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

[Johnreiter]

More interesting than the screaming mobs, I think, is the political angle to this story revolving around the revelation that the government of the United States not only has a secret satellite designed to shoot down alien ships, but a whole anti-alien plan to get rid of them wholesale to 'purify' the world. This is clearly a Hidden Ones-inspired plot, but it's also a bit confusing… The Hidden Ones don't care about aliens, as far as I can tell, but just about the Inhumans specifically. Who are, by definition, not aliens. I guess you could argue they're partly that due to ancient experimentation, but that applies just as much to the Hidden Ones themselves. I suppose the logic is that if people think all the aliens and inhumans are gone, they won't look for any more of them in the future…? These weirdos are doing a lot on the basis of very little, especially since the Inhumans must have been around for a long, long time without ever bothering the Hidden Ones!

Click to shrink...

Here's a dark theory. The Hidden Ones didn't make the government create anti-alien defenses. The government did that on it's own initiative. The Hidden Ones simply took advantage of what was there

 

[Roarian]

Here's a dark theory. The Hidden Ones didn't make the government create anti-alien defenses. The government did that on it's own initiative. The Hidden Ones simply took advantage of what was there

Click to shrink...

I think we can confirm that they were amplifying existing fears, probably not making new ones - and that includes at the very least the UN, which always has incredible power in fiction. I think this could be seen as pretty similar to the situation with Iron Man in the MCU, where he's prodded into making ULTRON due to the scarlet witch manipulating him.

 

[Roarian]

Fantastic Four v3 #54 (June 2002)

Cover

As I mentioned with the last issue, this cover is another one that's not actually all that great at conveying what's happening inside, as the final segment of a vertical cover panorama. What I should clarify, though, is that dramatic '100 Page Monster' banner at the bottom. Yes, that does mean this issue is one hundred pages long - but only a small part of that is actually the A-Plot. Alongside the main story there was also a reprint of a story from Fantastic Four v1 Annual #6, 'Let There Be… Life!' which includes the birth of Franklin Richards, as well as another issue which seems unrelated. I'm only concerned with the main story here, though, so I'll be skipping those. Got enough to work with, anyway…

Story Overview

Fantastic Four v3 #54 - A Choice of Dooms

We start with Reed Richards floating in a white void, his limbs elongated and tangled. His thoughts form… slowly. He remembers his name, but he doesn't know where he is - can't remember how he got here. He seems to have been here for… four…

It turns out Reed has been locked into some kind of sensory deprivation chamber, and Senso is standing beside it and admits she's pleased that the Fantastic Four, Earth's greatest adventurers and well-known heroes to millions, would be laid low by the most unknown. By the Hidden Ones, her people, whose very existence depends on never being found out, never being enslaved ever again. And once the Inhumans are removed, their safety will be assured! With a common ancestry and genetics, if no one ever looks for them, no one will ever find the Hidden Ones. It's a family feud of sorts, with distant relatives the Inhumans never knew existed… and a feud Reed's family foolishly stepped into the middle of!



For his trouble, Reed will get an extended stay in the Vault's isolation pod, complete with a mind-suppressing Null Field. Can't have anyone disturbing his… rest… by calling on his chest communicator, of course, so she's removed that and placed it on a desk nearby. She knows that the Vault is supposedly shielded from all frequencies, but if anyone could invent a device to penetrate this fortress it would be the brilliant mind of Mister Fantastic! How amusing, then, that she's already subdued the Fantastic Four's smartest and its strongest! She doubts the others will be any trouble…

Speaking of the strongest of the four, we see Ben back in his cell again trying desperately to transform into his rocky form like he did last issue - c'mon, he's the Thing for crying out loud! He'd be the star of the stage if only something wasn't stopping him from changing! But if there's one thing Ben Grimm is not, it's a pinch-hitter for the Mets. But he also isn't a quitter. He has to think of Reed, and the hotshot, and Suzie! He's got to get out of here and tell them what's happening, warn them before it's too late!

