Review: Avengers - The Private War of Doctor Doom

Following their recent victories against Kang and the Squadron Supreme, the Avengers return home and are faced with the task of settling on a new roster. No sooner do they announce their line-up than the once-dead Wonder Man returns to the fold. Then, they must face off against Atlantean menace Attuma in his latest plot to best Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Avengers: The Private War of Doctor Doom collects Avengers #150-156 and Annual #6, and Super-Villain Team-up #9, written by Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway and Bill Mantlo with art by George Perez and John Buscema.

This collection follows the events of The Serpent Crown and almost immediately sees the departure of Hellcat and Moondragon (boo!), as well as Avengers mainstay Thor. With their new roster, the Avengers must investigate the circumstances behind the resurrection of Wonder Man. At the same time the Living Laser is busy plotting his revenge on the Avengers and intends to use the unstable Nuklo to do so. After that, the Avengers are captured by Attuma and are forced to attack Namor’s Hydrobase. When they arrive, however, they discover the base is being run by Doctor Doom and they are swiftly bested by the Fantastic Four foe. In order to defeat Attuma, they must form an uneasy alliance with Doctor Doom.

As a trade, The Private War of Doctor Doom is densely plotted and is continuity heavy with plenty of references to past events. It lacks excitement and depth, as it falls into the rather generic box of “supervillains trying to take over the world using some kind of experimental device.” The collection begins with a tedious re-telling of the Avengers’ rosters’ various origins and then transitions into the re-introduction of Wonder Man. Understandably, his return creates conflict between Scarlet Witch and the Vision since the latter’s brain patterns were based off of Wonder Man’s. While there may be a smidgen of tension between the newlyweds throughout this trade, that’s about it for character development. The dialogue for the Beast is strong and we get some really great action scenes involving Scarlet Witch on a solo mission, but everyone else feels depressingly generic and they all fade into the background over the course of the collected issues. It also feels dated, given the fact that these stories occur during a time period when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were canonically viewed as the children of the Whizzer and Miss America.

The highlight of this collection is the art done by George Perez and the late John Buscema. Perez delivers dynamic work that features an active expressiveness, while also showing off his skill at drawing the male form (we get a rather strong panel of Namor flying through the air towards the end). Buscema, meanwhile, has a distinctive moodiness to his style that emphasizes some of the more emotional aspects to these characters. Notably, there’s a series of panels in which the Scarlet Witch is distraught and turns for comfort from the Wasp when she’s given the cold shoulder by her husband.

Avengers: The Private War of Doctor Doom isn’t the most impressive collection of stories featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s an awkwardly plotted series of stories that follow on the heels of Steve Englehart’s remarkable run on The Avengers. Where his stories often included social commentary and soapy interpersonal drama, The Private War of Doctor Doom restores the status quo of paint-by-numbers supervillain conflicts. Attuma and Doctor Doom make for great opponents for the Avengers, but the narrative never attempts to do something new with them. It’s also mildly irritating that Hellcat and Moondragon were written out, since both had been standouts in the preceding trade Avengers: The Serpent Crown. Though we get some notable art from Perez and Buscema, The Private War of Doctor Doom is skippable.

RATING: C-