causing her to resist the transformation. Thor threatens to kill the CEO for "killing" Sif and the CEO orders the computer to revert him to his human form, revealing him to be Revered McAdam, an "unremarkable priest of Thor." The CEO "reminds" him that he didn't hesitate to take up the mantle of Thor, the god he "jealously" worships, and that, once transformed, he forgot his mortal identity and truly believed that he was Thor. The CEO gives him a choice and he chooses to become Thor again; the CEO directs him to Mjolnir and sends him to Valhalla. After Thor leaves, Doom (who followed the workers who brought Thor to the CEO) appears, observing that the Aesir served no real function except to initiate conflict. The CEO informs Doom that conflict was the point. Alchemax wanted to create its own heroes to control the effect the appearance of other heroes had on the public. Doom warns that heroism "is a contagious idea" and the CEO notes that his previous self would've likely considered the Heroic Age to have been a "plague of heroes." Doom balks when the CEO calls him a dictator and the CEO notes that the Dr. Doom of "legend" would taken down the CEO for such insolence. He observes that the 2009 Doom has developed a conscience and must instead decide whether to stop Valhalla from crashing into New York or pummel the CEO. Elsewhere, the X-Men begin evacuating people from the ship as the Punisher and Spider-Man arrive. The Punisher opines that the people are fleeing because they saw their god plummet to the ground and not return, destroying their belief. Spidey tries to help corral people, but the Punisher, firing a shot in the air, is a little more direct. Loki appears, telling Spidey that it's appropriate for him to be there, since his appearance is what first concerned Alchemax's bosses. Spidey recognizes Boone from his "smug delivery," though Boone is surprised that he recognizes him. The Punisher attempts to take out Loki, but he disappears. Reappearing elsewhere, Loki notes that the heroes have challenged the Alchemax gods and, when they take away the others' godhood, he'll retain his power to "spread glorious chaos around the world." Meanstreak tries to convince Loki to help people evacuate and, when he doesn't, strikes him, resulting in Loki disappearing, telling Meanstreak that he's simply jealous. The X-Men evacuate with the last ship and Doom approaches Valhalla, expositing that he will save it not from compassion, as the CEO implied, but because he has his own plans for it. He encounters the Punisher and Spidey, telling them that the Aesir were created to stop them. Ravage then appears from below, telling Doom that he hasn't been able to fix the engines and he doesn't know how much time they have until Valhalla falls into New York.
The Review
OK, so, this issue moves us along pretty well. We got confirmation in "X-Men 2099" #5 that Alchemax did in fact turn humans into Aesir, but here we learn that they were willing participants in the process and were made to believe that they were actually Norse gods. However, we still have no idea what Alchemax's ultimate goals are. We were led to believe that Alchemax wanted heroes it could control, but, given the fact that the CEO tells Doom here that he wanted Valhalla to fail, it calls into question his ultimate goal. Why have Valhalla fail if it'll make your Aesir fail? More on this point below.
The Good
I've been somewhat confused by Jordan's motivations throughout this event, but I guess that he's simply embracing his role as Trickster. He brought the X-Men to Valhalla to fight the Aesir and encourages Thor to battle the X-Men because he wanted the Aesir and, by extension, Alchemax to fail. To be honest, it is in Jordan's personality -- arrogant, impish -- to play this role, particularly by doing what he could to make sure that he was the only Aesir (and, therefore, the only special one) left standing. I'm glad that Moore confirmed the fact that Jordan was playing both sides, because it makes it clear that Jordan was actually motivated by something other than helping further the plot. Moreover, Moore leaves open the possibility that Jordan might not have been as unaffected by his transformation as he thought, implying that he might've actually been driven at least a little insane in the process. (He had blown off Meanstreak's questions about the consequences of becoming a "god" in "X-Men 2099" #5.)
