Doom's Day Has Come! (Let's Read Marvel's Doctor Doom)

[Roarian]

Spider-Man: Doom Control #0-4 (1998)

Introduction

This entry was one of the Marvel Cybercomics, an early initiative of digital comics published on the Marvel website in the late 90s, a sort of precursor to Infinite Comics and Infinity Comics. And yes, those are two different things, Marvel is bad at naming things. The first generation of cybercomics weren't a popular medium, and after 2000 the initiative and the cybercomics themselves were entirely removed from the website. Those series weren't re-released after their removal and many of them were completely lost to time, while some others were preserved in one way or another. This particular 'issue' was part of the Spider-Man CyberComic series that ran from 1996-1998, usually divided into storylines of 4 issues each, though this final one has five. Note that this means this is as good as it got. Pretty dire…

It's hard to tell whether or not these comics are actually canon - they're definitely not taking place at time of release, obviously, given that Doom is still lost in the interdimensional void or whatever. The wiki is sparse on the details but sorts this under the canonical '616' timeline, and there's not inherently anything here that interferes with anything else, so I'll go with that. Let's assume this adventure takes place sometime during the relatively sparse periods when Doom is, you know, around? Or it's all a Doombot plot, pick your poison...



Cover

While this is a comic book, parts of it are crudely 'animated' in the sense that images shift around when you go to the next panel, various text balloons show up, there's some minor art changes, you get the idea. The 'Doom Control' cover page here shows half of Spidey's face and half of Doom's… and for some reason everyone is smiling suddenly, despite the fact that just moments earlier the four characters all looked pretty dour, sad, or worried, and Jameson was shouting at Peter. That's… unsettling, especially Jonah looking happy!

Story Overview

Issue #0

We open with Doom narrating about Latveria, the land he calls home. No crime, no poverty, a virtual utopia. Because he decrees it to be so! Yet his country suffers the insults of the world beyond its borders - and for that, the world must suffer ten-fold. The world must face its doom! As the image of a castle fades to the Earth exploding, we finally see a pair of bloodshot brown eyes open in the darkness, slowly illuminated to reveal the mask that surrounds them. 'Von Doom,' Doom proclaims. A more perfect family name would be impossible to imagine! Doom is the tragedy of his mother and father's murders. Doom is the scorn he has endured from jealous inferiors his whole life! And Doom is what will now remake the nations of the Earth. Because he decrees it to be so!

As he stands on a very Gotham-y eagle gargoyle halfway up the Chrysler Building, Doom holds a strange device similar to a flip-phone skyward. The hard-working subjects of Latveria made a valiant effort to have their nation - Doom's nation - chosen as the host country for the next Olympic Games… The other nations ridiculed Latveria as small and backwards, and accused the Latverians of being puppets of Doom, and thus rejected their proposal out of hand! But now it is Doctor Doom who holds the world in his hand… When he activates his device, he will seize control of every simple mind in New York City - including those in session at the United Nations! Every diplomat, every leader, will become his to command. Then the world shall learn the price of its disrespect! As Doom taps away on his phone, a sudden web-line shoots down from the sky and snags it out of his fingers.



'Who DARES?!?' Doom proclaims. Spidey, lounging higher up on the side of the Chrysler Building, opines that he thought the hottest air in the Big Apple came out of the subway in summertime, but rivet-head Doom puts the A-Trains to shame! Doom incredulously recognizes the hero, and shouts that he's an insect, and those are to be crushed. Speaking of crushed, Spidey pretends to be careless and uses his spider-strength to destroy the phone-device in his hand. The moment he does, though, he's suddenly surrounded by electrical sparks and discharges - he did think that looked a little too easy… but a guy can hope!



As Spidey jumps down and away from the electricity, Doom tells him that his only hope is to fall to a clean death - that end would be quicker, and less humiliating! Did he really think that Doom would be so easily defeated? And by the likes of him? Those that might prove a genuine obstacle, like the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, he diverted to other parts of the world while he carried out his plans here in New York. Spider-Man's 'heroic effort' destroyed nothing more than a convenient activation switch. Doom looks up, and points out to Spider-Man that the real mechanism for seizing mental control… is that! Suddenly an enormous machine, like an oil rig with spider-legs, decloaks on top of the Chrysler Building, clinging onto its peak as lighting arcs around it like it's a Reaper from Mass Effect.

Spidey commends the Doc for his impressive cloaking effect - very dramatic, bravo, clap-clap-clap! Now, why doesn't he start exercising that mind control by getting a grip on his own deranged grey matter? There is no way he's letting Doom start the engine on that hardware. Aside from turning people into psychic slaves, it looks like it'd screw up TV reception from here to Hoboken! Doom scoffs, stating that the hero's persistence in his courageous delusion is to be admired, but not tolerated! Doom raises his gauntlets and blasts the gargoyles Spidey is sitting on, but he dodges the attack and figures it's almost like Doom doesn't like him or something! To himself, Spidey muses that making noise like it's fun-and-games keeps most crackpots like Doom uncomfortable, which gives him an advantage - but that last blast was too close for comfort!



Spider-Man moves to web himself back to a safer position, yelling that Doom shouldn't take it personally if he moves upwind - from where he's smelling, that armor of his could use a hosing-down. Doom snarls that nobody turns their back on Doom, then opens a control panel in his gauntlet to target a sonic pulse at certain physical properties - in this case, the bonding molecules which hold together that odious webbing! Spidey's webline suddenly snaps, and he distantly yells that at times like these, he wishes he'd been bitten by a radioactive flying spider!

Spider-Man manages to catch himself on one of the spider-legs of Doom's machine. Spidey complains that the crazies bent on conquest always seem to stage their takeovers on skyscrapers - he wouldn't mind falling off a jungle gym in a playground for a change… He moves over to a panel in the mechanical limb and figures if Doom is going to call him a bug anyway, he might as well see how much of a pest he can be. Opening it up, he sees a bunch of electronics inside - those look breakable!



Up above, Doom shouts out that he should stop - in his foolhardy ignorance, he'll destroy them all!


Issue #1

Back in the empty void with the Earth, Doom declares that there are none who can stand against the cunning of Victor von Doom! Not the so-called Fantastic Four, those cosmic-ray-born freaks who were easily diverted by a technological disaster he unleashed in Central Europe. Nor the Avengers, for another deceit sent them scrambling to combat an ecological catastrophe he engineered in South America. New York City was left without defense against Doom's mastery - and now he shall have his revenge on the diplomats of the United Nations by placing their simple minds under his complete control! This was to be their penalty for insulting Latveria - his country, his people! They were ridiculed for their efforts to act as host for the Olympic Games, and condemned as unworthy because of their relationship to Doom. An insult to Latveria is an insult to Doom, and the cost of such impudence is the fury of Doom! Spider-man's pathetic interference only delays the inevitable…



It appears the entire recap was actually Doom dramatically narrating to Spider-Man, who tells him to be careful with his blood pressure - he might pop a rivet! Seeing how stressed he is, though, Spidey figures his interference ranks better than pathetic - how about bumping him up to at least mediocre? Doom tells Spider-Man to take his hands off the circuitry he's found - in his fumbling he could release unspeakable forces! Doom then blasts down with a beam which, um, looks like someone drew it in Paint, impacting his own machine-leg to no apparent effect after Spider-Man dodges again. Spidey tells him he should really overcome these self-destructive tendencies… although if he blasts some more of his own toy apart, he can go home early! Maybe Doom's right, though, maybe this circuitry is too dangerous to handle, whatever it is… so catch!



Spider-Man tosses the circuit-board away, and Doom cries out: 'No! Not the Neural Subjugator!' He uses the distraction to tackle Doom, then leap-frogs over him so he can careen over the edge, putting some distance between him and the villain again. He muses to himself that Doom was getting too close with those energy blasts. He catches up with the circuit-board and grabs it, musing that tough as it is, he could probably still break it apart. But until he knows more, he'd better not risk it, just in case Doom wasn't lying about those 'unspeakable forces.' In the meantime, he's just landed on the Most Wanted list of the Big Apple's visiting armored tyrant… why can't he ever score most popular with bikini-clad babes instead? Up above, Doom declares that Spider-Man's actions demonstrate a lack of respect, repeating that the cost of such impudence… is the fury of Doom!

Across the city, in Queens, a doctor at the hospital asks May Parker if she's alright - those tests they ran on her can take a lot out of a person! May thanks him for being so concerned, but she'll be fine! Her nephew Peter is meeting her to take her along to her next appointment. He'll be along any moment now! Any… moment now. As she looks over the abandoned road, with no Peter anywhere in sight, she wonders where he might be…

Back in Manhattan, while sitting on a clock tower, Spider-Man looks over the device he stole and muses that the silicon crystals in it are shaped like brain cells - the more he knows about Doom, the less he wants to know! Suddenly his spider-sense goes crazy - oh, great, he was supposed to meet Aunt May at her doctor twenty minutes ago! Wait - that's not it. The feeling's too strong - it's warning him of something else! Suddenly the entire top of the building, clock and all, is ripped into the air by a violent whirlwind. As Spidey holds on to the remaining structure with his fingertips, Doom's voice echoes on the wind. Heed the voice of Doom - the very elements bend to his will! How can he hope to resist such authority? Doom demands the return of his property, and in exchange he promises a death that is merely miserable instead of truly horrifying! 'Decisions, decisions…' Spider-Man says. He just hopes Aunt May's doctor has a family plan!


Issue #2

Caught in the ferocious wind vortex designed by the malevolent Doctor Doom, Spider-Man is struck by an inescapable conclusion - this sucks! Doom is so desperate for that bit of mind control hardware that he'll stretch him to any length to get it back! As Spidey still dangles at the edge of the building, the clouds above clear up to reveal that the whirlwind is generated from an aircraft of Doom's design, one with a vast bridge lined with windows. Inside, Doom announces that Spider-Man has achieved nothing but his own doom - the situation is hopeless for him, so he must now return that which is Doom's!



Spider-Man thinks to himself that he'd be out of his mind to give Doom back the very thing he needs to put a brain-lock on the Big Apple, but until he's got both feet on the ground, the gadget is in the way, so he'd better put it somewhere safe! He puts some web-fluid on the thing, then glues it to the back of his own costume, figuring that now Doom will have to go through him to get to his toy! After letting go, Spidey is sucked upwards towards the plane's engines, and he nervously thinks that with his luck, going right through him is exactly what the doctor ordered! Doom announces that his patience is at an end - and so is Spider-Man's life! The turbine blades of his engines are set to rotate at a rate which shall shred his bloated heroism, but filter out smaller and more useful items, such as his stolen circuitry!

Relying on his spider-sense to get him out of trouble, Spidey trusts it to warn him against positioning himself the wrong way… and hopefully he'll end up in the right angle to make this move work. A strong kick against the hub manages to knock it just out of alignment, and Spidey slips by the blades just as the entire assembly tears itself apart through the vibrations. Nothing succeeds like excess - the only thing more explosive than those fireworks will be Doom's reaction!



Doom hits a button and declares that Spider-Man has made this all too simple. No cooperation? No mercy! Suddenly flying into the open air, dozens of small shapes become visible… they're small drones of some kind. Wait, are those - those are flying Doombot heads. They shout: 'Exterminate!' One of the drones paints Spider-Man as a target, matching his silhouette. Tactical objective? To disrupt biological functions, eradicate organic material, and then retrieve the missing electronic component… The drones then start firing eye beams at a swinging Spider-Man, scaring people off as the blasts impact nearby.



Some of the people on the streets below don't know which way to go since the beams keep impacting in different places, others worry that the conflict will kill them all… and an old lady wonders angrily if that's really the best they can do? They should come down here and she'll wipe that ugly off their faces!

Spider-Man wonders about the drones looking like Doom - talk about having a love affair with yourself! Still, while he's cracking jokes, Doom is putting innocent people at risk. He quickly uses webs to tie a bunch of the drones together, then smacks them into a wall. 'Exterminate, huh - sounds like we agree on something!' Still, that little trick won't work on all the drones, so until he comes up with something better, he needs to clear away from where anyone is going to get hurt by those things. As a new horde of doom-heads shows up, Spidey makes his escape.

Hours later, night is falling. Doombot-heads are flying around in hunter-killer mode, clearing grids in their search for their target, with dozens of them inspecting the Statue of Liberty to make sure Spidey's not there. In an alleyway, sitting on the wall, Spider-Man removes his mask and muses that with so many of these things crawling all over the city, all looking for him, he's going to have to do something to survive. To keep Doom away from his mind-control crystal, there can no longer be a Spider-Man!




Issue #3

We open up with Peter and Aunt May visiting the doctor, only to discover that he refuses to see her because they arrived late to their appointment - they'll have to reschedule, he'll have time sometime next month. May is worried, and Peter argues that her condition can't wait that long - and besides, he can't blame her for being late, Peter was the one who was delayed! To himself, he recalls that he was late because he ended up playing tag with Doctor Doom… We see mechanical doom-head patrols still flying through the skies, too many to hide from, too powerful to fight. Spider-Man had to vanish, as there was no way to avoid them while in costume. The only safe place for him right now is as Peter Parker!

Peter tells the Doctor that he'll just have to make time to see his Aunt, now! For the last time, the doctor says, there's no possible way… Peter and the man's eyes suddenly flash bright green. There's no possible way… he's letting that poor woman wait another second! Suddenly all broad smiles, the doctor tells May to come right along, and she thanks him for changing his mind. He argues she should be thanking her nephew, as he can be quite persuasive! As they leave, Peter is confused and whispers to himself that somebody should tell him what the hell just happened there…



At the Daily Bugle, Peter is delivering a new batch of photographs he took - webbing up a crook, fighting Venom, fighting Electro. J. Jonah Jameson wonders if he really calls these photographs - he calls them garbage! These won't help him sell any newspapers! The Bugle needs new and exciting things! There's a rumor spreading that Spider-Man has gone up against Doctor Doom - he should snap some of that action! Balling his fist, Peter still tries to play nice, trying to convince Jameson to buy these shots so he can use the money to pay Aunt May's medical bills. Jameson doesn't care, but Peter asks him again - please buy these photos. With a bizarre grin and glowing green eyes he stares at Jameson, whose denial suddenly turns into throwing him a bone for all his hard work. Smiling, Jameson immediately shoves some cash into Peter's hands, declaring he'll buy these pictures, and his vacation photos too! No need to wait for accounting, he'll do this out of his own pocket!

Walking away with the money, Peter muses that he shouldn't complain… but this doesn't make any sense. Nothing ever goes his way! It's like he's suddenly got a guardian angel, or… Reaching into his pocket, he slips the circuitry he took out of it and stares down at the thing. Perhaps it's the devil's temptation instead? Doctor Doom's mind control circuit - he's been keeping it safe by keeping it close, but maybe just being near it is enough to give him a taste of its power? As his eyes glow green, he wonders what happens if he suddenly thinks about… having a little more sex appeal? A woman nearby suddenly approaches, her eyes green, and she tells him that if things ever go wrong between him and his wife… Here's her number! What if he thinks about Spider-Man finally getting some respect around town? As he imagines parades of people with posters and wide smiles, he cuts himself off.



What if he thinks about becoming every bit as corrupt as Doctor Doom? This thing is too dangerous, no matter who has it! No more hiding. It's time to have it out with Doom over this - once and for all! Later, high up on a building, Spidey webs one of the hunter-killer drones over to him, then disables its firepower. It should still have enough juice left to send word back to Doom, though. At the sound of the tone, please leave a message for the armor-wearing psycho-dictator! He tells Doom that the neighbors have been complaining about him - he can't skimp on underarm deodorant! Also, he should call Spidey if he's in the mood for more abuse! Let's talk soon…


Issue #4

While lounging in a web-hammock, Spider-Man uses a cobbled-together communication gadget to speak with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, who tells him that the course of action he's suggesting is too dangerous - he can't condone it! With all due respect, Spider-Man notes, he didn't steal parts from his Playstation to build this gadget just so Reed could tell him what he shouldn't do. What he needs to know - big brain, theoretically speaking - whether his plan will work. Reed agrees that it should… but it would also kill him. Big brain theoretically. He should leave Doctor Doom to him and the rest of the Fantastic Four - as soon as they've resolved this disaster in Europe, they'll rush back to New York! Spidey pretends to lose connection, then decides he must be going. If Doom is not stopped soon, there might not be a city to rush back to…

Soon after, Spider-Man is crawling across the ceiling of a sewer tunnel, wondering why guys like Doom never want to meet for a showdown somewhere warm and sunny, maybe with big-screen cable and free munchies? Instead, it's one more nasty worm-hole in the Big Apple… Climbing out of the wall into a forgotten subway station, Doom is already waiting for him. He declares that it was wise of Spidey to request an audience with Doom - he would not have survived another encounter with Doom's forces! Behind him stands a large machine, and Doom explains that it was a trivial matter to reconstruct his mind control apparatus here - this subway station is an appropriate end of the line for his pathetic efforts to contest Doom's will!


Spider-Man declares that the doc talks big - but he's got jack while he's got the mind control 'circuit' - or whatever it is! He held off busting it in half because he bought into Doom's line of bull about this thing being dangerous - that it would 'destroy us all'. But that's just given Doom way too many chances to get his metal claws back on it, so playtime's over. He wanted a face-off so Doom could watch him smash the object of his obsession!

Doom says that would be a grave mistake, because he fails to consider the implications of his bravado. Destroy that device, and he shall incur Doom's further wrath! More so, mind control energies will be released across the city, and mental domination will become as natural as breathing! The strong will become overlords warring with each other. The weak will become their slaves. As he says this, we see images of people being mentally dominated to carry boxes, hold up newspapers, and get on their knees to worship the 'masters'. Some are even used as impromptu seats, or led along by a leash like a dog! Doom wonders if this sounds like something he'd prefer, and Spidey hesitates, saying that he doesn't believe Doom… or does he? He's just trying to be confusing! Let him think about this…



Suddenly several doom-drones enter to 'disrupt biological functions!' which is less catch than exterminate, and Doom yells that one should never hesitate - it's the surest form of weakness! Doom starts firing his gauntlet-blasts at Spidey, once more showcasing some Paint-level beam art, and manages to hit Spider-Man several times, after which he goes down in a shower of dislodged rocks and debris from the subway tunnel. Spidey is still kicking and struggles his way back to his feet, even as the drones close in to try and grab the electronic component they're after. Doom just walks up to the exhausted hero and declares that like Spider-Man, his patience too is at its limit! He then violently bitch-slaps Spidey across the face and claims what is his - his mind control circuit!

This is the way it had to end, Doom declares. This is the way… it had to end! As his eyes light up green, it's revealed that at least part of what just happened wasn't real - Spider-Man is no longer wounded, his costume intact, and strapped to the side of his face is the mind-control circuit. He tells the frozen, green-eyed Doom to say it one more time - just to make sure he got it right! 'This is the way it had to end!' Doom agrees.



Sounds like they think alike, Spider-Man observes, or at least the gadget has Doom thinking like him! Here's how the rest of it goes… as far as Doom's concerned, he played out his scheme. He got his Brain Lock on the United Nations, he got revenge for their supposed slight against Latveria. Now, he should run back to his castle and gloat, or whatever it is metal-head whackos do to celebrate!

As the mind-controlled Doom wanders off, spouting the words 'Revenge… gloat… whacko…'to himself, Spidey figures it won't take him long to figure out he's had his cerebrum swizzled, but by then Manhattan should be back to crawling with costumes more experienced in dealing with Doom-types! Spidey's long-term prospects aren't good, though… too much raw mind control radiation! Just as Mister Fantastic warned, and what he was afraid of… As blood dribbles from his mouth and nose, everything turns black, and his consciousness fades…



Hour later, at the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man wakes up laying on a cot with only his mask on. Reed's head stretches into frame, and the freaky neck alongside the half-naked Spider-Man just makes these pics look really awkward out of context! Reed explains that the team found Spider-Man just in time, as any more exposure to the radiation would have killed him. Spidey mutters that now he'll just die of shame instead, lying her with just a towelette between the world and his birthday suit! Reed explains that Johnny and Ben are destroying the last of Doom's machinery, and the whole team applauds Spider-Man's courage in risking so much to stop Doom.

On the wall, the television turns on to reveal J. Jonah Jameson as a guest on a talk show. Jonah declares that it's common knowledge that Spider-Man is in league with criminals like Doctor Doom. Why else were those flying metal heads all over town looking for that web-headed menace? The city must wake up to the threat this wall-crawling menace represents! Slumping where he sit, Spider-Man mutters to Reed that it sure is great to be him…

Rating & Comments



Look, it's pretty obvious right away that digital comics weren't there yet. This comic was published only a few years out from a sort of revolution in comic book technology, as such, but that hadn't quite arrived yet, and it shows. Part of this is resolution - it's pretty obvious art resolution wasn't nearly as high as you can manage on paper, and thus pixelation and limited color palettes could get in the way a bit. Part of it is also questionable design decisions. The lasers in these issues were likely intended to be animated originally (when these comics were still available that way, instead of mostly as screenshots) and the resulting moving GIF is incredibly low-detail, to the point that it seems someone just squiggles rough lines to represent the lasers. It's rough. The fourth issue (#3) also has some weird faces going on, quite distinct from the other comics here in how cartoonish the expressions get.

Besides the art quality, I also noticed there's a fair amount of hard to parse location-work going on here - the story partly takes place on the side of the Chrysler building, but it's occasionally very hard to make out where everything is in relation to each other, and if you're not familiar with the eagle-gargoyles of the building, you could easily mistake the action as taking place on a building some distance away. You can see the spire looming in the background several times, but it never looks like it's above them, just kind of off in the distance. When Spider-Man gets tossed off and lands on one of the robot-spider legs, I got really confused my first way through because it seemed like he'd just teleported several blocks and upwards for some reason… There's a couple other moments where I sort of got lost spatially.

Plot-wise, this story introduces a lot of ideas, but doesn't go anywhere with them. The first weird idea is that Doom - for some inscrutable reason - apparently keeps a vital element of his machine inside the end of one of the legs which attaches the huge device to the building supporting it. That's really odd. He then spends an inordinate amount of time and effort trying to track down Spider-Man instead of, you know, grabbing a backup of his device. What, the remote control that you kept on your person was easily replaced, but the vital circuit board that makes it all work is just left somewhere without any protection at all? It's also bizarre that Doom decides to move his entire huge machine underground somehow, without any real explanation of how or why he did that, all in the couple hours that this story takes place over. So the Fantastic Four and the Avengers didn't have a single reserve member left in the city, did they…?

What is also extremely rushed is the final couple issues. The issue in which Peter discovers the mind control circuit does its magic all on its own is kind of creepy, but it also seems very much like it tried to be the early Black Suit Spider-Man issues where he gets a personality change and starts treating people weirdly. The concept of Peter struggling to keep himself from making his life easier would have been cool - but it gets discarded without ever really diving deeper than the surface. He makes up for his absence to Aunt May by coercing a doctor to see her, and then robs his boss, but it never shows him regretting those acts or giving back the money. He just concludes it's time to deal with the device once and for all… Which makes sense, I guess, but what exactly changed here? You can just not, you know, carry it around with you everywhere? At least until Reed and pals come home.

Speaking of Reed - it's nice that they at least address his absence here. Spider-Man taking on Doctor Doom by himself has not historically been a great success, so calling in backup is not a bad idea. That said, the solution Spider-Man comes up with to take Doom down is a bit confusing because it relies on the mind control tech doing something it has not been shown to do previously. The few times it's demonstrated, people start acting differently when their eyes glow, but that's all. It's basically the Imperius curse. Against Doom, however, Spidey uses it to give him vivid hallucinations of a series of events that never happened, convincing Doom that he was victorious despite the fact that he's just standing there murmuring comfortable lies to himself. That's still within the remit of mind-control, I guess, but it feels like the sudden switcheroo isn't really justified very well. Similarly, the physical symptoms are also a belated addition without real explanation, and don't seem to have much point since they're resolved a panel or two later.

And as for Doom… For all that he's foiled by his own mind control, again, Doom does actually show a fair bit of forethought and new tech in this cybercomic. He arranges for separate disasters on two other continents to distract the major super-teams, for one, and he built himself pocket-sized Doombots in the form of lots of robot heads which act as hunter-killer drones, firing lasers from their eyes at all and sundry. He's also built yet another fancy mind control machine, complete with cloaking technology, and a plane that can create whirlwinds strong enough to rip up buildings on command. Putting all that to work against one hero and still losing, though, is a bit pathetic. Between that ineffectiveness and getting mind-whammied by his own tech despite the fact that he's previously shown to be capable of rejecting the freaking Purple Man at point blank range? Yeah, I'm voting for this as a Doombot outing. Or non-canon, it's hard to tell.

That said, there is one element of Doom's portrayal here which is hysterical. After a killer opening monologue in which Doom defines himself by the tragedies and scorn of his past, foreshadowing one of my favorite monologues of his years down the line, and repeatedly pointing out that he's treated his nation of Latveria well and takes insults upon it seriously... he reveals his motives. This attack on New York City, to mind control everyone to dance to his tunes, is because Latveria got skipped over to host the Olympics. Never mind that I'm not sure everyone would even fit inside his kingdom, but that's such a hilariously petty reason to try and conquer a city that I kinda have to admire it. It's stupid, but it's the kind of stupid that you kind of have to admire. Doom set up an ecological catastrophe and blew up shit in Europe just so he could get everyone out while he had his little sportsball tantrum. You're ridiculous, Doom.

Anyway, it's no big surprise to me that these comics ended up failing, if they're all in this general format - short, rushed, without taking any real time to get into any of the subjects raised before quickly moving on. The art is mediocre, the effects are at best laughable and at worst actively ugly, and the canonical status of any of this is questionable. It seems it also came with its own executable of some kind, which seems like a bad decision in the late 90s, when downloading such things was not only more arduous due to shit internet speeds, but also a lot more risky… I'll give this just two stars, since it doesn't get into anything too objectionable, it's just very bleh. Except for Doom's motives, those are funny.

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



Is it the best panel? No. Is it the funniest out-of-context panel in here? Yes. Reed, why are you covering up Spider-Man's crotch area like that? Did nobody teach you phallic symbolism?

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"Latveria. The land I call home. No crime. No poverty. A virtual utopia. Because I decree it to be so. Yet my country suffers the insults of the world beyond its borders and for that, the world must suffer ten-fold. The world must face its Doom. Doom is the tragedy of my mother and father's murder! Doom is the scorn I have endured from jealous inferiors my whole life! And Doom is what will now remake the nations of the Earth. Because I decree it to be so!"

"Your persistence in your courageous delusion is to be admired, Spider-Man! But not tolerated..."

"There are none who can stand against the cunning of Victor von Doom!"

"Your actions demonstrate a lack of respect, Spider-Man. You insult me, and the cost of such impudence... is the fury of Doom!"

"Return my property and I promise a death that is simply miserable instead of truly horrifying!"

"Never hesitate. It is the surest form of weakness!"

"This is the way it had to end, Spider-Man."

Doom's Bad Hair Day



The artwork for the lasers in this is pretty shameful. Look at the right-most panel, that's some kindergarten level of 'drawing.' Also I'm not entire sure Spidey's proportions work on the left-most picture either. Where exactly is he in relation to everything in that picture? It's confusing.

Doom-Tech of the Week

A lot, actually - Doom built himself a Neural Subjugator, a gigantic machine which is apparently entirely dependent on a tiny circuit board. He also brought himself a Vortex Plane, and a whole lot of Doomdrones, little flying replicas of his own head packed with lasers.

 

[Roarian]

Avengers v1 #1½ (December 1999)

Cover

I mentioned this way, way back, in the fifth entry of this elaborate bit of personal madness I call my doom-thread, but Fantastic Four v1 #17 received a much-belated sequel decades later, following up on a classic tale by the First Family. We've now arrived at that sequel in question - it was published in December of 1999, on the cusp of the new millennium, though you wouldn't be able to tell from the cover. Not only does it neatly replicate all the classic hallmarks of early Avengers comics in terms of the art and writing, but it even pretends to be published in October 1963, which would have been the actual date should issue 1½ have actually been released in between the first two adventures of the Avengers.

'You'll gasp at the identity of our mystery guest villain!' the cover proclaims, and given that said villain is literally dropping 'doom' puns and isn't at all hidden, it's no big surprise who that might be. That said, this adventure is canon - and by virtue of that, this retroactively makes the Avengers a much earlier feature in Doom's life than our readthrough would suggest. At this point Doom was still very early in his career, shortly after his defeat on board the huge super-blimp which he filled entirely with various fancy traps to keep the Fantastic Four busy. This was the issue with polka dot robots, Reed bending himself through holes in cement, when John F. Kennedy's forehead had a speaking role. It's been a while…

Story Overview

The Death-Trap of Doctor Doom!

We open with a shot of the original line-up of the Avengers, shortly after their formation - a bulky, gold-plated Iron Man, a surly Hulk, a cheerful Thor, as well as Ant-Man and the Wasp. A newscaster introduced the team as members of that select fraternity known popularly as super-heroes. The New York State Attorney General's office confirmed that the five filed a charter, stating their intent to work together to 'protect and safeguard the planet Earth, its inhabitants and resources, from any and all threats… beyond the power of conventional forces.' The announcement comes just a week after the five worked together to defeat the super-menace Loki at an auto-assembly plant near Detroit, as depicted in Avengers v1 #1, and barely a year after the formation of the renowned Fantastic Four. Several people watch the TV announcement and wonder if the team has enough firepower to keep the Hulk in line, while a couple kids bicker if it's Iron Man or Thor's team.

Over at the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, Johnny flies in and tells the others that it seems they have competition, but Reed figures the Avengers should be seen as complementary. Good allies are hard to find! Ben wonders why they'd need 'em - just a couple months ago (in Fantastic Four v1 #12) the military brass wanted the team to clobber the Hulk for them, and now they're supposed to believe he's some big-deal hero? Nuts! Sue, meanwhile, wonders why the Wasp seems so familiar to her. Elsewhere, Spider-Man swings through the city and complains that he never would have tried to join the Fantastic Four (like in Amazing Spider-Man #1) if he'd known these Avengers were starting up. He wonders if they're still hiring…?

As the broadcast continues, it's noted that at a late afternoon press conference, Iron Man confirmed reports that billionaire industrialist (and totally not him) Anthony Stark has made his Midtown mansion available to the Avengers for their meetings. The TV showing this is suddenly blasted apart as someone snarls: 'Bah!' It's revealed that Doctor Doom is ticked off at the sudden proliferation of these 'super-heroes' - it grows abhorrent! The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man… even that infernal Spider-Man, they have all interfered with his plans for revenge, for conquest! (This technically means that this issue takes place after my sixth post as well, since Amazing Spider-Man v1 #5 features the first meeting between Doom and Spidey.) These 'Avengers', Doom declares, must be dealt with before they can become a problem! Yes, they must feel the power of Doctor Doom!



Thirty-six hours later, at Tony Stark's mansion, his butler and doorman Edwin Jarvis is approached by Major Bowman of the National Security Council, who's there to see the Avengers. Jarvis lets him in, and the Major admits this place is bigger than he imagined - how large a staff does it require to maintain, he wonders? If Jarvis doesn't mind the question, of course. The butler explains there were four people. Were. When the others learned that the Hulk would be among the regular visitors they resigned on the spot, despite the Hulk's recent pardon (in Incredible Hulk v1 #6.) Jarvis leads the military representative to a large room, and swings open the door to reveal the Avengers in full costume…

Ant-Man declares that this new place puts the Baxter Building to shame - it was good of Tony Stark to let them use the place as a headquarters! Wasp comments to Iron Man that she'd love to get a chance to thank him face-to-face. Is he really as dreamy as he looks on TV? Iron Man awkwardly says he's really not the one to answer that… Thor wonders if Hulk really intends to walk around in just his purple shorts, and the big green brute comments that clothes are worn for two reasons - modesty and protection. Hulk is not modest, and he doesn't need protection! Understood? Thor doesn't care for Hulk's tone, but their staring contest is interrupted by Jarvis, who introduces Major Bowman to the group.



Iron Man declares the Avengers stand ready to assist the government in any case of national emergency, even as Thor and Hulk keep bickering in the background. Bowman decides to get right to the point - the President and the joint Chiefs of Staff are most concerned about the danger presented by the infamous international terrorists known as Doctor Doom! Hulk declares that he's never heard of him, but a discolored Iron Man just tells him to shush. Bowman explains that little is known about Doom's past, but it's believed that he suffered a disfiguring accident leading to him donning his mask. Thor comments that his disfigurement must be extreme that he prefers such a gruesome countenance! Wasp leans over Thor's shoulder and says that he's certainly no match for Thor's looks - even the Hulk is cuter!

Ant-Man mentions that he had a run-in of his own with Doctor Doom when he came to the aid of the Fantastic Four in a sort of subatomic micro-world which Doom had conquered (in Fantastic Four v1 #16.) They managed to defeat the army that Doom had assembled - but the villain himself got away. Doom struck him as cold, ruthless… even diabolical! Bowman agrees that this is an accurate assessment. Following that escape, Doom had the audacity to demand a cabinet post! When the President ignored those demands, Doom jammed the nation's power grids (in Fantastic Four v1 #17) and might have brought the nation to its knees if the Fantastic Four hadn't tracked him to his Flying Fortress! There, Doom evaded them again, but at least the crisis was averted. The airship was subsequently seized and impounded for study in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.



Switching over to the restricted area in question, several soldiers are patrolling the borders of the military encampment when there's a sudden strange noise. The soldiers are shocked when the impounded airship suddenly begins firing its thrusters and rising into the sky again. Holy cow, that's Doom's ship taking off! But no one should even be aboard! The soldiers try to shoot it down, but bullets aren't even scratching the vehicle. One of the men quickly radios in the emergency, apparently getting Major Bowman on the line right away. Shocked, the man relays to the Avengers that Doom's fortress just took off and is headed out over the Atlantic. Doctor Doom must be behind it - he's always one step ahead! Hulk wonders what they're waiting for, then… this is their best lead for catching Doom, so let's get to it! The team agrees, so Bowman says he'll arrange air transport…

In a matter of moments, New York's cops halt traffic on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, and a state-of-the-art Jet-Copter drops from the skies to receive Earth's mightiest heroes. Iron Man snaps that they should keep their heads down and step lively, as the quicker they're aboard, the better their chances are for catching Doom! Thor mutters that the Son of Odin has no need for the conveyance, so he shall accompany the group by flying in his own fashion! Shortly after the helicopter sets off, Bowman comments that air traffic control reports a U.F.O. about a mile off Long Beach, and at current speed they should get there in no time. Iron Man observes that they're using a Comanche X-19 to travel - he didn't think those were out of production yet! The pilot says it was delivered a week before - she's one sweet bird!



Hulk mutters that he doesn't care if the helicopter has feathers and squawks, just as long as it gets him where he can lay his hands on Doom! Bowman soon spots the giant airship in the distance, and points it out to the Avengers, who are astonished at the enormous size of the machine - the photos didn't do it justice! It's huge! One thousand feet long and two hundred fifty feet across at its widest, it seems impossible that such a wingless mass of metal could ever stay aloft. 'Genius!' thinks Iron Man. Only a genius could have designed such a ship and made it work! For a moment, everyone on the 'copter falls silent, even the Hulk.



Then, suddenly, an invisible grappler ray locks onto the vessel, drawing them helplessly towards the giant craft! Not even Thor can resist the insistent pull! Hulk wonders why they'd resist - weren't they going here anyway? Let's go! Hulk jumps out of the jet-copter and smashes a large hole into the metal walls of the flying fortress, and the team quickly lands inside the revealed cavity, since the pilot somehow manages to keep his Comanche intact despite the lurching. Hulk rushes off and tells Thor he's free to follow if he can catch up!

Thor calls on him to wait for the others, but Iron Man points out that the Hulk may have had the right idea.If Doom is aboard, they'll have a better chance of finding him if they fan out! Thor reluctantly agrees, while Ant-Man tells Wasp to stay with the helicopter. If Doom should try a flanking movement, she should get the Major and the pilot out of here! Wasp complains that she never gets to have any fun… Flying back to the jet-copter in miniature form, she reenters the vehicle and discovers that Bowman is loading his pistol to join the action. Wasp tells him not to get involved - this is an Avengers mission now! He should put that gun down now, or she'll… Suddenly the pilot sneaks up on her from behind and sprays her with sleeping gas, rendering her unconscious. She will sleep… such is the will of Doctor Doom!





Several hundred yards away, the Hulk is exploring in his usual violent fashion when he discovers a large elliptical room - is this some sort of test chamber? Something is weird about the walls and floor, as they shine like polished silver or teflon… As he steps on the floor, he realizes the place is slippery - he can't stand! The frictionless floor and walls give him nothing to catch himself on, so he goes tumbling the moment he crosses the threshold. The chamber then seals behind him, and hidden high-pressure air jets start blasting from all sides of the room, sending the Hulk spinning out of control even as he curses in various Wingdings symbols…

At the same time, elsewhere in the mammoth aircraft, Thor is trying to track down the Hulk - confound that insufferably stubborn beast! He fears they will never be able to work as a team… As Thor passes beneath an air duct, he's suddenly beset by scores of heat-seeking power spheres! Thor is surprised and takes out his hammer to smash these strange globes that are swarming him - it's almost as if they are alive! What madness is this?! From afar, Doom watches the proceedings on his security monitors and muses to himself that the spheres are more alive than the Thunder God shall be! He designed those power spheres for the purpose of destroying the entire Fantastic Four, but Thor has hardly been a challenge at all!



A short distance away, Iron Man shoots down a corridor like a silent artillery shell, and spots a glow up ahead down the hallway. As he peeks around the corner, he spots Doom watching the security feeds - big as life! He's glad he shifted his boot jets to whisper mode, so they're very quiet! He sneaks up on Doom, reaching out with one golden hand to grab the villain before he knows what's happening. The moment he touches Doom, however, Iron Man is violently electrocuted and thrown back, and it's revealed that the 'Doom' at the controls was actually a robot, only vaguely humanoid in design, which is equipped to sap power. Iron Man realizes that with the electricity draining from his systems, he can already see them shutting down - there's barely enough energy to keep his chestplate going - and that's what keeps his injured heart beating! Once his energy reserves run out, he's a dead man!



Simultaneously, several levels away, Ant-Man runs through the halls and reflects that it's weird to run around in costume at his normal size, but he can cover more ground more quickly that way, compared to ant-size. He suddenly hears someone call out his super-hero moniker, and is shocked to find Major Bowman tied up to a chair in the next room - what's he doing here? Where is the Wasp? Bowman says he doesn't know what's happening, even as Ant-Man releases him from his bonds. Behind them, the door suddenly seals up. Ant-Man assures Bowman that Doctor Doom won't stop him - or the other Avengers! Bowman is shocked that the Avengers are here, which weirds Ant-Man out - the Major was the one who brought them over here, after all! Bowman proclaims that he's never even met them before, since he's been held prisoner here for hours after Doom surprised him while he was carrying out an inspection on his captured ship!