Meanwhile, back at the Baxter Building, we see the whole place smoking and pockmarked, Guardsmen strewn across the floor because the Inhumans kicked their asses. Gorgon lands a haymaker on one of the remaining men and sends him flying - there! He snarls that next time these Guardsmen desire an audience with Black Bolt, they will request one properly. Triton says he's the master of understatement - these Guardsmen were intent on capturing them, not conversation! Is there no place on Earth where Inhumans will be left to live in peace? Karnak muses that all they can do is stay vigilant, and show no weakness. Theirs are not the only lives in danger at the moment! Crystal agrees, and mentions Sue has gone into labor and… well, it's a lot more difficult than her own pregnancy was! Complications are definitely ensuing!



Sue, groaning in pain, explains that her child wasn't conceived in the Negative Zone - lucky her! She's been through this before, and she doesn't want the baby to die again! Medusa asks her what they can do for her - she need only name it! Sue cries out that they should get Reed! She's not sure why he isn't answering his chest communicator, but… they should get Reed!

Suddenly Sue convulses, screaming in pain, and yells at everyone to get back. As she goes photo-negative a wave of energy pulses out from her, Sue responds by summoning a spherical force field around himself, murmuring that she's trying to contain the negative energies. Medusa warns her that she's already weak, and creating a force field will worsen that, but Sue doesn't want the rest of them to get hurt. She admits it's just a matter of time for her and the baby, now…



Crystal wishes there was some place Lockjaw could teleport them to, some place that could help her! Black Bolt nods in agreement, but doubts that there is any place on Earth that could help Susan Richards - or his own people. It seems for all of them there is only… a choice of Dooms. (Title drop!)

Speaking of Doom, we see the good Doctor sitting at one of his surveillance computers at the Latverian Embassy, sampling an excellent Pinot Noir from a golden goblet. It's not from the vineyards on Latverian soil… currently… but boundaries on a map can be changed as easily as pencil on paper. An unexpected bloody rebellion might break out which, as the ruler of a neighboring nation, the concerned Doctor Doom would feel compelled to… suppress. What finer git to present the homeless Inhumans than their own, newly annexed corner of Latveria? Should Black Bolt accept his magnanimous offer of sanctuary, of course. If not… Doom's musings are interrupted when a perimeter alert goes off - ah, the hot-headed Human Torch blazes his way towards the Latverian embassy. Unannounced, uninvited, and factoring his high-speed approach… it would only be natural for the consulate's robotic sentries to react!



Sure enough, several large robots launch as Johnny approaches, demanding he stops and identifies himself. Johnny suspects that wouldn't prevent them from attacking him, and the robots immediately respond to the lack of answer with lethal force - destroy, destroy! Johnny is totally surprised - not. Now it's their turn to guess what he is going to do! Anyone who said 'melt us to slag' gets… well… melted to slag!

After Johnny turns the robots to little more than smoldering puddles, Doom arrives on the scene by popping his head out of a secret hatch in the roof like he's a mole. He comments that the destruction was impressive - childish, but impressive. As he elevates himself onto the roof, Doom dryly remarks that he'd invite the Torch inside, but the smokey stench he leaves in his wake is almost impossible to remove from the tapestries.



Besides, he observes, the Torch can't turn his flame off at the moment, can he? There's no denying it - his scans show him burning at 17.32% hotter than usual, and his pyro-metabolic curves are out of control. And he can see it's in his eyes! Johnny retorts that he isn't here about himself - no, his sister is about to give birth, and she and the baby will both die if she doesn't get help! Doom, smiling gleefully, gives his deepest regrets. He is sure Reed will…

Johnny cuts Doom off, quickly explaining that Reed is currently missing! Johnny points out that the last time this happened it took Reed and a couple of other big brains to save Sue… and the baby didn't make it. Now there's none of that! Johnny knows they've had their differences - okay, they've beaten each other bloody. Lots. But this child has nothing to do with that! He begs Doom to help, admitting that there's nobody else who can. Doom is the best chance they've got, the only chance they've got! Please. Doom paces around the roof for a moment, taking in Johnny's desperate pleas, and we're left wondering about his thoughts…



Meanwhile, back at the Vault, we hear Crystal trying to contact Reed through his communicator, begging him to please answer. Is he there? If he can hear this, Sue is in trouble! She needs him - it's about the baby. It's just getting worse, and there's not much time. She'll leave the distress signal on, and maybe he'll see it before… Before… She's sorry, but it just doesn't look good. They'll need a miracle or something… Reed barely seems coherent enough to understand any of it inside his isolation pod, but he does hear the message. Ben, meanwhile, is still trying to psych himself up to change forms - come on, he grew up on Yancy Street, how hard can this be? All he's got to do is change like he did before. So what if there's something in his head that says he can't? Since when does he do what someone else says!?

