Infamous Iron Man – Volume 1: Infamous by Brian Michael Bendis is a graphic novel that has a reformed Dr. Doom taking up Iron Man’s mantel. The story is a what-if story without being a what-if book. What if Dr. Doom wanted to change his ways and do good? What would the superhero think? What would long-time rivals the Fantastic Four think? This book covers what Ben “The Thing” Grimm thinks: that this is a trap, and he is not buying it. I’m not a big Dr. Doom reader I have read a handful of early Fantastic Four. In those comics, Dr. Doom was once a rival scientist to Reed “Mr. Fantastic” Richards and was on the cosmic voyage that changed the Fantastic Four. I know Doom’s name is Victor Von Doom and he is from Latvaria. That is all I knew going in. I wanted to read some Dr. Doom graphic novels to get more familiar with the character in preparation for Avengers: Doomsday. I don’t know if this was the right book for that purpose since this is a changed Dr. Doom. From the cover, I thought it was Tony Stark becoming Dr. Doom, but I was wrong. The story is a redemption story of a hero who went for maximum power and was not happy. He starts doing some good and feels something. Dr. Doom is a very stiff character in this book and don’t ever see him get any joy. It is a mystery why he is doing good until the final book in this volume. Infamous Iron Man features a list of characters The Thing, Maria Hill, Reed Richards, The Cape, Emma Frost, Ironheart, The Wizard, Mad Thinker, and M.O.D.O.K. Infamous Iron Man – Volume 1: Infamous collects Infamous Iron Man 1-5. Infamous Iron Man – Volume 1: Infamous was published on May 30, 2017.

Plot Summary: During the events of Civil War II Iron Man and Dr. Doom got close. This led to Dr. Doom seeing himself as different and wanting to be more like Iron Man. After the events of Civil War II Tony Stark (Iron Man) has not been seen. Dr. Doom has since taken up the mantle to add a little hope to this world. But for this new Doom Version of Iron Man to succeed Dr. Doom will have to atone for his past and convince past rivals he is good. He also sets out to turn former allies into good. The first rival he must convince is The Thing who would rather fight than talk. The story is all about Dr. Doom’s reckoning with his past. He must also confront his witch mother. She was locked away in hell after making a deal with the devil. The root cause of his rise to power would be to one day free his mother. He either couldn’t or wouldn’t so she freed herself. It is unclear what she wants but she is powerful and will not let anyone stand in her way.

What I Liked: The Dr. Doom and The Thing fight. The thing was the aggressor and it was terrifying. Dr. Doom’s mother puts a spell on The Thing to make his rocks slowly pop off. The way Dr. Doom arrived on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hellicarrier was awesome. I did like how awesome and in charge Maria Hill is in this volume. Dr. Doom’s fight with the Wizard was awesome. I love what the Wizard was able to do to Doom’s Iron Man boots. The flashback scene with Doom, Reed, and Ben before the cosmic rays changed them was great writing. Ben wrecking the Latvaria history museum to get Doom’s whereabouts. I liked that Latvaria turned into a military-ruled country after Doom left. He gets angry about this situation with the general. I did like the cover art and wished that artist did the drawing for the book.

What I Disliked: The love story angle that takes up most of the book was just okay. Victor is so stiff and emotionless. The girl is sending vibes off and on, it grew to be annoying. I did not like that Victor spoke without an accent. There wasn’t even an attempt at having his dialogue convey one. Ben makes fun of the accent which wasn’t in the word written. The mom plot line was okay. It is the cliffhanger moment of the book. We see who is possibly controlling her and for what purpose. Doom again shows little to no emotion when reuniting with his mom. Doom’s powers are confusing he is all-powerful but gets shot when unaware. I feel this will be Marvel’s hardest job explaining for the new film. I did not like the art. It looks similar to Bendis’s Alias comic. This style works because it is a gritty noir. The art is dark which I think works until Doom starts changing a add more light. But the art remains dark the whole time. The Thing’s drawing sometimes looks like he has splotches on him than rocks.

Recommendation: I read this book to know Doom and his powers. This is not a great book for that. If you like Doom and want to see him go good then this is the book for you. There are two scenes in this volume where the writing is very good. One is during a flashback. Another is when he explains what made him want to change for good. I’m a fan of Brian Michael Bendis’s writing in Alias, Ultimate Spider-Man, and New Avengers. Where as, the writing in Infamous Iron Man was not as good as the three mentioned. I feel this story has potential and is filled with some good moments but overall it lacked being compelling. I liked the villain gone good storyline but I needed to see emotion while doing it. It felt like reading and unfeeling robots changed slightly without feeling. I will not recommend reading Infamous Iron Man – Volume 1: Infamous to my followers. I got a good price for the second Volume. I will read it soon to see if it is any better.

Rating: Infamous Iron Man – Volume 1: Infamous by Brain Michael Bendis I rated 2.7 out of 5.