Suddenly a monitor on the wall next to the pair turns on, and the face of Bowman appears on the screen - he proclaims that the Major is quite right, and the Avengers were all quite easy to fool! Though the American government is rightly concerned about his activities, Doctor Doom is always a step ahead of them! In an absolutely hilarious twist, the 'Bowman' on the screen tears a mask off his face, revealing that beneath that mask… lies the mask of Doctor Doom himself! He didn't even take off his mask to wear a Mission Impossible mask. Doom, you're the freaking best.



In his center of communications, Doom comments that all has gone exactly as he planned - individually, the 'Avengers' have all garnered great reputations as - what was the name again - as, yes, 'super-heroes.' And it is as individuals that they have fallen! Inside a glass sphere being held by the pilot, the Wasp looks on as Doom comments that divide and conquer is a time-tested strategy for overcoming one's enemies, effective against every foe from the weakest (highlighting the Wasp) to the mightiest (highlighting the Hulk.) He trapped the Avengers as easily as he reclaimed this vessel!

Showing off the various terrible fates of the heroes, Doom recounts that the Wasp is stuck in a ball, the Hulk is helpless in a frictionless room, Iron Man is powerless at the hands of a robot, Thor is being overwhelmed by power spheres which shall transport him to a dimension from which there is no escape, and Ant-man… Well, he'll find that the gas being pumped into his room is less beneficial than the one he uses to change his size! The Avengers should also know that their final moments are being recorded for posterity, and soon the entire world shall see how Doctor Doom defeated the so-called Mighty Avengers, and after them the Fantastic Four! Then shall Doom be Master Over All!

The Wasp observes that Doom is killing them just to demonstrate his own power - and there's nothing she can do about it! Or is there…? Bowman, coughing due to the gas filling their room, tells Ant-Man that there's no way out - they're done for! Ant-Man declares that they're not finished if he can help it! He instructs the Major to get down on the deck away from the vents, and he should cover his head! He then removes his helmet and proclaims that he added a few new tricks to his repertoire since he last faced Doom - and one of those is growing huge! A trap designed to hold Ant-Man won't be much good against the power of… Giant-Man!



Apparently the full story of that new power is relayed in Tales to Astonish v1 #49, which is presumbaly the actual first issue that this transformation appears in, heh. With an almighty push he grows to enormous size and rips the room apart, releasing himself and Bowman.

As the two rush out, Bowman admits that was just about the most astounding thing he's ever seen. But what do they do now? Giant-Man tells him that they should now find the other Avengers, and he thinks he knows just where to start! Somehow zeroing in on a specific location, Giant-Man smashes apart a wall and reaches through, plucking a floating, bouncing Hulk out of mid-air and dragging him out of his little torture chamber. Giant-Man sets him down and says he'll explain the details later - the others are in danger! Hulk asks for a second, turns off-panel to vomit all over the floor…



Then he's ready to go! Giant-Man sets off again, and they soon find Thor battling spheres in the middle of the hallway. Giant-Man worries that they seem to be too late - Thor is already transparent, almost like a ghost! Hulk comments that at least he's going down swinging. Even as he fades away, Thor continues to struggle desperately against the spheres, and he begins spinning with his hammer, fast and faster, until he's quicker than the eye can follow, creating a vortex which tears at the very fabric of reality… With a sudden 'Zof!' there's a flash of light which obliterates the spheres in a single burst of energy. Thor, victorious, declares that Doom knew naught of Mjolnir's power to transcend time and space! 'Lucky you,' Hulk mutters, even as the group runs off to find the last members of their group…

Rushing around the corner, they find the collapsed form of Iron Man on the floor, still getting sapped by the purple robot that pretended to be Doom earlier. Hulk runs in and punches the robot into pieces, and Iron Man weakly says he needs a recharge. Thor, up to the task, declares that the Avenger should take heart - the power of the storm is his to command and control! Unleashing a lightning bolt directly into Iron Man's armor, the golden lug is soon back on his feet after the jump-start. Let's go - it's time to get Doom!



Back in the aircraft's central communications room, Doom observes that his camera is ready - he then commands the pilot, revealed to be a lifelike automaton, to give him the globe containing the Wasp. The first image the world shall see is the Wasp helpless in the hands of Victor von Doom! Suddenly, however, Thor's hammer crashes into the scene and obliterates the camera, then veers around Doom to smash into the sphere in the pilot robot's hands, releasing the Wasp from captivity. 'It can't be!' Doom proclaims, even as the Wasp escapes with a quippy 'oh yes, it can!' Mjolnir returns to Thor's hand, and he announces that Doom's iniquitous scheme has failed. Now, he shall learn why the team is called the Avengers! Thor throws his hammer at Doom directly, but it immediately deflects away from him - Doctor Doom is no mere mortal! Thor is shocked at this, because nobody but the Hulk has ever deflected that hammer before!



Iron Man observes that Doom is using some kind of electromagnetic force-field, but a properly phrased repulsor blast should take care of that! Doom turns and quickly drops down a hatch in the floor to escape before that theory is tested, announcing that it matters little, now…

The Hulk isn't interested in letting Doom get away and rips a hole in the floor to follow, smashing through several floors with Doom's name on his lips. Maybe the Fantastic Four let him get away, but he can't escape from the Avengers! Doom unleashes his hand beams on the Hulk, sending the green beast flying - he never surrenders!



Hulk, furious, wonders if that was his best shot. If so - he made a big mistake! He made Hulk mad! Hulk then grabs Doom by the neck and squeezes, even as Thor and Iron Man make their way down the hole and watch this go down. Iron Man tells Hulk to calm down, but Hulk just rips Doom's head right off his shoulders. Nobody tells him what to do!



Iron Man is relieved to see that this Doctor Doom - of course - was only a Doombot. How'd Hulk know he was a robot, anyway? Hulk, of course, didn't. Thor declares that they'll have to hurry and find the real Doom before he escapes! There's a sudden rumbling as the aircraft shifts, and the trio of Bowman, Ant-Man and the Wasp come running around the corner with a dire warning. The forward corridors are impassable, and the whole craft is listing to port - Doom must be scuttling it! They have to get out of here fast, but they can't get back to the jet-copter! Iron Man declares that means they'll just have to find another way out…

Ant-Man soon discovers an escape pod - but it's only large enough for one person! Iron Man tells Major Bowman to get in, but the man in question points out that he has a duty to fulfill, and the Wasp should take the pod instead. Thor reasonably observes that Ant-Man and the Wasp could turn small and both share the pod easily enough, but the Wasp refuses to leave the others behind. Hulk, incensed by all this 'noble hero' crap, just tosses Bowman into the pod and presses the eject button so they can move on already. It's just saving the cost of a military funeral, you know? Thor observes that his rash act saved one life, but imperiled two others! Ant-Man and the Wasp could have used that pod as well, as he mentioned! Hulk points out Wasp just said she wouldn't. Now, he should just shut up and give him a hand - it's time to tear a new exit into the side of the craft!

Between Iron Man and the Hulk, there's soon a huge chunk of the wall missing, and the former says it's time to bail - it's now or never. While Iron Man and the Hulk make their own way down with their respective methods of flight, Ant-Man and the Wasp shrink and grab onto Thor's shoulders as he flies off the doomed vessel, which naturally explodes behind them in dramatic fashion. Iron Man is incredulous that Doom sacrificed that amazing craft just to try and stop them, but Thor happily points out that he failed. As shall all who dare oppose the Mighty Avengers!



Moments later, the team lands on a rocky Long Island shoreline, and watch Doom's flying death trap sink into the sea in the distance. Hopefully, it cost him plenty! Iron Man thanks Hulk for taking point at the end there, and the green giant grumbles that somebody had to. Iron Man also says that Ant-Man really saved the day there - how exactly did he grow super-sized? Ant-Man just tells him it's a trade secret - maybe he'll tell him someday! There's also one more unsung hero, he adds - the Wasp! While Doom was busy ignoring her, believing her neutralized as a threat, she was actually checking out the on-screen schematics of his ship around his communications room, and thus she figured out everyone's locations. She transmitted those directions to Ant-Man (or Giant-Man), which is why he was able to so easily track down all their various locations and free them!

Hulk is still not pleased with the way Doom played them all for fools - he hates that! Wasp tells him to look on the bright side - they overcame Doom's traps, and he certainly won't be using that ship again! Hulk just wishes that armor-plated creep had gone down with the ship, but he doubts it… Thor agrees, and points out that given Doom's skill with robotics, it's valid to ask whether they ever face the true Doctor Doom at all. Miles away, a lone grim figure in a throne watches the Avengers' every move on his monitors, and beholds them with grudging respect. Doom muses to himself that Thor may never know the answer to that question… He may never know!

Rating & Comments



There's a weird sort of serendipity to the fact that I'm covering this issue at the same time that I'm covering a cartoon episode adapting its prequel. Patterns! This issue relies pretty heavily on pre-established elements of Fantastic Four v1 #17, the original story featuring Doom's huge sky fortress, although it's been retooled for the Avengers. The implication that this adventure takes place shortly after that last one works, even if there's no real communication between the two super-teams yet since the Avengers literally just founded and haven't even properly moved into their new main base yet. Indeed, the first page or two are basically covering the reaction to the founding of the Avengers, presumably retroactively inserting some more crossover material into titles which were originally pretty separate from each other. The retro art style really helps establish the illusion!

The story gets started when Major Bowman arrives at the mansion - and that name should really be in scare quotes. Much like he did in the original issue, Doom uses an incredibly convincing disguise which he puts on right over his armored, masked body. In the Fantastic Four issue he pretended to be a bearded janitor, in this he strolls right into Avengers headquarters as a military representative! It's actually hinted at pretty early on, since Doom casually asks Jarvis about the security arrangements and who keeps the place running. Trying to get a lay of the land, huh? Bowman is only really there to bring up Doom's threat level, which is of course mighty convenient when the villain in question pulls off a caper right that moment. What a coincidence! Of course, Doom stands ready to offer the Avengers transportation to his floating death trap. I wonder if Iron Man's observation that they're flying in a brand new jet-copter that's not even supposed to be flying yet is another hint that something is off…? Who else but Doom would have those already?

Doom set the whole plan up pretty cleverly - he, or at least a Doombot, stayed close by at all times to ensure the Avengers stayed on track, and then the 'grappler-ray' prevents the group from just leaving again. They're stuck, now - and given the sheer size of the ship, inevitably people split up and start falling into individual death traps designed to prevent any single person from escaping them without assistance. Some of those traps overlap with the Fantastic Four issue this is a sequel too, while others are new, but they're all just there to keep people trapped - Doom might intend to finish the heroes off, but not until he can do it in view of a camera so he can let the people of the world know how amazing he is. If not for the unforeseen development of Ant-Man's powers into growing giant-sized as well, it seems Doom might have gotten away with it, too! That, and the Wasp secretly feeding Ant-Man intel, of course…

While the majority of this issue is entertaining in some way or another, even if just in seeing some real nostalgic designs getting up to hijinks again, I think I like the chase between Hulk and Doom the most. Doom tries to do his classic escape maneuver of slipping down a secret passage, but the Hulk will have none of that and basically bullrushes through the ship and eventually catches up, before getting pissed enough to murder the guy, even if it turns out he was not the real deal. It's a pretty awesome sequence, and this is early Hulk, so it makes sense he'd be a bit of a loose cannon. That said, he also acts as the tiebreaker at the end to get the one normal human among them to safety, because everyone was bickering pointlessly over who to save when they obviously had some ideas on how to get down. Hulk is actually great here!

It's hard to guess whether Doom was ever actually in this issue - perhaps only that last panel? See, I'm fairly sure that there is a viable explanation for Doom's super-disguise in this issue. I suspect we're dealing with a technology similar to that used in Avengers v1 #332/333, when Doom somehow pretended to be Iron Man while still wearing his armor underneath Tony Stark's. There was a transformation sequence and everything. That turned out to be a fancy Doombot, and given that Hulk ultimately dismantles the Doom in this issue as well, perhaps the disguise relies on that Doombot collapsing in on itself like a human being couldn't? In that case, Doom would have to be a Doombot from the first time we see him in this issue, instead of getting replaced by a stand-in while he's off-screen at some point. Maybe if there had been a missing escape pod I'd buy that the real one had been there, but there's only one on board, and it's unused. I think this was an entirely remote operation from start to finish, and that supposition is strengthened by the revelation that the pilot that took them to the ship was also a lifelike robot, not a human being.

I think the actual art in this issue is a bit more modern than the original 60's stuff would be - more in using current techniques, layouts and design than in actual style, of course - but the writing feels pretty appropriate for the time, and that includes Doom. He does his usual rambles from his early days, he uses the individual traps concept that was part and parcel of his whole deal at the start, and he has to boast about his accomplishments to everyone, of course. The Avengers are also pretty good on the whole, though I'm a little miffed about the cover - it announces a new hero joining the team, but that's most certainly just a reference to Giant-Man, who is not really new. Of course, the covers being blatantly misleading about what would be found inside the comic was already very much established even then, so it kind of makes sense…

The story here is fun, if ultimately without much importance, but retroactively this makes Doom's first meeting with most of these characters a lot more straightforward and classic in scope, even if that meeting is through a Doombot. Since many early meetings with Doom had the heroes already recognizing him without any on-panel encounters, this fits in remarkably well! You also have to appreciate the clear effort that the writers and artists went through to recreate a very specific time in comic book history, including ridiculous fake ads which reference similar dopey ads that were going around in the 60's. They're hilarious and kind of dark, actually - there's even a parody of sea-monkeys, but these ones are the real live fun-pests you get to kill yourself! Listen gleefully to their pleading for help and cries of starvation! (tape recording optional.) Sheesh… I'll give this one an extra star over the average because this is the kind of weird novelty that's actually worth checking out, as compared to all those 90's novelties that very much should be forgotten…

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



We so very rarely see stretchy face Doctor Doom doing ridiculous expressions anymore, it's good to see he's back for a stint...

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"This sudden proliferation of 'super-heroes' grows abhorrent. The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man... even that infernal Spidre-Man... have interfered with my plans for revenge - for conquest! These 'Avengers' must be dealt with before they can become a problem! Yes! They must feel the power of DOCTOR DOOM!"

"Doctor Doom is always one step ahead of you!"

"Know that your final moments are being recorded for posterity. Soon, the entire world shall see how I have defeated the so-called mighty Avengers! And after you, the Fantastic Four! Then Shall Doom be master over all!

"Doctor Doom is no mere mortal, Asgardian!"

"Fool! Doom never surrenders!"

Thor: "...Did we ever face the true Doctor Doom at all?!"
Doom: "You may never know, Asgardian. You may never know..."

Doom's Bad Hair Day



That's freaky. Someone had some real fun making these creepy-ass ads, heh. Bonus points for giving the castle in the background the face of Doom...

Doom-Tech of the Week

Like, those Mission Impossible Masks are some crazy nonsense, right? Beyond that, this issue has a lot of overlap with the prequel issue in terms of technologies on display.

Doombot Count: 56 (+2)

Technically there was only one 'true' Doombot here, but a second robot pretended to be Doom with the cloak and everything, and it was made by Doom, so I figure that's close enough. I did count the OG Doombot from Vic's backstory which was basically just a puppet with his face after all…

 

[Johnreiter]

It amazes me that Iron Man and Doom have encountered each other several times so far, but very rarely do they actually get to pit their armors against each other.

In fact, I just realized that Doom barely fought any of the Avengers in this issue one-on-one. He deflected Thor's hammer, hit the Hulk with one blast, and that was it

If not for the unforeseen development of Ant-Man's powers into growing giant-sized as well, it seems Doom might have gotten away with it, too!

Click to shrink...

This parallels his defeat in Fantastic Four #23, where his trap failed because he didn't know Invisible Girl had a new power.

 

[Roarian]

Variant 12: Silver Surfer - Loftier Than Mortals (October 1999)

Introduction

See that big 'Remix' label to the side there? This two-parter was part of a short-lived initiative by Marvel to retell some of their classic stories in a more modern context, cutting out the dross and all the irrelevant storylines along the way. Remixing them, if you will. While the other one (Fantastic Four: Fireworks) retells the origin of the Inhumans in the context of the Fantastic Four first running into them… today I'll be looking at Silver Surfer: Loftier Than Mortals, which instead retells the story of Fantastic Four v1 #57-61, the Silver Surfer Saga while cutting out all the irrelevant stuff. You know, like most of the Fantastic Four! This is centrally a Surfer and Doom party, and with two such drama llamas in the same book, and relatively sparse interactions in the original story, it'll be interesting to see how this turned out.

Technically, I don't think this story is considered a variant - the wiki, at least, lists the characters as their 616 versions - but given that this is a rewrite/remix of an older storyline which progressed differently, I don't see where else to put it. Did this happen, or did the original events happen? I don't think we get any clarification, so I'll default to the original until proven otherwise. This is just a fanciful reinterpretation as far as I'm concerned. I figure it's probable that the wiki is just wrong here.



Covers

The first cover here contains a dramatic shot of Doctor Doom with fire spewing out of his eyes, and the Silver Surfer tied to his enormous chest with some complicated machine which is presumably sapping his powers, because what else could Doom be doing to the guy? The second cover is much more generic, just showing the Silver Surfer surfing on a wave of flames instead of water, and it doesn't really say anything much about the contents of the comic. Both of them are dominated by the huge REMIX banners I mentioned earlier - maybe a bit much. The 2000's would double down on the trend for enormous banners on covers - just look at Civil War!

Story Overview

Loftier Than Mortals

The comic opens up with the Silver Surfer cruising through the skies of Latveria, interacting with little birdies like a Disney princess and declaring how they are free to soar where they will, unfettered and unopposed - not so for him! Of all creatures on Earth, he alone labors under the edicts of a being more powerful than himself - a being who has sentenced him to never roam the stars again, but to remain on this barbaric sphere instead! (Tell me what you really think, jeez.) The Surfer muses that the earthmen are an odd breed, pitiful company for someone who has pierced the living hearts of distant suns and listened to the siren songs of vast nebulae. All they do is bicker and contend with each other over trivial matters, so he wishes he were back on Zenn-La, the planet of his birth, so he could speak again with people for whom he felt some measure of respect…

The Surfer is interrupted in his musings by a tiny drone with a screen on it, which flies up to him with an invitation, a summons royal. It declares that the Surfer was sighted from the castle observatory, and as a stranger to this land he is summoned to the court of Doom Rex, Monarch of Latveria. The Surfer thinks that in all the time he's been confined on Earth, nobody except the Fantastic Four have attempted to make peaceful contact with him - much less invite him into their home! Part of him warns against accepting the invitation, since he knows he'll only find more strife on which humans seem to thrive, but he is curious about the concept of royalty - for which there is no equivalent on Zenn-La. Perhaps he'll sample the hospitality of this 'Doom' after all!



Inside the castle, Doctor Doom checks a read-out on a small screen embedded in gauntlet and concludes the Surfer has taken the bait. The Surfer descends and admits that this castle is like no place he has seen on Earth - it speaks of a love of art and architecture, an appreciation of man's more sublime creations! Doom enters at that point and introduces himself, stating that everyone has heard of the offworlder who saved the Earth from the menace of Galactus. Who among men does not bend his knee to such courage? The Surfer points out that many people do not do so - they fear him. Doom does not, he declares - instead, he feels rather honored by the Surfer's presence! As the alien touches a scroll displayed on a nearby dais, Doom warns him that it is thousands of years old, so he should be careful. The Surfer replies that its language is similar to that of a long-dead species he studied in his youth, then seemingly repairs the scroll to pristine condition, demonstrating his great power…



As Doom begins to give the Silver Surfer a tour of the castle, the latter asks Doom how it is that he holds himself above others, as his title of 'Doom Rex' suggests. What quality of leadership does he possess that sets him apart? Doom claims that the Surfer shouldn't let the title fool him - he is less a leader than his people's humble servant. But, he'll show some of the works that he does here, hoping the alien might find it as inspiring as him. The Surfer is skeptical that Doom could find anything inspiring about this world - he has seen only madness, savagery, and a thirst for self-destruction here! Doom declares that not all human beings are like that. Some work for the ennoblement of their fellow man! Some even reach for the stars, and if he doubts that, he's got proof right here…

They walk into the next room, which is dominated by a huge hologram depicting space, and the Surfer recognizes it as a region he has traveled through. But it's so distant - how did Doom obtain the data to recreate it? Doom explains that he maintains his own satellite in Earth's orbit, and it enables him to drink in the kind of beauty that would otherwise be denied to him. The cosmos has always fascinated him as nothing else could. He has always felt… drawn to it, as one might say, but then he is attracted to all forms of knowledge. With the data he gleans from the scrutiny of the universe, he can improve the conditions of life here on Earth, and open men's minds to untold possibilities. The Surfer inspects the hologram and says he lauds Doom's ambitions. In fact, he was a lot like him once - full of fire and dreams. If there are men like Doom walking the Earth, he may have judged the human species too hastily…

While several of Doom's men enter the room and give an 'okay' signal to him behind the Surfer's back, the alien offers to tell Doom about the part of space he's showing to him - or any other for that matter. After all, he has seen it firsthand! Doom says he can hardly wait… but before they go any further, he must tell him one thing. There was another reason he asked the Surfer to visit this chamber. The Surfer, suspicious, wonders when he's going to reveal that new reason. 'Why, right now!' Doom says cheerfully.



Suddenly, lightning bursts across both of them, their brains seared with cold fire, every synapse ripped open, black suns exploding inside them, spasming on a spit of emptiness… Doom begins draining the alien's power into himself, and the Surfer cries out about this betrayal, but Doom just says that he betrayed himself - he wasted his power, demonstrating that he is unworthy of it. But Doom will prove himself worthy. Oh yes, he will!

After a direct reference to the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, with Doom's gauntlet and the Surfer's hand touching and transferring power, Doom begins glowing with cosmic power himself, his armor turning silver while his mask seems to fume from the inside as fire billows from his eye holes and his mouth becomes a fiery maw like the Balrog's. He rips his robes in the power transfer, so part of his chest armor is revealed, alongside a sash and a golden belt from which dangles a bejeweled sword in its scabbard. It's a pretty direct reference to the original picture of Doom standing over the defeated Silver Surfer from the first telling of this story. Now, it is Doom who wields the Power Cosmic, he boasts! Never before has a human being been so invincible - so vastly and unutterably superior! Let mankind tremble, for Doom has attained power without limit - power enough to subjugate the Earth and everything on it! ALL HAIL DOOM!



Blasting his way out of the castle on the Silver Surfer's board, which has grown spiky ribs to match its new rider, many Latverians stare up in surprise at the explosions and wonder what nightmare is spewing from von Doom's castle now! When Doom immediately begins blasting the streets below, destroying random carts and buildings just because he can, people fear he is a demon from hell. Doom declares that he is that - and worse! The people should run before the matchless power of Doom, Master of all mankind! Someone cries that it must be the end of the world, but Doom announces that it is not the end - but the beginning!

Inside the castle, meanwhile, Doom's men toss the Silver Surfer into a cell, muttering to each other that he's not the most powerful being on Earth now - just a sideshow freak! The Surfer asks to be let go, as he's done nothing wrong! They can't leave him like this! As the men depart, he thinks to himself that with the Power Cosmic gone from his body, he feels barren and hollow. And yet, it's as if a burden has been lifted from him - a burden of duty and responsibility. In a sense he was imprisoned long before this, first as herald of Galactus when he was denied the love of Shalla-Bal, then as an exile on Earth after turning on Galactus. Now, he's been incarcerated in the most literal prison of all. He always does what he believes is right, so why must he be subject to indignity after indignity? Why must pain always be his lot…?

In New York, Reed Richards is studying the powers of Ben Grimm, noting that his strength is actually increasing over time. Ben complains he still looks like something they blasted out of a rock quarry, so what's the point of these tests? Suddenly a nearby computer terminal starts moving its wires on its own, and Ben asks Reed what is going on. The entire server farm stands up, forming itself into a crude robot made of various screens and other electronics, and Doom's face appears on every monitor. He declares that they should consider this a warning - it is Doom who wields the Power Cosmic now - and the day of reckoning is near! Reed is incredulous that the villain somehow got through all the protections in their base, but with the Power Cosmic… anything is possible! Ben just smashes the robot to pieces, apologizing for destroying valuable gear, but Reed just tells him that they should be focusing on something more important. If Doom has cosmic power, what happened to the Surfer…?

The Silver Surfer, it turns out, is losing his silver. The shiny metallic goo which was originally applied to him by Galactus as his second skin begins sloughing off, revealing the vulnerable flesh of the original Norrin Radd underneath. He was gifted that skin to weather the rigors of the void, but now it deserts him, abandons him… Over the years he had longed for the chance to be mortal again - to see, smell, hear, and touch things as he did on Zenn-La. Under different circumstances, he might have been pleased by this metamorphosis… but once again it comes at a painful price!



Doom is still on a joyride with the surfboard, declaring 'Fools!' to the Soviet fighter jets sent out to deal with him, blasting them from afar with cosmically empowered hand-blasts which vaporize them with but a gesture. Did they really think some puny missiles would be enough to harm a being who has the power to penetrate a star? What good are any of their weapons? They should take this message back to their leaders - tell them Doom is unstoppable, unbeatable, a force so great their tiny minds cannot comprehend it! Better to yield now than face the awful depth and breadth of his fury later! Suddenly, Doom is distracted from his killing spree by something weird, a peculiar feeling under his mask! He removes it, revealing an intact, unmarred face… Truly, he has changed! Laughing, he declares that once again he looks like other men, liberated from the deformity which drove him to seek revenge on his rivals. At long last, he is free! We actually get to see his face, too, no shadows this time...



Back at the castle, a guard checks up on the Surfer and gets confused when he realizes the alien is not metallic anymore. Norrin recognizes the confusion as an opportunity and plays up that he's weak, even dying, praying that the man believes him. The guard enters the cell to check up on him, musing that he can't afford to leave him like this - if anything were to happen to him, he would face Doom's wrath. Holding a gun on Norrin, he warns him that if he tries anything. Norrin recognizes his chance, and tries to recall the ancient hypno-disciplines from Zenn-La. He then performs a Jedi mind-trick on the guard, convincing him that he doesn't wish to hold his weapon any longer, as it feels loathsome to him, foul and disgusting in his hand. The man, dazed, agrees and gives it to Norrin, who immediately capitalizes by punching the man out with his bare fist. He'll feel better when he wakes up, probably…

Not much later, a second guard comes looking for the first, and finds him unconscious on the floor in the cell - what happened here? Where is the freakish prisoner? Lunging from behind the guard, Norrin is tempted to say something clever, but he's too busy focusing on what he needs to do. Violence was never his way - but he'll use it here. He pistol-whips the man with the first guard's gun, then makes a run for it, his heart beating so fast that it feels like there's an animal inside him, clamoring to be let out. On his way out, a woman calls out to him - she's another prisoner, and points out that he knows what Doom will do to her if left in here. Norrin agrees to free her, and she says he won't regret this - he's not so sure, since every moment of delay is a dagger in his heart.

The woman quickly grabs Norrin and drags him along, since she knows an exit down this way. She leads Norrin to a nearby wall, and twists a brick to reveal a secret passage, which they quickly rush into. Norrin wonders how she knew about that trick, and she explains that she knows how Doom's castle was put together because her people obtained a copy of the architect's plans! Her people, he wonders? Her rebel cell, she explains. Miss Rogue One then wonders if Norrin was also caught trying to tear down the tyrant, but he admits his conflict with Doom is of a more personal nature…



Doom, meanwhile, has reached the skies of London. In World War II it survived the fury of Hitler's Luftwaffe, but how will it fare when Doom sucks every last vestige of power from its arteries? What kind of courage will its masses exhibit when their tools are taken from their hands, when they are cut off from the outside world? When they are paralyzed in darkness? We see every light turn off, doctors panicking as their machines turn off mid-surgery, dozens of commuters stuck in midnight-black subway cars, cars stopping in the middle of busy streets. Then, up in the sky, Doom lights up like a new sun, and declares that London should gaze upon the great and terrible star whose name is Doom as their skin blisters and sears and cracks in the deadly light. They should tremble before him and pray hard for the fall of night!



Norrin Radd has put on some local clothes, and observes that nobody looks at him as he crosses the streets - and why would they? He looks like one of them now. He's struck by the million-and-one stimuli that assault his senses at every turn, the noises of people, the smells of their fruits and vegetables, the sheer press of humanity. It's nothing at all like the celestial solitude to which he had become accustomed! The woman he rescued recognizes that he doesn't care for crowds, and Norrin agrees. She explains that she looks at them differently - to her, they represent salvation, a way of hiding from Doom's police until they reach a safehouse. The woman's name, we're finally told, is Inga. She was placed in prison for conspiring to overthrow Doom. Norrin can't really imagine Shalla-Bal or any other Zenn-Lavian acting as a rebel, so clearly she's cut from a different cloth…

Suddenly a car full of police officers screeches into the street, and they yell that everyone should remain where they are - anyone who runs will be shot! Norrin's blood freezes at the sight of Doom's guards, but Inga warns him that it won't do any good to run now - they'd just be gunned down, and a lot of innocent people along with them. Norrin muses that he's not human, but he's still herded with them as if he were one of them… The guards put the people together and tell them it won't be long, before pulling out a picture of Inga for comparison and quickly spotting her in the crowd. That's her - she's the one who escaped the castle! Inga tries to fight, shouting: 'Down with the tyrant!' as several cops pile on top of her. Norrin watches as one of them pistol-whips her, and when he tries to help, they converge on him, and he gets knocked down, feeling pain he hasn't felt since the day Galactus transformed him. He is helpless, utterly helpless!



Doom, meanwhile, flies out to Honolulu and buries it in a wave of polar ice. He has made the improbable a reality - with less than a thought, he has done what only a god could do! He has thrown nature into tumult, he has gutted the laws of physics, the Earth itself is wide-eyed with fear, wondering what he will turn his hand to next. But she need not wonder much longer! For soon he will be ready to put his power to the ultimate test - the annihilation of the accursed Fantastic Four!


To the Hunter, the Prey

Doom flies over a huge fossil graveyard, littered with the bones of ancient dinosaurs and other extinct monsters. Strange and imposing these carcasses are, he thinks, but they are not as strange or imposing as the creature he has become! He raised these creatures from the flesh of common jungle beasts, and when he saw that these monstrosities could thrive… he slaughtered them. Why? Because such is his nature! Because he holds both life and death in the palm of his hand! But, he is bored now with death, so he'll bathe the area with cosmic rays and resurrect the monsters from their grisly remains once more! Brutish though they may be, they exude a certain beauty - a radiance with which he must have unintentionally endowed them. His power leads itself so easily to creation… almost as easily as destruction. And something inside him yearns to create more! But how can he become Master of the Earth without focusing all his energy on the destruction of his enemies? The question torments him - he cannot think clearly. Vaporizing the resurrected monsters once again, Doom flies away in a contemplative mood…



Suddenly, an idea occurs to him - something he should have considered before. He will turn to the one soul whose advice he can trust implicitly, the shade of his long lost mother! She was exiled to the netherworld when he was an infant, but Doom does not know the limits of the Power Cosmic. Can it conjure the woman who gave him life, providing he draws on what little he remembers of her? Focusing his power, the spectral image of Cynthia von Doom soon forms in the clouds. Doom admires that she is more beautiful than he ever dared dream, then admits to her that is deeply troubled. He must use his newfound power to destroy if he is to rule - but he is distracted by an impulse to create. Cynthia tells him to be true to his nature - that is what all gypsies learn in time. To follow their restless hearts! She fades again, and Doom begs her to stay - he wants to know more! There is no answer… only the wind. 'Nooooo!'



Doom eventually calms himself, still careening through the sky, and berates himself for an outburst that is unworthy of him. Who knows if that was even really his mother he spoke with? It might have been only an image of her, pieced together by his subconscious. Either way, her advice was sound. The wisest course is the one he first set foot on - to crush the world beneath his booted heel. For a moment, he forgot who he was - he imagined himself a force of nature, impersonal and dispassionate. But he is neither of those things. He is, and always will be… Doom the Merciless! Removing his mask, Doom touches his once more scarred and disfigured face, once again hidden mostly in shadow, and states that his soul is just as marked as the reflection of his own face… Forever, he is Doom the Destroyer!

Back in Doomstadt, the cops have beaten Norrin down and wonder if the rebel scum has had enough. Norrin tastes the blood in his mouth, and thinks he has a broken rib after receiving some internal damage. Once, he had the power to end this with a thought, but now he is helpless and all he can do is speak. Norrin tells the guards that they have no right to hold themselves above the common folk - no right to inflict such pain! Their cruelty is a blight on all creation. As people watch on, a guard boots Norrin in the head and tells him that they are pretty words… but now he'll pay for them!

Several onlookers, though, say that Norrin is right - and they can't just stand here and watch this! Doom's tyranny has been a curse for too long! ACAB and all that! As a riot begins to break out among the citizenry, the guards get chased off by a mob, and Norrin quickly runs over to Inga to see if she's alright. Inga admits that she's hurt badly… badly enough. Unless Norrin does something, she'll die here… and the paving stones of Latveria will run red with blood. But what can he do, now that he's been stripped of his Power Cosmic? Is there no other remedy within his power? No other way to douse the fire he's kindled?



Doom reaches New York City, and there he's approached by the Human Torch who unleashes his fire on the man - he hardly feels the incredible heat, and it doesn't faze him. The sun itself would barely make him break a sweat! Doom declares that Johnny's power is formidable, but stripped of his natural immunity to its searing flames, he would be at the mercy of the elements, just like they in turn are at Doom's mercy! Johnny suddenly turns off his flames as he begins burning, and his cry of agony is a balm to Doom's spirit as the hero falls into the water far below. The pain in his voice makes Doom hunger for more of the same! The rest of the Fantastic Four are gathered on a roof nearby, and Doom descends to meet them. Especially the Thing, the heart of the Fantastic Four… it will be a pleasure to tear it out!

Although it's drawn poorly, Ben lashes out and actually lands a great punch on Doom, sending him flying backwards and crushing part of the roof - it seems that Ben's anger makes him stronger than Doom remembered! Ben rushes in and pulls Doom up by his tabard, declaring he's not walking away from this one! Doom agrees that one of them will not walk away, but they'll see which one. Suddenly Ben starts moving very slowly until he stops, and Doom reveals that he's paralyzed the hero. The Power Cosmic draws all animate life from his golem-like form, as if it were indeed turned to brittle stone! Doom then breaks off one of the Thing's arms without any real effort and tosses it aside, declaring that since the Thing has always resembled a pile of rocks - it's only fitting he becomes one!



Sue protects herself with a force field bubble and demands to know what Doom has done to Ben, while Reed warns him to turn him back, or so help him… Doom just starts blasting, and wonders if this really is the best Reed can do. Is this the most impressive defense he can mount? He sends Sue high up into the sky, and tells her she can yell Reed's name all she wants - for all the good it'll do her. She and her pitiful constructs, does she really think they will protect her from what Doom has become? Sue, after being flung into the stratosphere, realizes that the air pressure is dropping and it's becoming harder to keep her bubble together…She soon begins falling, and Doom drolly points out that Reed might be able to save her. It should be easy - unless, of course, she's invisible! That would make it harder. Reed is aghast when there's a sudden impact on the roof - Sue smashes down and becomes partially visible in his arms, her bones shattered, body crushed beyond repair…

Reed, driven to the edge of despair, unleashes his stretching power and attacks Doom, but he responds with a cosmic hand blast. Doom thinks to himself that this is the one whose misery he craves - this is the one whose despair he most wishes to savor! He apologizes for his thoughtlessness - he was so determined to bestow his gifts on his teammates that he almost forgot about Reed! But as he can see, he's corrected that oversight. Since Reed was so eager to stretch himself beyond mortal limits - as a hero, leader, scientist, husband - he can remain that way, forever! Reed, now finding himself unable to reverse his stretching, still tries to smash a fist into Doom anyway, and Doom wonders if he can't see how futile opposing him is. For someone said to be a genius, he seems woefully incapable of accepting the obvious!

Doom is suddenly hit by some kind of energy beam from behind, and silvery goop starts sloughing off his body - what is this?! Doom turns and sees a floating drone blasting him with a ray - this has Richards' mark on it! Reed explains that this is what his 'futile efforts' were about - he was distracting Doom so that his Cosmic Nullifier could approach and blast him!



Doom, realizing it's stripping him of his power, declaring that he will not allow it! The silver material around him quickly regathers on his body, re-empowering him, and he quickly blows the Nullifier to smithereens. See, Richards? In the end his invention is a failure, just like its creator! Reed still won't give up, so Doom wonders if he really can't see the terrible finality of what Doom has accomplished. Must he do even more…?

Doom ascends above the city after blasting Reed into ribbons - even from on high, the body of the hero is visible everywhere, spread thinly across a vast swathe of the city now, scattered limbs and parts of his body still clad in his adaptive costume tangling like webs or ropes from rooftop to rooftop. Doom then says goodbye - for even Reed could not survive without breath, and he has no muscles left with which to breathe. He also says farewell to Johnny Storm, dead in the water, Ben, paralyzed on a rooftop, and Sue, half-visible and crushed right beside him. How pitiful they all are! How did he never notice it before…?



Norrin, meanwhile, holds on to a dying Inga as the guards open fire on the people, trying to quell the riot going on there. They're all killing each other - what madness is this? What kind of being with reason could ever contemplate this? His cries fall on deaf ears, as nobody wants to listen. All they want to do is punish each other. A bullet glances across Norrin's skull and he falls. He can't do anything - he's only one man, after all. How he wishes he had the power again to set things right…

Doom, meanwhile, reflects grimly on the demise of the Fantastic Four. They were humbled and exterminated, yes, but Doom always believed that he would find joy in such a victory. Strangely, he cannot - it feels hollow, somehow. For all his power, he cannot seem to please himself. If there is no one who can stand against him, no challenge great enough to test his mettle. …Then what was it all for? Doom unleashes his power once more, and declares that it shall all be undone! Let everything be as it was - such is the command of Doom Rex! The Fantastic Four suddenly find themselves alive again, intact, and are mighty confused as to how they returned to normal. In the distance they can see Doom fly away, but Reed tells the others to let him go. Not that they could stop him, even if they wanted to…



Doom, still caught up in his musings, decides that only in the immensity of space could he bring a spark of heat to his cold and vacant soul… only there could he possibly find a challenge to his limitless power! He rises up to orbit, and spots a strange constellation in the distance - something with the look of an intelligent being imprinted upon it! It seems to look down on him as he has come to look down on others - as if he were nothing more than a speck of dust! In view of Galactus, Doom suddenly impacts the barrier put there by him - and it quickly begins draining him of power! Somehow this barrier has done what Reed's device could not, and robbed him of his strength! Doom begins to fall, and thinks to himself that he now understands what it was like to be the Silver Surfer… invested with consummate power, but denied what he wanted most. He feels the frustration, that sense of loss, to the core of his soul…

Norrin, still lying wounded in the street amid a riot, reaches out to Inga and asks her to try and hold on - she must not die! He pleads his throat raw, but in his heart he knows it is too late for her. Suddenly his fingers begin to turn silver - what's happening? His silver veneer begins to return, just as his board descends from the sky. He doesn't understand how or why, but once more he sings with the Power Cosmic! He carries Inga in his arms as he gets on his board and flies up. As the Latverians panic at the sudden alien in their midst - some thinking he must be a god, others a servant of Doom, others a leader of the rebellion - Norrin declares he is none of the things they wish him to be. He is the navigator of the spaceways, power unlimited in the guise of man! Once again, he is the Silver Surfer!