In the next room over, a pair of Guardsmen are maintaining the Vault's systems, and one mentions that Reed's vitals look good - stable and steady. He asks a colleague to check on Ben. The other man sarcastically mentions that this is why he joined this outfit - an exciting career in babysitting! It's got to be near the end of the shift, right? What time is it? 'IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!' Ben violently rips his way through a wall filled with computer banks and drops in on the guards, back in his full rocky form and ready for trouble. Ben jokes that he would have used the door, but he didn't see one - guess he's just nearsighted. He knocks one of the guards out with a swing of his fist and jokes that, whoops, what'd he tell them? Didn't see him there either!



The other Guardsman calls Ben an idiot, while Ben argues that's sedimentally challenged to him, hah! The guard quickly clarifies that Ben just took out the life support systems to the cell holding his pal Reed Richards! Ben thinks that's not a problem, and slams a chunk of debris into the guy's face before lifting him up into the air and threatening to rip him in half. See, this Guardsman is going to take him to Stretcho right now, or he's going to shut down the guy's personal life support systems with his bare hands!

Back at the Baxter Building, Doctor Doom has evidently agreed to Johnny's request, as he's arrived to oversee the pregnancy. While Black Bolt and Medusa keep an eye on him, Doom looks over various computer readouts of Sue and her baby, idly commenting that she's showing such strength… Even the iron will of Doctor Doom would be tried by this level of endless, torturous pain! Yet Susan Richards will fight until her last breath for those she loves… He dares to say that the determination to protect one's own is common to matriarch and monarch alike - wouldn't Black Bolt agree? He need only give a nod, and his people shall be protected within the bountiful borders of Latveria!



Medusa comments that her husband is still considering the offer, but Doom snaps that he wasn't talking to her. The snub clearly displeases both Inhumans. A long moment passes without sound or movement before Black Bolt finally turns away, and Medusa says his actions speak for him. Now is not the time for politics - lives are at stake. Doom opines that lives are always at stake - or they should be…

Johnny flies into the room, still ablaze, and mentions that the room is ready - and Sue is all Doom's. But if he does anything funny…! Doom snaps that the hothead should attempt thinking for once… If he wanted harm to befall her, he wouldn't have come at all! Doom then steps into the room and approaches Sue, now little more than a vague white outline suffused with intense blue energy. Doom tells her to lower her force field, assuring her that his armor will protect him. Sue incredulously recognizes who is now looming over her, and protests the very thought of him getting close to her child. Doom promises there is no reason to fear him - not that she ever has. But if she and her child want even the smallest chance at survival - she must trust him!



Back at the Vault, Ben has ripped open the isolation pod and freed Reed from captivity. Stretch has looked better, but looking dead would be a lot worse. Reed, still woozy from the experience, mentions he must have been in some sort of cerebral vortex that shut down his mind. It was an endless, empty void - that's the only thing he remembers. That, and Crystal's voice from far away, saying something about… Sue! No, no, no! Reed quickly grabs his chest communicator and confirms that his recollections are accurate - he received a distress call on their secret frequency from Sue's communicator! Her pregnancy…! 'Is beyond your help,' a voice states from off-panel…

Senso has returned alongside a squad of Guardsmen, claiming that she knew the moment that the two of them broke free of her mind control. She could try that again, but it never seems to stick with them… unlike this small army that's under her influence! Since she can't bend the Fantastic Four to her will, though, she's afraid she'll have to break them instead. Ben calls the woman 'Senso', which clues Reed in on the fact that this woman isn't the defenseless military aide she appears to be. He punches her with a stretchy arm, and all the Guardsmen also stumble at the same time - she must have such tight psychic control over them that his blow stunned them too! Ben grumbles that it figures the rubber man packs a punch that bounces from brain to brain! He'll be clean-up, leaving Reed to deal with the dark-haired dame.



