Doomwar

"Doomwar"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	February – July 2010
Genre	Superhero
Title(s)	Doomwar #1-6 Black Panther vol. 5 #12
Main character(s)	Doctor Doom Black Panther/T'Challa Black Panther/Shuri Storm Fantastic Four
Creative team
Writer(s)	Jonathan Maberry
Artist(s)	Scot Eaton

"Doomwar" is a 2010 event storyline published by Marvel Comics. It deals with Doctor Doom's covert overthrow of the royal family of Wakanda and the following clash with various members of the superhuman community.

Plot summary

Doomwar preludes

The events leading up to Doomwar are described in Black Panther vol. 5 #12.

Doomwar

Part 1

It has just been two days since the Desturi took over the government of Wakanda. Already, they are trying Storm for assaulting unarmed farmers, practicing and crimes against humanity. The possible sentence is life in prison or death. As she stood before the Desturi leader T'Kan, who accuses her of corrupting Wakanda, Storm defiantly refuses him and swears that her husband T'Challa will come for her and retake Wakanda.

After she is taken away, T'Kan declares that they shall isolate Wakanda once more and deport all foreigners. However, the chief of the Marsh tribe asks him if he had outside help. T'Kan denies it.

Meanwhile, Doctor Doom is attempting to crack the vault locks containing the vibranium he needs. However, the combinations on the next lock are alchemical symbols, which contradicts T'Challa preference for science. Doom is able to crack it with his magic and a blood sacrifice. His aide Akeja then ask what if T'Challa and Shuri are planning to retake the throne. However, Doom isn't concerned, for when he is done, Wakanda will be no more.

Meanwhile, in Utopia, the X-Men are at the table, learning about the Wakandan coup and announcement of isolation. Just then, Cipher and Psylocke informs them that T'Challa, Shuri and the entire Dora Milaje brigade are at their door. Cyclops assumes that they have come to ask for asylum, though Shuri states that it is not the case. T'Challa explains that the Desturi are a dissident group who is well-connected in the Wakandan government. They worked together with Doom to take him out. He later found out that every person in the palace was infected with nanites through food and water, making them living camera for Doom. He tried to crack them but the nanites simply self-destructed. Only he and Shuri escaped infection because being the Black Panther allows a heightened sense of awareness; T'Challa himself did not consume any food or water from the palace and confided his concerns with Shuri.

Right now, T'Challa has realized that Doom has only helped the Desturi to gain access to Wakanda's vibranium. The reason why is because vibranium has a secret that no one else knows about: it can amplify mystical energies and its effects are infinite. With his mystical know-how, Doom can use the vibranium to make himself unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Storm is placed in a cell specifically designed to nullify her powers. T'Kan also adds that T'Challa designed it himself. However, Storm is able to unlock the door with her technical skills, only to find Doom waiting for her. He demands her assistance in decrypting the final lock, requiring a "thief's touch". He then threatens to kill T'Challa's family if she doesn't comply. Unfortunately, she doesn't complete by the time and Doom motions for his goons to shoot Ramonda, only for S'yan to take the bullet for her. Doom then demands that if she doesn't cooperate, he'll kill everyone in the room and ten thousands subjects a minute. Grudgingly, Storm decodes the second-last lock.

Somewhere on Easter Island, The Broker and his assistant Mrs. Tickle prepare an army of Doombots to conquer the world. Back in Utopia, Shuri asks for the X-Men's assistance in retaking Wakanda. Unfortunately, Cyclops states that their global status is fragile at best and that last thing they need to look like aggressors to the rest of the world, who may unite against them. Therefore, he cannot sanction any X-Man's involvement, to which T'Challa understands.

Thirty minutes later, as the X-Men supply the Dora Milaje, Cyclops asks T'Challa about what to do with the nanites in Storm if she is rescued. The former Black Panther answers that he has a "friend' whose working on that. He then commends how Cyclops is making decisions like a true leader, who would have to make difficult decisions. Cyclops then states that he can't sanction the X-Men's involvement, but that doesn't mean that he can't dissuade them from going of their own free will.