Rising above the riot, he declares that this conflict has gone on far too long, and too much precious blood has been spilled. He condemns this violence, and denounces everyone there - policeman and peasant alike. They should end this conflict at once or suffer irreparable harm to their country and kin! The people listen to him and slink away - how easy it was to stop his insanity, now that he once again wields power! How easy, too, to mend what was broken… He heals Inga, who is confused at the silver man carrying her. He tries to explain that he's always been who he is now - his power had simply been taken by Doom, that's all. Fearfully, Inga tells him she needs to go - she has to reach the safehouse before the police hunt her down again! The Surfer promises her he can keep her safe, but she just tells him… not forever. As she sets off, the Surfer acknowledges that she's frightened of him… they all are. Once again, the Surfer is alone, as this is the price he must pay for what he is.

The Surfer spots a distant shape descending towards the castle, and recognizes the figure as Doom. Suddenly, he begins to understand how his power was returned to him - Doom must have reached for the stars, and found his match in the barrier that enforces his exile. Even Doom cannot vault the will of his creator, Galactus! He flies over to Doom's crash site, and the fallen monarch wonders if he's come to gloat, to see him humbled. The Surfer says he bears no ill will for what Doom attempted, and seeks no revenge - once again he is power incarnate, and above such base emotions. Doom shrewdly observes that that's not why he doesn't lash out at him - he should be truthful, if only to himself. It's because Doom, of all men, now has any idea of how empty the Surfer feels… since he feels the same!

As he flies away from Latveria, the Surfer muses to himself that he was cast into a role unsuited to him - with no power to act on his own behalf. Now, he can shoulder his role as protector with new resolve - with new appreciation for the plight of the helpless! Doom muses to himself that he was cast into a role unsuited to him - a victim of might without purpose. Now he can use his own devices to destroy the Fantastic Four - and enjoy his triumph when it finally comes. Ascending further into the sky, the Surfer declares that no more he will seek release from his fate - never again shall he wish to become what he is not. He's seen the turmoil and strife that attend such desires, and does not wish to see them again. Now and forever, he shall be what the galaxy demands of him - the Silver Surfer!

Rating & Comments



'Remix' is a correct description - these two issues are only tangentially related to the original Silver Surfer Saga in that a few similar moments show up at various points, but everything else is pretty different. Especially where the Silver Surfer is concerned, this entire story is new, featuring a more involved adventure for his unpowered self. Doom's part in things is also expanded, but I feel there's some lost potential in having the two of them basically avoid each other entirely for the vast majority of these two issues. That said, their stories are clearly meant to be a sort of mirror of each other, and there is a denouement at the end which ties them together thematically.

The story starts in a very similar fashion to the original Silver Surfer Saga - Doom plays up his 'good monarch' stuff way too far, and the Silver Surfer goes along with his boasting, mostly just to see if he's finally found a human he can respect. The Surfer comes off as quite bigoted and misanthropic here, insulting humanity as a whole, which is presumably because this is him in his early days, shortly after getting trapped on Earth. That said, he very much appreciates Doom's love of art, as he's got cultural artifacts displayed all over the place, some of which are millenia old. He even restores an ancient scroll, though I have to wonder if that's something a museum would actually appreciate - isn't the damage part of an artifact's long history too? Seems rude to do that without even asking…

Doom goes by 'Doom Rex' here, which is a new title for him - it's latin, meaning king, ruler, or monarch. The order in which he keeps using it bring to mind Théoden King from the Lord of the Rings, which is ordered that way because in Old English the title came after the name. 'Rex' may be most familiar for the Tyrannosaur with that designation, the Tyrant Lizard King. I'm not sure if Doom can't decide on what he wants to be called, or if he just occasionally changes it so he can be adulated in a brand new way, but there you go. Doom lays on the 'I am a servant of my people' talk pretty thick, and given later events he was clearly bullshitting about his vaunted ideals here, but at least his technology is just as good as he claimed. Having his own private satellite is par for the course, but it's a nice confirmation that Doom already has a space presence at this time, given the 'Doombot in space' storyline I've covered before.

Stealing the Silver Surfer's power is handled pretty similar to the original story too - Doom doesn't have the same device to do the job, but he still proclaims that the Surfer lost his rights to his powers by wasting them, and Doom will prove himself worthy. Which doesn't seem to be the case, because Doom almost immediately starts laying waste to his own capital's streets, before moving on to do random acts of violence around the world in a fit of mad glee. Let mankind tremble before the unstoppable might of Doom, and all that. Doom gets an almost demonic look while channeling the Power Cosmic, with fiery smoke-billowing eyes, sharp fangs on his mask, and spikes all along the sides of the Silver Surfer's ordinarily smooth board. The power clearly went to Doom's head, and in his enthusiasm about finally being nigh all-powerful, he can't help but go on a wild killing spree - same old, same old.

The Silver Surfer's storyline, meanwhile, is basically completely new - he didn't escape in the original tale, nor did he lose his silver skin or meet any rebels. Here, we get a little more insight into the inner workings of Latveria, with Doom holding at least some rebels captive inside his own castle, and maintaining a contingent of guards to keep an eye on them and chase them down if they ever tried to escape. This isn't entirely new ground, since an escaping rebel was caught by Doom and some Servo-Guards in Fantastic Four v1 #84, which was only a year or two after the publication of the original Silver Surfer Saga. The rebellion referenced by Inga is probably the same group that's behind the eventual coup attempt starting in Astonishing Tales #1, the one featuring Rudolfo Fortunov and his ilk. It's notable that the rebels have maps of the castle, which would explain how the man from #84 manages to find his way out, too. This whole concept has some Rogue One vibes, which is amusing since that wouldn't come out for years yet…

Since this takes place during the era when Latveria was still a full-on police state out of 1984, instead of the more nuanced portrayals from later years, the instant response from the guards is pretty expected - though we might assume they are all robots, given that they were a pretty consistent element of Doom's forces in other issues from this time period. While the cops originally only go after Inga, the Surfer's interference gets him targeted as well. Then the Surfer starts berating the cops for their heavy-handed tactics and sets off a riot against the cops, which baits out violent reprisals by the armed peace-keepers, making everything a hundred times worse. For all that the Surfer disavows violence, he was quite quick to take out his guards to escape, and now he accidentally whips a crowd into a frenzy… He turned what could have been Inga being recaptured into a bloodbath, and I have to question if he even realizes what he's done. He might complain about being powerless later, but he still caused this.

After gaining the Silver Surfer's powers, goes off on a parade around the world doing crazy nonsense - but not until after he calls up Reed Richards and intimidates the Fantastic Four with a dramatic computer-golem. Neat! Doom soon realizes that gaining these unfathomable powers also healed his face - he's once more unscarred beneath his mask! He's free! This is quite reminiscent of Secret Wars, where much the same happened after Doom received the powers of the Beyonder. While Doom still darkens London to position himself as a terrible star in its skies, and then buries Honolulu in waves of polar ice, it seems something is gnawing away at him at the same time - something which becomes more clear in the second issue. There, while playing Jurassic Park with some bones, Doom wonders why he suddenly has this urge to create things, rather than his first instinct which was to destroy - he finds himself bored with death. How could he be Master of the Earth, as he originally intended, if he's not focusing on that task with all his might? The question clearly torments him…

Doom decides to consult the person he trusts most - and that's his late mother, who's still stuck in Mephisto's realm at this time since this takes place a long time before Triumph & Torment would come out. Although Doom isn't sure if he really summoned her spirit, or just some facsimile of her that's telling him what he wants to hear, the shade of Cynthia von Doom instructs him to be true to his nature, and he decides to go with that advice. Doom interprets this to mean that he should return to the path that he was originally on, to crush the world under his booted heel, rather than changing his ways in accordance with his new cosmically-influenced mindset. For a moment, he decides, he forgot who he was - Doom the merciless! He's not an impersonal force of nature, nor dispassionate, he's Doom! The scars on his face reappear to reflect the marred soul behind his mask. Very cool detail, there!

Doom follows up this revelation by challenging the Fantastic Four - and he completely annihilates them without even the slightest effort on his part. Taking on each of them in turn, he wipes them out in quick fashion - he rips the fire-resistance from the Torch and sends him plummeting to his death, then removes the animate nature of Ben's rocky form, and drops Sue from a great height while invisible so nobody can see where she'll land and catch her. They're cruel methods he's using to get rid of them, but effective. While Reed tries for one last gambit, using a device quite similar to the one he used in the original story to try and depower Doom, here it's not a trick at all - it's just a failed strategy that Doom easily throws off like everything else. He then eviscerates Reed to such a horrifying extent that he's draped across most of the city, stretched beyond breaking and quite dead. It's the most efficient final defeat of the team that Doom has ever managed. And yet…

And yet… Doom isn't feeling it. After the Fantastic Four are quite firmly dead, Doom muses that while he definitely humbled and exterminated his rivals, he thought he'd find more joy in it. Strangely, he just feels hollow after that victory - for all his power, it doesn't seem like it fulfills him. I wonder if Doom reconsiders his previous conviction here, realizing he can't be the same Doom the Merciless anymore, because Doom heals his rivals back to hale health, asking himself what the point was of killing them if it left him feeling so empty. He elects to seek out the challenges of space instead, displeased with how easy and without satisfaction this power makes everything on Earth - very much in keeping with previous times when Doom conquered the world and gave it up because it wasn't as he expected. When Doom finally hits the barrier in orbit and is faced with the unfathomable power of Galactus, it's almost like he's relieved to be freed of that burden - he was invested with enormous power, yes, but he was denied what he wanted most, and the frustration and sense of loss that came with it was felt to his core…

The Silver Surfer, meanwhile, lies wounded in the midst of the violent riot he started, with the dying spy he freed at his side, when his power returns unexpectedly in the wake of Doom's defeat. He immediately turns around to condemn the cops and rebels for the violence and denounces everyone there - including the people who he basically spurred on into going against the guards. Bit rich, bit 'both sides' if you ask me. The people slink away in the face of his power, fearful of getting annihilated by space lasers, which includes Inga who understandably gets freaked out when her rescuer turns out to be a god-like chrome-plated alien with a surfboard. Whatever connection they shared as normal humans, clearly Inga wasn't ready for this level of crazy, and immediately sets out to get herself to safety. The Surfer responds with a 'woe is me! rant. When does she not?

The final conversation between Doom and the Surfer lays out the theme of these two issues in explicit terms. The Surfer claims to seek no revenge against Doom for the theft of his powers, to be above such base emotions, but Doom says it's because he now knows what it's like to be the Silver Surfer. To have that power, and to feel that empty inside. The Surfer doesn't feel the need to stick around and explore these ideas, he just flies off with renewed resolve to use his powers to protect people, now that he's keenly aware what it's like to be helpless. Doom, meanwhile, acknowledges that having enormous power isn't worth much if you lack purpose, if you just end up unsatisfied with everything you do. He'd much prefer to achieve his goals by his own power, rather than relying on short-cuts.

I'm not sure if the characterization of Doom here makes total sense. Stealing power from the gods is something Doom does regularly, to the point that it's one of his defining tactics - at various points he steals power from the Silver Surfer, Galactus, the Beyonder(s), a Watcher, even that witch in the recent Thor issue I covered. It's never the power itself which bothers him, though, but the lack of challenge that comes with it. He inadvertently set the heroes against him in Secret Wars because he can't fathom not having anyone to challenge him, he gave up rule of the world because he got bored with how easy it all was in Emperor Doom. Here, it seems like that's exactly how things are turning out… but then he sees himself as a victim of 'might without purpose?' But it's not that he didn't have a purpose, it's just that the pursuit of those turned out to be too easy. Should have said might without challenge, perhaps? It could also just be that the Power Cosmic comes with this dispassionate inhumanity as a package deal, and that's what bothered Doom there, which I could also see as an explanation. He was losing grip on who he was, which is why he found himself trying to stay in touch with his family, his goals, his scarred visage.

As a whole, I'm not entirely sure why these remixes were made - I don't think they necessarily improve the original comics, since they leave so much stuff out. On the other hand, I did think it was good to give Silver Surfer an actual plot of his own rather than leaving him locked in some dungeon for the entire duration, and giving Doom a more creative redesign rather than just going with the usual look was pretty cool. Doom gets to be a badass throughout these comics, and the dramatic fight scene against the Fantastic Four is awesome. It's weird how this period in the late 90's is just filled with throwback comics - I guess they were really yearning for a return to form after the 90's onslaught of, you know, Onslaught. Gotta say - this is another pretty cool read. Four stars, again? More likely than you think!

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



I like how Doom reflects by literally looking at his own reflection in the silvery surfboard he's riding.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"Do not let my title fool you, my friend. I am less a leader than my people's humble servant."

"You wasted your power, demonstrating that you are unworthy of it. But I will prove myself worthy. Oh, how I will prove myself worthy! Now, it is I who wield the Power Cosmic! Never before has a human being been so invincible - so vastly an inutteraby superior! Let mankind tremble, for Doom has attained power without limit - power enough to subjugate the Earth and everything on it! ALL HAIL DOOM!"

"Behold the new sun that soars in the heavens! Gaze upon the great and terrible star whose name is DOOM! As your skin blisters and sears and cracks in my deadly light... tremble before me, and pray hard for the fall of night!"

"I have made the improbable a reality. With les than a thought, I have done what only a god could. I have thrown nature into tumult. I have gutted the laws of physics. The Earth herself is wild-eyed with fear, wondering what I will turn my hand to next. But she need not wonder much longer. For soon, I will be ready to put my power to the ultimate test - the annihilation of the accursed FANTASTIC FOUR!"

"For a moment, I forgot who I was. I imagined myself a force of nature, impersonal and dispassionate. But I am neither of those things. I am and always will be... Doom the Merciless! Marked by a soul as scarred and disfigured as the reflection of my own face. Forever, Doom the Destroyer!"

"The Fantastic Four... humbled and exterminated. Strange... I always believed I would find joy in such a victory. But I cannot. It is hollow, somehow. For all my power, I cannot seem to please myself. There is no one who can stand against me, no challenge great enough to test my mettle. Then what was it all for? Let it all be undone! Let everything be as it was! Such is the command of Doom Rex!"

Doom: "Come to gloat, alien? Come to see Doom humbled?"
Silver Surfer: "I bear you no ill will for what you attempted. I seek no revenge. Once again I am power incarnate. I am above base emotions."
Doom: "That's not why you don't lash out at me. Be truthful - if only with yourself. It's because of all men, only I have any idea how empty you feel... since I feel the same."

"I was cast into a role unsuited to me - a victim of might without purpose. Now I can use my own devices to destroy the Fantastic Four - and enjoy my triumph when it finally comes."

 

[Roarian]

Variant 08: What If… (1989-1998) (Part 5)

Covers

Neither cover displays Doom this time around, though the second at least prominently features his presence on the cover in the form of a text box. I'm not sure what to make of the titles on the cover - those aren't what the stories inside are called, so I guess it's just the cover creator's idea of what it could be called? In any case, the first cover seems like a pretty horror-themed take on the Fantastic Four, what with the ghost-like Invisible Woman, the almost possessed Johnny, snarling Ben with creepy teeth, and malevolent Maker-like Reed in power armor. The second just depicts the Black Knight, the character that's it features as well - I'm not too familiar with him, and I have no idea how Doctor Doom intersects with him. As far as I'm aware, they have never met.

Story Overview

#89 - The Fantastic Farce

'What If?' eventually dropped its early trend of the Watcher actually explaining what the divergence point is, but it becomes pretty clear that we're going way back here, since this comic starts with the initial mutation of the Fantastic Four in their ill-fated rocket launch. The story is told by Reed from seven years on, reflecting on how arrogant he was to put the bragging rights of winning the space race over the lives of the three most important people in his life - Sue, Johnny, and Ben. Ben had tried to warn him that the cosmic rays were an unknown factor they couldn't prepare for, but Reed thought he knew better as a world-renowned astrophysicist and thought he had all the answers. He had something to prove. But as those same rays eroded the rocket's shields and the craft plummeted earthward, he realized he was wrong…

The landing of the rocket seems to have gone considerably worse in this version of events, which means everyone is knocked unconscious and Reed doesn't wake up until a full-scale rescue operation is already in progress. EMTs with radiation suits are sifting through the ship's wreckage, only to discover its crew in more dire straits than the rocket itself. Several of the EMTs, speaking in a foreign language, bring asbestos blankets to try and save Johnny from his thermodynamic trauma, as he's still on fire while lying on the ground. They also determine that Sue's cellular structure is rapidly degenerating - her very body has become opaque! (I think they meant the opposite of that.) Ben has become a lump of rocky matter - never have they seen a case of epidermal calcification so extreme - it's doubtful he'll survive the night!

Reed watches on as Ben gets pulled from the wreck with a crane, still too groggy to discern the meaning of the words the people are saying - or what language they're speaking. While EMTs drag Reed out of the flames by his stretchy arms, he sees that other members of his crew are put on stretchers and covered with shrouds. 'Noooo!' he cries in horror - in his selfish quest to be the first human being in space, he's sentenced his friends to death! He will never see them again except… except in recurring nightmares! The final panel lingers on the insignia emblazoned on the shoulder of one of the EMTs - a yellow shield with a red chevron across it, and three orange hands…

Seven years later, we see Reed's modern state - he's sitting by himself in the dark, depressed, and thinks to himself that some days he's convinced the entire world has gone insane. On other days, he's sure he's gone insane himself - who can tell anymore? He's wearing a robot suit of some kind, covering up all but his face, seemingly to control his stretching powers. Reed is soon retrieved by a military man who scoffs at the man's 'condition', this hyper-elasticity. For all he knows, it's just some ploy to get his hands on that Stark International Exoskeleton Prototype he's wearing - so he can pilfer that for his terrorist masters too! Another guard asks Reed if he really expected to steal a government-funded rocket without raising at least a couple of eyebrows. Or were the four of them stupid enough to think they could pull a fast one on Uncle Sam? His comrades got what they deserved, he believes - and how Reed managed to survive is a mystery. His guess? Reed betrayed them just like he betrayed his country. And to think… people used to consider him a national hero!

Reed is led into a courtroom where many people are already jeering about the 'turncoat Judas', calling him a sell-out, a traitor. The judge calls out that this is the case of the United States versus Dr. Reed Richards, and Mr. Matt Murdock is representing the prosecution. Matt explains the case, as he sees it - seven years ago, Reed and his compatriots broke into a government-sponsored space and aeronautics facility with the express purpose of purloining an experimental test rocket for terrorist activities. This Fantastic Farce, engineered by Richards himself, was intended to murder his oldest friend, and soon-to-be brother-in-law and, contemptible as it may sound, his very own fiancée. If it pleases the court, he'd like to call the first witness - Dr. Richards' former lab assistant, and a man who can testify to his premeditated treachery… Dr. Cornelius Hauptmann! (He seems familiar.)



Hauptmann gets to the stand and is asked to recollect instances when Dr. Richards openly displayed support for nations hostile to the United States. Hauptmann explains that Reed often expressed his desire to share his inventions and their applications with nations other than the United States - he claimed that they were the only ones who could appreciate his 'genius.' Reed's representative, Foggy Nelson, thinks this doesn't look good for him, while Reed snarls that he never said anything of the sort like Hauptmann claims - can't he see he did all of this for his country? Months later, after what many call the 'trial of the century', the jury reaches a verdict - for the charge of treason against the people of the United States, the members find the accused guilty. For the charge of involuntary manslaughter, guilty. Dr. Richards is remanded to the Ravencroft Detention Center of Paranormal Recidivists where he shall await final sentencing. Reed cries out that he did this for America, but is dragged out in disgrace. He never did any of those things, he argues - why won't anyone believe him?

There's a flashback to a time before the launch - Ben is arguing about the mission, saying it's suicide, that nobody's done enough research into the effects of cosmic rays. Sue argues that if she didn't know any better, it's almost like he's scared - a coward! Ben furiously stalks out, declaring nobody calls him a coward - go get that ship! He'll fly her - no matter what happens! Reed muses that Sue sure knows how to present an interesting argument. Sue chalks it up to her 'feminine charm.' Reed is worried Ben might be right, but Sue convinces him everything will be fine - he's always been her Mister Fantastic, so she believes in him…

Back in modern day, Reed is back in his cell when he hallucinates hearing a familiar voice, and demands to know who's there - what do they want from him? Why won't they leave him alone? That's when Sue materializes in his cell, transparent and floating, wondering if it has been so long that he doesn't even recognize her anymore. It's her - it's Sue! Reed rejects that notion - it can't be, she's dead! He's going mad! Sue tells him he's not crazy - the aftermath of the crash, and the alleged deaths of the team, that was all part of an elaborate conspiracy to keep the four apart. It took Sue years to do it, but when she found out the truth, she escaped. Her body became so intangible that the enemy could no longer keep track of her, and she found someone who could help. Just like Reed is going to!



Sue grabs onto Reed's robot-enhanced hand, and he wonders what she's doing. She tells him to just trust her, like she always trusted him - the two of them will need to be completely invisible if they're ever going to sneak past the prison's guard towers. Sue uses her powers to render both of them intangible, and moments later the alarms start going off as the prison becomes aware of the breakout. Reed asks Sue how she's even doing this, and Sue explains that ever since the accident, she's been even to make herself, or anything else she touches, disappear with but a thought! The only problem is that, when she lets go of something, it just becomes visible again. Reed acknowledges this and says he'll be careful not to let that happen - after which he immediately trips and lets go. Doh.

Reed becomes visible on the lawn surrounding the prison, and the guards almost immediately spot him and shout that he should give himself up - running is just going to make things worse! He's giving the guards all the reason they need to put a bullet in his skull! Sue fires bolts of invisible energy to knock the man back, then grabs Reed again and drags him through a nearby fence. Reed wonders, after seven years alone in Ravencroft, where he can even go? They'll just hunt him down again. Sue tells him not to worry - she's made some friends who can guarantee that the authorities won't catch up with him for a long while…

Later, after they safely move away from Ravencroft, the two arrive back at the original rocket crash site - the place where Reed lost Sue, or thought he did. Sue explains that she's been with him every day since they met - and once she's gone, he'll carry her with him wherever he goes. Reed wonders why she's talking so fatalistically. He thought he'd never see her again, and all of a sudden she appeared like a dream… So please, she shouldn't say goodbye a second time. Sue apologizes, but admits that her molecular structure has been consistently losing cohesion, and it's a miracle she's made it this far. Within seconds, she'll discorporate completely. She just had to see Reed one last time, to tell him she loves him, and that Johnny needs his help. As Sue dissipates, Reed cries out in horror and confusion.



'Life can sure toss a mean curve ball, huh, doc?' says a man from behind Reed, revealing himself to be Nick Fury, though he doesn't introduce himself. He says it's not important who he is, but what he has to say. Johnny Storm is alive, and thanks to that brave little lady of Reed's, he knows that her brother was turned into some kind of living thermal battery - a literal 'human torch.' He also knows who's got him. Among the images shown to him are a headshot of a fire-scarred Johnny, and a familiar insignia. Reed explains that he's seen it before, on the day of the accident. Fury explains that it's Latverian. Reed connects the dots from there - Latverian, and thermal batteries? Sounds like Victor. In college, he met a young Latverian student working on an invention revolutionary for the time - a bio-neural thermal battery.

His name… his name was Doom. Victor von Doom. Intellectually the two of them were peers, but Doom was so arrogant that even the slightest suggestion he was wrong incited him to prove his superiority in spite of the error. His hubris eventually proved his downfall, for when Reed confronted him about several calculations being off by a few decimal points, he ignored the warning and preferred to bend the laws of both science and mysticism himself - only to be horribly disfigured in the subsequent explosion. He was soon expelled, and Reed hasn't seen him since. Not until now, Fury points out. Seems Doom's trying to recreate the same experiment that went wrong for him back in college, and he's using Johnny to do it! That's where Reed comes in…

Fury explains that he's got a Pogo Plane all juiced up and ready to take Reed to Latveria. A deep cover agent behind the lines in Latveria will get him into the royal castle. If Reed brings back the intelligence that Fury needs, he'll see to it personally that he and his friends' good names are finally cleared. Reed wonders why he should trust Fury - if this imprisonment of his was part of some massive conspiracy to discredit and ruin him… then how does he know Fury isn't involved? Fury says that he can't know that, but releasing himself from maximum security prison has just made Reed the most wanted man in the land, and he doubts Reed's got many friends willing to help him right about now. With no choice but to agree, Reed gets into the plane and takes off, while Fury watches him go and wishes him luck. He's gonna need it…

Hours later, Reed lands his plane in Latveria, descending deep into the heart of Eastern Europe without incident, landing in the smallest and most politically turbulent nation there. Reed doesn't trust this one bit - there's something suspicious about violating another nation's airspace unmolested which makes him uneasy. For all he knows that cigar-smoking guy lied to him! He tries to focus, to avoid being paranoid, looking to see if he can find the contact. They have a very narrow window of opportunity to meet. He's supposed to be a burly, red-haired man with a bushy mustache… Turning a corner, Reed is horrified to find Dum Dum Dugan literally crucified against a tree. At the same time a small army of armed guards show up to surround him, led by a familiar face - Hauptmann, who welcomes Reed to Latveria. As he can plainly see, they've been expecting him…


Meanwhile, inside Castle Doom, we see a bunch of scientists attend to Johnny Storm, strapped into a complicated device meant to charge off the Human Torch's energies. Looking on from above, Doom watches on - he's wearing red, instead of his usual green cloak. The thermodynamic converters are turned on, and at Doom's word the machine is activated - flame on! Johnny bursts into flames and howls in agony, experiencing pain he has suffered too many times in his brief life, and he prays it will soon end. One of the scientists tells Doom that Johnny can't take this much longer - in a matter of days his flesh will be completely consumed by the combustion, and he will die. Doom muses that this remains to be seen, and instructs them to ignite him again!

Doom asks the scientists if they've stored a sufficient amount of energy for the next phase of the experiment to proceed apace, but one of the scientists says that they haven't - Johnny just isn't up to the task. Doom asks Johnny if he heard that - he's quickly outliving his usefulness. Johnny just asks Doom to kill him now - he'd rather die than help him! 'In due time,' Doom responds. If his body cannot provide the power he requires, then perhaps it's time he tapped his resilient friend's resources once more? He instructs some guards to bring him that 'thing' from sub-basement six!

In said sub-basement, vanadium-reinforced steel walls have detained a prisoner for seven long years. Several guards approach and speak about what's inside - one heard that the thing can break a man's body in two between its fingers, while another says it's not even human anymore - its skin is denser than granite! Another argues those are just yarns spun by gypsy mothers to keep brats from wandering too close to the castle. The creature inside the cell is nothing but a pathetic excuse for a human being. They open the door and tell Grimm that it's time for his treatment. Ben comes out swinging, but one of the guards quickly slaps a stasis field generator on the Thing's skin and he drops to the floor. That should hold him long enough to haul his rocky behind to the lab!



While Doom watches from up above again, he comments to the strung-up Thing that there are barriers that separate this world - this life - from the next. Thanks to Johnny, he now has the preliminary resource to rupture those barriers. Unfortunately, the supply of cosmically charged energy seething within him is not without limits - and he must have more power! Perhaps this time they'll finally crack that sedimentary hide of Ben's and unleash the power dormant within him! Ben argues Doom is 'crackers', but the monarch argues he's merely determined. The machines are active and Ben lets out a scream of agony. Like Johnny, Ben Grimm has been forced to endure this torture repeatedly for almost seven years now, but if this is the sacrifice he must make to save his friend's life… then it's a torture he will gladly enjoy for seven more.

Hauptmann runs into Doom's room, yelling that he must come quickly - they've captured Reed Richards! Doom grabs Hauptmann by the lapels and lifts him into the air, demanding to know where he is. He should answer, or Doom shall see to it personally that his lineage ends here and now! Learning the cell block number he drops Hauptmann and stalks off, thinking to himself that this years of hard work are about to come to fruition - and his most hated rival manages to escape incarceration! The fates do indeed smile upon him this day…

Reed has been stripped of his Stark-made exoskeleton and dumped into a cell, but without it he no longer has the means to maintain a stable form. How can he help Johnny like this? He's useless! He apologizes to Sue for failing. The door suddenly opens, and Doom steps in, declaring that he can imagine Reed's frustrations, for it appears that the once-mighty have fallen! Furious, Reed tells Doom to gloat if he wishes - but he's going to put an end to this! He tangles his body around Doom's armored self and says that they'll see once and for all how far the mighty do fall! Doom suddenly electrifies his armor and zaps Reed off of him - no one may lay a hand on Doom!



Doom steps away and explains that in exchange for all that he lost because of Reed's meddling, he's devoted himself to ensuring that Reed's is a life fraught with misery. By subtle guile and lever manipulation he's single-handedly turned his entire nation against Reed. Though he denied Doom the opportunity of extricating his mother from her netherworld prison, he has in turn denied Reed of the company of his beloved fiancée and his two closest friends. Reed argues that Victor's intentions may have been honorable with his failed experiment, but his calculations were wrong - that's why it backfired! Doom declares that he's lying - it was Reed who was wrong. Doom's was, and always will be, the superior intellect! Therefore, he shall now exact his final vengeance, and leave Reed to die in the same way Doom has been left for far too long - alone. Doom then turns and leaves, slamming the door shut behind him.

Reed muses that he might be able to get out if Doom is still as sloppy with procedure as he was back in school, but his attempt to go under the door fails because it's electrified. Seems like Victor got more meticulous over the years. Suddenly he hears someone speaking, telling him to quit trying to escape. Who…? The voice tells him that the lasers will cut him in half, just like that. Reed recognizes the voice, now - is that Ben? Enlarging his ear against the wall to hear better, Reed tells Ben who he is, but the guy doesn't buy it - Reed Richards is dead! 'Quit tryin' t' muck with' my head, ya sadist!' Reed argues it's really him. Several attempts at convincing Ben don't get him anywhere, however, since his old friend just thinks it's a trick.

Reed reacts to the word 'rocky' despite that not being said anywhere - an editing mistake, I think. Ben then explains that he's been through the ringe today, and the last thing he wants is to be reminded of the good life he once had. He's nothing but a sideshow freak now. Reed says from the sound of it, being a 'freak' is the least of his problems. Ben wonders if 'Reed' really thinks he's got a handle on who he is? Why doesn't he plop his rocky, orange duff on his couch, Ziggy Freud, and tell him what his real problem is? Reed decides to put it in words that Ben will understand - Benjamin Grimm is a coward! Ben asks him to repeat that, and Reed repeats them again - he's a coward, afraid to face the truth! Just like before the rocket flight Ben flies into a rage, ripping himself free from his restraints and then bowling the entire wall down to get at Reed. Nobody gets away with calling him a coward! Nobody!



Ben is astounded to discover that Reed is really on the other side of the wall - holy mother o' pearl! He looks at the man's flexible, bendable body and asks what they've done to him. Reed explains that the condition he's in is the result of his own failures - god, look at what he's done to Ben, too! He's ashamed to admit it, but thanks to his pigheaded arrogance, he's responsible for what happened to all four of them. He apologizes profusely to Ben for what he's done. They should never have gone into space in the first place. He should have listened to Ben and tacked on that extra layer of shielding! Ben just tells him to forget it - he's just glad to see Reed alive. Ben then asks Reed if he's got any plans for getting out, and Reed points out that given his clearly enhanced strength… they should start with the door.

Ben punches the door open, it's hardly a challenge, but Reed warns him that there will be challenges aplenty once Doom discovers they've escaped! Exiting the door, they're almost immediately faced with half a dozen armed guards that open fire, but Ben uses his body to tank those laser blasts without issue. He explains that he's wanted to go hog wild like this for a long time, but he was afraid of what they'd do to Johnny if he did. Those peashooters of theirs won't do diddley against him, but they sure work wonders in taking out Doom's flunkies! Moments after the last of them go down to their own reflected blasts, the alarms start going off - there's a breakout! Hmpf. Go figure.



While Reed and Ben make their way through the castle, we switch back to Johnny, who's strapped into the machine again. Doom tells his scientists to hurry up - time's wasting. If they are to swing the gates to the netherworld open wide, they must push the body to use his thermal powers like never before! He must achieve nova-intensity flame, even if it kills him! 'Soon, mother!' Doom muses to himself. Soon shall her eternal torment be ended, and she shall be reunited with her loving son once more! Suddenly a stretchy hand snakes its way through the room with the machine and rips several wires free, even as Reed tells him that nobody's going to be dying today!

Doom turns and furiously declares that he's a fool for believing that disconnecting a few random wires will stop him! He is Doom, and he has come too far to see him ruin his work for a second time! He commands his guards to destroy Reed and Ben at once! Ben shouts that the metalhead talks a mean game, but by the time they're finished tangoing with his stooges, his name is gonna be mud… 'cuz it's clobberin' time! He slams his fists into the ground to split the floor open and knock the guards off their feet. At the same time Reed gets over to Johnny, who's glad to see him again. He tells the kid they need to get out of here before… He's interrupted when Doom launches him aside with a hand blast, declaring Johnny is going nowhere. He's waited too long to have his plans thwarted by inferior minds such as the three of them - and their insolence is now going to cost all of them their lives!

Reed calls out to Doom, telling him that obviously Victor blames him for the failure of his first experiment, back in college, and therefore he should be the one to pay the price for it. He asks him to let the others go, and he'll help Victor. Together they could make the experiment a success, and rescue his mother! Johnny ignites and tells Reed not to do it - he can take Doom! \



Doom tells Johnny he treads on dangerous ground, and that if he raises a hand against Doom, he shall not do it a second time. Johnny responds that Doom thinks himself so superior to the rest of the world, but for all his knowledge and power, he still needs a punk kid like him to perform his stupid little experiment. He's unleashed all this cosmic ray energy inside of him, power enough to tear apart the fabric of reality, and now that he's got it, he intends to use it… even if it kills both of them! Reed calls out to Johnny - he shouldn't do it! Reed can help him! Johnny turns to him and says that he's beyond anyone's help now - he should just remember that he doesn't blame Reed for any of this. Why, if they were reliving the day of the launch all over again, he'd still be calling shotgun in the rocket! He tells Reed to take care of himself, then flames on! As Reed yells in horror, Johnny detonates into a Nova-level conflagration, destroying a huge part of Doom's castle in the blast.

Reed doesn't remember much after that - next thing he knew he and Ben were on board the SHIELD Helicarrier bound for the USA. Thanks to the strings Fury was able to pull for them, Ben and he built new lives for themselves in the Nevada Desert, once the nation's top secret gamma radiation test site. He recalls a colleague of his, Bruce Banner, being involved in some such project - but seeing how foul a mess the scientists who were here before him made, Reed doubts such a consummate professional would have been party to such a heinous fiasco. Nonetheless, Reed and Ben have been assigned the herculean task of cleaning up that debacle and purifying the environment in the vicinity. By way of community service, it's actually not a bad job. Not only did it garner him renewed favor with the scientific community, but it provided him the opportunity to finally give something back to the nation.

While Reed is currently satisfied to be doing something for the greater good, he does hope to one day focus on cosmic ray research again - and more specifically, Ben's condition. Because of Reed he's suffered a fate far worse than any man deserves, and he refuses to let a miscalculation on his part, no matter how far in the past, determine the fate of someone dear to him again. We exit on a final shot of Doom's shattered mask laying on the table in front of Reed…


#97 - Last Light

The art on this issue is gnarly. I'm not sure if I really like it, but it's some epic Conan-type stuff, detailed and gritty, and not at all like most Marvel comics. We start on a dark knight, many centuries ago, when she came bearing portents. The winter had laid siege for six months on Garrett Keep in the remote land of Scandia - leaving many sons defenseless and dead, bones rattling in their hollow armor. A widow's keening cuts through the thick evening, and many more would lie dead before the girl's work was done. The world lies in darkness, and Garrett Keep is a feeble light against it all, quickly fading…

Standing beside a celtic cross in a winter storm we find Sir Percy of Scandia, the Black Knight. Eoin Braddock shouts at him, telling him they followed his dream, but all it brought them was death! This was not for his people, for any of them, but for Arthur For his dream! How dare he ask more - he gave his own life! Someone asks Eoin who he's screaming at, and the Black Knight vanishes, a mere vision which says as its last words: 'In the end there is no life… only the dream…' Eoin asks what daemons are out in this storm, only for a man in fancy armor carrying a lantern to appear. He says that he is Eoin's chieftain, Eirik Garrettson! Now, who was he talking to? Eoin says he was just talking to an old soldier's memories. Eirik warns him that strange things walk the land - the people say they see the angel of death flying above the keep on quiet mornings…



Eirik says that this winter is worse than any in the chronicle. Famine, disease. Every night more for the burial pit. The tribe in panic shall scatter to the wild soon… though they will die quicker apart than together here, under his word. The stars bode only an ill doom for them. What have they done to render them forsaken? Suddenly Eoin spots a bolt of purple light in the sky, and warns his lord - a star is falling towards the campgrounds! Men scatter as the bolt of power hits a nearby pyre and explodes, leaving a pair of people standing in its wake - a lady wielding a golden halberd and wearing white, as well as a man in golden armor and a voluminous blue and green cloak, wielding a large purple staff. Hunger and frostbite will make a man see visions and believe in things, so the people there believe these are surely daemons come to claim them. The woman, however, soon proves she's no daemon… by fainting. With her last conscious words she says she comes from the Land of Doom, and she asks for the Black Knight…



The visitors, once searched for food they don't carry, are brought inside. Eoin tells his lord he shouldn't have given the woman sanctuary - it will mean trouble, that much he knows! Eirik tells Eoin to retire for the evening - all this excitement, and he's not as young as he used to be! The old man snarls that he shouldn't be silenced for speaking wisdom! Anything from the lands of Doom will bring trouble like a spring flood! Eirik figures trouble might be preferable to starvation for his people - they know how to fight the sword's edge better than the wind's tooth! Eirik approaches the bed where he put the woman, and Eoin again warns his lord away from her, but he gets impatient and says he won't repeat himself. He should go. He then talks to the girl, who's renewed asking for the Black Knight, and tells her that the man she's looking for is long dead.

This statement wakes the girl up and she jolts up in bed, only to realize she's naked under the covers - her garments, what happened to them? Eirik explains he took the liberty of removing them, as that chainmail she wore would have frozen her. He then explains that the Black Knight died long ago while preparing for the last battle at Camelot for the fabled chieftain Arthur. He stayed here at Garrett Keep to tend to his wife and newborn son, but all three died by the new moon. Most likely it was the work of black magic, as Arthur's beloved 'civilization' was rotted with such evil arts. The woman comments frostily that she thinks he knows little of the arts, then asks to be taken to his chieftain - he and the old scholar she brought would have an audience with him. It concerns the future of Arthur's lands - of Camelot!