Reed is confused - dark-haired? To him, she's a blonde! Ah, she must have the ability to alter people's perception of her! Reed traps her in his stretching arm, and Senso admits she only allows others to see parts of her that she chooses to reveal. Sometimes she's the hard-working military aide without whom the powerful would stumble and falter, or the sultry leader whom others bow before… but these are but two of her many guises. Few ever see her true self. Revealing her secondary eyelids and vaguely alien appearance, Senso comments Reed is a worthy adversary who deserves to know the truth… about the Hidden Ones!

Long ago, she explains, the Hidden Ones were Inhumans and lived in the great refuge of Attilan alongside their brethren. But their powers of persuasion made them distrusted, even there, and so they left the secret city and mingled and mated with humans, blending in more and more with each passing generation. That is, until the Nazis found them, spurred on by old legends and even older hatred. Those few who survived those days learned that simply hiding wasn't enough - they had to make certain they were never found. They began to infiltrate places of power, using their influence to turn all eyes away from them. If there was even the slightest chance of being discovered, they were always ready to focus attention in other directions - from scandal to schism, if need be. As Senso explains this, we see images of Bill Clinton - presumably referencing the Lewinsky scandal - as well as Pope John Paul II, evidently related to church schisms.



Senso continues by explaining that the Inhumans pose a unique problem, and have to be removed. As wanted fugitives and distant cousins, if anyone were to come looking for them, they might find the Hidden Ones instead. If their history has taught them anything, it's that to survive they must stay hidden… at any cost! Reed calmly says there's a small problem with that - namely that his chest communicator recorded her entire speech, and it's already stored in the Baxter Building databanks by now. He'll personally make sure copies get into all the right hands so their leaders will know, and they'll be watching for the Hidden Ones. The days of them manipulating events to their own liking is over!

Senso wonders if Reed honestly thinks they'll be that easy to ferret out? They could be your mailman, your neighbor, your wife… and you'd never know! She only told him their story because she knew no one else would believe him, as people only believe what they want them to believe! They still think Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman! With that Senso kicks Reed's chest communicator, crushing it, before suddenly disappearing. Ben has finished beating up the Guardsmen and wonders what just happened? Reed figures she might still be here, somewhere - it could be another one of the woman's mind games. Still, they have set back her plans, and she knows it! It'll do for now. They've already stayed here far longer than he wanted. He only hopes it wasn't too long!



Some time later Reed and Ben make their way back home to the Baxter Building, and find the place ransacked. My god, it looks like a warzone! They have to hurry, Sue's homing beacon suggests she's somewhere on the upper levels! They run into one of the top floors and find the entire Inhuman royal family waiting for them - that's good news, since it looks like Sue isn't alone! Reed wonders why everyone is just standing around, though - and he doesn't see Sue anywhere. Is she all right? Crystal admits they're not sure, but that she's in very capable hands. Reed demands to know where she is - and with who?! Crystal points him to the room behind her, and Reed demands to know who's tending to her? Hank Pym? Jane Foster? He doesn't think he's too late, the key is the matter/antimatter transference! They need to neutralize the charges without sending the bio-system into… shock.

Reed freezes when Doctor Doom steps through the door holding a swaddled baby, a knowing and gleeful smile somehow visible even through his mask, and he comments that Reed has arrived at last. Allow him to present… his new baby daughter! He believes congratulations are in order. And thanks.



Mother and child - and Reed's brother-in-law - are all doing fine. Reed barely even notices Doom at all, running by him towards Sue. She's sitting up in bed, no longer blasting energy everywhere, and the entire wall behind her is dominated with magical symbols and a dramatic pentacle. Sue is very relieved to see Reed, and admits that she's not sure how Doom did it - some combination of science and sorcery, she thinks. Doom siphoned off Johnny's excess energies, thus giving him control over his flames again, and then used them to… she's not sure… Reed admits he doesn't know either, but he really doesn't care. He just hugs her tightly in sheer relief.



