'One World Under Doom' Issue Three Review: Doom's great mistake is finally revealed

I was on the fence about writing a review about some of the recent issue releases that I've read over the last few days, and I think that came from being a bit tired from running around and having a lot of photography to share here on Hive, but also the fact that some of these new releases didn't really seem that interesting. There's not really a whole lot to write about regarding their stories and my thoughts. Which is a shame given I was quite looking forward to One World Under Doom to have its third issue released. This has been quite a fun read that has seen Doom essentially take over the world through mostly peaceful means having manipulated governments and the people by basically just telling them and giving them precisely what it is that they want, all while telling them that this was possible all along; it's just that their previous "leaders" never implemented any of it. Due to their own agendas and greed. It has been quite a mirror against our own reality in that sense, showing how politicians really act and how these days. Doom is usually known for being a more brutal force, and his recent actions have been quite a surprise to the people that are assumed to be the good guys, the heroes of the world. Though Doom's actions have ensured that every move they make has painted them in a poor light.

This comes from Doom's ability to ensure the public eye maintains itself on him. To ensure that anyone that opposes him is considered one of the truly evil ones that aims to maintain the status quo. Doom's agenda has been to open up borders and ensure people are free to roam. Banning war entirely. And ensuring education and medicine are free for the people. Naturally, such concepts are well received. Anyone that stands to stop Doom for ensuring these main concepts are pursued is hardly to be considered a good person. Who argues against keeping people safe, well educated, and from travelling the world for increased opportunities due to their place of birth? There's a few things Doom has been doing that are bad though, he replaced a few politicians with robots after having had them killed. He definitely has a few secrets here to get this entire empire going, knowing that he needs to create the right environment to support his cause, knowing that regular leaders would simply reject him otherwise. Though he claims that Doom's empire is not one of force, at the same time claiming someone needs to step up and take action given the bureaucratic nonsense of present governments. Again, some connection to real life given how sometimes that genuinely does seem like it's needed to create important change. That sudden removal of democracy to put the suits to shame.

Now three issues in, it's pretty clear what's taking place. And how the superheroes are struggling to find a way to stop Doom knowing he doesn't actually have the best intentions for people. Though they're stuck given they're also defending those evils he speaks of. These difficulties have led to struggles in finding ways to fight against Doom, nothing quite works against him, he's always a few steps ahead of them, knowing what their next move will be. It has a bit of a stagnation feeling to it at this point: the main concept has been revealed, the initial problem. Though where does the story go from here? What's next? To maintain a bit of that msyetery, this issue doesn't really lead anywhere much like the previous ones. Instead, having seen the perspectives of the good guys a bit now, we're introduced into the desperation of them to really deal a threatening blow to Doom. And that requires inviting the many supervillains that they've been fighting for years; the concept of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They must join forces in efforts to fight against Doom given none of them support him, each of them want their own version of leadership, their own concept of power and how to go about pursuing it. Though the issue's biggest reveal being that the main leaders of governments were not under any condition.

Doom had used robots to take the initial steps, but the leaders of governments that remain are in fact themselves. They've not been subjected to any trickery. Completely regular. This was the actual reveal that Doom all this time had been manipulating the public through words, just like the rest of the do. This even took the super villains by surprise, with not even them expecting it. With the two rivalries joining forces, the entire point is to try to take Doom by surprise, with their previous attempts having failed. Again, all of this simply makes Doom look better, showing how both the supposed good guys and the villains joining forces shows their desperate attempts, how both of them are morally corrupt, so much so to go against Doom's current actions which have been seeing positive outcomes.

But this is finally where the comic seems to be taking its course: with Doom so focused on his actions back on Earth, and with trying to keep his foes in check, he's totally forgotten about the threats outside of Earth, strengthening and awakening a much bigger problem from another dimension. Where his previous role was to keep evils far bigger than him at bay. Something we somewhat see within the Doom one-shot story. This is where the issue really showed it has some direction to come, where it seems even Doom may have finally realised his great mistake in the pursuit of total superiority. Having taken control of Earth, but left the universe wide open. I'm glad it finally took this turn, I was getting concerned with where things might be trying to go from here. It did feel as if this story was growing stale, but fortunately it's picking up from here on.