Eirik argues that if it's about Camelot, it's of no concern. She snaps that what she speaks of concerns man and his future on this fragile world! She shouldn't speak like this to someone who is his better! She will have an audience with the chieftain, insufferable dolt! (That's… familiar…) Eirik reaches out to cradle the woman's chin and says that he doesn't think he's seen a fire as warm as that light in her eyes this whole winter! He then says he is the chieftain of these lands, this lone keep. Sir Percy, the Black Knight, was his uncle. Tomorrow she can have her audience… with him!

The next day, Eirik takes his place on his throne, surrounded by his subjects on all sides, and tells the girl and her scholar companion to speak fast - the morning snow starts soon. She should come forward and speak. A large horn is placed nearby which calls everyone to this Althing - the place of law - shortly after the feeble Nordic sun rose. For over a thousand years the path of Eirik's people has been decided here - from the beginning to its very end. The scholar speaks for the first time, and says that he comes from the castle of Camelot, now held by the tyrant Doom. His adept liberated him from many years of incarceration, and he comes now on a matter that will affect all mankind. A future that is being destroyed before it ever was! The man pulls back his cloak to reveal a familiar face, decked out with complex steampunk glasses and a metal skull cap with wires attached. Eirik recognizes him as Merlin, Arthur's half-daemon sorcerer… but we might know him better as Nathaniel Richards, Reed's time-traveling father.



'Merlin' recognizes Eoin, Sir Percy's retainer, and mutters that they all grow old - time is moving in a torrent, and they must act quickly! He explains that all here bear witness to this truth. Once, Camelot was a reality - not this song to lullaby children to sleep. Arthur ruled it with a just hand, and it was the man Arthur dubbed the Black Knight that made it possible - with his enchanted sword and the wise hand that wielded it. He was Sir Percy, the buried liege of this very castle, who fell by treachery that he knows the cause of all too well. Camelot was a place where no man needed to fear for the future - neither hunger, disease, nor the elements. And surely this would have been the inheritance of the people here - not living in these wastes on the edge of the world!

But then Doom came, and his now-dead witch-bride Morgan LeFey, who toppled paradise and seized it. From them, and from all mankind! They call Nathan a half-daemon, and it is true that he is not of this place, nor time. Because of that, he knows that if Doom is not stopped, he will next take Scandia, and then the Southern Continent, and even now he is close to regaining that which will let him take all of eternity to come! As Nathaniel conjures images of Doom, and the blast of an atomic bomb, he then follows up with other stories of the Black Knight's glory days, which relights a fire in the downtrodden men of Garrett Keep. Eirik hasn't seen his people so happy in a year - the madman has given them back their dreams. Eoin muses that the man is not mad - the people take to his tales just like they did thirty years back. That light in their eyes - he saw it once in Arthur's eyes, and in those of Sir Percy, Eirik's uncle… And now he sees it even in Eirik's eyes, and he doesn't like it!

Eirik points at the burning fury in the girl's face - in this world of darkness, there might be worse things than Arthur's dream to fight for. Eoin responds that he should know this - for he knows this truer than any man. If they go up against Doom, they shall not come back! Doom is where the dream ends. Arthur could not stand up to him. His own sword arm lies buried on the channel shore with ten-thousand who couldn't! If this Merlin speaks true, wherever Doom is, he seeks that which most assuredly brings death… to everyone!

Far away, on the edge of the Eastern Continent, the English tyrant has completed his mission of genocide. He has crossed a continent, unleashed an ocean of blood, all for a dire quest his men cannot suspect the real purpose behind. Doom stands atop a rocky outcropping surrounded by knights, and tells them to let all that stand in his way collect their due - in the steel of battle and a bed of rotting dirt. So speaketh Doom! Suddenly a hawk arrives with tidings from Camelot. Nearby, one of the men he brought announces that Doom was right about the strange ore in the mountainside - it was where he predicted. And it glows! Doom tells him they'll take it back to England, so Doom can claim his due. Doom then reads the missive, and learns that the magician has taken off… with Valeria. They must hurry back! It's a race, as his enemy gathers their forces somewhere - and the prize is eternity!



Back at the Althing, at midnight, a wolf's howl in the distance does little to deter the shivering, anxious excitement of the crowd summoned by the golden horn's call. Someone asks Eoin what this is about, but he doesn't know. Suddenly there's a voice from the forest. A shadowed figure announces that too long they have lived for hungry bellies, and not for what their heart speaks about. They are proud men, not carrion! There comes a time where they must fight what they believe in! Eoin thinks for a moment he recognizes Sir Percy in the shadowy figure. Eirik steps out of the shadows and removes his helmet, then declares that they should ready the ships - in spring they shall sail for greater glory! To battle! As people celebrate, yelling about glory, and victory, and Camelot, Eirik puts his hand on Eoin's shoulder and tells him he doesn't take this course lightly - he must know will he serve the new Black Knight in this campaign?

Eoin says he's always served the Black Knight. If they go into battle, then so be it! But he'll need his steed! Eoin then lets out an ear-splitting cry, unearthly in tone, and 'Merlin' tells him to get used to it - that's the call to battle of the knights of Camelot! And look who answers it! They shouldn't cower - that flapping is not the wings of daemons - or rather, it is of a daemon coming to serve its master! Here is what they whispered about, their angel of death - it's the Black Knight's dark mount Valinor, a black Pegasus. Where Sir Percy once rode him, men fell! Now let Doom send the forces of Hades against them, they'll be ready…



Scandia slowly gives way to frosty spring. 'Merlin' looks over construction plans for the ships that will take everyone across the water - by the solstice they sail! Eoin is reminded of the old days with Percy along the wicked coasts - he feels young again! Even Eirik is untroubled, and might be smitten with Nathan's adept. She seems smart for one of her sex… Nathan muses that she should be - after all, her mother was Morgan LeFey! Eoin grabs him and shouts that he's a traitor! He dares bring a viper into Garrettson's midst and not warn him? She's surely a spy for Doom! Nathan agrees that she probably is - her mother was a tricky one, and felled him before he knew it. But she did also free him, and now he has the chance to turn the tables on Doom and reclaim his own future. Eoin shouldn't tell his master a thing. After all, distraction was what took the Black Knight last time, isn't that correct? Eoin is appalled that Nathan knows about a sinister past deed of his, and promises he'll be silent.

The world of this age is a place of insurmountable distances - spans of months and years it takes to traverse these lands. The Black Knight's ships are ready in the water, but the forces of Doom are perched on the edge of the channel - to return to Camelot and ready their keep for a savage assault. In an absolutely metal shot, a gorgeously detailed Doom arrives on the back of a heavily armored and decorated warhorse, holding aloft a lantern crafted in the shape of a dragon-skull, flames billowing from its mouth to illuminate the path ahead. Never has he seen so murky a night - the men take it as a bad omen. Bah!



On the morrow they sail for Camelot - his home within this time. He has beaten the fool Nathan Richards - masquerading as that pipe dream called Merlin. They play a pretty game of imposture in this age, but soon it will be over. He'll kill Richards once and for all, and then return to the Twentieth Century. Doom took the man's son, and now Richards took Doom's daughter - his only light in these dark times. Fine. He will take Richards and the turncoat - and extinguish them all! Even Valeria.

Across the world, back at Garrett Keep, Valeria tells Eirik that the feast was merry - she never thought people could be so happy, that she could be so happy. Eirik says that the men are excited to set sail in the morning - most likely to their deaths. Valeria worries about the dangerous road they're going down - perhaps they could have hidden here in safety from Doom, instead of this? She thinks she's… afraid. Isn't he? Eirik says he's not scared anymore, even though he lived his whole life in fear, afraid of the world. But now he feels he finally has control of his destiny. As he douses the last candle, he muses that in this dark, frightening world, he's finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. If tomorrow they die, then so be it - a flame will only burn so long. Tomorrow is dark… but tonight let there be light. In the dark, Valeria speaks Garrett's name…

It's late summer, Camelot. In the brooding heat stands the mightiest army assembled since the glory of Caesar. A knight bedecked in golden armor and wielding a greataxe tells Doom that his men grow concerned and confused over the strange events of the morning. At daybreak, sentries claimed that a knight on a winged steed - far above the range of arrows - poured oil and tallow on the water. Then a torch dropped. One of Doom's men comments that this is beyond his ken - water that's on fire? It immobilizes the ship they're on, sure, but no enemy can approach either! Their ships would be destroyed by that inferno too! Doom observes that these men do not intend to return home on their ships. They will take Camelot, or die trying. The warriors of Scandia are berserkers - animals. When they go to battle, they can only be stopped in death! An unearthly call goes out, and Doom recognizes it - it's the siege signal of Arthur's Camelot. The animals attack!



'For Glory! For Scandia! For Camelot!' shouts the Black Knight as he comes rushing out of the sky on Valinor, while burning Viking ships approach behind him with an army of Scandians, some wading through the burning waters to get to shore with axe in hand. If you imagine the forces of Hades unleashed, screaming for your soul, then you have not even begun to fathom these axe-wielding nightmares bearing down on you! A massive battle breaks out - blood thickens the harbor waters, and bones splinter through the reddening mud. Scandians fall like a wave on the legions of armored guards, and slowly the afternoon of carnage moves up towards the wall of the mighty castle itself. Doom's men are valiant, facing the warriors of Scandia unflinchingly, but all flee the Black Daemon as he comes racing from the sky for their heads! His berserker rage carries him like a killing wind, and he leaves only scream-frozen corpses behind. His ebony sword howls and shrieks, a living and unholy thing thirsting for beating hearts and bared throats. For victory!

Nathan tells the others that Doom has headed to the safety of his castle, while Eoin grabs Doom's right-hand man and crushes his throat. The man tries to tell Eoin that Doom knew, but he kills the guy before he can spill Eoin's secret. Valeria, meanwhile, seems to dance instead of fight, but magic bursts launch people away from her across the battlefield, and she swings a hammer by a chain in her other harms, like poor man's Thor. Eoin turns to her and tells her that Nathan has spotted the devil's trail - it's time to hunt down Doom!



After an eternity, dawn's light comes bloody and brooding over the horizon, and everyone lies slaughtered except the Black Knight. None survived - on either side of the battlefield. Only crows and magots will tell the tales of his final glorious battle for Camelot. Eirik wonders if this victory was worth the sacrifice of his people - why is it so silent, he asks them? How long before the fury of the dead comes to haunt him? Does Arthur's dream keep them warm in the chill of the first morning that they're dead? Here is his kingdom… He turns and realizes in shock that, caught up in his rage, he turned his sword on everyone - even proud Valinor, the steed upon which he rode! Screaming out in horror over the battlefield, no more widows are left to keen for the dead sons of Scandia - only Eirik. Such is the pride and glory that grows only in the field of death. Look upon it and flinch not from the horror only man can craft…

Inside Castle Camelot, Nathan leads Eoin and Valeria down the long steps. Eoin tells Valeria that it's been a long time since he strode through these half-forgotten hallways, and in memory these stones seemed gilded with sunlight's rosy touch. Now they're crumbling under the unforgiving gaze of the morning. His old wounds are clearly slowing him down, so Valeria suggests that Eoin should stay here - she's led him into enough peril, and what lies ahead will not end well. Eoin should be at his master Eirik's side, to protect him. Eoin denies this - he failed his master Percy long ago - he was dear to him, as family. It was Eoin who convinced the man not to go to Camelot, but to tend to his ill mistress instead. He could not abandon his lord mistress this time either - Valeria herself. He would not forgive this old servant…

Nathan yells that he's found it, interrupting their little conversation - 'It's mine!' Here it is, the Time Platform! Entering the next room, the medieval aesthetic is suddenly interrupted by a very sci-fi design, an elaborate and oversized version of Doctor Doom's classic time machine. On the wall beside it, enlarged to huge size, hangs a painting of a stern-faced purple-haired woman - Morgan LeFey, no doubt. Nathan announces that once fixed, this machine will enable him to return to his time, perhaps even to save his son's life! Eoin isn't sure what Merlin is babbling about.



That's when Doom suddenly arrives and addresses the 'misled turncoat' Eoin, of the fallen Round Table! Merlin speaks of possibilities that shall not come to pass! Once Eoin turned traitor, poisoning his mistress, in order to preserve his life and lands. This, Doom once promised him. Thus, Eoin serves Doom - he shall now step aside, for he must take vengeance upon his wayward daughter next!

Eoin throws himself in the way of a finger laser, and his skeleton is briefly visible through his skin before he falls. Valeria catches him and calls her father a monster. Doom - I assume, the text balloon is wrong - says that Richards has poisoned her mind against him. They shall settle accounts soon - but first he has business to settle with Nathan Richards! He holds up the chunk of glowing ore from before, and says he holds the Vibranium Amalgam ore that can be found only under a single mountain in what will one day be his Kingdom of Latveria. Only this will empower the Time Platform that his genius created! But only Nathan's tools and knowledge of chronal mechanisms will enable the machine to run again. Long has it been since they fought and were thrown back into this hoary past - surely Nathan has had enough of these games, like playing out fairy tales - Merlin indeed! They can forget this - forget the past. Nathan has no reason to trust him, since Doom killed his son in the future, and he has taken Doom's daughter from him. But they should work together to return to the future - then there will be enough time to have their revenge!

Nearby, Valeria cradles the dying Eoin and apologizes for what happened. He whispers that she shouldn't cry - he has made amends for his past crimes, now. They all give their life for the dream - that's all that matters. He dies happy, for she has given this knight his dreams back. Eoin then calls out to his king, to Arthur, and tells him he comes to him… to Camelot. Valeria cries over him as he dies.

Nathan agrees to Doom's deal - this is not his time, nor his place. His duty here is done and buried… They reach out to shake on it, and Nathan immediately unleashes some sort of electrical blast which knocks them both back and sends the Vibranium ore rolling along the floor. Doom is amused as he rights himself - Nathan tried to betray Doom! Perhaps he's won by turning Nathan into the kind of two-faced creature he once despised? If only Reed could see this! Still on the floor, Nathan tells Valeria that he never meant to really ally with Doom, or abandon her. He thought, perhaps, that if he took Doom down with him, she and Garrettson might have a chance to live out their dream. Doom says the time for chances is over. He consecrates all of them to oblivion. If Doom cannot have the future, no one shall…!



Suddenly Doom is skewered from behind, a blade slicing straight through him. 'What? It cannot be…' he cries. 'I'm laid low… by treachery… by the Black Knight!' Sure enough, Eirik has entered and used his mighty sword to impale Doom, declaring that he takes these lands in the name of Arthur! Doom, still dramatically mid-dying, says that names - only names - they mean nothing! All have abandoned him - even Valeria. Such is… life. With that, Doom falls to his knees at the portrait of his wife, the greatsword still sticking out of his back. Boy, this is certainly Doom's most dramatic demise…

Eirik runs over to Eoin's body, and laments that he was also taken from him on this dark day - they're all dead. All this blood, and for nothing? This is glorious Camelot? Valeria refuses to let it end this day, and turns to Nathan - did he speak true when he said this device around them could traverse the cruel waters of time? Nathan softly agrees, but says that they must work quickly for… he will soon die! Come, he needs his pupil's help one last time. Minutes crawl torturously by as circuit boards are stained with Merlin's last drops of lifeblood. Nathan asks if the two children are ready - then tells them to get into the square, and to get it right this time! With a Zrrroooom they vanish.

Nathan collapses against the wall after Eirik and Valeria disappear, and he's confronted by Doom - who's somehow still alive, the blade still stuck between his ribs. He asks Nathan what he's done - the two of them will soon die, and all is lost. So why does he waste his time on those savages? 'Lost?' he wonders. No - he sent those two back to the day before Camelot fell to Doom. Eirik will be the Black Knight there to fight him, and Doom shall die under his sword - just as he did today. Camelot will most likely still fall, such is fate, but Valeria already carries Garrettson's child. His heir shall live on to preserve the dream of Camelot, Arthur, the Black Knight - all of it. Doom shall lose both the future and the past - all of it at the hands of his own flesh and blood! Doom screams one last defiant yell to a world he has already lost, one that is already a fading possibility - another 'What If' that shall never come to pass. And so it ends…

Analysis & Comments

#89 - The Fantastic Farce

'Farce' is right! This 'What If' is basically a non-stop barrage of 'everything is just worse for no reason.' We start with the crash - there's no reason given, but it just goes much worse for everyone, so they're all knocked unconscious or severely wounded during the event. Which is more realistic, perhaps, but since they all still get superpowers I'm not sure that really adds much. Afterwards it turns out that Sue's power is much worse in the sense that it slowly kills her and involves her going intangible and basically evaporating instead of just invisibility. Then it seems Johnny's powers basically entail him giving himself burn-wounds and eventually literally exploring when he goes Nova instead of just exhausting himself. And Reed becomes stretchy, but never actually gains the ability to control that very much, so he by necessity uses a robot suit to get around everywhere.

Doom is also, by all accounts, much more evil in this world than his mainstream counterpart. Like, that one will still shoot you, but even he hasn't stooped to 'torturing people for seven years to slowly drain them of power' levels of nasty. Add to that that he somehow engineered for Reed to be sentenced to prison for a crime he only partly committed - he stole the ship, sure, but not for foreign powers - and it really adds up to quite something. It was interesting to see Hauptmann return, though - Cornelius here shares a close resemblance to Gert and Gustav that we've seen before, so he's probably a relative also under Doom's employ, or one of them undercover (though with the same last name, that's not a great cover.)

What's also extremely weird about this issue is that Doom… changes his fashion sense? Like, I'm not exactly sure how this counts as a 'What If?' comic, considering nothing appears to have precipitated all these changes. Since Doom's forces were there to retrieve the Fantastic Four when they landed, presumably he arranged for the accident somehow, or had foreknowledge, which would imply a divergence from canon already. The backstory of his experiment seems identical to canon, however, so clearly the change must have happened somewhere in between the two periods. Which is, of course, not shown. Whatever happened there, Doom randomly decided to make his armor must more similar to the one shown in the Silver Surfer: Loftier than Mortals books, chromed with weird hollow sections cut out of his spiky shoulder pads and a gold-rimmed red toga thing across it instead of his classic cloak. His mask is an ugly snarling thing too, all fangs and big fat eyebrows.

What stood out in this issue is how pointless and random some elements were - Sue breaks Reed out, then immediately dies. Nick Fury arrives as a deus ex machina, but that entire plan is shot the moment Reed even gets into Latveria proper because Doom already knew about it. Doom apparently has a Vanadium-reinforced cell which can keep the Thing contained, but chooses to not use it after it's introduced and instead puts him next to Reed Richards. Literally seconds after telling him he's gonna leave him to die alone. What? He then equips his guards with guns that can't hurt the prisoner they're guarding, and then Johnny suddenly decides to suicide-bomb Doom to get rid of him, and is apparently successful. What are all these plot points?

The only halfway nice plotpoint I saw was that Reed ended up echoing Sue's accusation against Ben that he's a coward to bait out his rage - even if I'm not sure it made sense in either scenario. Sue seems needlessly cruel when she does it, and Reed just randomly starts insulting his old friend in the hopes he'll magically have a way out of his cell, which he had no way of knowing about. There's a weird bit of inconsistency where Reed somehow knows what Ben is going to say later in the conversation, and uses that as his reason for baiting Ben out… it doesn't make sense. It seems to be what's going on there, but that doesn't make logical sense. At any rate, after all is said and done the story ends with Reed exiled to the desert to fix Bruce Banner's problems, and the implication that Doom straight-up died before he ever got to really do much in this story except strut his new, worse costume. Lame!

#97 - Last Light
Now this… this is a whole other kettle of fish. I admit, I'm not terribly familiar with Black Knight comics so I can't comment a lot on exactly what's different here and what's not - from what I understand, a lot of this is basically an AU that takes place decades after the canon comics, so there's not a lot to really learn which isn't explained. The art in this is… gorgeous. Like, it's dark and gritty a lot of the time, but it's also detailed as hell and extremely cool in a lot of the details. Doom gets a badass medieval makeover, with very intricate designs on his mask, way cool riding boots, a warhorse, the works. Even his finger-lasers, constructed with what few supplies he could gather in the middle ages, are intricate and awesome. Really amps this up a bit from just another story!

The actual tale is also pretty engaging - Eoin is the first character we meet, a retainer from what I presume to be canonical comics, an aging man who once served in the time of King Arthur but is now basically exiled to the wastelands of Scandia - an older name for Scandinavia. He's got some bad deeds he's hiding, ones which Doom eventually reveals, and that's what Nathan holds over his head to keep him from informing his lord Eirik Garrettson of inconvenient facts. Nathan is still Nathan in any era, that much is clear. Eirik himself is the man who eventually takes up the title of Black Knight - but with his norse leanings, he is a lot more bloodthirsty and murdery than righteous, even if he fights on the 'right' side of things.

Besides them, another figure to mention is Valeria - yes, this is the second or third time we've seen that name pop up, and it's not going to be the last by a long shot. This Valeria is the child of Doctor Doom and Morgan LeFey - a pairing which, surprisingly, is actually canonical too! We haven't gotten there yet in our readthrough, but it's there! Doom really seems to love his daughter, calling Valeria the only light he sees in this dark age, and even calling out to her with some of his last words - though he does definitely want to punish her for joining up with Nathan. Said 'Merlin' made her his apprentice while Doom was away on a distant trek through Europe to reach Latveria, and she decided to join him in recruiting a new Black Knight to take back Camelot and unseat Doom. Being the daughter of two potent magic-users, it's probably no surprise she has talent! Nathan's own goals are a lot less focused on the castle, and more on what's contained within it - but we'll get there in a bit.

The relationship between Eirik and Valeria in this issue is colored by sexist attitudes of the time period it's set in. Eirik strips her naked without her knowledge, for one, then talks down to her about magic, despite the fact that she's by far more educated on the subject than he is. Somehow, despite his unwanted advances, the two of them do end up building something of a bond - and it's implied and later confirmed that they sleep together at least once, which leads to her becoming pregnant with Eirik's child. I think in part this whole sequence of events seems quick because months pass during the book - due to the sheer length of time it takes to get anywhere with just horses and wagons across rugged terrain, whole seasons come and go from the start to the end of this story. It's actually pretty cool, a weird touch of realism to a story which is otherwise fantastical.

The siege of Camelot is depicted in some glorious shots of the Black Knight charging down on his black Pegasus, and the designs of some armors there are magnificent - Doom himself dons a pair of gold-encrusted spiked gauntlets for the occasion, even. Less impressive are the few panels of Valeria fighting - they're small and somewhat poor depictions of using magic. As Eirik stands alone over a sea of carcasses, you really get the feeling that this was all pointless, just slaughter and nothing else, with literally everyone who could have benefited from the conflict now dead, save Eirik himself. But what's a king without his people? Just a name, nothing else…

I think that it's pretty cool that Eoin gets to make up for his original misdeed - poisoning his mistress at Doom's behest to preserve his own life and that of his lands. Presumably this also caused the Black Knight to stay with him, as mentioned elsewhere, thereby allowing Doom to conquer Camelot whereas he would have failed otherwise. Here, he throws himself in front of Eirik's mistress, sacrificing his life to save her instead of killing her, thereby evening the scales with his previous sin. I'm not sure that's how it works, but it's symbolic! I'm not entirely sure if this means Valeria would have died from that attack - it seems a bit strange that Doom would actually murder her right here, even though he did say he might - but since Eoin's much older and weaker of constitution than her, it was at the very least enough to finish him off. A good knight's death, and he gets some good final lines - it seems the medieval setting helps with those!

Doom and Nathan lore-dump a bit towards the end, and it's nice that we get some explanation for how this whole situation developed - even if just in broad strokes. Doom killed Reed, after which he and Nathan got into a fight which ended with them getting dumped back in time. While in the past, Doom set about rebuilding a time machine to get back, but he lacked some of the parts and even some knowledge required to make it work - possibly he lacks whatever resources he used to make his first, some of which might actually be from Nathaniel since he's a time-traveler too. Thus he set out to Latveria to retrieve a vital element required to run the thing - a Vibranium Amalgam ore which can only be mined under one mountain in Latveria. I'm curious if this is actually canon - is this why Doom invented the first time machine? Is Latveria just Europe's Wakanda, and Doom is hoarding its precious and unique resource?

The death of Doom doesn't make a ton of sense - how did Eirik have the stealth to sneak up behind him when he's lost his flying horse and had to clank down long flights of stairs in his armor to get here? It doesn't make sense, but it's still awesome. Getting stabbed through the chest with a magic greatsword is certainly a cool way to go out, and Doom's dying speech is just great. 'Such is… life!' he says as he claws at a painting of his late wife. He technically doesn't die until the end, so his actual final word is a Vader-style 'Nooooo!' but that's much more generic. Nathan's final plan here is to basically Peggy Sue the situation, sending Eirik and Valeria to Camelot so there will be someone waiting for Doom when he arrives - the Black Knight hat he arranged to be absent the first time around now suddenly has a brother, and one who has already proved he can outwit Doom. Nathan can't know how things will end, but he has a good feeling about it…

Ironically, while Doom gets annihilated out of the timeline here, and probably also killed when he returns to take over Camelot in the repeat timeline, his daughter makes it back as well - and so does his unborn grandchild. This means that in time Doom's descendant shall be the next Black Knight, upholding the dream of King Arthur that Doom so long sought to ruin!

Forsooth! Doom Speaketh:

"Mine was - and always shall be - the superior intellect! Therefore I shall now exact my final vengeance - and leave you to die as I have been left for far too long: alone."

"Let all that stand in my way collect their due… in the steel of battle and the bed of rotting dirt. So speaketh Doom."

"Never so murky a night I have seen. The men take it as bad omen. Bah!"

"Long has it been since we fought and were thrown back to this hoary past. Surely have had enough games - playing at fairy tales - Merlin indeed! We can forget this - forget the past. You have no reason to trust me - I killed your son in the future - you have taken my daughter from me. But let us work together to return to the future - and will have time enow to have our revenge."

"Ha. The jest is good. You tried to betray… me! Perhaps I have won merely by turning you into the kind of two-faced creature you once despised, Nathan. I wish your son Reed could see this. Ha."

"The time for chances is over. I consecrate all of you to oblivion. If Doom cannot have the future - no one shall…"

Doom: [Gets stabbed] "What…?! It cannot be… I'm laid low… by treachery… by… the Black Knight!"
Eirik: "I take these lands in the name of Arthur."
Doom: "Names… only names… meaning nothing… All have abandoned me. Even Valeria. Such is… life."

 

[Roarian]

Fantastic Four 1967 - S1E06 (1967)

Episode Overview

Three Predictions of Doctor Doom

We open in a city that's violently shaking, with loud bangs audible in the background. The camera zooms in on the Baxter Building, then reveals that the origin of these noises is Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, practicing his five-inch punches on a metallic punching bag. Johnny and Reed burst in to tell him to stop causing such a clamor - what's he trying to do, wreck the place? Ben argues he's just getting in his daily practice, and Johnny figures a little heat on the subject will quiet things down. He lets loose a flame which singes Ben's fingers and melts the training bag to slag. Reed impatiently tells them to break it up, just as Sue calls in from the other room - they should come quick!



The reason Sue is calling? Doctor Doom is on the television! His image just appeared in the middle of the race she was watching! The team is floored at seeing Doom alive, and the villain recognizes this - they thought he was done for, eh? They were wrong, he is very much alive! Reed asks what he wants, and Doom declares that it is his prime desire to challenge the Fantastic Four to a duel to the finish! Ben tries to interrupt, but Reed quickly quiets him down. Doom continues, telling the group to mark down the three predictions of Doctor Doom:

"First, I shall remove the heart of the Fantastic Four!​

Second, I shall remove their greatest strength! ​

Third and last, the strongest power will conquer all!"​

​

Ben furiously declares that's enough, and punches straight through the television. With an effect that's actually pretty neat, Doom's image is still there and rises out of the broken TV like he's Samara from The Ring, announcing that they cannot destroy Doom's pseudo-image that easily! The image then vanishes.



In its wake, Johnny wonders what Doom meant by those three predictions. Ben figures he was just bluffing, while Reed is afraid he meant it. Sue, meanwhile, is thinking about how she was supposed to be at the photographer ten minutes ago! Priorities! Should she cancel, she wonders? Reed tells her she should just be careful - and she shouldn't forget the whole team is expected in two hours to receive an honorary membership at the Conference of Peaceful Countries!

Sue is next shown getting photographed wearing a fancy orange dress in front of a plank of wood. The photographer tells her to look a little to the right in - hold on, that's a strangely familiar voice. 'There, that's perfect!' the photographer exclaims as she turns, and the camera pans to show a not-at-all secretive Doctor Doom using a very oldschool dry plate camera to take pictures, using the cloth at the back to cover himself despite still wearing his full set of armor and green cloak. The moment he takes the photo, a spray of strange yellow-green tendrils shoots out and engulfs Sue, tying her to the plank behind her. 'What is this?!' Sue demands. 'Who are you?' With more drama than is really warranted, Doom lifts the cloth covering him and reveals himself, announcing that his first prediction has now come true - he has removed the heart of the Fantastic Four, her!



Sue snarls that Doom will never get away with this - just wait until Reed, Ben or Johnny find out she's missing! Doom figures they'll try and rescue her, which is exactly as he planned. Creating the green plant-like sporoids, the tendrils that are currently holding her, is just one of the many powers with which he intends to defeat the Fantastic Four! The scene shifts to the roof, where Doom uses a lift mechanism to get himself and a bound Sue into a red water tower… which isn't a water tower at all, but actually a hidden rocket ship! Sue asks where Doom is taking her, and he tells her she'll learn in due time, before activating the ship's engines and blasting off!



There's a sudden transition screen of whirring noises and bright colors, before the image resolves into a meeting of the Conference of Peaceful Countries, a knock-off UN. The three men of the Fantastic Four are already present, and wonder where Sue might be - she's never late! A man uses a judge's gavel to call for attention, and calls on his fellow delegates, only to be interrupted. 'Silence!' calls Doctor Doom's voice. 'Silence I say, all of you!' The pseudo-image of Doom suddenly appears on the UN-style world map at the far end of the hall. He introduces himself as Doctor Doom, then immediately insists that unless the room recognizes him as world ruler within forty-eight hours he'll destroy every major city on Earth! He forcefully thumps his fist, and continues: 'With tidal waves!'

Some of the delegates wonder if that's even possible - how could he do it? Doom looks over the crowd and concludes there are those who do not believe his threat. Observe then, on this banner where he now appears… he shall go off and use his powers to bring them a television picture of the Hudson River! Behold his power! With a flick of a switch, his Tidal Impeller can destroy the very building in which they all stand! Several waves crash by a bridge, as Doom explains that he shall demonstrate his power on an abandoned Navy yard! The waves crash through violently, ripping the entire place apart until the image fades back to Doom's mask. He hopes that he's now convinced the delegates of his… sincerity!



Reed says they'll have to stop Doom, and Ben agrees - just one chance for a haymaker, and it's all over! Doom looks down and spots the three sitting nearby, pointing directly at them - it really seems like he's doing a bit of three-dimensional projection here, it looks neat. 'Ah, Richards! Thing! Torch.' Doom felt they would stand in his way, so… he presents to them their partner, the Invisible Girl! He tugs the bound Sue into frame, and reiterates that his first prediction has come true - he has removed the heart of the Fantastic Four! Reed asks what they have to do, and Doom explains that if they want to see their teammate again, they are not to interfere with Doom's plans! Hear again, delegates - there's forty-eight hours to meet his terms. He then bids them… adieu!

Johnny, furious, declares that he's gonna go get his sister, flaming on right there in the room. Ben calls after him, while Reed pulls a fire extinguisher from somewhere and stretches up to blast Johnny with it before dragging him back to the ground. He explains that he and Ben are just as anxious as Johnny to get Sue back, but they have to plan it together!



There's a sudden scene cut, presumably an ad break, and we return to the three at the Baxter Building, with Ben asking if Reed has any idea where Doom is operating from. Reed says he's getting a reading on a strange image - he hopes he's right! Behind them, Johnny says they know he must be working from outer space - if they can locate him, can they even get there before the tidal waves start? Reed declares he's got Doom on the scope, and Ben asks him to put it on the big screen. What's revealed is a large cloud with something hidden inside - an enormous ship! Reed adjusts the readings and burns through the cloud to see what's inside, revealing… actually, isn't that the exact same ship Doom used to land at the airport in the previous episode? Except this one is much larger…

Reed uses his scanner to see the inside, and they see a neat diagram of the entire ship - it's got everything, including the vaporizer that makes the cloud cover which it hides inside! Ben recognizes the shape of that cloud, stating that it's the same as the cloud that's been right over the city all week! Reed agrees, and concludes that Doom's ship is made of anti-radar alloy, but the atomic magnet on their ship should still zero in on it without any trouble. Prepare for blastoff! They quickly get into a small airplane with a cartoonish horseshoe magnet on its nose cone, and Ben proclaims it's time to get that tin-head, Doctor Doom! They zoom off, and Reed announces he's going to turn on the atomic magnet to start the search - they should look out for violent course changes as they switch over!

The ship begins creaking and twitching as the magnet turns on, and Reed checks in with his crew to make sure they're still fine - soon enough Doom's ship comes into view on Reed's scope. Hang in for contact! Reed then straight up flies into the side of the airship, latching on with the big magnet before opening the cockpit canopy so everyone can get out. Ben tears a hole into the paper-thin wall of the airship to get inside, shouting 'It's clobberin' time, Doom!'



Sue hears him shouting and is glad to hear her teammate, just as Reed and Johnny follow Ben inside as well and try to figure out where her voice was coming from - she must be down this companion-way! 'Welcome, Fantastic… Three?' Doom announces with a chuckle, appearing from the other side of the room with a pair of minions that look like crude animation stand-ins instead of actual enemy designs, just vague human-shapes blobs of beige with angry mustachioed faces.

Doom explains that he prepared a reception committee of his sporoid men, and points to one that's holding some kind of weapon - that's a Cosmic Ray Simulator. It's designed to reproduce the exact rays which give the Fantastic Four their powers! When fired, it will dissolve those powers and return them to regular humans - thus, harmless! Ben tells the others to duck behind him, and takes the blast in their stead. Johnny then quickly fires up his powers and figures the vegetables won't like this, burning an enormous hole in the side of the airship and vaporizing the sporoid men alongside it, with the weapon dropping to the floor. Doom legs it in the confusion.



Reed quickly tends to Ben, who took a full charge of the weapon - how does it feel? Ben clutches his head as he feels the effects of the ray, changing him back to regular old Ben Grimm! He's… interrupted, because Doom calls out to them from a nearby television, laughing to himself. So, his second prediction came true - he has removed the Fantastic Four's greatest strength - the Thing is a mere human again! As Johnny and Reed rush off to find Doom's control room, Ben looks at himself and muses that he's back to normal, as he always wanted to be. Doom declares Ben can thank him for that - and he'll even offer the man the chance to escape and go back to Earth! Ben rejects that notion - not while his pals are in danger! 'So be it!' Doom declares.

Doom calls on Ben to watch the monitors - for he has already trapped his famous partners! First, the Invisible Girl! He's put her in a small room with walls that approach from both sides - her force fields will not long hold back their crushing might! The Human Torch - each time he flames, the room spins around him, extinguishing his flame - he's burning up the oxygen in his airtight room! And finally, there's Mister Fantastic himself, sealed within a refrigeration chamber, so that he'll soon shatter like a frozen rubber ball! So, Doom tells Ben, he should enjoy the show… He must leave to contact the Conference of Peaceful Nations. Their time is up, and now no power on Earth can stand in his way!

Ben narrates to himself that his pals can't last long in those traps, and he can't help that as a human! He looks down at the Cosmic Ray simulator and picks it up - this is the only way! Even if it means turning back into the Thing for the rest of his life! Here it goes! He turns the weapon himself and fires, and soon enough the lumpy orange skin of the Thing reemerges, his strength coming back! It's clobbering time, again! Blue-eyed Benji is on his way!



Elsewhere, Doom asks the conference whether or not they've come to a decision, and their spokesman declares that the nations of the world refuse to be ruled by a tyrant such as him! Angry, Doom declares that if they refuse, they shall suffer the consequences. The switch on his Tidal Impeller will send enormous tidal waves over every major city in the world! He then begins a dramatic countdown to pulling the switch, while Ben Grimm sneaks into the room behind him, raising one arm in preparation. When Doom reached 'Two!' he lashes out, smashing the control console beneath Doom's hand into smithereens. It's revealed that Sue is also there, presumably helping him get in undetected, and Doom is shocked. How is this possible?!



Ben says the Fantastic Four have a few tricks too - now they'll take him apart! Suddenly a metal doorway slams down in between the two of them and Doom, much to Ben's consternation. Reed tells him not to break his knuckles on that steel door - the Torch can cut through it for him! Ben announces he can get through it quicker than him, only for Johnny to take it as a challenge and unleashes his fire, only to realize that the door appears to be fireproof. Ben laughs. Reed figures they might be able to locate Doom by checking every one of the ship's compartments on the communication scanner.

He first checks the main inductors in the engine room, which seems to be free aside from more of those sporoid vines, and the master control room is also empty - the ship's on auto. Nothing in the missile room either… Maybe the outside? There's actually a shot which appears to be from in front of the ship, a good view of the bow… There, they spot something opening up on the bottom of the airship - that must be Doom now! What launches from there is, naturally, the exact same airplane that Doom used in the 1966 Namor episode to drag the not-Baxter Building around! Go figure! More importantly, it's pink! The Fantastic Four decide they should go back to their own ship and chase after Doom, as he's still mighty dangerous.



Flying along in their dorky magnet-plane, the Fantastic Four try to find Doom on the scanner, not having much luck - until they see some tiny blips. And they're quickly getting bigger! Johnny points up high and asks what those are? Missiles, Reed announces! The instant the bombs connect, though, they seem to just phase straight through the plane as if they weren't even there! Reed concludes they were phantoms sent to confuse them, and Sue wonders where they could be coming from. A second barrage arrives, but Johnny quickly urges Reed to get out of here - this time they're real bombs! Somehow none of the missiles detonate and Reed gets the plane out of there safely. Ben asks Reed if there's anything on the scope now. No, Reed argues… but what do they make of that one high altitude cirrus cloud up there, in a clear blue sky…?

Johnny concludes Doom must have a cloud-vaporizer on board his spaceship-tender (whatever that means), and they should run him out of there! Reed decides to circle the cloud a few times first, but nothing happens. He then asks Ben for advice, and he notes that during the Great War, he used to bore right into clouds and if there was a Zero in there, he figured if he couldn't get a shot at them, he might accidentally ram them! Reed doesn't really want to ram anyone, but here goes… He steers into the cloud, engulfing them in a thick layer of dark cloud, and soon finds a sign of Doom… Reed then immediately veers downwards out of the cloud again. Ben wonders what he's going to do - rush back in and shoot him down? Better, Reed proclaims - he's going to pull him out with the atomic magnet! He unleashes the magnetic beam and pulls the small plane out of the cloud, but the magnet can't hold it for long and Doom wiggles out of the grip.



The plane then flies off immediately, and Johnny concludes Doom is heading back to his flying fortress! Ben says there's nothing to do but head back and dig him out of that flying tin cigar. As he used to say: 'Tally-ho!' Doom lands back on his airship, while Reed lands his plane back at the same place he left from, warning the others to be careful - Doom has lots of mean toys! Okay, this entire diversion was utterly pointless, wasn't it?

