Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry : Doom War
by Melanie C. Jordan
Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner and known for a variety of projects he has done for Marvel Comics including Black Panther, Wolverine, The X-Men, Fantastic Four and New York Times bestselling Marvel Zombies Return. He has done numerous novels that have sold around the world. He also is co-creator with Emmy Award winner Laura Schrock on The Slab, a horror genre entertainment news show for ABC Disney. I was lucky to come across Jonathan on an online network. We spoke back and forth through messages and I popped the question, “Can I interview you?” He asked me what I wanted to base the interview on and I happily replied, Doom War and he agreed to the interview.Now, it was time for me to get my questions gathered and what better questions for me to gather but those of the fans. So, I went around asking fans of his work about Doom war and Jonathan eagerly replied:
I.Mag: The plot of Doom War is to bring down Doctor Doom but we all know this isn’t an easy task. How are you going to go about this?
Jonathan Maberry: For the first time we’re going to see the global network that allows Doom to operate his many plans and schemes. Our heroes are going to go after Doom’s factories, his holdings, and his money in an attempt to cut off the infrastructure that allows Doom to be…well, Doom. Hopefully that will draw Doom out into the field for a more direct confrontation.
I.mag: : Namor had a lot to do with the leading up to Doom War. Why is he going to be left out?
Jonathan Maberry: Namor recently joined the X-Men and he’ll be concentrating on helping Cyclops with Utopia. The X-Men who answer the call for this battle, however, are some of Storm’s oldest friends –Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler. It’s more of a family affair.
I.mag: : You stated that Doom beat T’Challa with a combination of magic and science. Many readers would say he just got Zapped. I believe it’s the single panel that puzzled
your fans. What do you feel about this?
Jonathan Maberry: Doom is well known as a sorcerer who combines magic and science. At no time was that ‘zap’ described as purely a burst of force. I contend that Doom has used magic to enhance his science for years now, and that his energy blasts as mystic as well. After all, Doom has tried to defeat T’Challa many times before –what was different about this time? What was the wildcard Doom played? I –and a lot of folks at Marvel—believe it to be magic.
I.mag: : What can you tell us about Storm? Why she is easily manipulated and does she break free?
Jonathan Maberry: That is answered in DoomWar 1. She –and most of the rest of the Wakandan Royals and the generals have all been infected with a nanites swarm that makes them, in effect, living cameras for Doom. Everything she has seen and done within Wakanda is now known to Doom. At the same time, she’s been trying to hold the country together while T’Challa and Shuri have deliberately (though covertly) pulled back. T’Challa could not share this with Storm, and so it looks like he merely abandoned her. Once she is arrested, her powers have been nullified. First by the Desturi, and then by Doom. Without her powers she is no match for Doom, which means she can’t protect the others except by temporarily going along with Doom’s orders. She’s waiting for her moment, though.
I.mag: : The X-men will be in this story along with other great Characters. Can you elaborate on these characters?
Jonathan Maberry: Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler were all brought into the X-Men at the same time as Storm. They have a huge shared history. They’re family. They’re the first allies brought into DoomWar to stand alongside T’Challa and Shuri. In DoomWar #2 they really get to rock ‘n’ roll.
I.mag: : Many people don’t know but you have a new character Shuri, the new Black Panther. What can you tell me about Shuri?
Jonathan Maberry: Shuri is the sister of T’Challa. She’s been in the book off and on for years, mostly as a minor supporting characters. In Reggie Hudlin’s last arc, “Deadliest of the Species” (Black Panther #1 – #6), Shuri steps up to claim the role as Panther after T’Challa is critically wounded by Doctor Doom. Around that time Morlun, a destroyer of spiritual totems, attacks Wakanda and devastates the 
military in an attempt to consume the Panther Totem. Shuri, who is at first rejected by the Panther God as being too arrogant and therefore unworthy of the role, goes on a suicide mission to save her brother and her people. In doing so she helps defeat Morlun and her act of self-sacrifice earns her the right to be the Panther.
In “Power”, my first six issue arc of Black Panther, I got to chronicle her first days as the official Panther, and as Princess Regent of the nation. She’s still headstrong and a bit arrogant, but she’s trying to overcome that. Unfortunately she makes some mistakes, including sucker-punching Namor, who she believes is complicit in the ambush of T’Challa. Namor beats the crap out of her.
Even so, Shuri is powerful and proud, and she is trying her best to live the role of ruler and hero. But, of course, T’Challa is a very hard act to follow.
I.mag: : There is a character called the Broker. What is his relationship to Doom and what will be seeing from him?
Jonathan Maberry: The Broker is a codename for Walter Declun, the former CEO of Damage Control. Formerly a good guy, Declun went gradually off the rails. He’s the man responsible for supplying the mutant growth hormones that drove Nitro crazy, which resulted in the tragedy at the beginning of the Civil War. Declun has become the chief of operations for Doctor Doom, and as ‘the Broker’, he runs Doom’s global operations.
The Broker also acquires and re-purposes technologies from metahuman and alien conflicts. He uses these to upgrade supervillains. And he’s screwed around with his own anatomy a bit. He’s nuts, but he knows how to manage his own insanity…and Doctor Doom finds his very useful.
I.mag: : Many of your fans keep talking to me about the Panther. They are hoping you stay on the Panther. Will you be busting out some panther armor or some kind of machinery?
Jonathan Maberry: If Marvel keeps me on the book –and so far that’s what I’ve been hearing—then I have big plans for the Panther. Armor and advanced weapons is only part of it. I want the book to remain high concept. Big stories that are part of the Marvel mainstream.
I.mag: Once the vibranium gains properties to make someone invincible, will post Doom War
Wakanda have access to this?
Jonathan Maberry: That’s not something I can discuss at this point.
I.mag: : You stated on one of the forums that,” Wakanda vibranium have special properties”. What properties does it have? And is this why Doom is after it?
Jonathan Maberry: The Wakandan vibranium amplifies mystical powers by several orders of magnitude. Wakandan scientists have known this for centuries but have never been able to safely exploit it. Doom has discovered the way, and if he gets his hands on that metal he can create unstoppable armies of Doombots and make himself invulnerable.
I.mag: Jonathan, thank you for your time. Please, any last words?
Jonathan Maberry: The DoomWar series has a lot of twists and turns. The Fantastic Four join the action in DoomWar #3, and Deadpool steps into the mix shortly after that. Each of these characters has a very specific role to play. And I can promise that the end of the series will be a shocker. Buckle up.
www.jonathanmaberry.com