The Unknown
1) "They designed Valhalla to fail." Really? Why? The CEO sticks to the line that he created the Aesir because he wanted heroes that he could control. I get that part. But, did he want them to fail, too? I could see a scenario where he'd want to create a catastrophe involving all the heroes timed to the arrival of the Aesir, so that the people turn against heroes entirely, even his Aesir. But, that doesn't seem to have been the CEO's plan, since he seems surprised by the heroes' presence on Valhalla. If the point, then, of Valhalla failing wasn't taking down the heroes and the Aesir with it (either figuratively or literally), then why have it fail in the first place? How could introducing the Aesir and then having Valhalla crash into New York shortly after their appearance in any way help Alchemax? It's this part that doesn't make a lot of sense to me and I hope we get some clarity on it next issue.
2) We still haven't been told why Hela, aka Tiana, was able to resist her programming. Jordan made it clear in "X-Men 2099" #5 that he sabotaged the system to allow him to keep his personality, but we don't hear anything from the CEO about why Tiana would've be able to do so. After all, they were able to predict that Sif would resist her programming, so they "killed" her, but why couldn't they predict the same with "Hela?" The fact that three of the six resisted their programming was part of the reason why I think Moore had to confirm that the Aesir, in theory, were supposed to believe that they actually were the Aesir. That point has been muddled throughout the event, since only Thor and Heimdall seemed to really believe it. But, it still seems hard to believe that half the subjects were "failures," since Alchemax doesn't seem the type to tolerate these sorts of problems.
3) Along these lines, where's Baldur? Is he playing a role in the finale?
Summary
Enraged by the defeat of Heimdall, Thor asks who's responsible. Loki directs him to the X-Men and Meanstreak tells his former friend to stop playing games, having been the one to give Meanstreak the means to defeat Heimdall in the first place. Doom appears, telling Meanstreak not to waste his time on the fake Aesir and noting that the real threat is Valhalla itself. Bloodhawk advocates destroying the Floating City, though Meanstreak urges caution, given the enormity of the structure. Fitz and Krystalin commit to defeating Thor, who attacks Doom with Mjolnir in fury at having his divinity questioned. Doom is surprised that the ionic energy-field that powers the hammer is more powerful than he thought. Loki arrives to warn Doom from attacking Thor directly, observing that Mjolnir is the source of all his power. Thor attacks Doom again and Doom uses the information provided by Loki to recalibrate his systems and block the flow of power from Mjolnir to Thor. The pent-up power results in a huge explosion that sends the two of them plummeting to Earth. Meanstreak tries to stop Loki from leaving, but Loki mutates into his wolf form, telling Meanstreak that he brought him and Ravage to Valhalla to sabotage it. The storm building outside the Floating City causes it to rock and Loki reveals that the gyroscopes aren't working because the ship's reactor can't maintain its weight at that altitude for that long, something the top officials at Alchemax knew because they designed Valhalla to fail. Downtown, Alchemax has created a perimeter around an unconscious (or dead) Thor, using a machine to lift him from the crater that his impact created. Doom watches from the shadows, expositing that he phased his body into intangibility before the crash, which is why the Alchemax workers don't find a second impact crater.
Thor awakens in a lab, disturbed both by the loss of his hammer and finding Sif in a tube. The CEO appears, informing Thor that the geneticists missed a DNA strand in their reprogramming of Sif, causing her to resist the transformation. Thor threatens to kill the CEO for "killing" Sif and the CEO orders the computer to revert him to his human form, revealing him to be Revered McAdam, an "unremarkable priest of Thor." The CEO "reminds" him that he didn't hesitate to take up the mantle of Thor, the god he "jealously" worships, and that, once transformed, he forgot his mortal identity and truly believed that he was Thor. The CEO gives him a choice and he chooses to become Thor again; the CEO directs him to Mjolnir and sends him to Valhalla. After Thor leaves, Doom (who followed the workers who brought Thor to the CEO) appears, observing that the Aesir served no real function except to initiate conflict. The CEO informs Doom that conflict was the point. Alchemax wanted to create its own heroes to control the effect the appearance of other heroes had on the public. Doom warns that heroism "is a contagious idea" and the CEO notes that his previous self would've likely considered the Heroic Age to have been a "plague of heroes." Doom balks when the CEO calls him a dictator and the CEO notes that the Dr. Doom of "legend" would taken down the CEO for such insolence. He observes that the 2009 Doom has developed a conscience and must instead decide whether to stop Valhalla from crashing into New York or pummel the CEO. Elsewhere, the X-Men begin evacuating people from the ship as the Punisher and Spider-Man arrive. The Punisher opines that the people are fleeing because they saw their god plummet to the ground and not return, destroying their belief. Spidey tries to help corral people, but the Punisher, firing a shot in the air, is a little more direct. Loki appears, telling Spidey that it's appropriate for him to be there, since his appearance is what first concerned Alchemax's bosses. Spidey recognizes Boone from his "smug delivery," though Boone is surprised that he recognizes him. The Punisher attempts to take out Loki, but he disappears. Reappearing elsewhere, Loki notes that the heroes have challenged the Alchemax gods and, when they take away the others' godhood, he'll retain his power to "spread glorious chaos around the world." Meanstreak tries to convince Loki to help people evacuate and, when he doesn't, strikes him, resulting in Loki disappearing, telling Meanstreak that he's simply jealous. The X-Men evacuate with the last ship and Doom approaches Valhalla, expositing that he will save it not from compassion, as the CEO implied, but because he has his own plans for it. He encounters the Punisher and Spidey, telling them that the Aesir were created to stop them. Ravage then appears from below, telling Doom that he hasn't been able to fix the engines and he doesn't know how much time they have until Valhalla falls into New York.