Back on the airship, Doom uses his instruments to watch the Fantastic Four from afar, locating them in the battery room - perfect! Now to release his Super-Electronic Power Spheres! Reed concludes Doom is in one of his minor control rooms, but which one? They must carry out the search with caution! Suddenly several compartments open up around the room and release hundreds of small metal spheres which start to congregate in the middle of the room where the team is standing - this shot is actually in the intro. The implication is that the balls are engulfing the four, though that's not really animated so much as suggested. They're trapped! Doom announces over the radio that he holds them prisoners between his positive and negative energy spheres - and he'll leave them there for the moment.



Ben complains that these king-sized marbles are tough - he can hardly move them! Reed tells Ben to push - he'll get his hand out! Slowly Reed wiggles his hand in between the spheres and stretches out of the ball, then feels his way over to the controls. Helpfully, one is labeled 'Reverse Polarization Control' - presumably Doom got this one from another Doctor? Reversing the polarization of the whole ship might mean that these spheres will release them! In a reverse of the previous shot the balls all fling back where they came from, releasing the four exactly as they were before they got trapped. Ben figures you gotta give it to Doom - he can sure think up the weirdies!



Doom next turns up with a massive turret and shouts that he'll turn the Fantastic Four to statues - with liquid titanium-steel! Reed tells Sue to use her force field, and she quickly covers the team as Doom lobs a glob of glowing metal at the group which hardens into a solid bowl on contact with the energy barrier. Doom is pleased, as the team is now trapped in a steel prison! Now, it's time to proceed with his plan! He shakes his fist at the viewers menacingly...



Inside the hemisphere of metal, Ben tries to punch a hole but manages only to bruise his knuckles. Johnny tries to one-up him, but his fire doesn't work either - this is tough stuff! Reed tells him to stop, as he's using up all the oxygen! Reed studies the floor but realizes it's made of the same special steel too! Ben starts coughing from the thin air, and concludes the bubble they're in is sealed to the floor too - they're trapped!

Maybe not, Reed concludes - he's got an idea! This will strain Sue's powers to the limit, but she should concentrate her force field into one single power ray, and bombard the floor! If she can penetrate it, they'll have oxygen for Johnny to use to burn their way through! Focusing her powers, Sue manages to create a pinpoint hole in the floor. Just in time, too! Sue's exhausted, but Johnny's part is up next, and he uses his flames to painstakingly carve a larger hole so everyone can drop down to a lower floor and to freedom. They've ended up in an armory, filled with guns. Who needs weapons, though? Let's get Doom! Johnny is about to run off when Reed stops him - he's pretty sure the arch he was about to pass through is booby-trapped. Let's test it! Reed holds one of the guns through, and it's immediately blasted - an atomizer ray! It'll turn them to dust if they try to pass!



Reed has an idea - if they're all game. Johnny should burn a hole outside through the skin of the airship, then back into the next room. The Fantastic Four are about to be acrobats! The four quickly help each other move from one hole in the side of the ship to the other, including the impressive feat of Reed and Johnny somehow physically swinging the Thing into the ship! Easy as pie! Having made it into the next room, Ben muses that next time he'll take a taxi. Reed agrees, but figures right now they have a job to finish - let's find Doom!

Doom has apparently spent this time rebuilding the controls for his tidal wave machine, and decides he'll send the first wave to London! Suddenly Ben's hand comes into frame and taps him on the shoulder. 'Pardon me, Doctor Doom,' he says. Doom startles, and turns around, stating: 'Ri-' He's cut-off midway through cursing Reed's name when he's punched out by Ben. Reed then declares that the third prediction of Doom came true: The strongest power has conquered after all! Doom furiously snarls that he refuses to be captured by the likes of Reed, then opens an escape hatch in the side of the airship and jumps out. Reed tries to grab him, but he misses and Doom is last seen falling downwards into the clouds below. 'He'll need his best devices to get out of this!' Ben says, clearly genre-savvy.



Later, back at the Conference of Peaceful Countries/Nations, the spokesman tells everyone that they should now know that the ultimatum of Doctor Doom no longer exists, as his maniacal threats for world domination were thwarted and destroyed by the famous Fantastic Four! There's applause as the Four stand up one by one to be honored for their great deeds…

Analysis & Comments

This second foray into Saturday Morning Cartoon Doom is far more varied than his first - it's decidedly more action-packed and involves more actual conflict than the very meager amount that the origin story episode got, if only because that one spent a lot more time on backstory than actual story. That said… this episode sort of loses track of what it's supposed to be about partway through, and there's some oddball inconsistencies in there which go entirely unexplained. There are also several elements here which are extremely familiar, to the point that I swear I've seen them before…

This episode doesn't waste time before introducing Doctor Doom's dastardly plan for the week - or one of them, at any rate. He uses some variation of long distance image projection to basically put a hologram wherever he wants - it's not just hacking their screen to transmit an image, since he can exit the confines of the screen and react in three dimensions to things that happen around him, which wouldn't be feasible otherwise. And what does Doom do with that technology, which apparently lets him spy on anyone and communicate with them? Threaten the Fantastic Four and then dump some bogus predictions on them, going full Riddler by vaguely alluding to his upcoming plot. And it's indeed very vague - while the first two lines about the heart and greatest strength of the Four make some metaphorical sense, 'the strongest power will conquer all' is decidedly vacuous as statements go. I guess he just means 'then I win?'

Despite getting a direct threat from one of their greatest villains, Sue's priority is to get her photograph taken - by Doctor Doom wearing what amounts to a disguise even Team Rocket would scoff at. I do like the scene in which he captures her, but it is objectively ridiculous that she doesn't notice the armor and green cloak on her photographer just because he's hidden himself partly behind an old-fashioned camera. What's with that, anyway? It's seriously a camera straight out of a museum! Sue didn't think that was weird? I guess photographers can be eccentric. It's funny that Doom's camera is actually a gun which shoots weird plants, though the art is really poor at depicting that. The 'sporoid' creations are only ever green and plant-like in a single shot, while everywhere else they look like someone forgot to color and detail them before the animation was finished. For all I know that's the case, actually…

After an actually pretty inspired 'water tower is secretly a rocket ship' escape, Doom gets really into his predictions and twice explains that his first one came true - he stole the heart of the Fantastic Four! I am slightly bemused that in another issue I just read, Doom calls Ben the heart of the Fantastic Four, but here Sue takes that place. Anyway, Ben goes so far as to call up the not-UN, which are rebranded to the Conference of Peaceful Countries - in much the same way that the X-Men became the Allies For Peace in the previous animation series. He then proclaims he's holding them all hostage… unless he is made ruler of the world! And if they don't, he'll flood the entire world! This is all terribly familiar, isn't it?

This episode, it turns out, is the origin story of that old trope I was wondering about a long time ago - the weird trend that several variant comics included a plot in which Doom takes over the UN, which all definitely shared a common origin but which had never appeared in my readthrough. Spidey Super Stories #9 had this going on, as did the Spider-Man Newspaper Comics of 1977, both of which were published several years after this show was on the air. It seems their inspiration came from here!

When Reed goes to see where Doom has his base - with a space station being a fully accepted possibility - the inspiration for the second half of this cartoon becomes very clear: Fantastic Four v1 #17, or at least its final act. The blimp-like airship that comes into view shares a very close resemblance with the vehicle Doom used in the previous episode I covered, except it's much larger. He later also takes an escape plane which closely resembles the one he used in Fantastic Four v1 #6, as well as the 1966 Namor episode I already covered. It's clear that the visual language of early Doom comics is followed pretty closely here - and hey, this one is actually purple/pinkish again, which makes up for the lame discoloration in that other show. In the comics the Fantastic Four had to find an elaborate work-around to get inside the airship, by temporarily depowering Ben to trick the sensors - the same concept of depowering Ben is still used to some extent, even if the details are different. In both the Four also get trapped in their own traps, if only briefly - the Human Torch's trap is seven the same! That said, the cartoon never actually shows people get caught, Doom just sort of tells Ben they are only moments after they left him. Didn't take long!

A lot of the events inside the airship are new - even if some are inspired by comic scenes. The 'sporoid men' seem a new invention, and while comics Doom has the technology to turn Ben back to human, he hasn't really done that before. Johnny blows up the sporoid men and carves a large hole in the side of the plane, which is a bit confusing later on - he clearly vaporizes a chunk of the floor, but that's supposed to be constructed of some sort of titanium-steel alloy that takes him a lot of concentrated effort to burn through. So why did it work so easily the first time…? Also why would Doom not make the walls of his ship out of the same strong material? Compared to the floors, those break really easily! Other events like the power spheres are reinterpreted versions of comic book events too, though without the original context. In the comics, those orbs teleported you to some kind of prison dimension, after all…

The weirdest section of the entire episode is the extended sideways diversion into a plane chase between the Fantastic Four and Doom, only for him to slip away and just head back to the airship again. Literally nothing changes between the moment they depart from the airship and they return, so it seems an utterly pointless tangent that's just there to pad some running time… but at least Doom's plane was the right color. It's bizarre how Reed seems to be the one flying here, despite the fact that just last episode it was established Ben is a legendary fighter pilot. I guess it's just because this is a weird sciency magnet-plane? It still seems kind of dumb. Hell, could have kept Ben temporarily human so he could apply his learned skills instead of his superpowers here! Lost potential…

It's funny how Doom has his finger on the button twice, but both attempts at flooding the world's cities get interrupted at the last moment by a stealth Thing interrupt, somehow sneaking up on Doom despite his bulky rocky body - perhaps it's because he's mid-villainous ramble both times. Doom at least makes a good effort in this episode - he traps Sue, depowers Ben, sends minions after them, locks three of them in individualized death-rooms that they needed to be freed from by someone else, and then caught them all in power spheres, before covering them in liquid metal so they had to climb across the outside of the ship to get back to him. Doom put in work. His grand plan was ultimately unsuccessful and he should probably not have parked his main base directly above his enemies' city, but he's still being a worthy supervillain. Presentation, you know? I appreciate how the cartoon recreated Doom's escape at the end of Fantastic Four v1 #17 perfectly…

One thing that kind of gets lost halfway through the episode is this whole 'three predictions' thing. It's introduced without much in the way of explanation, as just something Doom does to psyche out his enemies. He specifically calls out the first two 'confirmations' as part of his plot, but then the entire idea gets sidelined because of hijinks, and never really becomes relevant again. Like, Reed mentions the third prediction later on, but it doesn't really make sense in that context either. 'The strongest power will conquer all' is just so generic, right? Unless the idea is that he accidentally predicted that Ben would cause his downfall, but that seems iffy. It seems like it was a superfluous addition to the cartoon that didn't really need to be there, much like that random chase scene in the clouds. It doesn't actually add anything.

There are some open questions at the end of the episode - the Flying Fortress, as it's known in the comics, is still floating during the last shots we see of it. There's still a gun lying around which is capable of turning Ben into the Thing and back again, or canceling out any of their other cosmic ray powers. Doom's control mechanisms for his doomsday weapon may have been destroyed, but the technology necessary to make global tsunamis is apparently ready for use on board that ship, and one decent tinkerer away from becoming reality. Most of those things can be handwaved away, of course - but that gun, that seems important. Ben's problems with his transformations are pretty central to his character, so getting an easy solution would be life-changing. And yet… it just disappears? Reed just saw curing Ben was possible, and heard how Doom did it, but that doesn't lead anywhere? Bleh.

Doom has one more appearance of significance in the 1967 Fantastic Four cartoon - so join me next time as we delve into an adaptation of Fantastic Four v1 #16 - the one that immediately preceded the comic which was adapted here! Are any of these stories in the right order?! I guess we're off to revisit the Micro-World of Doctor Doom…

Favorite Moment of Doom



Doom giving his dramatic threat in the shape of a prophecy is just very extra, and I like that he did it by just transplanting his image into a sports game on their television, and his dramatic counting on his fingers. We get it's you're a theatre kid. Next after that is somehow going undercover as a photographer while in full armor and cloak.

Doom's Bad Animation Day

Those 'sporoid men' looked pretty dire - it feels like they wanted to do more with those, because at one point you see more detailed greenery to represent the same creature, but everywhere else it's just vague yellow tendrils without any detail whatsoever. Lost potential, I reckon.

 

[Space Oddity]

This episode, it turns out, is the origin story of that old trope I was wondering about a long time ago - the weird trend that several variant comics included a plot in which Doom takes over the UN, which all definitely shared a common origin but which had never appeared in my readthrough. Spidey Super Stories #9 had this going on, as did the Spider-Man Newspaper Comics of 1977, both of which were published several years after this show was on the air. It seems their inspiration came from here!

Click to shrink...

Yeah, get ready for a lot of these as you do this. It's a surprisingly popular plot for animated Marvel of the next two or three decades.

 

[daedalus725]

I'm still not used to his weird bug eyed / glasses look

 

[Johnreiter]

It's funny that Doom's camera is actually a gun which shoots weird plants, though the art is really poor at depicting that

Click to shrink...

The 'sporoid men' seem a new invention, and while comics Doom has the technology to turn Ben back to human, he hasn't really done that before.

Click to shrink...

The weird plants and sporoid men are, I think, a very subtle reference to a single panel in Fantastic Four #17, where Doom mentions that if he wanted to he could destroy the cities of the world with giant, fast-growing spores.

In Fantastic Four #23, Doom equipped one of his henchmen with a cosmic ray gun that temporarilly turned the Thing back into Ben Grimm, so we actually know that he was able to do that around this point.

 

[Roarian]

Variant 13: MC2 - A-Next v1 #5 (February 1999)

Introduction

Marvel Comics 2 (MC2) is a creatively named imprint from Marvel Comics whose comic books depict an alternative future timeline for the Marvel Universe. The imprint was spun off from the events of What If? #105 (From February of 1998), which was the first appearance of the character Spider-Girl, Spider-Man's daughter from an alternative future. The MC2 Universe was conceived by writer/editor Tom DeFalco and is set in a world where the first appearances of most Marvel heroes took place fifteen years earlier than in main continuity, so familiar characters are older, and there's a lot of next-generation heroes running around. The goal of the line was to produce comic books that were more accessible to a wider audience than Marvel's main line of books, and weren't entrenched in years of continuity. This idea was later repeated with the Ultimate Marvel imprint. MC2 had an old-fashioned feel, with editorial and story choices reflecting late 80s–early 90s presentation and writing styles.

Three MC2 titles were launched in October 1998 as twelve-issue maxiseries: Spider-Girl, A-Next, and J2 - starring Spider-Man's daughter, a new younger team of Avengers, and the Juggernaut's son respectively. The latter two series didn't last and were replaced by the Fantastic Five, an expanded take on the FF, as well as Wild Thing, which starred the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra. After a deal to sell comics at Target and Kmart collapsed, those two series were quickly canceled as well, leaving Spider-Girl as the only holdout. She managed to stick in there for a long time after the rest of her universe got canned, restarting several times and persisting until 2010, with occasional revivals of the other series as well - most notably the Fantastic Five got another five-part special I'll be having a look at later on. Spider-Girl was then brought back in Spider-Verse stories from 2014 onwards, and then again in Secret Wars, so she's never really fully gone away.



Cover

We're starting off our MC2 coverage with a clear homage to a previous cover, here - this is a variation on the cover of Avengers v1 #25, which was the first canonical comic in which Doom faced off against the Avengers in their own book, even if later retcons ensured it wasn't their actual first meeting. The characters shown here are some of those 'next generation' type heroes - the girl taking Cap's place is American Dream, a cousin of Sharon Carter, while others include a newer generation of heroes like Freebooter, Blue Streak, and Crimson Curse. Most notable is Stinger, the one protecting Doom - she's a grown-up Cassie Lang, the daughter of Ant-Man. The 'Dream Team' is presumably an equivalent to Cap's kooky quartet. The Fantastic Five are mentioned too, a future incarnation of the team which expanded its roster.

Story Overview

Prologue

In the ruins of Doomstadt, the former capital of the Balkan nation known as Latveria… it's a mess. Several soldiers of SHIELD make their way through the rubble-filled streets, and one mentions he can't believe that two men caused all this destruction! The other argues that it's no surprise if you know the two men responsible - it was lucky they confined their battle to Latveria! They're not here to see the sights, though. There's a kid missing, and it's their job to find her. One soldier wonders how a little girl could get past all the perimeter guards, but the other says he's got a two year old back home who could give David Copperfield lessons!

The soldier stops as he seems to detect movement in the shadows. Suddenly an army of quite familiar robots rush out of the dark - where did those come from? The two guards fall back, shooting at the things without much success in taking them out - they have to retreat! They can't help the kid if they're dead! They should move, and warn SHIELD about those robots! The soldiers turn, eyes wide, and one of them sees something up on the ramparts - a figure in a familiar green cloak.



Ohmigosh, he doesn't believe it! It's him! After all these years he's back… he's finally back!

The Gift

A few days later, in the New York City headquarters of the next generation of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, we catch up with some of the new Avengers. J2, the son of the Juggernaut, speaks to Thunderstrike who's sitting behind a computer. He wonders why the latter is studying so much - J2 became an Avenger to avoid homework! He realizes Thunderstrike is actually looking up things about his father - the original hero to carry that name, Eric Masterson. Thunderstrike explains that he's been haunted about something ever since they fought the Soldiers of the Serpent in their previous issue - their leader seemed to know his father, but he can't find any case where they might have met. J2 figures he should forget about it, since the guy was probably just trying to psych him out. Let's go find Cassie instead, and start celebrating the holidays!



American Dream catches up with Cassie first in a nearby corridor, and says she hates to bother her, but she was hoping to get some advice on how to file her reports. Cassie is clearly not in the mood and tells her to just ask her good buddy Mainframe instead, since she doubts he considers their formatting policies a secret. She can have him after she's through with him! Cassie paces into the next room and calls out for Mainframe, only to find him plugged into a computer. She asks if he's alright, and the robot in question - a creation of Iron Man meant to take his role as tech-support on the team - says that he doesn't want to add to her paranoia about how he keeps secrets from the rest of the team, but he routinely plugs himself directly into the communications console. It's the fastest and most efficient method of downloading intel, after all.

Speaking of intel, Cassie wonders if Mainframe's been keeping up with the latest out of Latveria? Mainframe confirms that he has, and concludes she's talking about the unconfirmed reports of Doctor Doom's return. He explains that the UN and SHIELD have already asked the Fantastic Five to conduct an investigation. Cassie wonders why they went to the FF instead of the Avengers, and Mainframe figures it's just that they're more established than the new lineup of Avengers, and have more direct experience with Doom. Mainframe suggests that she talk to them, since her father is about to contact them anyway about the team's recent run-in with the Sub-Mariner. Cassie wonders if Mainframe is even curious about her reasons for asking this stuff, and Mainframe pointedly tells her that unlike some people, he believes they should respect each other's privacy…

Scott Lang, meanwhile, calls up the Fantastic Five and uploads the team's reports on recent missions - wait 'til Johnny gets to the part where Cassie takes on the Hulk! Can you believe she's the same little girl who used to sleep with a Barney doll? Johnny tells him he just had a similar conversation with another friend of his, then asks for a moment as he looks over his shoulder to check on the rest of the team.



Reed and Sue Richards retired at some point, leaving an aged and balding Johnny and a partly metallic Ben to hold the fort for the old guard. Also present are an older Franklin Richards, going by Psi-Lord, as well as Lyja the Skrull and a robot created by Reed to take his place as the brains of the operation, named Big Brain. As usual, Ben is carrying huge equipment around while Franklin helps with his telekinesis…

Cassie walks up behind her dad and is glad to see he's still on the call with Johnny. She greets him and Ben on the phone and asks about their trip to Latveria. Johnny figures it's a false alarm, that some grunt must have been spooked by his own shadow. No way Doom is back - his ego would never allow him to lie low this long! Cassie says that as they must already know, she's been trying to get a Visa to enter Latveria ever since Doom and 'Subby' went ballistic. Is there any chance they'll let the Avengers fill in on this one? Johnny begins to say they were instructed to do this directly by the big guy, but Ben looms over him and pinches him, telling him this would free them up for the other thing. Johnny doesn't get it for a moment, but then goes along with Ben and claims Cassie would be doing them a favor, so he'll clear it with the UN! Scott doesn't really get what's going on here, but after Cassie runs off in excitement, Ben observes that anyone who knows her could guess why she wants to go to Latveria…

Cassie quickly runs to the rest of the team, calling out for Thunderstrike and J2 to saddle up - they've got a mission! When she enters the next room, though, she doesn't find the members in question - but American Dream, Freebooter, Crimson Cruse and Blue Streak are all sitting around the table. 'Oh, it's you!' The people seem a bit miffed that Cassie doesn't appear pleased to see them, and they argue that they're supposed to be teammates!



Mainframe enters belatedly and announces that they'll soon get a chance to prove that they are a team - because they're going to Latveria! Cassie asks after the two missing members, but the robot explains they've already left to celebrate the holidays. Mainframe didn't know about this last-minute mission and sent them home. They aren't necessary, he argues, since the government will only approve them if American Dream comes along. Cassie is not happy since the two of them don't get along, but gets going anyway. Soon the team sets off, and Dream mentions that she's surprised Mainframe decided to stay behind - she thinks he has a weird notion that the team would bond better without him! Blue Streak wonders if they're really going to find Doc Doom - just think what it'll mean to their reputation! Hello, endorsements! Freebooter says they shouldn't spend the money until after they capture him. Plus, there's also this issue of a missing girl, right? Cassie tells the others that this mission is really important to her, and when American Dream asks why, Cassie reluctantly admits he owes her that explanation, at least.

Cassie says that as Dream may already know, she and her father lived with the Fantastic Four for a while - that's what they were still called, back in the day. At the same time, Kristoff Vernard also lived there, a young boy who was a ward of Doctor Doom. He was a genius in his own right, and the two of them grew rather… close… over the years. However, Kristoff returned to his homeland of Latveria when he heard that a war was brewing between Doom and Namor the Sub-Mariner. What happened next… Well, that looming war broke out, and caught between two such powerful forces, Latveria was virtually devastated as those two maniacs tried to kill each other. Doom went M.I.A., and the poor country has become a political football ever since. Unfortunately, Cassie still hasn't heard anything from Kristoff…



Back in the States, Thunderstrike and J2 visit the grave of the former's father. J2 feels very uncomfortable, wondering if Strike wants to be alone - but how can he just walk off when he looks so down? He carefully places one hand on his fellow hero's shoulder as he grieves. Thunderstrike quietly tells his father about how hard he's trying to be the kind of man he was until the end. But life as an Avenger can be really scary at times, even all the time! On the plus side, he helped save some lives, and he's surrounded by people he can count on. J2 suddenly turns from his imposing form back into a regular teenager, and apologizes for running out of juice there. Thunderstrike says his own name - in a very Shazam! fashion - and also turns back to his regular self, and the two of them walk off together to score some pizza.

Some time later, back in Doomstadt, the Avengers make their way through the ruined streets. Crimson Curse laments how much pain and sorrow this land has suffered - she has sort-of magic druid powers, so she's quite in tune with nature. Freebooter explains that the UN has been bickering over the best way to rebuild for years. Dream sarcastically quips that it's a nice place to spend Christmas, but Cassie keeps them on task, telling them to stay focused - according to the briefing, they're about to enter the area where soldiers engaged several Doombots. (Actually they're Invincible Robots, but I'm pretty sure they made that mistake the first time around, too.) If the missing child is still alive, her guess is she's holed up in Castle Doom itself, which thanks to politicians is off-limits even to SHIELD. They should all stay together and keep low, as they have no way to know what boobytraps are still active! With a little luck…

A dozen Invincible Robots suddenly break through a wall to pounce on the team, and Cassie complains she really ought to stop using that word. Time to make like heroes - Avengers Assemble!



Dream asks if she really just referred to them as Avengers, but Cassie tells her to can the chatter and fight! Okay, that sounds more like the Stinger she knows, Dream adds. Blue Streak tries out a new move on her own robot, nicknaming it 'Doomzilla', and she manages to knock its head off. Too bad there's no way to record her super-speed moment for her adoring public! Freebooter uses his extendable pole to vault over a group of bots, declaring he prefers companions of a more feminine nature (oh, brother) and makes sure the robots are close together before shooting an explosive bolt in their midsts and shattering a whole bunch at the same time. Crimson Curse announces that she hates to spoil everyone's fun, but there's no need to continue the battle when it can easily be handled in one blow. She then summons a mighty wind and tears all the remaining robots apart and whisks them away.



Cassie is amazed about this, and admits she never expected Crimson Curse had such raw power! The woman responds that she doesn't like to brag. She also says there may be a more expedient way to enter the castle - the roots of a nearby tree tell of a tunnel network beneath their very feet! If they could find an entrance… Stinger immediately starts blasting the ground and tears a huge hole in the earth, which Dream admits she didn't think Stinger could do. Stinger says that's surprising - she loves to brag!

The team enters the subterranean catacombs, which extend for miles, and start walking. And walking. Blue Streak admits this is boring her out of her blue-stained skull, and she really wants to rush ahead! Cassie warns her that's too dangerous, though - they may have gotten this far unmolested, but there could always be more Doombots ahead. They arrive at a cave-in, and Cassie says she might be able to squeeze through the debris, but the rest of them would have to double back to the last junction and circle around the castle. Dream hears about this 'plan' and wonders if the words 'too dangerous' and 'Doombots' ring any bells? Cassie argues that there's a world of experience separating Blue Streak and herself. She insists she's going in alone, because she doubts any of the others can follow her! Or is she wrong? As she turns miniscule, Dream mutters that fine - she can go play lone wolf. They'll catch up later! As she sets off, Cassie mutters that Mainframe's going to pay for saddling her with these overly enthusiastic wannabes…



Back in the States, Zane and Kevin - J2 and Thunderstrike in their civilian identities - have gotten to the latter's apartment. Zane is impressed by it, saying it must be wild to have your own apartment and be in college! He also admires Kevin's poster of Stuntmaster, Los Angel's main superhero. Kevin goes to feed his cat while the pizza warms up, and Zane notices a pile of unopened mail, and recognizes the sender - Bobby Steele. Kevin confirms that's his stepfather. They were exactly on the best of terms when he left, since he never understood his desire to study art. His mom was always stuck playing peacemaker whenever the two of them knocked heads. Zane thinks that's a waste - he dreams about having a dad in his life, but Kevin has one and doesn't want him. He's a lucky guy - he had a real father who loved him, and now a second one who's at least trying to reach out, judging by all the letters. He wishes he had that option. Kevin asks for advice, and Zane suggests calling the guy up, and wishing him a Merry Christmas…



Back in Latveria, Cassie has made it through the cave-in and into another vast network of empty tunnels, and she's regretting her recent decisions. It's bad enough she acted like a spoiled princess to American Dream back there, but now she's gotten herself lost! She'll just die if the Dream team makes it into the castle before her! She pauses suddenly when she hears a child's voice - she hears singing! She follows the sound and realizes it's being conducted through the air ducts, which means that the singing girl could be anywhere in the system, but at least she's alive! Now she just needs to track that kid down…

For the next twenty minutes, Stinger desperately searches the vast duct-work, and then - finally - she scores. Hooray for perseverance! Cassie quickly realizes that the girl she's been tracking down is not alone, however. Well, well - it appears that the rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated - Doctor Doom lives! In the adjacent room we see the missing little girl look up with adoration at a fully robed Doctor Doom, and the monarch compliments her song - her English is superb! The girl, Greta, explains that the soldiers at the relocation camp taught her. Doom asks if her injured leg still pains her, but Greta responds that his magical machine made it all better!



Greta hesitantly begins to ask another question, and Doom tells her to just ask what she wants to know. Greta says that Doom has been so kind to her, saving her from those nasty robots and fixing her leg, but she's always been curious - why does he wear that scary mask? Doom pauses at that, and says he used to think he had his reasons, but perhaps it's time to put all masks aside… He then reaches up to remove his mask. In the vents, Cassie can't believe he's actually doing it, and muses that legend has it Doom wears that mask to cover a hideously scarred face, but - darn, he's turning away! She can't see his bare face from this angle, but she's got a hunch that…

There's a sudden noise. No! Not now! The rest of the Avengers have made it to the castle too, and they burst in yelling at Doom to get away from the child - she's under the protection of the Avengers, now! Blue Streak just figures they're definitely getting a headline. Doom quickly puts his mask back on and tells Greta to stand back - in their haste to save the kid, these misguided fools may prove to be her greatest threat!



Cassie flies into the room and blasts Dream back before she can smash into Doom, telling her to back off - she won't allow her to attack! Incredulous, Freebooter demands to know if she's lost her mind - he knows she and Dream have been sharpening their claws at each other, but this is ridiculous! Cassie warns everyone that she knows what she's doing, but Blue Streak figures maybe Doom is controlling her. After a moment of quiet, Dream reluctantly decides to hear Stinger out.



Cassie admits to the team that they must all think she's gone crazy - and she'd agree with them, if their target was the real Doctor Doom! But she's betting he's only a stand-in. She's right, isn't she? Cassie turns back towards Doom and removes her helmet, and Doom is clearly shocked. 'C-Cassie?' It appears his earlier statement was correct after all - the time for masks is truly past! Doom once more removes his mask, and reveals that beneath it lies the face - of Kristoff Vernard! 'Hello, angel!' he says. Freebooter incredulously asks whether Cassie's old boyfriend was really Doctor Doom? As Cassie and Kristoff hug, the former admits she wasn't even sure if he was alive, while the latter apologizes for not contacting her - he would have, if it was feasible. Blue Streak, meanwhile, begs for some backstory - could anyone give her a major infusion of explanations?



Kristoff returns to Greta's side for a moment and says that he'll fill them in. He introduces himself as Kristoff Vernard, for those he hasn't met before, an orphan who had the mixed blessing of being adopted by the man known as Doctor Doom. Kristoff saw sides of the man the world never knew existed, a warmth and honor even his armor could not hide - but Doom also truly believed that total and blind obedience was his due. It was obvious even to Kristoff that Doom's arrogance would eventually lead to the utter ruination of their beloved homeland. He asks if the team knows why the politicians have not rushed to rebuild Latveria? Why do they twiddle their thumbs waiting for the robots to exhaust their power? The explanation is simple - they all desire Doom's final legacy to this world - his deadly and unrivaled arsenal! But Kristoff can't… he must not allow such advanced technology to fall into the wrong hands.

Cassie asks what happened to the real Doom - is he… dead? Kristoff doesn't know. Doctor Doom vanished while confronting the Sub-Mariner, and it's Kristoff's responsibility now to dispose of his nightmarish weapons of mass destruction. They must disappear… and so must Kristoff. His existence must never be revealed to those who would even attempt to exploit Doom's terrible legacy! As his only heir, he was given total access to everything he ever created… or even thought! For him, Doctor Doom will never die! Kristoff then steps up to the classic control center from which Doom used to inspect his latest plots, and slowly it begins rising up. He says farewell to Cassie again - she, too, will always remain in his thoughts! After Kristoff vanishes, Blue Streak awkwardly wonders what they're supposed to do now…



Not much later the Avengers make their way back to the outer perimeter, where SHIELD forces quickly radio in that the mission has been accomplished. Freebooter tells them that their men won't have to worry about running any of those robots anymore. The SHIELD Commander is pleased, and tells them they've done nice work - he knew he could count on them to get the job done and bring the missing child home! He then asks Cassie about the other matter. Any unauthorized personnel in the area? Cassie denies seeing anyone else. Suddenly, behind them, a massive pillar of green energy booms up from the castle, vaporizing it in an instant and lighting up even the sky with a high-pitched whine. Incredulously the Commander asks her to repeat that - she saw no one? Then who just blew that place to kingdom come?!



Greta speaks up at this point and says she knows who made the light and snow! It was Father Christmas! She holds up a doll - which is a Santa doll with a green cloak, of course - and says this was his special gift to her, her mother, and all the world! The commander asks the Avengers if this is really the story they're sticking with - that Santa Claus put the kibosh on Castle Doom?! Dream and Cassie's eyes meet, and they decide - yeah, as the kid says, it was Santa. Now let's go home, team! Dream really likes that Cassie's using the word, now. 'Merry Christmas!' she says right back as the SHIELD commander is left scratching his head…



Rating & Comments



I'm not sure what to think about the MC2 universe just yet - I have read a few random Spider-Girl issues before, but this is my first exposure to the new team of Avengers - which come across more as Young Avengers, in that everyone seems to be roughly a teenager instead of fully-fledged and experienced heroes. Some of these characters are good: Stinger makes sense as a future counterpart of Cassie Lang with some of her dad's stubbornness, and Blue Streak is basically channeling Gen Z energy. Others are a little less interesting - J2 gets a book of his own, but he has a subpar design and terrible name compared to his badass villain dad Mainframe really leans into the robotic non-personality, and while Crimson Curse and Thunderstrike have some promise, the latter transforming into a clone of his father is a little odd. As for American Dream… that name is just sheesh, and her whole concept is trying a bit too hard to do the Cap thing again.

The actual story set up here is fairly fascinating, since it relies on some historical events which have never been shown in any comics because they took place before this imprint's starting date. From what we learn, Doctor Doom was pretty much identical to his canon 616 counterpart - he had the whole Kristoff adoption thing, the kid eventually spent time with the Fantastic Four, he met Cassie Lang there and they had this budding romance going on before Kristoff evidently 'died' in his final confrontation with what turned out to be a Doombot. It was a fake-out, but it'd take years to find that out. In this continuity, it seems something went differently, and the two actually did have that romance after they grew up, with Cassie and Kristoff becoming a couple. As for Doom - he ended up in a no-holds-barred beatdown with Namor in the middle of Latveria, and whatever happened - the only one who walked away was the Sub-Mariner.

With that backdrop, we're once again faced here with a leaderless Latveria that's in political limbo, with the UN showing an interest in how things develop but forever delaying rebuilding plans, while SHIELD patrols the borders of Doomstadt, which isn't even the capital anymore because there's barely anything left of it. Harsh. Of course, one of the reasons that the place is still dangerous is the presence of Invincible Robots - though they keep calling them Doombots here, these are clearly the same robots from Fantastic Four v1 #85-86. Fittingly, they're also the ones that the usurper Zorba Fortunov would later use on the populace of Latveria in Fantastic Four v1 #247, so there is precedent for these things being used by others while Doom is not present. That said, they were a lot harder to destroy in the original comics, or the new generation of Avengers have powers that hit a lot harder…

A significant chunk of this comic consists of various interpersonal issues between the Avengers - the team is fairly new, and nobody knew how long MC2 would last, so it makes sense they're slowly adapting to teamwork. Dream and Stinger clearly have a personality clash, and it's clear Stinger and Mainframe have trust issues too. Her and most of the cast, actually. Stinger is just a bit of a loner, isn't she? We even see some of her interpersonal relations with the Fantastic Five - it seems Ben and Johnny know all about her former fling with Kristoff, whereas her father Scott is basically oblivious (and he never did approve of that relationship, anyway.) It's kinda cute that two of the team members are away just so there can be a repeat of 'Cap's Kooky Quartet' invading Latveria, since Stinger goes off on her own eventually. I'm not sure leaving their two heaviest hitters at home was a sensible idea, but there you go…

The side-plot featuring J2 and Thunderstrike on holiday is probably the most heartfelt bit of this whole comic, and one of the only parts that really screams 'Christmas comic' beyond the rather dopey ending. Kevin Masterson's deal seems to be about his relationship with his father, whom he uncannily resembles while transformed into his superhero form. After a visit to the cemetery, the conversation in Kevin's apartment then concerns his relationship with his step-father, and the whole thing gets a bit heavy when he lays out his poor relationship with a step-dad who doesn't accept his interests, and whom he constantly got into fights with in his youth. I'm not sure J2's one-upmanship about having no dad at all is great, though, and the moral seems to be that having a crappy relationship with a parent is still better than none, which I'm not sure I'd always agree with - but at least calling someone to wish them a Merry Christmas is not exactly demanding forgiveness.

The new set of Avengers, meanwhile, do their whole 'assemble!' shtick in Latveria - and can I say it's kind of weird to see New York covered in snow and ice on Christmas but Latveria, deep in Eastern Europe, has somehow been spared any of the white stuff and has green deciduous trees everywhere? I assume Doom built a climate control machine or something to square that circle. The Avengers vs. Invincible Robot fights are a bit heavy on the quips and questionable comments, but there is a nice back-and-forth between Crimson Curse and Stinger when they both show off their powers. The Invincible Robots are pushovers - they don't really even get a hit in, they're just dismantled on the spot, which is a bit lame for what used to be a legitimate threat to the Fantastic Four!

The stupid argument which leads to Stinger going off on her own is very forced, in my opinion - she just suddenly decides to pull rank and abandon the entire team because she feels they're dead weight, even though she just saw one of them kick the ass of a ton of robots, and they all did quite well in that fight. She feels bad about it later, I guess, but my headcanon here is that Cassie actually just hopes she's right about finding Kristoff around here somewhere, and wants that to be a private conversation without Dream or the others present. At least that'd explain why she'd risk going off on her own into freaking Doctor Doom's castle. Even if the guy is dead, that seems like a great way to get yourself sliced, diced, and fried. That guy specializes in making very elaborate death traps for individual people, you know, especially in the era this is emulating!

While it may not seem like it, the whole Kristoff & Greta scenario is quite on-brand for Victor von Doom - he does occasionally like to do the 'shower the random orphan with gifts' PR tour to make himself look good, and he has a soft spot for people in a similar situation to himself in his youth, as demonstrated with Kristoff himself. Generally he does that sort of thing out in the open, though, since half the value is that it makes him look good to his people - so having him protect and heal a little girl in secret is already pretty out of character, and removing his mask on request is doubly so. It's interesting that Kristoff's comment that he thought he had his reasons for wearing one work just as well for Doom as it does for himself - in his younger years Kristoff also wore his Doom-style mask a lot to seem more adult than his childlike frame suggested, to reflect the years of memories that were dumped into his mind.

The twist that 'Doom' was actually Kristoff all along is… not much of one. Stinger randomly began talking about her history with Kristoff earlier in the issue, so seeing him remove the mask here is hardly revelatory - it's not even that we now see what grown-up Kristoff looks like, because we already saw that in the flashback. Kristoff's excuse that contacting Stinger wasn't feasible also seems… thin… given that it's been years, and he lived in a castle filled with Doom's gadgets and a head full of Doom's memories the entire time. He probably could have figured something out. Weirder still is that moments after seeing Cassie again, Kristoff decides that the castle and he must disappear so that nobody can exploit Doom's leftover legacy, and then just leaves. Nobody does anything about any of that - not even Cassie! I am not sure if he's going for the self-destruct plan because the Avengers managed to get inside, or because he was waiting to see Cassie again, it's a bit weird. Maybe it's because that handful of robots outside was the last batch? It's not really elaborated upon… He's also awfully final about saying farewell for a character who shows up in a bunch more issues of this series, heh.