Already, Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler have packed up. As their planes leave, T'Challa elaborates on Wakanda's defenses, which is virtually impenetrable. However, since he had personally designed the defense grid, there are a few surprises that the Desturi won't expect. Unfortunately, there is no way that can retake the country without killing anyone. However, Shuri considers that those who allied themselves with the Desturi have betrayed their heritage and she is willing to do whatever it takes to retake their home.

Meanwhile, T'Kan is informed, by his generals, that workers are claiming to have fallen under an illness. However, he refuses to believe that a simple illness is affecting them and demands that they interview these people. Just then, he is alerted to the arrival of T'Challa, Shuri and the Dora Milaje.

T'Kan appears before them holographically, asking if they intend to spill the blood of their people. Shuri answers that they are waging a war against the Desturi. She demands that they stand down from control and avoid bloodshed, if they want clemency and involvement with the political process. T'Kan rebuffs her, asking if they would kill innocents in the streets. T'Challa then declares, "You are not Wakanda--" Halfway into his sentence, Nightcrawler teleports both T'Challa and Shuri into the throneroom, where the latter snaps T'Kan's neck. T'Challa finishes his sentence by saying, "We are."

Part 2

Nightcrawler is shocked that T'Challa and Shuri executed the entire Desturi Council, to which the Wakandan royals state that this is how, in war, they deals with traitors. Now that the serpent's head is decapitated, they have to purge the rest of the Desturi. Shuri promises to handle that, while T'Challa goes to stop Doom from stealing the vibranium. Unfortunately, Nightcrawler can't teleport him to Doom's location because of some Doomtech that prevents him from doing so. At the moment, Doom, who is monitoring T'Challa, comments that he is about to come to rescue his wife. He then demands that Storm open the final lock, or he'll kill Ramonda and then fill Wakanda's streets in an ocean of blood. Outside Wakanda's borders, the Wakandan army is waiting for orders, doing a standoff with Wolverine, Colossus and the Dora Milaje. Nightcrawler then arrives back to teleport his fellow X-Men. Meanwhile, Aneka, the leader of the Dora Milaje, is in communication with T'Challa, explaining the possibility that the Army will eventually attack. He advises that they strike first to buy time for them to complete their mission. Aneka then gives a rallying speech to her sword-sisters to fight for Wakanda. The Army then notices the Dora Milaje rallying and decide to attack. Back inside the palace, the heroes fight their way through Desturi loyalists who have refused to stand down. The X-Men are appalled that Shuri killed a man who threw down his arms, to which she retorts that he was in her way. Wolverine warns of the danger of losing herself, but she responds that she finally found herself. As soon as they take out the communication jammers, Doombots and Desturi soldiers show up. As they fight their way through, Nightcrawler tries reasoning with Shuri that these are her people. She shoots back that she can't show mercy to those who had betrayed their heritage. Nightcrawler retorts that as their leader, she must prove a good example, not a show of bloodshed. Shuri defends by saying that she is doing her duty as both princess regent and the Black Panther. At the vibranium vault, Storm warns Doom that her husband will kill him for what he has done. Doom retorts that T'Challa has failed, for their little game of chess had him outmatched, resulting in his victory over Wakanda. He then determines that the last lock is a puzzle. He then finds a message reading, "Only through purity unencumbered by pretense may you pass." Doom then contemplates the meaning of the riddle. Then, T'Challa arrives, prompting Doom to grab Storm by the head. He gives T'Challa five seconds to choose between his wife or the vibranium. As soon as the countdown is up, Doom comments says that he has attained victory and throws Storm at her husband, before leaving. T'Challa opens the vault to find it empty, with one word written on the wall: CHECKMATE.