The Review
OK, so, this issue moves us along pretty well. We got confirmation in "X-Men 2099" #5 that Alchemax did in fact turn humans into Aesir, but here we learn that they were willing participants in the process and were made to believe that they were actually Norse gods. However, we still have no idea what Alchemax's ultimate goals are. We were led to believe that Alchemax wanted heroes it could control, but, given the fact that the CEO tells Doom here that he wanted Valhalla to fail, it calls into question his ultimate goal. Why have Valhalla fail if it'll make your Aesir fail? More on this point below.
The Good
I've been somewhat confused by Jordan's motivations throughout this event, but I guess that he's simply embracing his role as Trickster. He brought the X-Men to Valhalla to fight the Aesir and encourages Thor to battle the X-Men because he wanted the Aesir and, by extension, Alchemax to fail. To be honest, it is in Jordan's personality -- arrogant, impish -- to play this role, particularly by doing what he could to make sure that he was the only Aesir (and, therefore, the only special one) left standing. I'm glad that Moore confirmed the fact that Jordan was playing both sides, because it makes it clear that Jordan was actually motivated by something other than helping further the plot. Moreover, Moore leaves open the possibility that Jordan might not have been as unaffected by his transformation as he thought, implying that he might've actually been driven at least a little insane in the process. (He had blown off Meanstreak's questions about the consequences of becoming a "god" in "X-Men 2099" #5.)
The Unknown
1) "They designed Valhalla to fail." Really? Why? The CEO sticks to the line that he created the Aesir because he wanted heroes that he could control. I get that part. But, did he want them to fail, too? I could see a scenario where he'd want to create a catastrophe involving all the heroes timed to the arrival of the Aesir, so that the people turn against heroes entirely, even his Aesir. But, that doesn't seem to have been the CEO's plan, since he seems surprised by the heroes' presence on Valhalla. If the point, then, of Valhalla failing wasn't taking down the heroes and the Aesir with it (either figuratively or literally), then why have it fail in the first place? How could introducing the Aesir and then having Valhalla crash into New York shortly after their appearance in any way help Alchemax? It's this part that doesn't make a lot of sense to me and I hope we get some clarity on it next issue.
2) We still haven't been told why Hela, aka Tiana, was able to resist her programming. Jordan made it clear in "X-Men 2099" #5 that he sabotaged the system to allow him to keep his personality, but we don't hear anything from the CEO about why Tiana would've be able to do so. After all, they were able to predict that Sif would resist her programming, so they "killed" her, but why couldn't they predict the same with "Hela?" The fact that three of the six resisted their programming was part of the reason why I think Moore had to confirm that the Aesir, in theory, were supposed to believe that they actually were the Aesir. That point has been muddled throughout the event, since only Thor and Heimdall seemed to really believe it. But, it still seems hard to believe that half the subjects were "failures," since Alchemax doesn't seem the type to tolerate these sorts of problems.
3) Along these lines, where's Baldur? Is he playing a role in the finale?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)