I admit, the final destruction of Castle Doom is pretty awesome, and basically looks as if somebody blasted it from space with a giant laser and just burned it all to slag. From what I can tell though, the green beam is actually some sort of shield - the explosion which takes out the castle is neatly contained by that beam so it doesn't just turn even more of Doomstadt to rubble, though it's a bit too late to care about that. Inexplicably, the final scene suddenly takes on a very wintery feeling - which I conclude is because the weather machine stopped working (hah!) While snow falls, the Avengers decide to go with the stupidest possible excuse, based on the words of a little girl, and leave SHIELD with Santa as an explanation for the giant explosion while they go home for the holidays. Very convincing.

This whole issue is… fine. Nothing too spectacular, and honestly too little Kristoff to really make it worthwhile, but I think the premise of exploring a reality in which Cassie and Kristoff did actually have that foreshadowed possible romance makes a lot of sense! Plus having Kristoff take the role of caretaker of Doom's worldly possessions after his (apparent) demise is pretty logical too. Not that I think Doom is actually dead, of course - I have seen that he has future appearances in this imprint, after all! Three stars for this one, and next time I'm covering an MC2 comic, it'll be a variant of a variant, weirdly enough…

Most Honorable Kristoff Quotes

"I used to think I had my reasons, little one… but perhaps it is time to put all masks aside…"

"Stand back, child! In their haste to save you, these misguided fools may prove to be your greatest threat!"

"The time for masks is truly PAST!"

"It is my responsibility to dispose of his nightmarish weapons of mass destruction. They must disappear - and so must I. My existence must never be revealed to those who would even attempt to exploit Doom's terrible legacy. As his only heir, I was given total access to everything he ever created… or thought. For me, Doctor Doom will never die!"

Doom-Tech of the Week

Most of the technology here is old-school - referencing the very early era of the comics, actually. I suppose the Castle Self-Destruct Device counts, though - whatever that was, it's a big dramatic sky laser worthy of any number of superhero movies.

 

[Johnreiter]

Is it just me, or did Kristoff grow up to look a lot like Victor von Doom did before his accident?

 

[Roarian]

Is it just me, or did Kristoff grow up to look a lot like Victor von Doom did before his accident?

Click to shrink...

It really depends on the depiction - they have similar coloring, based on most depictions, but there's also some similarity to the Richards family - which would make sense if Nathaniel wasn't bullshitting and is actually Kristoff's father. I presume Doom wouldn't have needed to do the whole adoption scheme if Kristoff was actually his biological kid, though.

 

[krinsbez]

It really depends on the depiction - they have similar coloring, based on most depictions, but there's also some similarity to the Richards family - which would make sense if Nathaniel wasn't bullshitting and is actually Kristoff's father. I presume Doom wouldn't have needed to do the whole adoption scheme if Kristoff was actually his biological kid, though.

Click to shrink...

IDK, we know that Doom maintains the right of Dreuit De Seginuir (sp?) when he's a bad mood, so it's possible Kristoff is his and he didn't know.

It's also possible that he was modified via surgery or some weird mad science to appear more Doomlike.

 

[SolipsistSerpent]

and he built himself pocket-sized Doombots in the form of lots of robot heads which act as hunter-killer drones, firing lasers from their eyes at all and sundry.

Click to shrink...

This is probably based on the technology that had his mask by itself come alive and threaten the entire Fantastic Four when they were keeping one as a trophy one time.

I do agree with you that I love Doom's motives here. "Of course the Olympics should be in Latveria! Never mind that it'd be a huge hassle with lots of foreign visitors wandering around, something that I would usually dislike, it's about respect!"

 

[Johnreiter]

I do agree with you that I love Doom's motives here. "Of course the Olympics should be in Latveria! Never mind that it'd be a huge hassle with lots of foreign visitors wandering around, something that I would usually dislike, it's about respect!"

Click to shrink...

Good point. It would actually be difficult for Doom to host the Olympics, for numerous practical and personal reasons. If they had offered to have them hosted in Latveria, he probably would have declined, claiming he was "uninterested in such foolishness" or some such excuse. It was the fact that they didn't even ask that outraged him.

 

[Roarian]

Heroes Reborn - Doomsday (January 2000)

Cover

Doom rises majestically from the water, his arms raised in triumph - he's back from his sojourn to the alien world he shared with Thor, but still not on actual 616 Earth, which all the heroes have returned to. Instead, we're going to revisit the world of Heroes Reborn - and boy, there's a noticeable art shift here, isn't there? The design of the actual cover evokes the design sensibilities of the 2000's - this was the era of big bulky banners on event comics and sleek font choices instead of just sticking with the tried and true classic formula. Your mileage may vary on whether or not you like this look… but it's a breath of fresh air after the 90's. Everyone probably needed a refresher after a lot of those comics, let's be honest. Also say hi to Chris Claremont, best known for his work on the X-Men…

This is part of a set of simultaneously published issues that revisit the Heroes Reborn universe - seven in total, though only three of them actually had continuity and told the same story. The rest are random one-shots, and pretty terrible, I'm told. One of them brings Rebel back so he can be a cowboy. Thankfully, Doom is the common factor between those three issues which follow each other (and he makes a minor appearance in one more.) Next time I'll cover the Ashema issue (and the small role in Masters of Evil) and after that the issue called Doom. Not Doomsday - that's this one. They weren't very original.

Story Overview

A World Untamed

The comic opens in a sizable apartment overlooking the sea. In the old days, the narrator mentions, people would kill for this view. Not to mention the space itself! This loft must have cost some young up-and-coming Master of the Universe a pretty penny. The layout is exquisite, the quality of the furnishings to-notch, it's the kind of place you'd expect to see on the cover of an architecture periodical. All it's missing is personality! The same probably applied to the owner. Designer loft, designed bod, most likely the kind of gal who dealt with every situation by writing a cheque, and who dreamed of the day she could hand even that job to flunky. Too busy to settle down, too committed to care, the key to her life was to delegate everything that didn't relate to business. The narrator hopes it made her happy.

The narrator figures the realtor probably guaranteed her state-of-the-art security, too. Whoever she was, she looked after herself. The junk food stashed away was a treat, and the stash of bottled water a godsend. The narrator even has pretty much the same size clothes as her benefactor, and the outfit has never been worn. It's just the thing for lounging on the veranda and enjoying the sunset. All the moment needs to make it perfect… is someone to talk to. We see our Narrator at last, a young woman with short blond hair who's outside to look across the flooded streets of New York. She introduces herself as Samantha Dunbar - New Yorker, born and bred, back in the days when you could actually walk in the streets of the Big Apple. When the concept of memories and having a past - and even reality itself - actually meant something. Things have changed.



Samantha is startled when there's a sudden violent event up in the sky - light, like fireworks, spans across the expanse. Her first instinct is that it's an explosion - the second, some new super showing off their powers. But then she takes a closer look at the lights, and her blood turns to ice. Imagine if the sky really was a curtain. Now imagine some impossible fire burning holes in the fabric, allowing momentary glimpses of what lies beyond. The last time she saw such a sight was when the heroes left this world for their own. For the ordinary folk who got left behind, that awful flash was the last thing most of them ever saw. Is it her turn now, she wonders, to join her family…? Right at that moment her eyes see something new. Something that's falling out of that psychedelic tear in the sky. It looks like a man! With a huge splash, the figure lands in the flooded streets nearby as the lightshow dies down...



If she'd stopped to think, Samantha admits, she would have stopped, period. It's beyond crazy, but she's following her instincts here, and they've served her pretty well in these past months after the world went to hell. She's still alive, after all, unlike everyone else she knew! Samantha quickly puts on a scuba mask to give her clear vision underwater, then jumps into the drink. Since that falling figure dropped right on her doorstep, curiosity sends her after him to see who he is. He made a pretty impressive entrance - his descent through the atmosphere generated so much heat from friction that the water around him is boiling! Her brain tells her this is her cue to remember what happened to the proverbial cat, and to get back to the surface where she belongs.



Underwater, she knows, is Atlan turf. As far as the Atlanteans are concerned, the only good air-breather is a dead one! As a pair of armored, blue-skinned Atlans approach from behind, Samantha gets her first decent look at the man who fell - no more bubbles obscure him, but how could he have blown off so much heat so quickly? Good lord, is that a gauntlet…?! Sure enough, this is no ordinary man - it's Doctor Doom!



Sam recalls that he was reputedly one of the most brilliant men on earth - some said he was perhaps the most brilliant in all of human history, when that description had value. Before Samantha learned that her entire world, and every person on it, came into existence barely two years ago! That everything she believed about herself, the very bedrock of her existence, was little more than a figment of a little boy's imagination. He created this world - created her - to save his family. And when whatever threatened them was dealt with, they all went home. With nary a thought for the billions left behind…

Samantha begins dragging Doom upwards, out of the water, only for the Atlans to attack - they believe her to be an easy mark. Even wearing armor, they move with casual grace and the unbridled power of sharks, but just because this is their element, doesn't mean they can't be beaten! Pulling out a pair of daggers, Samantha goes to work, slicing at the two and knocking them out with only two hits. Good! But there's no time to luxuriate in her victory - she needs air! She quickly gets to surface level and takes a deep breath, then swims back to fetch Doom, but by the time she gets there the easy escape routes are blocked. Several more Atlans have shown up, and these ones aren't as arrogant as the first pair - they come after her as they would one of their own, which is a pretty fair compliment all things considered. Hopefully it doesn't end up as her epitaph.

Samantha grabs the unconscious Doom by his robe and drags him along inside a sunken Macy's, but she should have known better than to think she could lose them in there. She's more angry at herself than at the Atlans, honestly. This is a stupid place to die, and for a stupid reason - trying to save the life of a man who's likely already dead!



Of course, she wasn't sure about that. 'Might' be dead is a long way from 'is' dead. She's seen so much death already after the city flood, it was like every shark in the world came to feast on the remains. There were more bodies than she'd ever seen, more than she ever imagined. That's when she learned the true meaning of hate, and it kept her warm - kept her alive. She swore then and there that death and her were enemies! That she wouldn't yield anyone to the reaper, not without a fight!

Who's having the last laugh, though? The Atlans manage to rip off Samantha's scuba mask, and drive her into the back of the store. They soon stop attacking altogether - they don't need to. The way her lungs are burning, Samantha knows she's only got another minute tops before she'll drown! The Atlans expect a last, desperate dash for the sky. Instead, she takes the man of metal in her arms, and imagines his lips are those of her sweetheart. She kisses Doom on his mask, giving her love, her passion, her soul, her air. The Atlans she gives only a smile.



One of the Atlans gets greedy, figuring she's as good as done, and approaches with a bared blade, probably confident he could take her head for a trophy while she's still able to feel, to watch. His arrogance… costs him. Doom suddenly jerks awake, his gauntlet instantly snapping the surprised Atlan's neck. As he follows that up by releasing a concussive blast, the barely-conscious Samantha feels a deep-seated pulse of force run through the water, like the shockwave of an earthquake, and hears the sounds of Atlan voices crying out in pain and fury as their warriors are rudely cast away. Then, dimly, she hears a roar that reminds her of the Space Shuttle lifting off, and the last thing she remembers is the sensation of flying. Cool. Must be an angel gathering her up to heaven… How's that for hubris, she wonders? It's actually Doom activating his rocket-boots and blasting out of the top of the Macy's and into open air on a pillar of fire.



As Doom flies overhead with the unconscious Samantha in his arms, taking in the flooded city, he muses that more than just New York must have been inundated - but a rise in the mean oceanic water level of more than thirty meters would flood a substantial portion of the entire globe! Of all the buildings in this city, even this world, it is no surprise to him to see that a specific one has survived substantially intact, however… and it's altogether fitting that he should claim the Baxter Building for his own! Doom lands on the roof and lays Samantha down, commenting to himself that this is a woman of uncommon spirit, to leap into hostile waters to save a stranger. And since she refused to abandon Doom, neither will Doom abandon her! He feels for a pulse, but detects nothing - he must act quickly!

Doom realizes his armor can act as a defibrillator, to provide electroshock stimulus to her heart. He starts shocking her immediatley - no response. Twice - nothing. 'Breathe, woman!' he commands. 'Curse you woman, why won't you breathe?' Is he fighting a lost cause, he asks? Is he too late? No! Doom declares that this is a strong woman, a natural-born fighter, and since she offered Doom her last breath so that he might live, that means she would not surrender - nor shall Doom! Taking off his mask, Doom then performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and commands the woman to breathe once more. To live!



Samantha finally gasps, and turns on her side to vomit out water. She then turns around again and smashes Doom away from her. "You!" she snarls. "Murderer!" Doom incredulously asks Samantha if she's demented as he holds her arms away from him. She should restrain herself - he just saved her! Samantha replies that he killed them, kill them all! Why did the heroes leave? She curls up into a ball, sobbing, and asks why, when they needed them most, did the heroes abandon this world? The people of this world trusted them, and they just disappeared - how could the heroes betray them so?

As she lies there, Samantha remembers sobbing so hard and for so long that death would have been a merciful release. She'd forgotten how deeply she'd been hurt, how much grief she had stored up inside. How terribly raw the wounds still were. Through it all, Doom kneels by her side, his hand clasped in fury - as if the rage and the pain somehow made the two of them kindred spirits. Finally, Doom carefully puts his mask back on…



After Samantha feels more like herself again, she realizes where Doom has brought her. Oh no - not here, anywhere but here! They have to get out of here, they can't stay! Doom tells her she shouldn't be absurd - this venue is ideal for his purposes! It's also haunted, Samantha dryly points out. Doom isn't afraid of ghosts. She's happy for him, but she's not joking! There's something about the Baxter Building that causes even the Atlans to give it a wide berth. These past months there were plenty of folk who tried to settle here, or loot the place. None of them lasted a single night. Doom explains that the building was the stronghold of his greatest rival, so he would expect the defenses to be formidable - but he would also expect himself to be their equal, and more! He lays claim to this building as he does this world, and if any would take either from him - they are welcome to try!

Samantha muses that there's a certain tone to Doom's voice, a look in his eye, that means he'll brook no argument. His world is law, end of story. Truthfully, she was kind of glad about his stubbornness - she would never have mustered the courage to break into this building herself, as she'd seen too many bodies of others who tried. But when Doom said they'd be safe, she believed him. With anyone else, she'd call that arrogance. In him, though, it was more like a statement of natural law.

Inside the building, Samantha and Doom shared introductions, then Doom goes off to the side of the room to reprogram the in-house computer network, while Samantha rests on a nearby bench. Doom asks her what happened on this world after the heroes departed, and Samantha quips that the world as they knew it came to an end. Doom points out he was asking seriously, and she argues her answer was serious - in a way. On the last day she was sailing alongside her family, participating in the 'Around Long Island' race. They'd just cleared Sandy Hook off New York harbor when the Celestial suddenly appeared in the sky. Could you imagine, looking up to behold a being so huge that even though he was millions of miles out in space, he blotted out the entire sky?



Radio reports made no sense - news anchors were babbling about some giant spaceship rising out of the East River, and that the greatest of Earth's heroes - the ones they counted on to defend them from marauding space giants - had gotten on board. Samantha witnessed the lift-off - on the radio, some said the heroes had gone off to save everyone - others accused them of simply saving themselves. Then the sky lit up like she'd never seen before, and it was so beautiful that she'd found herself thinking…was this how God felt, watching the moment of creation? Then the space giant was gone. The sky, the stars, the world… Everything looked like it was back to normal. They thought their heroes had won! Then the radio reported no sign of the starship they'd taken up to space, no further word from the heroes. Had they sacrificed their own lives to save the world?

Samantha prayed that they had not, but none of her family felt much like racing anymore. They turned the prow for home. Things happened gradually after that - she wasn't aware anything was wrong until it was too late. As they approached the harbor, the ocean beneath their keel suddenly began to rise, and they were soon riding the crest of a monstrous wave hundreds of feet high. They hadn't yet topped the ridge, there was still a moment to act, so Samantha spun the wheel hard about to skate down the trailing edge of the wave, hoping there were no more behind it. There was just one wave - but there was a submarine beneath it, and it hit them broadside as they were turning, smashing the boat to kindling. Everyone went into the water.



Samantha clawed her way back to the surface just as the wave reached shore, and she saw the whole of Manhattan spread out before her, even below her - she figured she was dead. If she didn't drown, she was sure she'd be crushed on impact with one of the city's skyscrapers. Instead, she got thrown against a window washing scaffold down along Wall Street, and despite all that happened, she couldn't give up. For whatever reason, fate had given her a chance to survive, and she took it!

Doom comments that such force of will is a rare quality, but Samantha admits that under the current circumstances she doesn't consider it much of a blessing. Doom points out she's still alive - and in this world, that's evidently no small achievement. Samantha admits she doesn't much like this world - that first day, every living thing beneath the twentieth floor died. Does he even know how many millions of people that is? In the months since, things have only gotten worse. It's like a living nightmare out here - the laws of nature have been repealed, and in some places reality itself can be transformed before your very eyes! Doom says that such things do not simply happen, that for every event there is a cause. He will determine what that is, and deal with it! Samantha asks, if he's so gosh-darn impressive, who it was that cast him from the heavens. What makes him think he can make a difference? "I am Doom," he answers.



Doom lays out the facts about Franklin Richards to Samantha, the little boy who wanted only to save his family… by creating this world as their refuge. Why hadn't there been anyone like him to save hers, she wonders? She then notices something strange about the night-time sky, that it's not quite so dark anymore - and that when she realizes that maybe a hero has returned, after all. Better late than never. Somehow, Doom found a way to turn on the Baxter Building's lights! She didn't feel right taking any of the residence's bedrooms, more at ease - at home - curling up in front of the fireplace. But the real truth was that the main lab was just down the hall from there, and she didn't want to be too far away from Doom. Samantha thinks to herself that this building has made him a little crazy - after all, he considered himself superior to the man who built it in every respect, yet at the same time he couldn't help but respect the brilliance, the hardware design, the sheer elegance of the software architecture, the style and sophistication of the rooms themselves…

'Fascinating.' We see Doom studying computer feeds - with a wine glass in hand, naturally. Probably raided Reed's cellar. He figures out that the Baxter Building is a self-sustaining sensor array that's always recording every event in direct proximity. Using those recordings, Doom concludes that his instincts were sound - there is indeed a pattern to recent events in this world. They may appear random, but their cumulative effect is two-fold: to destabilize the biosphere, creating a world that almost seems to be at war with its people, and also to destabilize the social and political fabric of planetary society, in effect casting the populace into an ongoing state of chaos with only the most limited resources to draw on. It's an experiment in Social Darwinism on a global scale, caused by someone who cares nothing for the death and suffering inflicted along the way…



Doom sees that several groups of strangers are closing in on the Baxter Building - they've got visitors. They must be simpletons who believe that Doom wouldn't enable the security systems along with the internal power grid. There's two assault teams - one Atlan, the other… judging by their insignia, they were sent by SHIELD. Doom notices that both groups have been interdicted by streamers of shadow whose substance defies analysis and categorization by the building's systems - black tentacles which surround them where they stand. Could this by the power which supposedly haunts the Baxter Building? And what is its ultimate purpose? To protect this site, or to keep its secrets from being used for the betterment of the world?

As far as he knows, from listening to Samantha, the Atlans and surface-dwellers are bitter enemies. Yet these two teams seem to be working with a common purpose, and they are heavily armed. Whatever agency directs their actions has clearly left their martial prowess unimpaired. They ascend the building's service stairs already, neutralizing interdiction systems as they go - their goal appears as plain as their purpose. No doubt, once they've dealt with Doom, they'll turn their weapons on themselves. No witnesses, no loose ends, very prudent and professional. Clearly, Doom's adversary leaves nothing to chance. Yet what is there in their numbers, or their weapons, or their abilities to make them his equal? Either this mystery foe has no idea who he faces, or believes he knows Doom too well, and assumes that very assessment will persuade him to face this paltry force alone. But Doom is not without surprises himself…

Doom prepares a fancy injector, glowing ominous red, and walks over to the sleeping Samantha and stabs her in the neck with it. 'Awake!' he calls. Samantha, startled, demands to know what that was - what has he done to her? Doom announces that he did what was necessary. Now she should prepare herself, as there is little time. As a consequence, however, he is afraid there will be some considerable discomfort… Samantha asks what he means, just as a spasm of pain rushes through her body and she crumbles to the floor with a scream…



It was as if her scream was a cue. Right as she collapses to the floor, blind with incomprehensible agony, with the sense that each and every cell of her body was being torn apart by spikes drenched in acid, several human and Atlan warriors erupt from the stairwell and attack! Without word they open fire, and Doom blocks their first shots with his personal force field. They then charge him bodily, without a care for their own safety or survival, as though their sheer weight of numbers could overwhelm his defenses. That's when the real fight begins - streamers of absolute shadow poured from the eyes of Doom's assailants, and their intent was clear - to claim his soul, as they had consumed the souls of those warriors! Moreover, against this assault his force field proves suddenly fatally porous!

In all the chaos and confusion, Samantha had been ignored - just another casualty. An ordinary woman, no threat to anyone. Big mistake! A blast of intense energy, of solar fire, suddenly slams into the enemies and scatters them. 'Magnificent!' Doom proclaims.



It's revealed that Samantha is now glowing with ethereal power, and the one responsible for that projectile. She asks Doom why she shouldn't do the same to him? She still burns inside, but now all that tremendous energy has a focus, and an outlet. She just found out she could generate and hurl lances of raw nuclear plasma, the primal substance of the sun itself, and Instinct directed her to throw these spears of fire against the streamers of shadow, and it was like touching a flame to rice paper. They shriveled at the merest touch, and as they were consumed… so too were the poor souls who served as their hosts. 'Well done, my Lancer!' Doom states proudly, granting a superhero (villain?) moniker.



'I'm not your bloody anything, Doom!' Samantha snaps back, and she asks him to explain himself. Doom carefully states that just this once, because of the circumstances, he shall excuse her behavior - but she should not presume such generosity again! Samantha argues that whatever he did, he did it because he needed her. If that is the case, she'll consent to be an ally - but never a servant, never a slave! Doom agrees, and says that in her case, making her a slave was not acceptable anyway. 'I'm so flattered,' she snarks. Doom explains that for reasons presumably relating to the unique origin of this world, its entire population possesses the inherent potential for ultrahuman abilities. The injection he used on her simply catalyzed that potential, awakening her power.

Samantha asks why he did that, and Doom wonders if she really needs to ask - he thought better of her. Samantha summarizes that Doom is new in town, as such, and doesn't really know the turf or the players, and this little fracas tonight makes it clear how serious the stakes are. He can't afford to be vulnerable while he gets himself ahead of the learning curve, so he needs someone to watch his back. Someone he can trust… She guesses she really is flattered, if he thinks of her like that! Doom says she should feel honored, for trust does not come easily to Doom. He prefers to stand alone. Samantha mutters that nothing's stopping him, but Doom reminds her that he is no fool. Her analysis is accurate.

Doom comments that it seems that fate has decreed that he remain in this universe, upon this world, and the reason has now been made abundantly clear. These past few months, some entity or agency has warped and twisted both the world and its people almost beyond recognition.



Powers grants them the right to rule, Doom says, but it also carries with it the responsibility to care for those placed in their charge. That is the ancient feudal covenant between monarch and subjects. For a time, this world was his home - and as his home, it merits his protection. By force of arms, his adversary has staked his claim of sovereignty - and Doom denies it! And in so doing, he claims this world for Doom!

Rating & Comments



You know, this issue almost gave me whiplash with how radically different it is compared to the lion's share of comics I've covered recently. You can tell the stark shift to the 2000's here, I think. It's unusual beyond its modern style, though - not only does it star only two characters of note, with all others being bit-players, but the entire thing is narrated by a nobody guest character that's never shown up before, and the narration is used to set the scene for the terrible consequences of Heroes Reborn - The Return that were never explored in that series. Couple that with some pretty intriguing characterization for our leading man, a great guest-character and some promising scene-setting, and this is a contender. It's not perfect - the narration is confusing because it seems to be temporally disjointed from the actual events, which causes Samantha to comment on things she hasn't actually learned yet, and there's a few moments that make me scratch my head, but on the whole this was good.

I'm impressed by how casually this comic introduces the completely FUBAR world that the heroes ostensibly 'saved' during their return trip to the 616 reality. We find one of the rare survivors of a global disaster eking out a living by mooching on the leftover remains of all the people who drowned in the initial invasion of the Atlanteans, which evidently happened immediately upon the heroes' departure. I guess that's what all the earthquakes and floods and whatnot were about in Return? Though the flooding was more on the 616 side of things, so that doesn't quite make sense. At any rate, Samantha represents a lot of reader opinions at the time, I must assume, who believed that just kind of abandoning the world of Heroes Reborn as callously as they did wasn't right. All the terrible results also make the finale of that event seem off-base - the Celestials seemed pretty content with how things settled down, but I doubt they had this in mind. Ashema, do your job!

Our newly introduced character, Samantha Dunbar, is actually legitimately great. She takes a role quite similar to Volcana or Titania in Secret Wars - someone Doom empowers in order to be of use to him in his designs. That said, she's a bit more than that; since Samantha here voluntarily elects to protect a weakened Doom from some of his enemies and also offers up her last breath to him - which probably wasn't necessary, given that he's got pressurized air in his costume - he feels honor-bound to pay her back. After trying fibrillation and shouting, Doom removes his mask to give CPR because he feels like he's obligated to repay the debt he incurred. The moment she revives, of course, that debt is paid - and given her initial hostile reaction, it seems Doom sort of backtracks on the sheer amount of freedom he's willing to allow her. Technically she wasn't angry at him, really, but trying to punch Doom across the room is still an affront…

The existential angst expressed by Samantha is pretty interesting - Doom evidently informs her about the backstory of this universe at some point, and the realization that the entire world she lives on is a figment of a little boy's imagination is haunting - and that the heroes the world was made for just left, with nary a thought for everyone they left behind. She's also clearly got a death-wish, given the fact that she jumped off a skyscraper into an enemy-infested stream to fish up what's probably a corpse. Also, you know, she punched Doom, which is not a great thing to do if you want to live. Doom constantly talks down to her, but the sheer amount of snark Samantha delivers which he tolerates is pretty neat. That said, since we see most of this from Samantha's perspective, some of her opinions may color what Doom actually thinks about her, and she does regularly insert her own assumptions about Doom's state of mind in there.

I presume that this adventure takes place immediately after the Thor issue I previously covered, which would mean that Doom's entry back into this world was a little rockier than he expected without access to Thor's hammer, which is what he originally wanted to use to travel. The moment he arrives, of course, Doom immediately starts figuring out the terrible situation on the planet which he left behind while still relatively whole. After reviving Samantha, it's interesting that he seems to find some motivation in her desperation, sharing her rage and pain as she describes how the heroes left this planet behind to face the end of times alone. I assume that this moment, right here, is when Doom decides that he's going to conquer the entire planet instead of just returning to Latveria to continue where he left off. He's already deduced that somebody's taken advantage of the situation and put out their own claim for this world, and he's not having it.

It figures that Doom would choose to live in Reed's old home, of course - and Samantha even recognizes that it causes him some pretty severe cognitive dissonance to be in that place, constantly facing evidence of his rival's incredible capabilities but unable to ever admit that any of it is up to his standards, for none can ever be better at anything than Doom. Still, that mental contradiction only seems to spur him on. Samantha seems taken by him, in a sense - Doom's arrogance is enormous, true, but he's also the kind of person where it kind of makes sense. He speaks as if all he states is natural law, unassailable, and he has the intelligence to back up the majority of his boasts, which is the impressive part. He's an asshole, but he's an extremely effective asshole who gets shit done, which is probably what Samantha appreciates more than anything else. Nobody else got the lights back on, you know? Whatever else may pass, Doom's will is made of iron.

Doom uses Reed's old equipment to deduce what nobody else has been able to in months - the world's disasters were engineered, a giant petri dish of social darwinism to see who survives and thrives. Destabilize the biosphere and the political fabric, then see who manages to claw their way to the top, all caused by someone who cares nothing for the death and suffering inflicted along the way. This sounds very much like the work of the Celestials, and given the fact that we know they were involved in this world before, I have some pointed questions for Ashema. What have you been up to, girl? Besides that, there's also threats on a smaller scale - though I'm not sure I really care for the way Doom chooses to handle them. A bunch of Atlan and SHIELD troops seem to be mind-controlled by a Venom knock-off, and sneak up the back entrance… only for Doom to let them up there? He even mentions that he turned the defenses back up, but it looks like they're shitty enough the baddies can just turn them off on their way up. Reed, your stuff sucks, apparently!

What is way cooler, of course, is Doom's actual strategy here - his ultimate gambit. Is it immoral as hell? Yeah. Doom casually overrides Samantha's bodily autonomy and injects her with some kind of catalyzing nanites, giving her superpowers literally seconds before the enemy is blowing in the door. On one hand you could argue this is an emergency and it turns out to be necessary - on the other hand, Doom could have mentioned this earlier. Asked permission. He clearly prepared the syringe, and it's not like Samantha was far away, she was literally sleeping just next to him. Maybe he could have also figured out how not to make it totally excruciating? Morally dubious though it might be, when Doom gets overrun with entirely too many enemies infected with an agent that can bypass his force fields, the newly-dubbed Lancer comes in clutch and gets rid of the thing, showcasing powers that seem almost uncannily tuned to work against this shadow-creature. I suspect that Doom picked her powers, and he had that name ready real quick. Also where did she get that costume? Did the injection come with a wardrobe?

While Lancer is understandably pissed, and there's a pretty fun little interaction with Doom about it, she mostly just wants an explanation for what he did to her - and she actually gets one. It's pretty interesting that everyone on Franklin's planet has the potential for superhuman abilities, and it kind of makes sense - Franklin grew up around people who had that going on, after all, and you have to add the dream/wish-like quality of the world on top of his imagination. I suspect we could even extend this to the people on Battleworld to explain why Doom could so easily empower Volcana and Titania, since it was also an essentially wish-crafted location. More interesting is Doom's motive for empowering her, beyond just getting backup in one battle. He's looking for an ally, someone he can rely on while he's on his own in this world without access to most of his resources. He prefers to stand alone, of course, but he recognizes the usefulness of a capable assistant. That's… pretty new territory for Doom, really. He's had minions before, but this seems to imply that he's seeking for more than that.

To digress for a moment - Lancer is presumably named for the man-at-arms of the Middle Ages, the term for a professional soldier. While the term also encompasses the members of the knightly class, a man-at-arms was not necessarily a knight - they were also men of lesser financial and social status than knights, but were equally trained and equipped to fight on horseback in full armor and with sword and lance, just like their social superiors. According to TVTropes, 'Lancer' is a term for a hero's primary foil, often contrasting with the hero in attitude, and their force of personality makes them a partner or friendly rival of relatively equal footing, rather than a sidekick. That fits the way Doom describes what he wants from her here - even if I doubt he'd ever allow anyone to have actual equal standing.

I have to remind myself that this is the Heroes Reborn Doom we're dealing with, since he never went back to 616, so there's some reason to believe he's never regained his memories like the heroes did. The Heroes Reborn Doom was much more likely to work with people than his mainstream counterpart in recent years, as he cooperated even with Reed and the other heroes on several occasions. If he ever mentions the Knights of the Atomic Round Table, we know for sure! That said, his final proclamation that his reason for wanting to conquer the world is because an ancient covenant between monarch and subjects makes it his responsibility - that is all Doom. This world was his home, it merits his protection, someone else is trying to stake their claim of sovereignty, therefore he must claim it for his own! Simple, nothing megalomaniacal here at all, for sure!

This issue is a weird bottle episode, in a sense - two characters, one of them a newly introduced nobody, and a Doom with a pretty new characterization and a whole new world to take on, since it doesn't much resemble the Heroes Reborn one he left. This feels like someone read the 2099 comics and decided that required a do-over. I mean, there's widespread flooding, Doom setting out to conquer the world, a female sidekick who snarks at him all the time, a shadowy background force manipulating world events, even a barely explained sudden appearance in the middle of nowhere! This issue, though, is pretty nice, and Samantha/Lancer is legitimate interesting - now to see if there's a follow-through. As far as I'm aware this is a three-part storyline, after which the story moves back to 'normal' Earth for a crossover, so let's see how far along Doom's conquering has gotten by then…

This issue would get a pretty average score, if not for the absolutely entertaining snarking between Doom and Samantha - and the fact that she's going to be sticking around for a while to keep doing that. Yes, please! It's also nice to get a fresh shot of Doom-competence here, and some good old fashioned world-conquering after the Heroes Reborn era. I'm gonna give an extra star for giving Doom his first actually entertaining supporting cast member in quite a while.

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



I appreciate this 'Doom vs. the oncoming horde' shot, just before Lancer makes her debut. Wish the middle textbox wasn't there, though.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"This is a woman of uncommon spirit… to leap into hostile waters to save a comparative stranger. As she refused to abandon Doom… neither will Doom abandon her. No pulse. I must act quickly. My armor can act as a defibrillator, to provide electroshock stimulus to her heart. No response. Try again. No response. Breathe, curse you, woman! Why won't you breathe?! Am I fighting a lost cause? Am I too late? NO! She is a strong woman, a natural-born fighter! She offered her last breath, that Doom might live. She would not surrender, nor shall Doom! I command you, woman! Breathe! LIVE!"

"Doom is not afraid of ghosts."

"This building is the stronghold of Doom's greatest rival. I would expect his defenses to be formidable. As I would expect myself to be their equal, and more. I claim this building as I do this world. If any would take either from me - they are welcome to try."

Doom: "For every event there is a cause. I will determine what it is. And I will deal with it."
Samantha: "Just like that? Pardon me for stating the obvious, but if you're so gosh-darn impressive… then who was it cast you from the heavens?" What makes you think you can can make a difference?"
Doom: "I am Doom."

"MAGNIFICENT! … Well done, my Lancer!"

"You should feel honored. Trust does not come easily to Doom. I prefer to stand alone."

"Fate has decreed that I remain in this universe and upon this world. The reason has been made abundantly clear. These past months, some entity or agency has warped and twisted both the world and its people almost beyond recognition. Our power grants us the right to rule, but it also carries with it the responsibility to care for those placed in our charge. That is the ancient feudal covenant between monarch and subjects. For a time, this world was my home. As my home, it merits my protection. By force of arms, my adversary has staked his claim of sovereignty. I DENY IT! And by so doing, claim this world for DOOM!"

Doom-Tech of the Week

There's really one thing to mention here - the Nanite Catalyzer which activates Samantha's powers and thereby turns her into Lancer is the obvious pick. Some of the technology he uses here is technically Reed's stuff, so I don't think that counts.

 

[Estro]

Oh, this is a fun one. This is one of the more fun parts of DOOM when you see him at work, when he's put slightly askew by his own notions of honour and his rare sense of respect.

 

[Johnreiter]

Doom's relationship with Lancer reminds me of bit of the storyline in Super-Villain Team-Up where he decided he needed Namor as a friend and ally instead of a lackey

 

[daedalus725]

The old doom classic. Tempest tossed into a world gone tits up and in need of a savor

 

[krinsbez]

Not keen on Happy-Ending Overrides, I must say.

 

[Roarian]

Not keen on Happy-Ending Overrides, I must say.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, this does kind of come out of nowhere after the finale of Heroes Reborn - there's definitely suggestions that natural disasters are happening there during 'The Return', but they appear fairly minor. The writers never really draw too much attention to them, epecially after the event is done. A couple heroes nearly drown at some point so clearly shit is going down, but nobody mentions it again, so how bad could it have been? Ashema seems pretty much out of the picture at the end of that too, but here she gets her own special, so clearly she's also gotten her happy-ish ending revoked. I wonder why Eternity never interferes, given that Doctor Strange made a deal with him?

 

[Roarian]

Heroes Reborn - Masters of Evil & Ashema (January 2000)

Cover

Two more issues, two more covers which have Doom on them - though you have to look carefully at one of them to find him. On the left, you can see the outline of Doom's eye holes and mouth-grating at the top right, looming over a wanted poster of the 'Masters of Evil' villain team, composed of Whirlwind, Black Knight, Radioactive Man and Melter. The Ashema poster, meanwhile, shows the Celestial in question in both her original giant cosmic robot form, as well as the human shape she took on during Heroes Reborn - The Return. Doom is also present on the cover, just kind of standing around with his arms crossed as if to mirror Ashema behind him. The exact order of these two is ambiguous, but I interpret these as simultaneous - Doom is away from the Baxter Building in both, so that makes sense to me.

Story Overview

Masters of Evil - Battleships Down

The Masters of Evil are back together, and their leader the Black Knight is attempting to become a major player in taking over a world that has been thrown into chaos. To this end, he listens to the prophecies of Bruno Horgan, the Melter, who has been spouting information about upcoming events for unclear reasons - it has something to do with Loki's defeat at the hands of the Avengers. Most notably, he keeps mentioning 'Ashema', as well as referencing dreams about Celestials under the sand. As he listens to Horgan and plays Battleship, Black Knight lays out his megalomaniacal plans of world domination, until he gets a phone call from Whirlwind who is looking for the Atlantean Warlord Krang's ship at Black Knight's command, though something happens on his end and he says he'll have to call back.

Earlier that day, Krang came to the Black Knight to deliver the Trumpet Horn of Atlantis, a legendary weapon that can summon Giganto the giant mutated whale. Krang claims he's handing the Black Knight this weapon as a gift, telling the Knight that his dominance of the surface world plays into Krang's goals. Considering it for a moment, the Black Knight agrees to accept the horn and Krang and his minions leave. In Chicago, Whirlwind and Radioactive Man are tracking down Krang and his minions in order to kill them - clearly Black Knight has no intention of playing nice and intends to betray the Atlanteans before they can betray him first. Before doing so, though, the duo stop in a diner where Whirlwind takes a meal and waxes philosophical with the silent Radioactive Man before a stunned diner audience. Whirlwind expresses his sense of dread that he can feel something in the air that is coming their way, and it's bad karma…

Deep below Lake Michigan, Krang boasts about how he successfully tricked the Black Knight, explaining to his crew that the horn he gave the man will not call Giganto, because that beast was killed, but it will instead summon an army of sea creatures that will flood the rest of the United States. Before they can leave, however, the water inside their craft suddenly begins to boil and they are microwaved alive. Back above the water, it turns out that the Radioactive Man is irradiating the water with his powers. Whirlwind calls in to tell the Black Knight that their mission is a success, but he quickly lets the Knight go and says he'll call back alter when he realizes that the Radioactive Man's powers have also killed every fish in Lake Michigan. Ugh, it stinks!



The Black Knight speaks to the comatose Melter again about his conquest of Chicago, and about how kings are meant to conquer, and how he should take his proper place amongst other kings to fulfill his destiny. In New York he shall meet another king, and they shall divide the world between them! Whirlwind, meanwhile, interviews two new prospective Masters of Evil members: Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo. He's been sent to get those two on board to escort Black Knight on a trip to New York. When the two begin quarreling with each other to demonstrate which one is better, the frustrated and apathetic Whirlwind accepts them both into the group and walks away. Later, at a barbershop, the Black Knight tells Radioactive Man that he suspects that Whirlwind is going to cut out on them, and orders him to go off and kill him while the Knight himself seeks an audience in New York City… with Doctor Doom!