Part 3

Doom passed the final lock of the Wakandan security system “purity”. He enters the plane of Bast the panther God. He strips off his armor and offers himself up for judgment. Doom doesn’t try any tricks he does not fight instead he does as the test required he reveals his ultimate truth the very dogma by which he has lived, the real reason for his perceived Villainy. He has seen the future as a sorcerer and thus has seen the world lead to ruin in countless futures, Days of Future Past, Skrull conquered world, Shi'ar conquered world, Bishop’s future, Galactic Avengers etc. What he has found is a single glimmering hope to save the human race a world in which he rules with an iron fist. Only here does he see the world surviving and thus his actions are “pure” simply by virtue that he believes it completely. In the end Bast is truly shocked at the purity in Doom’s acts of Villainy. Bast despite being protective of her people has no choice but to cede the Vibranium to Doom for he has passed the test she herself has set.

Part 4

The Fantastic Four, Storm and the Wakandans are battling Doombots in the Easter Island. Unfortunately, the vibranium composing the Doombots has been magically enhanced, making them physically tougher. Therefore, Shuri brings in vibranium-based weaponry to even the odds. However, Doom evacuated his factory and destroyed it, along with the rest of his Doombots. Upon analyzing the remains back in Wakanda, it is determined that Doom had programmed the Doombots to have adaptive intelligence, to give the others a strategic advantage. With various other fabrication facilities Doom stationed across the world, Shuri opted to take strike teams and deal with them. But despite her initiative, they sustain heavy casualties in combating the other Doombots, which slowly learn from their battles. T'Challa opposes how her callousness in throwing away the lives of her followers, but Shuri counters that Doom sees him as predictable. T'Challa could only admit to Mr. Fantastic that she is right. He made the mistake of augmenting himself with magic to go hand-to-hand with Doom, for the fight isn't going to be won through muscle or technology. Therefore, he has to undergo unorthodox methods, bringing up a hologram of an unspecified containment system. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four and the Wakandans hit multiple facilities across globe. However, Doom isn't concerned, for he knows that he has already won. He is proven right when his foes begin to tire out and weaken, further justifying T'Challa's point that they need to be unorthodox and hit Doom where it hurts. Mr. Fantastic asks what does he mean. On Latveria's southern border, a gypsy named Ygor approaches the checkpoint. The two sentries go out to check his passports. One finds in his wagon a cache full of weapons, before Ygor kills them both. "Ygor" is in fact revealed to be Deadpool, who storms Castle Doom, yelling, "Dooooooo-mie! I'm ho-o-o-o-o-ome!"

Part 5

Shuri's attempts to take down Doom's production factories has only increased the number of casualties and they only recovered eight percent of the vibranium he stole. T'Challa sees that since Doom knows about Wakandan technology and is calculative, there's no way they can win this. Shuri insists that they have to take out Doom himself. But first, they need to find him first, along with the majority of the vibranium. And T'Challa has a plan, the most impossible and dangerous one. Meanwhile, in Doom's private lab, the Broker approaches him, reminding that besides running his global network, he also shouldn't underestimate his foes. Doom brushes his concerns off, as he had never underestimated Mr. Fantastic or T'Challa due to decades of experience. The Broker also adds about the costly collateral damage to his facilities but Doom cares not, for when he's done, he won't need it. T'Challa has hired a chaotic element into this game: Deadpool, who has been to Latveria, determining that Doom isn't there, and rounding up a net full of Doombot heads. T'Challa and Mr. Fantastic introduce Deadpool to the Nowhere Room, a device combining science and alchemy as shadow physics. With this device, they might be able to locate the vibranium on a quantum level. However, Mr. Fantastic is concerned about the fact that going through the process of omniexistence field would tear someone apart, even go mad. T'Challa has considered this, and therefore, he has summoned a special group of the Dora Milaje -- the Midnight Angels -- as Deadpool's backup; Deadpool can only say, "Do you believe in love at first, second, third and fourth sight?" Meanwhile, Shuri's team has managed to locate one of Doom's computers, listing all of his funding require to maintain his operations. If they can take away his funding, he can't even wage a war; even the Broker wouldn't work for free. They then donate over a hundred billion Euros to charities; the Broker fears that Doom will kill him for letting Shuri turn him into a humanitarian. Elsewhere, Storm and the Fantastic Four are having difficulties against Doombots and villains guarding the vibranium. Shuri is assisted by War Machine, who has been called in by Mr. Fantastic. He gives her a cyclical repulsor cell, to help hide and randomize her suit's energy signature, so the Doombots can't adapt. Deadpool is strapped with harness to help him maintain physical integrity inside the Nowhere Room. Once he finds the vibranium, he will send a signal to the Midnight Angels. Once inside, Deadpool is subjected to a variety of different aspects of himself, like being portrayed as Galactus. he soon emerges in Latveria. But as soon as he steps out, his left arm falls off. It took twenty minutes for it to reattach it, while sending out his distress signal. Unfortunately, sensor shielding prevent them from proving that Doom is holding the vibranium in his castle. Without proof for the World Court, the worse scenario is war. However, T'Challa doesn't care about politics and is determined to take Doom out. At that moment, Deadpool is grabbed by the head by Doom, whose new vibranium-type armor is brimming with energy.