Doom, meanwhile, still stands there with their baby in his arms, and dryly remarks that Reed's gratitude is overwhelming. Still, he will receive some measure of satisfaction from naming the girl! Reed, stunned by this, turns towards Doom in protest, but Sue confirms she agreed to this. Doom thinks that she agreed because she at least knows that he's a man of honor and style. He wouldn't be so crass as to name the child 'Dooma', for instance. No, she shall be called… Valeria. Doom looks down at the child, his mask inches from the chortling child, and proclaims that he places her under his royal protection. If anyone is ever foolish enough to strike at her, they will deal with him!



Doom then gives the baby back to Sue and strides off, telling Reed to enjoy his family, and to remember, every time he looks at his wife and daughter, that Doctor Doom saved them both - when once before, Reed could not! Ben is glad to see the back of Doom, but the monarch has one last detail to iron out. He turns to Black Bolt, and asks for his final decision…

That night, at the Latverian Embassy, Doom is listening to the evening news. It reports on alleged massive firings of lower level governmental and military aides, but the pundit claims this is unlikely since not one person allegedly let go can be found for confirmation! Doom concludes Reed must have lifted the rock the Hidden Ones live under. They have their uses, he thinks, but are so very easily manipulated themselves - threaten them with exposure, and they run like bugs. It's a plan that has kept Latveria free of them for years. The news also explains that the United Nations issued an apology to the Fantastic Four for delegates' emotional responses to a heated topic, and withdrew support for the Alien Defense Shield, stating that the UN shouldn't be promoting barriers between people. They did not, however, change their stance towards the Inhumans, who earlier today passed on Latveria's offer of sanctuary…



Doom muses that Black Bolt's refusal was as expected. Still, the chance to have Black Bolt's royal family as extended guests, and to slowly win them over to his side, that was an opportunity he could not ignore, and an interesting diversion. They have been removed from the equation now, anyway - tainted by the global leaders' distrust of their distant relatives, the Hidden Ones. The news continues by explaining that without offers of asylum the Inhumans left Earth again, headed towards the only place the United Nations granted them permission to stay - the mysterious Blue Area of the Moon, where their people lived once before. An unnamed source stressed this wasn't relocation - this was resettlement.

Back at the Baxter Building, Johnny curses and throws his phone at a wall, furious. Reed asks what's up, and Johnny tells him not to mind him… He's just a washed-up has-been! One day he's hot, then you're not… He just got a call from the movie studio, and they're finishing the film he was involved in with a look-alike. He should have read the fine print… He's such a loser! Reed argues it's only a movie, not the Nobel Peace Prize. After a few moments, Johnny admits that what's got him upset isn't really that movie. Look, he knows it's great that his sister and her kid are okay, and nobody's happier than him that his flames are under a controlled burn again, but he got Doctor Doom to do it. Doctor Doom! The guy whose favorite hobbies are atrocities and genocide! What was he thinking?!



Reed reassures Johnny by pointing out he was thinking fast, and under tremendous pressure. Yes, he got Doom… but he got Doom. He came! Johnny saved the lives of the two most important women in the world to Reed, and he won't forget that - he never will. That's why they would like him to be Valeria's godfather. Jonny, amazed, can't refuse that sort of offer. Reed wonders what he's waiting for, then? Let's go see the family!

As the Fantastic Four gather around Sue and her newborn, someone begins to tell a fairy tale… Once upon a time there was a great scientist, his best friend, the woman he loved, and her brother. They flew a rocket ship into outer space, towards the Moon, but something bad happened. They had to turn back, and once they got back they found they'd changed… They'd become the Fantastic Four!



Wherever they went after that, whatever dangers they faced - they faced them together, as a family. They became the most famous heroes on Earth, loved by millions. It's revealed that this is a story told by Crystal to Luna, her daughter, as they look back at Earth from their new home on the Moon's surface. Distraught, Crystal says the Fantastic Four were lucky they never reached the Moon…

Rating & Comments



You know, if you asked me what kind of doctor Victor von Doom actually was, I probably wouldn't have guessed that he was an obstetrician. Hidden depths! Granted, I assume most medical personnel have no particular expertise in transdimensional superpowers and how to call upon the forces of Hell, so he's probably overqualified. Here, then, we see why I included the last few issues despite a relative paucity of Doom - because he makes up for it in this issue, and somehow it all still ties in with what came before. The Hidden Ones are still sort of boring, but the focus of this issue is more about getting around them to what's actually important, which is entirely in character for our heroes as well.