Arriving in New York, the Black Knight lands his helicopter on the roof of the Baxter Building - the irony is delicious, he thinks. He decides that the automatic doors are a sign, too - each of them opens before him, this was meant to be! This is a great day, finally his destiny awaits! Despite bringing two heavily armored escorts, the Black Knight orders them to wait outside while he goes and speaks with Doom alone. The next time they see him, the balance of power in this sad, confused world will have irrevocably shifted in his favor!

The Black Knight enters the next room, a large laboratory with enormous windows looking out over the city (including the twin towers, for a little while longer.) Doom awaits him there, staring outside. Black Knight announces that since Doom granted him passage, he can only assume the man knows who he is, that he heard stories out of Chicago. He should know better than even the Black Knight what has drawn him here, to seek an audience! He takes stock in this world, a world in chaos - a world that Doom now holds in the palm of his hand! The heroes that plagued the villains are gone - perhaps forever. Their abandonment has provided them all with a unique opportunity - complete and total conquest, achieved together! Doom just glares over his shoulder.



Back in Chicago, Whirlwind returns to his hotel room and begins packing his bag, deciding he wants to get out before Black Knight, who's clearly in way over his head, will make shit hit the fan. That's when he suddenly notices the presence of Radioactive Man in his room, there to kill him… Knowing he's outmatched, Whirlwind gives up on escaping and sits down on his bed, telling Radioactive Man to just fry him then - go ahead and put him out of his misery. This life breeds that kind of nihilism. Anyway, they have to ask themselves - what are they doing this for? Money, women, power? They've got all that already - as much as they could ever want. They've got what they always wanted - no more superheroes to keep them locked down. They never considered that when their enemies were gone, the real threat would emerge - each other! And if that's the case, then what's it matter if they live or die? He leaves his fate for Radioactive Man to consider. What's it gonna be…?

Back in New York, the Black Knight retrieves the Trumpet Horn of Atlantis and offers it as a small token - an offering to commemorate the impending alliance, a relic of great importance to the Atlantean enemies, and their possession of it illustrates their dominance over the Atlans! Doom's purpose is crystal-clear to him, he announces, for the Black Knight shares his vision! He knows that Doom is here to claim this world so he can rule it… It's an inevitability, prophesized by one with the gift of insight. He asks for forgiveness for his presumption, but the voice that drives him is not just his own - he has not ventured forth just from his own ambition. Recently, one of his own men retreated into the abyss of his own damaged psyche… but what he brought back has been nothing short of revelatory. Through his prophecies, the Black Knight saw his destiny foretold - he saw the man's place in Doom's new regime. His worlds have given him expansion into the spaced Doom once occupied alone! Now he is here to share the burden of world leadership - and he bows before Doom, his liege! He spoke repeatedly of a word that he's certain only Doom's wisdom could comprehend - 'Ashema.'

Outside the room, Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo find their boots suddenly magnetically attached to the floor - they can't move! Lightning arcs up their legs and electrocutes both, killing both in an instant. Inside, Black Knight states that he will say no more, until Doom asks it off him. He humbly awaits his appointment - let destiny take him! That's when Doom turns, raises his gauntlet - and violently decapitates the Black Knight with a palm blast, reducing him to a red smear on the carpet.



Doom then speaks off - in a robotic voice - and asks if the Master has been monitoring this. As per his orders, the intruders have been eliminated! Turns out that the Doom that the Black Knight was performing his whole dramatic spiel towards was a Doombot all along…

Now visible on a screen, the real Doctor Doom scoffs that such a fool thought himself worthy to stand alongside him. He spoke of Ashema and yet he did not fear retribution?! Now, only in death, does he realize that none may stand beside Doom as an equal. There is simply no such thing! Doom asks the Doombot to reveal himself, and it removes its mask, which is probably a first. Doom says he has neither the time nor the patience to spend in idiotic diversions such as this, and none may share in the events that will soon transpire! His true destiny upon this world awaits… It is the destiny of Doom!



Whirlwind, it turns out, is still alive - Radioactive Man let him go. As he sits on a bus to elsewhere, he considers his future. All that stuff he said back at his crib - all true. But he knows the score. He's known from day one. Part of being a smart crook is knowing when to cut your losses. The Masters of Evil weren't a bad crew there for a while, but nothing lasts forever. He's ditched his costume - and this could be the first good sleep he's had in years. He keeps trying to think of something worthwhile he could take from this experience, but he can't think of a thing. All he can do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Sounds like a plan - where he'll end in this crazy world? Wherever the wind takes him…


Ashema

Ashema, the Celestial that protected Counter-Earth from destruction, is fleeing across the rooftops of New York City in human form, when suddenly an Atlantean warrior dives up from the flooded city below and attacks her. Trying to defend herself, she finds that she no longer has access to her powers - her eyes glow a little, but that's all. She's never been struck before, and she doesn't much like it. A reflexive kick doubles the warrior over, though, revealing that she can still draw on a measure of her strength. Still, she's not a trained warrior, so he's got the advantage. She gets a lucky hit in and manages to stab the Atlan with his own dagger, then flees towards the nearby roofs after the building she's on crumbles around her. As she catches her breath, she is shocked to find that the Atlantean stabbed her and that she is bleeding - she's never bled before. She's killed someone, too - and it's never affected her so! Why? As a Celestial, she determined the fate of whole civilizations…

A huge face suddenly fades into existence in the sky and states that the death of millions is a statistic - the death of one can be a revelation! Ashema recognizes the face as belonging to the Apostate - but he was imprisoned for all time! The Apostate declares that she should look around and behold his handiwork, and think again! This world is his playground, and now that it has become Ashema's home - she is but the latest of his toys! After the being leaves, Ashema muses that if the Apostate is free, then all is lost - not just for the world, but for the cosmos!



Ashema refuses to accept that, however. She notices that one of the buildings nearby is lit up as if the world were normal, whereas all the others are not. Perhaps she'll find aid there…? Just then she is attacked by an oily creature that attempts to envelop her. The creature calls itself Divinity, greeting her with 'Howdy-hidey-ho!' and declares that its nature is to speed these puny fleshbags through their transition from mortal to divine - its purpose is to return Ashema back to where she belongs! Suddenly several blasts impact Divinity as it tries to eat Ashema, and they're courtesy of Doom's newest assistant, Lancer!

The creature forms itself in a gigantic armored form resembling an Atlantean warlord and starts smashing up the roof. Lancer comments that it's bad enough the world's been turned upside-down, now it seems like everyone who survived has developed some kind of superpowers - herself included! Her strikes don't really affect Divinity much, unfortunately - it's like cutting through water. She also gets no sense of the woman it enveloped… somehow her physical form was completely subsumed, and now it wants to do the same to her!



Lancer tries to amputate some limbs, and while that causes Divinity some pain, it still keeps smashing anyway. She reckons she just made it mad - now how to turn that to her advantage before it finds a way to beat her to a pulp? She upgrades the force of her lances and is amazed when she accidentally discovers she can quick-fire her bolts - she's still too new at this life, woefully ignorant of her own capabilities, learning as she goes. Lucky as she seems to be, she can't think of a better recipe for disaster! Divinity says she's impressive for a neo - as in neophyte, baby! Lancer tells Divinity to spare her the thesaurus and to release the woman. The being says the prey is gone - and so too is her predator! Mission accomplished - duty calls Divinity elsewhere. So long, loser! With that the black goo evaporates and seeps away…

Lancer returns to the Baxter building to tell Doctor Doom everything that has transpired - he's quaffing some wine, as usual. She explains that she punched through the roof to the floor below to follow the black goop, but it was an exercise in futility as it flowed well out of reach. She was honestly a bit glad - if that fight continued, she's not sure of the outcome. No matter how hard she hit it, or what weapon she used, Divinity always reconstituted itself stronger than before. Doom says she berates herself unnecessarily - were her foe truly as formidable as she states, or as he claimed, then he would not have withdrawn. Doom is not displeased with her performance in this encounter.




Lancers counters that she doesn't really care about his approval - it's the woman she can't forget. She should have saved her! Doom argues that wasn't possible, since there was no woman - in any physical sense - for her to save! What she encountered was a psychic projection!

When Lancer points out that she was there, and she saw that the woman was as real as the two of them, Doom argues the concepts aren't mutually exclusive. Her physicality was a sophisticated simulation, and when she was assimilated by Divinity, that manifestation discorporated. That's why Lancer could detect no further sense of her - the incarnation has ceased to exist! After Doom grabs himself some wine and gives Lancer a glass as well, she asks how he could possibly be so sure when he wasn't there. Doom explains that the same nanites which he used to catalyze her latent abilities also reconfigured her nervous system to link to a common data network with his armor. All that she experiences is available to him for subsequent examination and analysis!

'By what right?!' Lancer demands, crushing her wine glass in her hand. Doom points out that the world is in peril, and Doom has given her the power to help stand in its defense, but she cannot do that alone. Individually, for all their talents and skills, their power and courage, they remain limited. United, in a common cause, towards a common goal - who knows what they may yet accomplish? Lancer complains he could still have told her, out of respect! Doom responds that for saving his life, Samantha Dunbar, she'd gained Doom's gratitude. His respect is yet to be earned…



Doom uses the same arguments later in the day, during an underwater summit with the newly-crowned warrior-queen of Atlantis - Dorma. She tells Doom that while Doom's world may be at risk - that doesn't really extend to her domain. With every meter the water rises her domain expands and becomes more secure! Doom argues her security is an illusion, as the force that threatens one, threatens all. It's merely a matter of time before it turns its attention to her! Doom offers to forestall that destiny, and alter it for the better - the current that will sweep them to victory is swift and fierce, so it cannot be navigated alone. Survival, and ultimate triumph, mandate an alliance. Dorma questions if this would be under Doom's leadership, and he points out that he can return to his true world, but chooses to remain. Unlike his colleagues, the heroes who abandoned this Earth to its fate, he means to stand in defense of this world. And if required, to sacrifice his life.



Lancer realizes to her surprise that the link between her and Doom works both ways, as she can understand the Atlantean language and listens to a pair of guards making fun of her and Doom for being 'walkers' and agreeing with each other that Dorma is only going along with Doom's word to eventually backstab him. After the meeting is over, Doom has Lancer give her thoughts, and she agrees that Dorma craves power, and will try to get it through combat or seduction, and that she will work with Doom until he falls, then quickly take his place. Otherwise - well, from that last set of steamy looks that Dorma and Doom exchanged, she figures she's already sunk her hooks into Doom's heart. Doom asks her for her conclusion. To that last point, Lancer figures she's in for a rude surprise - she suspects Doom has already taken her full measure, and when the time comes he'll know just how to manipulate her, just as he knows that about herself… So, did she pass the test…? Doom agrees that Samantha is a woman of keen intellect, and insight. Far more importantly, she has honor. Let them all assume she's merely a bodyguard - her value to Doom is something far, far more!



Lancer asks what comes next, and Doom shows her to a map - in terms of negotiations, there are two dominions they must contact and recruit to the cause - one called the Technarx and the other a sect of mystics based in what was once San Francisco. Neither will be easy. For example, to ensure the sanctity of their realm, the mystics have raised the entire Bay area to the top of a rampart of sheer and unclimbable cliffs. The Golden Gate Bridge now spans a cataract over a mile high! At this point, however, they're of secondary importance. What is paramount is the deliverance of the woman Lancer encountered the previous night - Doom believes to have located her prison. He's charted a unique convergence in the lines of planetary energy beneath a portion of the North American Southwest deeded by treaty to a native original subset known as the Keezawi. It's their reservation.

'Just the two of us to stage this rescue?' Lancer inquires incredulously. Against Divinity and heaven knows what else is there in the way of opposition? Doom thinks the odds are irrelevant - the woman is essential to the cause! He says it's simply - eminently so. Either they prevail, or they do not. Regardless, the conflict is resolved. What need is there for undue concern? Scant hours later they purloin an aircraft from the previous owners of the Baxter Building and fly off towards their target. Lancer is worried about the gamma zone they're skirting - atmospheric radiation is near tolerance levels. Doom tells her not to fear - she doesn't have to fear it any more than he does. Lancer admits that the more she learns about her new self, the creepier she feels. Doom just asks her what use an asset would be whose abilities were significantly lesser than his own? That doesn't make her feel better - she just feels jumpy. She keeps expecting an ambush.

Doom dryly points out that by his own calculations, they should have been intercepted by local SHIELD units fifteen minutes ago - their performance is unforgivably lax. Looking over her shoulders, Lancer spots several SHIELD cyborgs flying closer and tells Doom that they're making up for in enthusiasm what they lack in efficiency! She asks Doom whether he wants to fight or drive, and Doom just tells her neither - he's busy! Lancer incredulously asks what he could possibly be doing, just as Lancer detonates the first of the cyborgs before he can fire. It goes 'Squeee!'



Doom explains that he's scanning the vicinity for the precise location of the nexus they seek - it requires a significant proportion of both his armor's sensor array and his own attention. These continued distractions are not appreciated! Lancer nervously says that if he thought those distractions were an annoyance, he's gonna love what just got in their way!

Standing in their way, enormous and wearing a feathered mask, is the living totem Tomazooma, guardian of the sacred lands of the Keewazi. All who trespass here will die! The guardian blasts the other cyborg to smithereens. Good news - they're no longer getting chased. Bad news - they're the only intruders left in the sky! Lancer asks for a better plan, and Doom tells her this is not a democracy - the totem is Lancer's responsibility to handle. She should do whatever is necessary to neutralize him, while he effects their objective's liberation! Doom then jumps out of the plane, even as Lancer yells at him not to leave her. She could really use some help here! Tomazooma, meanwhile, announces that Lancer's fate is sealed - she should prepare to meet her ancestors!



Doom travels into the temple where Ashema's energy signature is located. His telemetry downlink with the plane is cut off - but that is not important right now. The size of the chamber he's reached is gigantic - the figures inside are the size of skyscrapers, the room a kilometer in height. It's a fitting repository for the Celestials! One effigy of a Celestial lies atop a central dais, and it's surrounded by twelve more, each in a separate alcove. Presumably the middle is the sarcophagus, with the others bearing some kind of witness. Perhaps the Celestial equivalent of pallbearers? Why then is the alcove at the head of the Celestial empty, the figure that stood there shattered to dust…? No obvious defenses are visible, but no answers either. Perhaps triggering one will lead him to the other? At the very least it will make his ultimate task easier by eliminating any threat!



Doom is then attacked by Divinity seeping straight out of the ground beneath him, and announces that the being will find there is a considerable difference between triumphing over an illusion, and over Doom!

Outside, Lancer's ride gets blown up, but she manages to dart out of the way of the impact and lands on the totem-god's shoulder - bless her reflexes, and the muscles that came with it! Now, how is she going to damage something the size of the Chrysler Building? One observation to start - 'living' totem is something of a misnomer, since the shell of the being is artificial - the same kind of ablative armor the army uses in its main battle tanks. Better yet, her lances can cut through it! Tomazooma has size and brute power, but her assets are speed and power of her own! He wields a bludgeon, while she's more of a surgeon, hitting home with pinpoint precision. She uses her blasts to confuse the guardian, then blasts the canyon walls to burrow Tomazooma, though the guardian manages to grab her as it falls, and tries to have her for a morning snack.

Lancer remembers in that moment that Doom told her she'd yet to test her limits, and decided to find out precisely what that means. Best way to avoid being swallowed is to get rid of the offending head! She blasts a huge hole into Tomazooma with her powers, revealing some major-league robotics inside.



It's still functioning too, which means the brain probably wasn't in the head like you'd expect. In the confusion she manages to slip free from the robot's grasp and decides she might as well go exploring - and she starts tearing this thing up from the inside, figuring she'll keep going until it finally calls it quits! No word yet from Doom - she wonders if he's found what he's after yet…?

Inside, Divinity tries to gobble up Doom, and it asks if he really thought his armor would project him - no, all Divinity needs is the smallest chink or flaw, on a molecular or even sub-molecular level, and the most fleeting physical contact. Then the assimilation begins! Once begun, the process cannot be stopped! Doom snarls that his armor is the least of his arsenal! He activates his personal force-field and ejects the black goop off his body. 'Most impressive - NOT!' the goop proclaims, and it starts to attack again, as some aspect of the entity renders even his most coherent shields porous. But at the same time, because of its encounter with the woman he seeks, contact with this being allows him to form a psychic link with her…



Doom is as much a mystic as a scientist, with latent abilities as formidable in their way as his technology. The Battle with Divinity allows Ashema to catalyze those talents, to reach through their mutual foe and present Doom with a series of stark and primal images. In a sense, they are the chronicle of this world, the genesis of this terrible conflict. In the beginning there were the Celestials, long fascinated with the planet Earth, far more so than with any world or civilization previously cataloged. On that world, in its recent past, its heroes were menaced to the point of extinction by a creature known as Onslaught. To save them, but most of all to save his family, young Franklin Richards created a doppelganger of his home, a world identical to Earth in every respect, and placed the heroes there, where they could be forever safe. Later, when the danger posed by Onslaught was no more, and with the help of the Celestial Ashema, he brought them all back. All save Doom.

The world was left in Ashema's care after that, and this tomb was to be her eternal resting place, from which she could watch over the world and its people. But something went terribly wrong. A new power asserted itself, that of the renegade Celestial known as the Dreaming Celestial. Originally, Franklin's power held sway over his creation, and he would allow nothing to substantively harm the world. But once that dominion was passed to Ashema, the Dreaming Celestial was free to act. He was the strongest of the host, and he's had countless ages to plot his ultimate revenge. Ashema has done her best to resist, but as matters stand, the final outcome is not in doubt. Her fate, and this world, is sealed… 'Yours too, I hasten to add,' Divinity announces as it fully encompasses Doom. Doom scoffs that this is a boast he's heard often - and he's yet to see it fulfilled!

Suddenly the broken Tomazooma robot punches through the ceiling as it crumples, and Lancer yells out to look out below! As they fall, Lancer spots Divinity and asks if he's ready for a rematch? She then yells at Doom that he should never leave home, or walk into a fight, without her! While referencing an advertising slogan. She uses her blasts of energy to rip Divinity off Doom, after which he quickly engulfs it in a shiny box of energy. He explains that this cube of ultra-dense molecular bonds and constantly shifting field frequencies should keep Divinity securely caged - though where he suddenly got that from, I'm not sure. He announces that Lancer's intervention - while timely - was unnecessary, as the situation was well in hand, and the ultimate outcome never in doubt. (Right…)



Lancer just rolls her eyes and points out that the Tomazooma robot was piloted - inside was a Keewazi chieftain by the name of Wyatt Wingfoot. Lancer asks if they should be concerned about the people who forced him to be their defender, but Doom isn't interested. He walks over to Ashema, who's somehow been freed as well, and asks if she's well. Ashema explains that she's mortal now - human. Doom's wildest imaginings cannot begin to comprehend the purgatory that those words encompass! Doom reminds her that she embraced that purgatory willingly - does she regret that? She doesn't, but she says that as she used to be, she could have at least faced her foe as an equal. As she is… this world provided the key that may allow the Dreaming Celestial to escape his prison! Should that day come, creation itself shall suffer!

Lancer asks why the other Celestials don't stop this guy, and Ashema explains that they are pledged not to interfere in the affairs of this world. Lancer reminds Ashema that she did, and the former Celestial points out the price she paid for it. The two of them were once as gods among the universes - now they are but fallen angels. Doom just comments that it doesn't matter who or what she is. This entity threatens a world that Doom has pledged to protect - and he will not be forsworn! Whatever this Celestial desires, regardless of his plots or schemes, at the end he will find only Doom!

Rating & Comments

Masters of Evil



I'm not sure why anyone decided that the Masters of Evil required their own dedicated one-shot in this revisit, but I actually liked this more than I expected - I think it's because the villains span a range of personalities instead of being cookie-cutter mad psychos with poor justification. Black Knight is a complete dumbass that somehow has an ego that balloons beyond even Doom's own, completely convinced that he's the prophesied savior of the world and its destined ruler from the scant words of a brain-damaged Melter, one who got some snippets of what's really going on due to a run-in with Loki in the past, but is otherwise comatose. What we actually learn from him is surprisingly relevant to the Ashema chapter, but Black Knight completely misinterprets those muttered words and reads them to his own benefit.

Whirlwind is actually the most explored character in the story - he's clearly not comfortable with his current villain lifestyle, never asking why he does things, just following whatever Black Knight hands out as the latest assignment. But since Black Knight's gone a little crazy, and the world's a mess (though considerably less so than the drowned New York from last issue) he's having second thoughts. Radioactive Man is very passive throughout the story, never really speaking or showing what he's thinking - and it's not until the final scene that you find out there's more to him than being a silent murder-machine. For all that he's a menacing being who can kill at a whim, he lets Whirlwind depart from the villain's life and start over somewhere else, the only sign he's got any sort of respect for Whirlwind.

There are some funny bits in here - Radioactive Man casually murdering some Atlanteans they couldn't find by just irradiating a huge lake and killing all the fish in it is hilarious overkill, and Whirlwind's entirely bored and exasperated attitude when hiring some new villains to fill up the ranks of his team is funny. He can't even read their files since they're in Russian, so he basically just waits until they're done pushing each other around before hiring them both. Why not, right? It's also funny how the two of them literally never get to do anything - they're hired as bodyguards but are left behind at the door instead of actually guarding their charge, so they end up getting killed without Black Knight even being aware of it. Shows how far they were in over their head, I suppose…

Doom doesn't come into things until the end, when Black Knight's delusions bloom into him going into a full-on 'let's rule the world together' rant directly to someone he believes to be Doctor Doom, simultaneously hyping up his own relevance while also constantly groveling at Doom's superiority. He is verbose, and keeps nattering on even after he made his point, repeating himself in slightly different wording before veering into prophecies, basically giving up all his leverage in the form of these pronouncements about Ashema. It's then, of course, absolutely perfect when Doom turns around and instantly annihilates him… only to reveal Doom wasn't even really there. Black Knight got himself killed trying to suck up to a Doombot, and Doom just waves the whole thing off as an idiotic diversion since obviously nobody is worthy to stand as his equal - there is no such thing. This whole thing reminds me of the Excalibur: XX Crossing comic I mentioned in Minor Appearances - where a shitty time-villain tried to sign up with Doom and laid out his whole spiel, only too got dumped into the shark tank or whatever by a silent Doom.

This issue is stupid, really, but the Doom scene is fun enough that it gets a little boost from me, and there's enough other amusing moments in here to make it a quick and painless read, which means it's just bog standards and meh rather than actively terrible. I'm a little puzzled at what the Heroes Reborn world actually looks like, though - Doomsday and Ashema paint a quite different picture of the world compared to this chapter, which definitely presents a more intact and functioning world instead of just a place getting ravaged by natural disasters where civilization collapsing and you'd expect Mad Max to be running around…

Ashema



Compared to the fairly inconsequential Masters of Evil, the Ashema chapter actually continues our overall plot established in the 'Doomsday' chapter - but not in a particularly good way. The writing style and tone of the Doomsday chapter is not carried through here, even if some of the visuals - most notably the rooftops across flooded New York - stayed the same. It doesn't help that Ashema is barely in this issue, and she never does anything of note.

The opening scene is already quite confusing. The exactly nature of Ashema is weird because while the narration establishes that she is subject to mortal foibles like pain, terror, the cold, and not being used to have a human body, the person we see running across the New York rooftops isn't actually her, but a realistic hologram of some description. This is determined by Doom later on, recontextualizing what we've already seen. While Ashema has some super-human abilities like increased strength, she even gets wounded during the opening chase after she's cut by an Atlan blade, and she bleeds red, human blood. If she is really a simulation at that point, she's obviously a particularly realistic one! Ashema also believes she's trapped on the rooftop, which seems a little puzzling given later revelations that she's actually somewhere else entirely and just astral-projecting, in a sense. Maybe?

The revelation that the so-called 'apostate' is responsible for the state of the Heroes Reborn world is a pretty deep cut referencing a character from Eternals comic books - the 'Dreaming Celestial' as he's called there (and later in this comic) becomes a more common sight in newer comics than these, but generally speaking he's a Celestial who's been imprisoned beneath the mountains of California for unspecified crimes against life, and was essentially locked into a comatose state, hence the 'dreaming' moniker. His actual name was Tiamut the Communicator. (Yeah, that's the same one hatching from the Earth in the MCU Eternals movie.) I'm not sure why they decided to have Ashema use a new title for him instead of naming him - it just makes things a bit confusing, since it's not like we have to wait for a later issue to get clarification on who she means. Is it just to maintain suspense for a few more pages?

Speaking of things without good explanations, what is up with Divinity? This weird black goop-monster resembles a Symbiote from Spider-Man comics, but it's subtly different in that it just seems to mind-control people and kill them, rather than doing the whole merging thing like Venom. It also sounds stupid, greeting people with 'howdy-hidey-ho!' and using an odd sentence structure where it starts most lines with 'Being…' It says its purpose is to kill people, which is about as much as we're likely to get with this thing in terms of backstory. Presumably Divinity is the same mind-control goo from the Doomsday chapter, though it didn't show any sign of actually having a name there - and for some reason Lancer's energy bolts are no longer nearly as effective against it as they were there. The text in the previous chapter definitely implied she was super-effective against it, but here her attacks barely phase it. Perhaps this can be attributed to adaptation on Divinity's part, since Lancer does tell Doom that it seemed to reconstitute itself to be stronger than before every time she cut it. Though that doesn't quite fit with their rematch…

Lancer's powers seem to have changed a fair bit since last issue - which can be justified somewhat, at least, by the fact that they were brand-new to her and she's had a little bit of time to get used to them. Plus, she only got like one shot in, last time. She's now wielding purple blades made of energy on her fingertips to savage people with, later putting on some gloves with pointed fingers, and she sometimes conjures whip-like cords of the same energy. She can still toss lances, which are more red in color than the rest of her attacks - presumably that means her attack from last issue is just what you get when she supercharges her assault instead of low-balling it. She learns how to shotgun a handful of her blasts in this issue, too. Judging by the fact that she picks up a giant girder at one point and swings it around without too much effort, she was also physically enhanced by Doom's nanites, as she also punches straight through a floor not much later.

Doom's relationship with Lancer continues to be the best part of the book. He commends her performance despite her loss, quite confident that Divinity fled because he wasn't nearly as formidable as he pretended to be, and then reveals that he's spying on her every move. Besides giving her plasma-throwing powers and super-strength, Doom's nanites also link her nervous system up with his armor, thereby allowing him to sense everything she does. This actually makes a lot of sense, given that Doom studied the Baxter Building just last issue, and Reed was using a technology to monitor all its surroundings at all times - Doom must've gotten inspired. This new tech is a massive invasion of privacy, of course, but Doom tries to talk her around to his position - the world is in danger, so they need all the power they can get, and Samantha cannot do it alone. That's why they need to be as united as possible - who knows what they can accomplish together? Of course, he then follows it up by some cold Doom logic: by saving his life she's earned Doom's gratitude - for respect, she'll have to do more!

Doom has been making connections since last issue, it seems, since we watch him negotiate with the local version of Lady Dorma, who's Namor's ex-wife in the mainstream comics. Here, she's just the leader of the Atlanteans, since I don't think she ever married Namor this time and he's off in the other world anyway. Dorma and her people are skeptical of Doom, even actively treasonous, but he still lays out his best arguments for forming an alliance against whatever's intent on ruining the world, and declares that if required, he is willing to sacrifice his life in the defense of this world. We'll come back to whether or not that's actually true - but he's put a lot of effort to get back here, and he's voluntarily staying instead of using his powers to travel to the world dominated by heroes, so at least he's correct when he claims to have a vested interest in this place. He did save this world once already, after all! He'd surely prefer to live and rule, of course…

While Doom's nanites give him access to everything Lancer can sense, they also give Lancer access to the capabilities of his armor - which is a fairly big deal, showing his surprising degree of his trust in her. Through this, she's able to use his translation algorithms (just shown in that Thor issue) to listen in on the Atlanteans. It also seems that, while we never really got to see this depicted, Doom and Dorma spent their entire negotiation session making bedroom eyes at each other. Dorma is relying on her seductress abilities to get the best of Doom, but Lancer is not convinced that's going anywhere, believing Doom has already prepared himself for this avenue of attack and will just manipulate her right back when the time comes. Doom approves of her analysis, and compliments her insight - and more importantly, her honor. Not sure how that applies here, but sure. Lancer repeats what amounts to her catchphrase at this point - 'I guess I'm flattered.'

We receive a brief mention of two dominions Doom seeks to contact and recruit - the Technarx and a sect of mystics in San Francisco. The latter has apparently been raised a mile into the sky by wizards to safeguard the area from the rising seas, leading the Golden Gate Bridge to span a chasm instead of a river. That seems a surprisingly cool and very weird worldbuilding detail to just drop in there! Doom dismisses those things as being of secondary importance, so we'll probably be hearing more on that in the next issue. For now, the mission is to free Ashema. Doom somehow divined where she's imprisoned, presumably meaning the location where her physical body is being kept. He did that by tracing the planetary leylines beneath the American Southwest and finding some kind of nexus. I wonder if the location in question is the same one where the Dreaming Celestial is locked away in the main reality? They're both under mountains in the south-western US, and the leyline convergence might explain why the same place was picked to store two entirely different sleeping Celestials.

I absolutely love the banter between Doom and Lancer in the second half of this book - Doom comes off as effortlessly fearless, dismissing the fact that they are only two people against an unknown amount of powerful opponents by basically going 'either we win, or we don't. No reason to fret about it.' He dismisses her concerns about gamma energy too, since his super-nanites made her immune to that too - as he puts it, what use is it to have an asset whose abilities are significantly lesser than his own? I guess the qualifier of 'significantly' in there indicates that she's still inferior to him, but not by much. Doom also complains about SHIELD inefficiency (even though they're the enemy, so this is in his favor) and when Lancer asks him for his help in dealing with them, he just puts her on hold. 'I'm busy.' They're a boring enemy to fight, so he just keeps doing his own thing and relying on his bodyguard to handle it. Love it. It's even better when he just decides to drop out of the plane mid-flight without much in the way of warning, leaving a fight against the giant robot which just showed up in her capable hands, while he wanders off to do what he considers more important. It's great!

The giant robot, Tomazooma, is another weirdly deep cut - in mainline canon, Wyatt Wingfoot called the Fantastic Four to help him investigate reports that his people were being terrorized by the tribal legend of Tomazooma, the Death That Walks, back in Fantastic Four v1 #80. The Four confronted Tomazooma, who appeared as a giant walking totem pole, and revealed the spirit to be a fake. The Red Star Oil Company was using a robot in the form of Tomazooma to scare Wingfoot's tribe into giving up their oil-rich lands. In this continuity it appears that the robot in question is used to protect the lands from invaders instead, though it also appears that Wyatt Wingfoot was sealed inside and forced to pilot the thing - at least, that's what seems to be implied by Lancer's words in one of the two panels where Wingfoot actually shows up. We never really get any elaboration on that, unfortunately.

The giant subterranean vault surrounded by mile-high Celestial statues would probably be way more impressive if the comic ever managed to give a decent idea of the scale - in practice, the perspective makes it so that the statues are only slightly larger than the people looking into the chamber containing them. Exploration is curtailed because Divinity almost immediately shows up to ineffectually wrestle with Doom for a while, who seems to have forgotten that the creature can pass through his force fields, which it also did just last issue. Stranger still, Divinity is easily defeated when Lancer reappears for a rematch - but she hasn't brought any new moves, so she just slashes at it once with a single streak of red energy, and that's apparently enough to rip it off Doom so that he can abruptly contain it in a little box he just pulls out of nowhere. It's very… sudden, and doesn't really make a ton of sense. It's like there's panels missing. I guess she won just because she put more power into it?

Speaking of panels going missing… Honesty, the finale of this issue is very rushed, and doesn't really connect very well. Lancer removes Wingfoot from the robot, but that doesn't go anywhere - Doom isn't interested in him or his story, so he's just left to make pained grimaces in the corners of a couple of panels. Then Ashema is suddenly just… there, without explanation. There's never any indication where she came from, where she was being held - Doom and the rest don't go anywhere, they're still right where Doom got attacked upon entering the room, so what's happening? I guess it's another fake image of Ashema like the one in the city before which manifested among them? But then why did they have to go out here to her 'tomb' to find her again, when she could just manifest back in the city again? Doom doesn't really care about any of that stuff in the end - he just gets to learn a few more things about his ultimate foe, and declares that this Dreaming Celestial is going to find only its doom. Sure, sure… next time we'll get into that.

On the whole, this issue is a definite step down from the last - the Ashema intro seems utterly pointless and confusing, and Divinity is a character with absolutely no backstory or point beyond being something weird that attacks for murdery reasons. Insinuations are made about Doom making alliances, most notably with Lady Dorma, but that is all setup for later. Which leaves a fight with a questionably culturally insensitive robot, as well as a confusing and rushed tail end which introduces a cool location and then never properly shows it or uses it for anything. It's like there's connective tissue missing here, like they ran out of space. Also there's a cameo by Wyatt Wingfoot?! The only reason this issue gets anything better than two stars is because the relationship between Doom and Lancer is still fantastic, and that's the only thing keeping this afloat. I wish Lancer had more appearances than she does, she's great in these issues.

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



The art on the Ashema issue is pretty detailed, and there's a pretty good shot of the Heroes Reborn version of Doom in there - the metallic muscles (similar to Iron Man) are probably the most recognizable part of it. On the whole I don't mind this version of the mask, though it sometimes looks rather large on his actual head.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"The fool thought himself worthy to stand alongside Doom?! ... Now, only in death, does he realize that none may stand beside Doom as an equal. There is no such thing."

"My true destiny upon this world awaits... it is the destiny of Doom!"

"the world is in peril, child. Doom has given you the power to help stand in its defense. But you cannot do so alone. Individually, for all our talent and skills, our power and our courage, we remain limited. United, in a common cause, towards a common goal... who knows what we may yet accomplish?"

"For saving my life, Samantha Dunbar, you have Doom's gratitude. My respect is yet to be earned."

"You are a woman of keen intellect, Lancer, and insight. Far more importantly, you are one of honor. Let all assume you are merely a bodyguard. Your value to me is something far, far more."

Lancer: "You make it sound so simple."
Doom: "It is, Lancer, eminently so. Either we prevail, or we do not. Regardless, the conflict is resolved. What need is there for undue concern?"

"Of what use is an asset whose abilities are significantly lesser than my own?"

"By my own calculations, we should have been intercepted by local SHIELD units fifteen minutes ago. Their performance is unforgivably lax."

"You will find there is a considerable difference, creature, between triumphing over an illusion... and over Doom!"

"Your intervention, Lancer... while timely, was unnecessary. The situation was well in hand... and the ultimate outcome never in doubt."

"This entity threatens a world Doom has pledged to protect. And I will not be forsworn! Whatever the Celestial desires, regardlss of his plots and schemes... at the end, he will find only DOOM!

Doom-Tech of the Week

Look, those Nanites deserve a second mention - Doom's apparently ensured they give Lancer not just her signature lancing ability, but also resistance to gamma radiation, super-strength and reflexes, the ability to translate any language (and presumably access other Doomtech abilities) and made it so he can access her senses at any time and share her senses. Impressive, given that he apparently cooked those up on a whim there, within a few hours of meeting Samantha for the first time. He's also capable of generating a Ultra-Dense Force Cube which he traps Divinity in - there's no real indication he's using tech there, though, he just kind of aims a hand in his direction. Seems too tech-speak for magic, though...

Doombot Count: 57 (+1)

First confirmation that Doom also uses Doombots in the Heroes Reborn universe - but when did he have time to build this one? Did he fly one in from Latveria, maybe? It'd be ironic if he built one of his replicas with tools lying around Reed's office...

 

[Johnreiter]

This does feel like a much better version of Doom 2099

I'm observing a pattern that Doom always looks his best in a post-apocalyptic setting. I guess because, with chaos everywhere, Doom's authoritarian brand of order has a lot of appeal. Also, with all the heroes dead or gone, he looks a lot nicer than most of the other villains.

 

[Roarian]

Heroes Reborn - Doom (January 2000)

Cover

Jeez, take a step back already, cover artist - what were you trying to do, count his nose hairs? Today's cover is offered to you by Doom's enormous metal gob, I guess! You also get a zoom-in on his baby blues, or browns as the case may be. At least there's no gross flesh-tendrils spanning his eyelids this time, which some artists seem to delight in drawing on there. (Even if Doom can't fix his face, surely he wouldn't walk around with impaired vision…?) This final issue of the three-parter which forms the core of the Heroes Reborn revisit is simply titled 'Doom' - and I guess with this cover, you're not going to confuse it with the Doomsday one!

Story Overview

Doom

Ever get the feeling you've missed something important? This comic opens up with Doom and Lancer fighting the Weaponeers of Al-Khalad, who are calling themselves the Arabian Knights. They knew that Doom and Lancer were coming, and they probably thought they were prepared. Their leader has been busy carving an empire for himself across the length and breadth of sub-Saharan Africa, bringing back the good old days and ways of tributes and slavery. As far as that went, Doom couldn't care less - until Al-Khalad decided to extend his borders way south by conquering the old principality of Wakanda. You see, Doom had just concluded an alliance with the rulers of that nation, so when the Weaponeers struck and turned one of the few peaceful and prosperous lands left on the continent into a slaughterhouse, he was honorbound to reply in kind. Maybe that was what Al-Khalad wanted all along, a test of strength between rival monarchs. By all accounts, he believed himself Doom's equal. Big mistake.



It's revealed that Doom and Lancer aren't alone in the fight - they've brought a posse. Divinity is there, now a minion instead of a foe, his black goop flashing from victim to victim, his oily substance making the knights look like they'd been painted over by a layer of black lacquer. That coat makes them his puppets - allowing him to turn them against their compatriots until the finally drains them dry of their life-essence. In battle, that is a quick process, and judging by the looks on the faces of his victims, not a very pleasant one. Besides Divinity fights Shakti, a sorceress from the enclave that claimed dominion over the San Francisco Bay Area. To watch her in action, to see the spells and enchantments she uses to harrow her foes, is to witness your most primal nightmares made flesh. The most awful thing about it is that she kills with a smile, and that smile is a wonder to behold!

Third among the new minions is the inhuman robot-creature Technarx, which has no mouth, and therefore no smile - thank heavens for small favors. He slays with the merest touch, infecting his prey with the Transmode Virus that turns human tissue into techno-organic matter whose lifeglow he then drains. He's basically one of the Phalanx, as far as I can tell. Lastly among Doom's cohorts - though in her mind she always stands foremost - is the warrior-queen of Atlantis, Lady Dorma. War is her life, battle her ultimate pleasure - a blood-crazed shark would have more mercy. Each of these four generals are depicted in their own individual panel - and those panels are shaped like the letters D, O, O, M, thus spelling out the story title and the name of its central character. Dramatic much?



