#even having children in hell is like a Constantine plotline lol

[welcome-to-latveria]

Would you say that the whole turning-Valeria-into-armour thing was horribly ooc & character assassination?

I wouldn't go as far as saying it was character assassination because most writers now just pretend it never happened so it didn't really have any permanent effects on Doom's character but yes I do think it was horribly out of character. Actually not only that I also think it was just an insanely stupid plot line.

So let's unpack all the stupidity.

First of all we have Doom seeking out and killing Valeria and then turning her skin into armour. Why does he do this? Well the reason given was that he had to sacrifice something of value that was irreplaceable because he made a deal with demons for power. Sure okay. However there's also this explanation that Doom gives himself which just confuses the whole thing?

Like what the hell is he talking about choosing science over sorcery? Does Waid think because Doom went to university he choose science over sorcery? He literally spent his time at uni building a machine to contact his mother in hell what are you talking about? Also there's an underlying current here that I don't really like which seems to be that Romani = sorcery, that by leaving Valeria and his people that was choosing science? It's literally not even a true representation of previous canon and it also doesn't sit right with me implications wise.

Moving on to the sacrifice for power deal with some demons.

Now let's start off with the fact that Doom would never make a pact with demons after what happened to his mother w/ Mephisto like seriously do I have to point that out is that not obvious to Waid? Making a deal for power with a demon is straight up the reason his mother died why then would he do the same thing? If this was a life or death situation I could understand but it's literally just something he woke up one day and decided to do?

Also once again the references to him somehow not being a master of sorcery? It's like Waid woke up one day and realised Doom is also a sorcerer it's so bizzare. This is a concept that has been explored multiple times before and it's established that he's a master sorcerer below only like Dr Strange so I'm not sure why this is written like Doom has the ability of a 5 year old or something.

Everyone else in this story also acts like this is the first time in their life they've heard of Doom practicing magic. Ben literally says they always knew his mother was a witch and then acts like Doom must have 'finally' discovered magic. Does Ben think that Doom also didn't know his mother was a witch or what? Does he think he just found this out? So confusing. Reed then chimes in and says 'Victor's behaviour is unthinkable' (haha get it. unthinkable is in bold. do you get it? because the whole arc is called unthinkable. haha do you get it??). Reed then says 'why after all these years is he coming at us with such unscientific means' bro I'm being fr what are you TALKING ABOUT? No wonder this arc is called unthinkable my god Waid literally lost the ability to think whilst writing it.

Also note Reed's 'I don't believe in magic' - Ben tears into that himself in the panel but I really do want to acknowledge how fucking stupid that sentence is. Literally the panel before Ben had spoken to Dr Strange but magic doesn't exist according to Reed. Sure okay Waid.

Towards the end of the arc Reed says this when Stephen tells him that Doom bargained with the demons for power. 'Bargained? Usually Victor simply takes what he wants' wow Reed finally someone is talking sense in this story. He says that and then it's immediately swept under the rug. 'What's in this for them?' uh no we don't give a fuck about the demons let's circle back to your previous point about how Doom would never bother making bargains with demons when he could just take what we wants.

That's really the crux of the problem that to me makes this arc fall completely flat. 'Guy makes bargain with demon where he sacrifices someone he loves for greater power' is just not a Doom storyline I'm sorry (it is, however, very much a Constantine storyline. That comparison alone should tell you how very much out of character it would be for Doom to do it)

Like I said he would never bargain with demons anyway but if he HAD to he would be out to get what he needed without sacrificing anything at all. He wouldn't just blindly do what they say I mean this is a guy who thinks himself above EVERYONE why is he doing the bidding of random demons for power that quite frankly he already canonically had?

The awful stuff with Valeria obviously just adds to my dislike of this arc it just really wasn't needed he could have just killed her painlessly there was no need for All That and then the skin armor as well? The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.