Doom Academy #1

History

The series was announced at the Women of Marvel panel at New York Comic Con in October 2024, one of the first tie-in titles revealed for the 'One World Under Doom' event. Writer MacKenzie Cadenhead — a former Marvel editor who had previously written Marvel Mutts and other younger-reader titles — made her debut on the Strange Academy property with this series, bringing a distinctly character-focused, slice-of-life sensibility to the school premise. Artist Pasqual Ferry, known for his work on Marvel's Ultimate line and Doctor Strange, handled interior art, while a separate interior sequence — in which Zoe falls into a fairy-tale world — was assigned to artist João Lemos, whose research into Eastern European folklore and fairytales informed that visual thread. Cadenhead noted in pre-release interviews that she combed through decades of Doom-related comics specifically to populate the new school with characters drawn from Doom's corner of the Marvel Universe.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of the Doom Academy as an in-universe institution (Earth-616 location and organization), established in Latveria under Doctor Doom's rule after he shut down Strange Academy.
• First appearances of new characters Marta (Zoe's roommate), Scoop (editor of the school newspaper, the Doom Academy Dispatch), and Drulinda, all introduced within this issue.
• Returning Strange Academy students Zoe Laveau (the issue's lead), Shaylee Moonpeddle, and Doyle Dormammu are joined at the new school by previously established Strange Academy classmates including Toth, Germán Aguilar, Calvin Morse, and Guslaug — all of whom first appeared in Strange Academy #1 (2020).
• Zelma Stanton and Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) appear in supporting faculty roles, providing continuity from the earlier Strange Academy series.
• Doctor Doom appears in the issue but only briefly — his presence is felt more as an institutional authority than as an active participant in the story, which critics noted made the issue a loose tie-in to the 'One World Under Doom' event rather than a direct chapter of it.
• The issue establishes a key plot thread: Zoe hears a disembodied voice chanting a nursery rhyme that leads her to a magical book, the Arcana Latveriana, which pulls her into a trapped fairy-tale world — the central arc of the five-issue limited series.
• Written by MacKenzie Cadenhead with interior art by Pasqual Ferry, colors by Edgar Delgado, letters by Clayton Cowles, and a main cover by Pablo Villalobos; the series also features interior art by João Lemos for the fairy-tale sequences in later issues.
• The issue received a second printing (released April 2, 2025), with a 1:25 Pablo Villalobos virgin variant cover exclusive to that printing, reflecting strong initial reader demand.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Variants (5)