Within the hour, Doom and his party take the stronghold at the heart of Wakanda from the Arabian Knights - but that's far too late to save the ruling family. Their wholesale murder leaves a political vacuum around the throne, and Doom fills it immediately by summarily annexing the country. He tells his four generals to make the surviving Arabian Knights his standard offer: their lives in exchange for an oath of fealty. Dorma argues that this is foolishness - the best enemy is a dead one! Shakti agrees, though it pains her to admit it. Doom tells them that conquest is easy, since any brute can slay a foe, or even slaughter a nation. The challenge is in ruling that land, and Doom has no use for slaves. What he requires is loyal and devoted subjects. Shakti argues that's precisely why she objects. How could Doom trust those who have already betrayed one master? Especially one as cruel as Achmed Al-Khalad… Doom muses that the knights may fear Al-Khalad… they'll learn respect from Doom. The difference is crucial. Technarx considers this, and infers that Doom considers these knights his equal. Doom denies that entirely - none are his equal. But he has no use for those with broken spirits.

A young Wakandan boy looks down on the meeting from the rafters, with a knife in hand. Lancer has noticed him, and thinks that Shakti has a lousy poker face - both she and Technarx have also noticed the child at the same time Lancer herself did. Shakti's thoughts were just as obvious - 'Why cry a warning? A man without equals shouldn't need one.' That's where Lancer comes in, as Doom's second. Flashing in from off-screen she intercepts the boy the moment he goes to jump the monarch in question, fulfilling her role as the one who guards Doom's back. She disarms the child, who snarls at Doom and says that he speaks of loyalty, but he doesn't know the meaning of the word! This is all his fault, and it was probably his plan! Doom used the Arabian Knights to murder his parents so he could steal his homeland! But so long as he lives, the kid vows, the spirit of his people remains free, and Wakanda will never be Doom's!



Doom commends the boy on his pretty speech, but tells him that considering the circumstances, it was remarkably ill-advised. He revealed himself to be the Crown Prince, and his parents should really have taught him better! The prince snarls that he's not afraid to die, and Doom tells him: 'All in good time.' He then instructs Lancer to get the boy on board his vehicle, while he and the other generals finish business here. If the kid makes any mischief, he tells her to treat him as an honored guest.

Walking out of the Wakandan government building, Doom meets up with Ashema and informs her that their mission here is accomplished. She wonders how he can say that, when two valued allies lie slaughtered? Doom acknowledges that all of them underestimated Achmed Al-Khalad, both in terms of resources and ruthlessness. This is but the first of many lessons he shall teach the man, he promises - there will be a reckoning consummate to his crimes! Ashema dryly wonders if that's comforting to his victims. Doom, annoyed, asks her if there's a reason for his display of pique. She responds that yes - she has a reason, and it's fury! She's the sworn guardian of the world, and to assume that responsibility she sacrificed her birthright as a Celestial… So why does Doom continue to refuse her requests to take an active role in its defense? Doom dryly responds that it's because she's incompetent.

Doom lifts Ashema off the ground and binds her with magic, and the woman furiously demands to be let go. 'No,' Doom simply responds. Angry at the rejection, she demands to know how he dares to do this - she is Ashema of the Fourth Host! Doom corrects her, stating that she was Ashema of the Fourth Host. Now she's merely human, with altogether human frailties. Chief among them is her mortality. Is she prepared to die, he wonders?



Doom says that he bound her in the most rudimentary of shackles, yet they hold her nonetheless! Ashema suddenly bursts with energy, briefly taking on her Celestial form, and knocks Doom back as she boasts that she bathed in the heart of stars, and held the fate of whole civilizations in the hollow of her hand! He cannot conceive of the shackles necessary to… to hold… a Celestial. Her form fades, and an exhausted Ashema crumples. Doom rises to his feet and tells her that perhaps she was once mighty - but now she's a woman, and must learn her limitations.

Doom tells her that if she would stand by his side, she must prove herself. Ashema immediately reveals her faint was a trick, and she tackles Doom's legs, snapping that she'd rather take him down! Doom is surprised and delighted by the subterfuge - an excellent deception! He punches her across the face in retaliation, then instantly asks if she's alright - he explains that when she caught him by surprise, he instinctively reacted with a counter usually intended to kill. Ashema is fine due to her sturdy constitution, and tells Doom that if she caught him by surprise, there might be hope for her yet. Doom agrees that she has potential, and tells her to report to Lancer - she'll be her tutor. Ashema grins victoriously.



Back on Doom's flying vehicle - which seems quite similar to the one used when the heroes returned home, so it might be another spaceship - Lancer muses to herself that it's hard to imagine that she once had a normal life, or that this was once a normal world. Both of those, however, turned out to be lies. Two years ago she didn't even exist, and this whole world, and all its people, and all its histories - they were created from the imagination of a little boy, as a refuge for his parents and their friends. When the danger passed, those heroes all went home. Supposedly, the people of this world would all go on with their lives, ignorant of the truth… but that didn't happen. Which left those who survived to pick up the pieces and try to save whatever's left.

Lancer checks up on the prince of Wakanda, asking if his accommodations are satisfactory. He admits that they remind him of home, and Lancer says that the familiar surroundings should make him more comfortable. The prince points out that it reminds him of what he lost, but Lancer argues that if memories are all you have, those should be cherished. The kid asks what Doom wants from him, and she just waves it off, telling him that Doom will let him know. The prince then observes that Lancer seems like an honorable and decent woman - so how could she serve such a tyrant? Lancer argues he's trying to save the world, but the boy points out that he just wants that in order to rule it! Lancer, jaded, says that given the alternatives she's seen lately, they could do worse. They boy says they deserve better, and that he will fight Doom. Lancer accepts that's his privilege. As she's called away, the kid tells her darkly that when the Master snaps his finger, the slave has no choice but to obey…



Lancer heads over to meet with Doom, who complains that she is late. Lancer tells him that she was just seeing to the Wakandan boy's comfort, as per his instructions. Doom brusquely reminds her that her primary obligation is to Doom - nothing else matters! Lancer snaps that she serves him by choice. She can also choose not to serve. If that's not true - if the nanotech he used to transform her into Lancer gives him the means to strip her of free will and compel her obedience, then he'd better kill her now… because he'll have made an enemy to be reckoned with! Doom curtly responds that he has no use for sycophants, but he also tells her that free will carries with it the responsibility to recognize one's true obligations and act accordingly. He's granted her the one… the other is what he requires.

Lancer thinks to herself that sometimes it's so easy to hate Doom - his arrogance is beyond belief, but with good reason. She's never seen a mind so brilliant, or so daring. As the ship arrives over an empty stretch of equatorial Africa, Doom declares they are in position, and his quartet of generals gather nearby to watch. Power systems turn on, targeting matrixes focus in, and the ship's primary weapon is activated - ready to fire! Doom is as much a sorcerer as a scientist, Lancer thinks, and that duality of vision allowed him to synthesize Technarx's transmode technology and Shakti's magic to create a spell of phenomenal power, but specific and limited effect. Below them, the jungle begins to undergo a rapid metamorphosis, forming itself into the foundations of a pylon which will ultimately reach all the way to what they used to consider the heavens. They've spent weeks planting these across the face of the globe, and that's why they couldn't respond to Wakanda pleas for help with haste - this job was more important. And this pylon is the last.



We move over to San Francisco, some time later. Lancer thinks to herself that her husband was from here - on their first date they spent dinner arguing about harbors and skylines, about the view from Berkeley at sunset versus Brooklyn Heights at midnight looking towards Manhattan. Like everywhere else these days, that's all changed. The entire Bay now sits atop a mesa more than a mile high, rising straight up like the walls of a fortress from the surrounding countryside, and transforming the Golden Gate into the most spectacular waterfall on Earth. The mages like their privacy, and if anybody wants in by land or sea, they have to ask permission and wait for a ride. If you come by air, you face obstacles of a different sort. Dorma of Atlantis couldn't care less - she goes where she pleases, and will be denied nothing. To prove the point, she assaults the cliff like a salmon, and swims up the waterfall all the way to the summit against the full force of its waters. It had to be a good fight, because she's laughing when she finally arrives…

The other three generals of Doom would have preferred it if she were a little more subtle with her entrance, especially considering the circumstances. Dorma called for this meeting between the four of them, but it's a fair measure of how they feel about each other that Shakti insisted (and the others agreed) that it should be held on her turf, well beyond the reach of Atlan spears and sorceries. Dorma declares to the other three generals that they're all monarchs in their own right, yet they allow Doom to stand first among them. She would redress that imbalance! 'In your favor?' Shakti wonders. Dorma argues she means Doom no harm, but merely desires to put him in his proper palace. Afterwards, the generals can carve out dominions sufficient for all their needs and desires - but to get at Doom, they must first remove his shadow!

Divinity immediately says no to this - he's fought both, and has no desire for a rematch. The points of the shadow's spears are sharp, and she's called Lancer for a reason… just as he is called Doom for a reason too. He argues that attacking one of them will guarantee the other joins in. Technarx opines that Divinity is exhibiting prudence, but Dorma just thinks she's a coward. Technarx also adds that this plan would be instructive in determining the full range of their leader's capabilities… Shakti commands the others to leave the woman to her - she's got a charm that might have been made for her!



Back in the ship, the Wakandan prince is looking at a hologram of the earth, with six glowing pylons stretching away from it, and asks Lancer what Doom is doing - what are those pylons even for? She tells him that when Doom wants them to know, he'll tell them. Until then, they might as well save their breath. He offers the boy some fresh Cioppino, and he figures she must have better things to do than play his maidservant. She sharply wonders if that's a step up from 'slave.' The boy apologizes for his earlier insult - he was angry, and he wanted to hurt someone. It should have been her. In that, at least, his parents taught him better. Lancer accepts his apology, and knows that it's been a hard time for him. She's not trying to diminish or trivialize his loss, but he's not the only one who's walked that road.

Whatever Doom's reputation, she explains, he's the only one of the heroes from the other world who's here to help, and they're all caught up in a battle between forces almost beyond their comprehension. They stand on the brink of a future that brings out the worst in them, where only the cruelest and most malevolent thrive, and where death is a mercy and a blessing. She wants no part in that future, and neither does Doom. Alone, they're a lost cause. In unity - maybe they have a shot. The kid shakes Lancer's hand as a sign of tentative friendship, but tells this changes nothing - the person he trusts is her, not Doom. Lancer figures it's a start.



The boy suddenly gasps and steps back, asking Lancer what's happening to her hair. It suddenly lengthens and turns black. Shakti looks at this scene through her scrying mirror and casts a spell to turn Lancer into - basically a sexworker, I think? Shakti goes on about 'making that which stands sleek and adamantine lush and pliant', and 'blunt the warrior edge, armor to silk, lips meant not for commands but for a kiss.' She 'turns a soul once forged for battle into one solely meant to please', thus remaking her into something representing her deepest dreams, unspoken yearnings. While Shakti's creepy smile is copied a dozen times across the page, it appears that the spell also affects the Wakandan prince, and they're both turned into pliant sex-slaves. Also, for some reason Shakti has a much darker skin tone in a lot of these panels, as if they accidentally used the same one meant for the Wakandan boy.

We move elsewhere on what's now clarified to be the 'great starship', which means Doom did indeed just construct another one of those. Why build one, when you can build two for twice the price? Doom studies a holographic map of Earth, complete with pylons, and notes that their growth is as projected, their status nominal. Six constructs in all, placed at both poles and equidistant around the cardinal points of the equator, are each rising to geostationary altitude at 35800 kilometers above the surface. The fabric of those pylons themselves are drawn from the physical and arcane substance of the planet. As a feat of geosorcerous engineering, this has no parallel in all of history! The principle is sound, the formulae are precisely configured. The final component is all that remains, the ultimate variable: sheer raw power.

Doom turns to his newly arrived guest, Lady Dorma, and proclaims that this single word - power - represents something as essential to her being as does her Mother Ocean itself. Dorma, wearing a dress instead of her usual getup, admits she'd hoped to catch him more unawares. Doom wonders if she'll be content with rendering him bedazzled instead? He's never seen her without armor! Dorma tells him that he shouldn't be misled, that this is still a kind of armor she wears, appropriate for the occasion… Doom wonders what that occasion is, and she tells him that while Doom wishes to be king, she's a queen. They're made for each other! Doom comments that pride is an admirable quality - provided one remembers what it invariably precedes. Dorma says that's a risk she's willing to take. Is he?

Lancer, meanwhile, recalls that she once had a name, but that's not important. She had a purpose… but that has changed. As she floats in dreamy supplication, Lancer thinks to herself that she is beauty, she is passion… She is Lancer! Suddenly the enchanted, seemingly mind-controlled Samantha lashes out in violent fury, growing long hooked claws on her fingers, and her arm bursts forth from Shakti's scrying mirror and tries to slice the sorceress into ribbons. Shakti doesn't know what's happening and stumbles away in fright, and Lancer likes the frisson of panic in her voice - it gets worse for her a moment later when Lancer somehow smashes through the mirror in the flesh, and attacks!



When she uses her powers, Lancer reflects, it's like her very blood turns to flame, coursing through her body like a cataract. From that fire she manifests lances of energy, and now she turns that ability on herself to purge Shakti's enchantment. First she burns it from her spirit, and ultimately also from her flesh! She never thought of herself as pretty, she muses, with all that word implies in girls - she liked to sail too much, she liked to win. But Shakti found a part of her that used to dream of fairy princesses, took that special little secret from when she was small, and made it a weapon. Her spell granted Lancer a face and a form that this smallest part of her once desired. Because the sorcery struck from a core of truth, she was lost to the transformation from the start, since she had no defenses against it. No defenses… except those given to her by Doom!

Lancer regains her usual form, blond hair included, and the magical energies that were unleashed find a new focus in Shakti. Unbidden, a snippet of conversation with a friend comes to mind, one who long since drowned when New York was flooded, about how baneful magics rebound tenfold on the one who casts them. We see a brief shot of Shakti kissing Lancer's feet, before thinks go wrong. Good as she is, Lancer admits, she still has a lot to learn. With her attention focused on Shakti, she stupidly assumed the attack was made solo. Doom will nail her for that oversight, she thinks - for him, the first rule of combat is to know your enemy as you do the ground on which you fight. It never occurred to Lancer that there'd be others present until Technarx makes his move. A spear of techno-organic material rushes in from off-screen and hits her in the back, infecting her with the Transmode Virus…

Back in the other room, Dorma has joined Doom on his couch and is sharing some drinks with him, telling him that he's tasted only a sampling of the best Atlan has to offer. Though, she confesses, the surface world has its charms as well. Below the surface, they have nothing to compare with the delightful taste of this beverage he calls champagne! Their worlds have much to offer each other, she insists, as do its rulers! When no answer comes, Dorma wonders if she's boring Doom. A conversation reputedly involves two people, yet the only words being spoken are hers - has he fallen mute? Or is there some malfunction in his armor which inhibits his external communications? Huh? …Still nothing?

Dorma abruptly snaps that this isn't fair - she bares her heart and soul to Doom, only to embrace a man of cold iron. What is he so afraid of? 'Doom fears nothing,' he retorts immediately. At last, speech! She thought he'd forgotten how. She points out she's doffed her armor - can he not do the same? Doom responds that he's not a fool. Dorma sarcastically retorts that he's clearly irresistibly romantic. Will nothing tempt him from his shell? Apparently nothing she can offer, how sad. She'll leave Doom then - to his prison! She wishes him well, for he'll never know what he missed! She opens the door to leave, but at the last moment there's a mechanical clicking noise, and Doom calls out to her, telling her to wait. Dorma turns and sees that Doom's armor is now open - at last he is vulnerable! As a strange set of armor forms around her and her text boxes turn blue, she declares that now she strikes!



With each beat of her heart, Lancer becomes more machine, as her exposure to the techno-organic virus takes hold - the concept of 'I' becomes irrelevant - there is self, primary designation: Lancer. Perceptions skew, allowing self to behold the actions of neurons and synapses as mnemonic gateways, crafting an unending string of binary sequences. Every function of life, from thought or deed, becomes the constructs of algorithmic code. Continuous presentations of diagnostic arrays track the progress of the new modality. Integrated into the new iteration is a program stream mandating subordination to Technarx - it is logical.

…It is bogus. Lancer spits out a mouthful of chip flakes, watches circuit elements fall from her like dust - the virus begins to die inside her, its function negated. Lancer is immune to more than just magic, thanks to Doom's ingenuity! Now freed to attack the one who tried to turn her into a toaster, Lancer finds herself on one of the balconies near the great waterfall of San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge. She goes to pull herself upright by a railing, only for it to dissolve in her hands and reveal itself to be something subsumed by Divinity - it gives way.



Lancer has a brief moment to realize she really should have learned from her earlier mistake, and assumed there would be yet more foes. Then more than just the railing dissolves - the entire balcony disappears as Divinity turns back into goop, and before she knows it she's falling into the racing river below, getting watershed out towards the waiting waterfall. The Wakandan prince suddenly appears on the balcony and yells out Lancer's name as she falls, with Technarx looming behind him…

In the other room, a now chestplate-less Doom gets blasted with a purple beam by someone who is most definitely not Dorma - instead, the one who shows up there is none other than the Dreaming Celestial in his armored form. He declares that while Doom may be formidable among humans, he was there before the birth of this world, this very galaxy! He stood first among the First Host, and all that he once was, he shall be again - and such mayfly creatures as Doom may not stop him! Doom, most of his armor now rendered to slag and his clothes burned and consumed by the Celestial's merciless attacks, slowly rises to his feet and wonders, for all of the Celestial's boasting, why he still draws breath. Could it be that so long as he remains imprisoned, the Dreaming Celestial can only function on a level those 'mayfly creatures' can match, or even surpass? The Dreaming Celestial says that if so, it will take a better man than Victor von Doom to do so! His first attack stripped away the man's vaunted armor - the second shall strip the very flesh from his bones! He will be reduced to less than nothing, and every moment shall be exquisite agony! Doom replies that the 'Apostate' should prattle on - as he draws power from the corporeality of this world to strike him, he also energizes the pylons. What seems to be victory… shall prove his ultimate undoing! With his final words, Doom's own text boxes begin to turn blue as well…

Outside, it's revealed that the Wakandan prince jumped into the river after Lancer, who is still beating herself up for falling for the same trick twice - so dumb! She then wonders what on Earth the kid's doing here, and he says he's there to save her. Okay, she replies, but who will save him in turn? The boy irately points out he wasn't about to stay where he was before, and she kind of has to give him that one.



Unfortunately the waterfall is soon approaching, and while the two hang on to each other, Lancer shouts that she'll try to find a handhold on the base of the tower they're about to pass. A great idea, she thinks, if she wasn't fighting a current that puts the fiercest rapids to shame! She briefly manages to latch onto a rock, but it proves too slick to climb, and the prince is torn from her grip - the water is just too fast. Lancer, still holding on to the rock, knows she can save herself - but that's as far as that thought goes. She jumps back into the rapids and grabs the boy, figuring that Doom genetically engineered her to survive Atlans, magic spells, Technarx, and who knows what else. Maybe she can handle the fall, too? What the heck, it's only a mile!

The moment they go over the edge, of course, the two are instantly rescued by a flying Doctor Doom, who intercepts their fall and dryly comments that he trusts such escapades will not become a habit. Lancer belatedly recalls that when he rebuilt her, Doom's nanites reconfigured her nervous system so he could always see what she was doing - everything she knows, he does too. On principle she's mortally offended by this, but she has to concede that the link has its uses! Meanwhile, back in Doom's room, the other Doctor Doom removes his mask to reveal that the Dreaming Celestial isn't the only one who can practice deception - Ashema hides beneath this metal shell! She turns into her Celestial form once more, and declares that they're standing now upon her ground, which allows her to channel the selfsame energies which empower the Dreaming Celestial! The two unleash what shadow of their former glory they have access to - at long last, they face each other as equals!



Ashema snarls that this world was given unto her charge for safekeeping, both by Arishem of the Host and by the boy who was this world's creator. The Apostate shall not claim this gift, nor corrupt as he has so many others! The being in question asks who would stop him - she's a fool who is as outmatched as her erstwhile ally, Doom!

Watching from afar, the Wakandan prince asks about what's happening, and Doom explains that Ashema desired to take an active role in the salvation of the world, and he provided her the opportunity. Lancer asks if she can win the fight, and Doom freely admits that she can't - but she doesn't have to. Also watching are the other three generals of Doom - Shakti curses herself for letting that armored devil ever charm her into an alliance - they've backed the wrong side! Divinity begs Doom for forgiveness, saying he lacked faith, but now he'll be forever loyal! Technarx just coolly observes that there is more occurring here than is obvious to direct empirical scrutiny…

Ashema grandly announces to the Dreaming Celestial that alone, perhaps she would lose. But she is not alone - in union lies strength! The force of their struggle, right this moment, energizes power pylons affixed to the heartlines of the planet itself. The Dreaming Celestial has influence over this globe because it exists in a pocket dimension that is itself an artificial construct. By the fundamental nature of their creation, both the dimension and the world are malleable. But those pylons generate a Sidereal Transmat Field… they're designed to shift the world into the same dimension as its creator. Reality there is not so mutable! As the entire world is suddenly teleported to the reality of Doom's origin, the mainline Marvel universe, Ashema declares that the game is done - and the Apostate has lost!



Some time later, Lancer looks out of the windows of the starship's cockpit and says that the stars look the same, but in her bones everything feels different. Doom confirms that the dimensional realignment is complete - the world is stable, although they appear to be interfacing with some kind of cosmic wave front of incredible pan-temporal energy. Their transit is acting like a breakwater, diverting the bulk of those forces around the solar system, and they are now safely ensconced at a distance of one Astronomical Unit from the Sun… at a point directly opposite the current position of the planet whose orbit they now share. His homeworld: Earth! This perfectly describes the concept of a Counter-Earth, which is where the nickname for the Heroes Reborn version of Earth comes from.

Dorma enters the cockpit and comments that Mother Ocean feels strange - as though the tides of both world and flesh have been somehow altered. She's been having the strangest dreams - has something happened? Lancer turns to her, incredulous, and says that not much has happened, really - while she was sleeping the Dreaming Celestial attempted to ruin her reputation, such as it is… and oh yeah, she almost forgot, Doctor Doom saved the world! Doom announces that this Earth is no longer the plaything of precocious children or vengeful gods - it's the province, at long last, of its people! What will become of it is now for them to determine…



Lancer asks Doom what happened to Ashema - she's missing. Was she left behind? Doom denies this, stating that both she and her adversary made the transit as well, but their residual signatures indicate that their manifestations both discorporated. Doom assumes that Ashema's failure to rejoin them indicates that she's being held captive again by the Dreaming Celestial. That mistake will cost him! Ashema has served Doom well, and she risked her life to defend her new home. As her sovereign, Doom can do no less! The Apostate should have remained content to play with dreams - now he has stepped into the realm of reality, and he will find himself courting not victory… but DOOM!

Rating & Comments



Well, damn. Why exactly did we get that barely relevant Ashema chapter, or the pointless Masters of Evil one, or half a dozen other weird unrelated oneshots, when we could have been following Doom while he was forming a new posse and conquering the world? This issue really feels like it comes at the tail end of a longer series of comics, casually referencing events and characters which we've literally never seen because they apparently showed up off-screen, in between issues. We last left off with Doom rescuing Ashema, sort of, and swearing that he'll take down the Dreaming Celestial. He did mention looking into several possible allies he wanted to recruit, but that's all. Instead of actually seeing any of those events, all those allies are all already here in the next issue, and a bunch more stuff happened besides that, too. Doom is already 99% done with his entire plan when we get started, which seems really rushed!

Doom went shopping for talent to pad out his roster of allies - he recruited Dorma after meeting with her last issue, though she was obviously plotting against Doom already at that point. There's not much in the way of explanation for what caused Divinity to suddenly turn around and become a follower of Doom, but we can assume he was conscripted after getting caught in the last issue - he's a bit of a coward. The other two new additions, however, don't really get anything in the way of explanation for their presence. Shakti (not to be confused with the one from 2099) and Technarx are introduced when they're already Doom's generals, fighting for his cause and evidently cooperating in his grand plan. Beyond vague implications, there's no real explanation for these guys - they just show up to fill the ranks. It feels like the writers ran out of room to introduce all these people with more than a few text boxes and a mugshot, but they then elected to fill a bunch of issues with stuff unrelated to the plot of the Heroes Reborn revisit instead…

Depending on who you believe, Doom either made an alliance with Wakanda and then arranged for some mercenaries to slaughter the royal family so he could swoop in and annex the place, or he made an alliance and was too busy saving the world to get back there in time, which allowed the unexpectedly effective mercs to kill his allies. Both scenarios are entirely possible, of course, Doom has shown he's capable of being this vicious. That said, I suspect the annexation was just Doom taking advantage of the unfortunate situation, not his original plan. If he just wanted Wakanda ruined, he could have easily sent those mercs without making an alliance first, which would put them in the same situation of being open to annexation without besmirching his own honor. That, and Doom's respect for royalty is well-known - in this very comic he chooses to spare the life of the crown prince even after the boy tries to assassinate him, and gives him a luxurious place on his spaceship.

The dynamic between the generals is not bad - Doom tells them off for being too bloodthirsty, leaning into his 'good statesman' personality of trying to coax loyalty and devotion out of his subjects instead of just terror, emphasizing that the difference between being respected and being feared is crucial to ruling. Technarx is kind of a dumbass robot who misinterprets things, but the other three all have their moments of savvy - even Divinity, the weirdo. Dorma and Shakti are pretty different in personality, with Dorma a lot more brusque and violent, but both share a propensity for seduction, though it's vague how much Dorma actually uses it in this story. Shakti's version is a lot more horrifying - she goes full date-rape drug with her magic, whereas Dorma just dresses sexy to convince the guy to take his pants off. I'm not entirely sure why Doom keeps these people around after this issue, though - surely one betrayal should be enough to get them booted off the island (or the spaceship.)

Doom doesn't interact much with Lancer in this issue compared to the last few times, but she's still great - every conversation the two of them do have is excellent. Most of her interactions are actually with the Wakandan prince (who never gets a name, annoyingly enough.) He insinuates she's Doom's slave, and Lancer sort of accepts that framing, given Doom's sheer arrogance and his demanding demeanor, as he expects her to be ready to serve at all times. The boy later apologizes for his rash words, spoken out of anger after what happened to his family, and the two of them bond over their respective losses. Lancer also once again repeats her belief that Doom is the only one of the other world's heroes that stuck around and is trying to handle any of what's happening here, averting a terribly barbarous future (which is, again, very similar in concept to 2099.) This observation is accurate from her perspective, though the heroes may just not know that stuff is going badly in the Heroes Reborn universe. You'd think at least Reed could have checked up on them…

Ashema gets more screen time in this issue than in the one actually named for her, and even gets a mini-arc. Doom manipulates her into proving herself useful by goading her into lashing out, then gets her a tutor. The scene is not bad, but I'm a little puzzled as to what the timeline is supposed to be here - did Lancer even have the time to give Ashema any lessons before the finale of this issue happens? Ashema also seems pretty weak when fighting Doom early on, but she's got proper Celestial powers back later, ostensibly because they're at her base of power - does that mean her big body is buried somewhere in San Francisco? I guess it is in the south-west, but we saw the Celestial tomb just last issue and it was out in a Native American reserve, right?

Doom himself spends most of this issue not actually involved with any of the backstabbing and power-jockeying by his underlings - which goes to show that hiring Lancer was a great decision, as she's a lightning-rod for their efforts. He spends his time working on his Magnum Opus, the whole reason for his cross-country trip to Wakanda and elsewhere, and the reason he recruited such outlandish figures. He constantly keeps his cards close to his chestplate, but the ginormous pylons he's setting up around the world are the key to his plan - enormous fusions of Phalanx-style technology (which we've already seen can form landmasses in 2099) as well as good old-fashioned sorcery. Doom synthesizes the two fields, being an expert in both tech and magic, and creates pillars which reach geostationary orbit, tens of thousands of kilometers away - he constructs what amounts to six magitech space elevators in a matter of mere weeks, and that's just the preparation phase of his plan! This has to be one of the largest-scale feats Doom has ever attempted, short of yoinking the powers of gods…

Doom's newly recruited generals, only just introduced as such, are already in cahoots to unseat him from basically the start. Dorma is the instigating factor here, which isn't a surprise given last issue, but I have to wonder if it's really her doing at all. The real Dorma wakes up in the epilogue, but it's unclear when exactly she was switched out - there's pretty good odds that she was already replaced when she called for that clandestine meeting of the generals, since the Dreaming Celestial would have a lot of reason to instigate the others to rebel against Doom. It's funny that Divinity is strongly opposed on the basis that Doom and Lancer kicked his ass before, while Technarx is really just in it for the interesting data. These guys are more stereotypes than actual characters, honestly. That leaves Shakti, who seems to have an issue with Lancer in particular, and has just the (weird) spell for her…

Easily the most confusing and also disturbing part of the story is when Shakti attacks by attempting to turn Lancer into a useless, mindless floozy. Lancer later figures she was turned into something like her childhood fantasy of fairy princesses, but unless she was into mostly naked sex objects, it went a little further than that. This is some thinly veiled 'let's insert a way to get some fanservice going' justification, I think. It's puzzling that one page shows that the Wakandan prince is also affected by the spell, because it's never shown how he gets free from the effects - he doesn't share Lancer's protections. I guess it was just one spell, and when it broke on Lancer it also broke on him? Lancer's power is once again shown differently too - she grows actual huge claws and strikes out with them, instead of just having them as mere energy constructs - or it's just poor art. I also don't really understand how Lancer (and the prince) manage to move through the scrying mirror Shakti was using. The use of space in general is a bit confusing in this issue in general - I assume everything takes place on the ship, but that's not really shown at any point.

While all that happens, 'Doom' is having his own adventure. Dorma has most definitely been replaced at this point, and shows up in a nightgown at Doom's room to make bedroom eyes at him, and to badger him into taking his armor off by implying that she wants to do the horizontal tango with him. This possibility of seduction was foreshadowed in the previous issue, and Doom's initial reluctance to even respond to Dorma's inane ramblings, followed by his apparent caving when she threatens to leave, fit in with Lancer's prediction last issue that Doom would turn her trick back on her. So convinced her tactics are working, Dorma never sees through the definitely out of character behavior on Doom's part. Of course, given that this is not really Dorma at all, you could also ascribe this to the Dreaming Celestial's poor understanding of Doom's personality. Either way, the Apostate believes he's tricked Doom into disarming his formidable defenses, and quickly finds out how wrong he is.

The attack on Lancer is followed by Technarx's, and it's good to mention here that Doom's nanites are amazing. To wit, they've been designed to give Lancer her signature energy bolts, super-strength, super-reflexes, gamma resistance, and immunity to both magic and Phalanx conversion! All that, and she's got a sensory link which allows Doom to see what she's up to. My interpretation here is that Doom immunized his second-in-command against the abilities of all of the generals - Divinity never tries to infect her here, but I suspect that would have also failed. It's a sensible precaution given that Doom already knew that at least one of his new minions was less than committed to his rule, and I assume Doom would also have used the same methods himself, so that the planned rebellion never had a chance of working. The description of the Transmode transformation process is cool, by the way, even if Technarx isn't much of a character.

It's cool that Lancer makes the same mistake twice in underestimating Doom's generals - it's very human, especially when she starts beating herself up for it. She's still quite new to super-life, and still learning how it works (even though she knows enough, evidently, to be a tutor for the even less experienced Ashema.) She keeps coming out on top, sort of, but only because of Doom's foresight. The entire scene featuring her and the Wakandan prince going over the waterfall feels rather forced, but it's pretty cool to have Doom dramatically come to the rescue given that, last we saw him, he was getting beaten up somewhere else with no awareness of what was happening. Lancer remembers her sensory link only belatedly, and it's clear that Doom's generals didn't know about it at all, including the Dreaming Celestial, or they would probably have avoided starting anything with Lancer while the big bad was 'seducing' Doom into taking his armor off.

The double double-cross is fun - 'Dorma' reveals himself to be the Dreaming Celestial in disguise, then Doom turns out to be Ashema - she keeps up the charade for a little longer than him, using some pretty Doom-like lines in the process. Ashema then reveals, straight to the enemy's face, that the ultimate plan has to do with charging the pylons - which seems unwise to tell him, but it doesn't seem like he cares at all. The two Celestials then do battle, and grow enormous during the conflict - they dwarf Doom's starship one moment, then the Earth the next, just a spectacular light show in the dark. I'm not entirely sure when Ashema had time to practice (given that she was pretty useless against Doom earlier) or where she got her surge of power from, but we'll go with it. And while this happens, they're both in range of the pylons which hungrily devour all the energy they can from the titanic clash that Ashema knows full-well she can't win. That's not the point.

Then comes the grand reveal - Doom and Ashema's ultimate plan was to lure the Dreaming Celestial into conflict with his counterpart, knowing that their fight would unleash enough cosmic energy to empower the huge techno-sorcery project Doom had been been setting up for weeks all across the globe. This is probably the reason Doom manipulated Ashema into wanting to get personally involved too, since he wanted to push her into a self-sacrificial role, knowing that it was the most practical way to actually get the vast amounts of energy required to pull off his ultimate trick. Of course Doom's strategy would be to steal the required power from higher beings - if there's one technology he has definitely mastered (besides robotics) it's to hijack the likes of gods for his own purposes. Aron the Watcher, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, the Beyonder… Could we really have expected Doom to draw from any other well for his masterstroke?

And what a move that is! Faced with the conundrum of a dream-world in a mutable pocket dimension that's helpless against a god-like Celestial whose domain is dreams, Doom thinks outside the box and decides to just move the world somewhere else! Teleporting the entire planet Earth into another universe is a hell of a mad scientist strategy, and yet it works. The planet transits into realspace on a wave of chaotic dimensional energies, along with the many billions of people who still live on it. This has to be one of Doom's most impressive feats yet, at least without including his brief stint with the Beyonder's powers, since he never used them for anything this insane. While the fates of the Dreaming Celestial and Ashema are left unclear here, this plotline isn't over yet - we'll see what becomes of them (and everyone else on Counter-Earth) when next we see Doom.

Incidentally, placing the Heroes Reborn planet on the far side of the sun from the Earth, while sharing its orbit, is a direct reference to the concept of the Counter-Earth (hence the nickname) or Antichthon which was hypothesized by the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Philolaus. There were later Heliocentric versions of the concept as well, and some of those ideas were used in science-fiction, including as the setting for the Gor novels, in the comic strip Twin Earths, and as the backstory for Mondas, the planet of the Cybermen in Doctor Who. In practice, a world on the other side of the Sun would still be detectable, it'd just require more indirect methods of detection than looking straight at it (given that the Sun would always be in the way of observation.)

As a whole, the parallels between this three-parter and 2099 are pretty noticeable - the Doomsday issue is basically the opening issue of Doom 2099 but switching out Fortune for Lancer as the snarky female ally he manages to conscript into his service. The Ashema issue parallels some of the middle issues of the series in which Doom was busy making alliances (including with Wakanda) and building a supporting cast before his push to take over America. The final Doom issue parallels the final issues of The World of Tomorrow, down to Doom getting stripped of his armor by the big bad - he even uses some of the same threats! - using preparation and deception to win against said enemy, and using Phalanx technology to construct a means of simultaneously saving his land. Here, the definition of 'his land' is just a little bigger. In a sense, this trilogy is almost like an encapsulation of the 90's for Doom - he's off doing his own world-conquering thing while the heroes are busy with something else. Turns out Doom thrives in those situations.

This issue is quite hard to rate for me - objectively, that is. On the one hand there's a bunch of barely characterized generals who came out of nowhere. On the other hand, Doom is quintessential Doom here. The Shakti enchantment thing is super-weird fanservice, but Lancer is badass even when she's a klutz. Doom is crazy for hiring all these obvious backstabbers, but he then uses their untrustworthiness to his own advantage by baiting out his enemy, and he immunizes his second-in-command against their powers to keep them in line. Ashema's plot is rushed, but the trick they pull on the Dreaming Celestial is a clever layered plot. The entire Heroes Reborn revisit is honestly rushed, but it also entails Doom teleporting the entire planet to another dimension. Objectively this would probably lose points for execution, but subjectively Doom pulls off a hell of a caper here and saves a couple billion people from an eventual death at the hands of a capricious god. Probably better to be in the hands of a capricious monarch… Four stars, again. For all the inelegance, Doom's still a badass here.

Best Panel(s) of the Issues



Ashema pulls a pretty convincing 'Doom getting blown up' impression, huh? It's actually pretty hard to tell, due to coloring, that Doom isn't wearing his chest armor here, though.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"Conquest is easy. Any brute can slay a foe, or even slaughter a nation. The challenge is ruling that land. I have no use for slaves. What I require is loyal and devoted subjects."

"They may fear him, Technarx. From Doom, they will learn respect. The difference is crucial."

"I have no use for sycophants, Lancer. But free will carries with it the responsibility to recognize your true obligations, and act accordingly. I have granted you the one. The other, I require."

"Will you be content to render me bedazzled?"

"Pride is an admirable quality - provided one remembers what it invariably precedes."

Lancer: "...Doctor Doom saved the world!"
Doom: "This Earth is no longer the plaything of precocious children or vengeful gods. It is the province, at long last, of its people. What will become of it is ours to determine."

"Ashema has served Doom well and with courage. She risked her life to defend her new home. As her sovereign, I can do no less. The Apostate should have remained content to play with dreams. Now that he has stepped into the realm of reality, he will find himself courting not victory... but DOOM!"

Doom's Bad Hair Day



Beyond having Shakti with the wrong skin color, the entire fanservice nature of this transformation stuff and the weirdness of having a teenage boy involved too makes it kind of bizarre and off-putting. I also get that they wanted to reference that 'evil smile' thing Shakti had in here bio at the start of the issue, but did they have to copy the same face over and over, too? That's just lazy.

Doom-Tech of the Week

Planetary Teleportation Pylons. Just… what the hell. Legendary feats of technomagical geosorcery, magic alien space elevators meant to channel Celestial energy and move planets to other universes. What the hell can't you do, Doom? Also those Nanites can add magic and tech-immunity to the list of inherent abilities…

Continuity Notes:

While the next issue for Victor von Doom himself is, chronologically, Fantastic Four v3 #25, there's some setup work to be done before I tackle that one - notably there's #24 which deals with the Fantastic Four's perspective on the final events of this issue, but there's a few other things of note, too. See, a character shows up in those issues that I haven't touched on thus far - and it's probably useful to drop her in somewhere before she becomes actually plot-relevant. I'm talking here about Valeria. No, not Doom's ex-girlfriend from his youth. No, I'm not talking about Reed's child. Technically. I'm talking here about the second character to carry that name - a time-dancing thirteen year old who just kind of wandered into the Fantastic Four's world one day with a weird story and a distressing name. Because where she's from, she's known… as Valeria von Doom!

She's sort of Doom's child, and her adventures are shown in the mainline universe's comics, so I'm not sure if I should drop her appearances there, or in variants. I have shown Kristoff stuff as main entries, and Valeria wears Doom-themed armor like him, and goes by the name Doom on occasion - shouldn't she be counted? But she's from an alternate universe/future… It's confusing. Wherever it ends up, I'll also have to fit some Gambit comics in somewhere - which are more like Succession Crisis chapters, but only sort of. It's a bit of a mess…

 

[Estro]

This is, well maybe not peak, but certainly very *high* DOOM. He's on top form, that's what I can say.

Valeria is interesting, both Von Doom and the Richard version, especially as Richards version is remarkably friendly towards doom (and doom towards her).