Part 6

T'Challa is in communication with War Machine and Shuri, informing them of his infiltration of Latveria. His sister considers it insane to just start a war; their homeland does not do such things. As she signs off, Mr. Fantastic adds to T'Challa that technically he is starting a war. Meanwhile, the Broker informs Doom regarding the depletion of all his funds. However, Doom is not concerned. He reveals to the Broker that with his new armor, he can feel every particle of vibranium scattered across the world when the meteor carrying it crashed into Wakanda. This allowing him to control all things metal, making the world his weapon. This forces all the world's heroes to attempt to combat this. Meanwhile, Shuri has gathered all their forces to the borders of Latveria and Symkaria. Officially, she is on a diplomatic mission to the latter to advise them on terrorism, when actually, they are enclosing on Latveria. Inside Castle Doom, the Midnight Angel launch their attack, disrupting Doom's connection to all the world's vibranium, and assisting Deadpool in their attempt to kill him. Doom take note that their weapons aren't vibranium, but steel laced with shadow particles. He compliment T'Challa for such an unexpected move, but say that it's too late to stop him. Deadpool then pulls out a radio transmitter, saying that someone wants to talk to Doom. It is Shuri, calling out to Doom to face her, ruler to ruler. Despite the Broker's warning that it is a trap, Doom is intent on running into it and defeat the opposition. Taking an army of his Doombots, he goes out to face his foes. T'Challa tells Doom that despite everything he has done, he's asking for the sake of peace and sanity for him to stand down. Doom merely laughs at those words, especially coming from someone who spilled a river of blood, who can't understand his motivations. But T'Challa retorts that he does. He explains that the Panther God came to him in his dreams and told him of a better future for the world with Doom ruling it. But he rejected that future, and states that now they will forge a better future for the world. Doom accepts the challenge and orders his legions to attack. Doom himself goes head-to-head with T'Challa taunting him for his country's dependence on the vibranium. But his hubris proved to be his downfall, as T'Challa admits that he may be right, before tapping into Doom's armor to connect to all the vibranium in the world and using it render all Wakandan vibranium inert and useless. Though Mr. Fantastic and Doom believe that Wakanda won't survive without the vibranium, Shuri believes that her brother saved his people. Storm then unleashes a powerful lightning storm that destroys all the Doombots. Planting the Wakandan flag before Doom, Shuri warns him that should he attack Wakanda again, she will not hesitate to kill him. The issue ends with their friends and allies rebuilding Wakanda.

Collected editions

The story has been collected into a single volume:
Doomwar (collects Doomwar #1-6, 144 pages, hardcover, October 2010, ISBN 978-0-7851-4714-5)

References

External links