Backwash: The Books of Doom by Ed Brubaker

I really wanted to like this book. Seriously.

I tend to think Doctor Doom is an underrated character, so I figured that a book about his life history would be really enjoyable. I also generally like Ed Brubaker's stuff, and I figured that if it's written by a two-time Eisner winner for Best Writer, it must be pretty good.

And I wouldn't say it's bad necessarily. While I was reading it, I was actually actively confused as to why I was disliking the reading experience. Ed Brubaker's prose filled narration effectively nails Doctor Doom's arrogance and struggle for superiority over his fellow man while subtley hinting at the pain and anguish underneath that caused him to armor and mask himself against the world. It's a full three issues or so before he dons the mask, so we get to see a lot of young Victor Von Doom as he undergoes childhood and adolesence, dabbling in the dark arts here and there before finally studying science in America alongside Reed Richards.

But while I was reading it, I just didn't really feel that oomph that's needed to engage me in the story. That's right, oomph. It's a real world - look it up.

If I had to guess why the book didn't resonate with me, I would say that it's because I just couldn't relate to the character. Doom's conviction that nobody is nearly smart and talented as he is just comes off as obnoxious when I'm seeing it every page. The little bit of humanity that we get to see is his isolation, his feeling of loneliness and struggle for independence in the wake of his parents' deaths.

However, we saw so little of his parents that it was really difficult to feel the same kind of heartbreak that Victor was experiencing. We only saw Victor's mother for literally 4 pages before her death. Having spent such little time with her, I can't understand why Victor would spend so much of his life being haunted by her memory.

One could reasonably argue that there were so many events in the story that it was difficult to fit everything in. But personally, I would way rather see a little less of Doom tinkering with his inventions, leading militia groups, and just generally being a dick to people if I could just get a little bit deeper of a glimpse at the one thing in his life that made him feel like a human being.

I think if you look at most stories about villains in other genres and media, what you usually see is an emphasis on the little empathy that these characters possess. Both The Sopranos and The Godfather are just as much about the closeness of family relationships as they are about ruthlessly killing people. Humanity is what we want to see in our characters, good or bad. With that being said, I'm personally inclined to think that a villain book can't work if it's just about a supervillain cackling and asserting his genius (unless it's a comedy, in which case it can often be hilarious). We need to see their pain or a little bit of the care they have for the loved ones in their lives.

Brubaker should probably stick to writing bad guys in CRIMINAL. In the meantime, I'm hoping there's somebody out there that can take the concept of a supervillain book and do it right.