Starting with the Hidden Ones plot, I have to admit Senso's strategy here is simultaneously clever and dumb. Yes, locking Reed away in a place where he can't really think is a great idea for a hero who relies on his mind - it worked to keep Doom trapped for a while too when Hyperstorm was around. Her decision to lock Ben back up using the exact same method that failed before is a lot dumber, though. Sure enough, the moment Senso walks off to do something else Ben manages to break through her mental conditioning a second time - even when she was using her full power. Could have seen that coming. Ben is pretty awesome, here - he gets pigeonholed as the dumb one on the team pretty often, but here he showcases his sheer iron-plated will. Gotta love the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing.

Following up on her original less-than-genius plans, Senso shows up again to gloat, but is dumb enough to bring a squad of mind-controlled goons with her which feel everything she does. Reed punches her, and they all flinch! She sure is a genius, stepping into the room when she's literally the Achilles' heel of these Guardsmen… She doesn't put up much of a fight after that, either, and seems almost pleased to be able to explain her backstory. She claims it's because he's a worthwhile adversary or whatever, but given what we learn later, clearly she was underestimating how much influence Reed actually has. Or she's just one more supremely overconfident hidden enemy that doesn't really matter in the long run. It's probably not a big shocker that they don't reappear after this issue.

The actual backstory of the Hidden Ones doesn't contain a ton of surprises, beyond the implication that they are presumably where lizard-people conspiracies came from in the Marvel Universe. Weird slitted eyes, controlling the rich and powerful from the shadows, carrying out scandals and assassinations? They're basically the Deep State, especially given the mention that purging them entailed getting rid of a huge amount of lower-level governmental employees. Though, if they were capable of hiding so well that one of them could literally dematerialize from Reed's arms and then vanish their entire civilization from Marvel publications going forward, I'm not sure they ever really needed this much infiltration…

Meanwhile, on the more consequential side of this comic, the Inhumans watch over a suffering Sue, who's using her force fields to protect them from the negative energies she's emanating even at risk to her own health. Never mind that, though, because Doom is sipping from a good goblet of wine! He philosophizes about potentially expanding the boundaries of Latveria to gain control over some vineyards, musing that an unexpected rebellion might break out, which a concerned neighbor might feel compelled to suppress. What finer gift to the Inhumans than a newly annexed corner of Latveria? Hm. That seems suspiciously specific, Doom. Got any plans in the works, by chance…? I'll be keeping an eye out for any annexing Doom's planning on doing…

As the end of last issue suggested, Johnny has come to bargain… and of course Doom sends a couple of robots to deal with the unannounced visitor. I do appreciate the thought that you can just call up the embassy and arrange for a meeting with the local supervillain king, though. Speaking of amusing things, Doom literally pops out of the ground just to mock Johnny a bit, and to drop a bomb - he knows all about Johnny's power incontinence issues in recent times, and also that his current emotional distress has essentially turned him into the Human Torch permanently. Doom's words imply he's just got a live readout of Johnny's temperature compared to historical norms - fancy.

It's amusing how unconcerned Doom is when Johnny tells him about his sister's problems, but it's also pretty clear that he assumes Reed will conjure a solution out of nowhere - he's done this before. I suspect Doom still wouldn't have cared about any of this, but Johnny goes out of his way to stroke Doom's ego by pointing out that it took Reed and a bunch of others last time around, and the baby still didn't make it. Then he proclaims that Doom, and Doom alone, may be able to do this. That he's the best chance they've got, the only one! Johnny essentially told Doom, to his face, that he believes he can resolve this better than essentially anyone in the world - no wonder he signed up. I have no doubt Doom also calculated the potential to use this to sway the Inhumans to his cause, and to hold it over Reed forever. And maybe, somewhere in that deep, dark heart of his, he does respect that Reed's child is not responsible for their father's deeds.

When we see him again, Doom is talking about how strong Sue is, and how he respects her ability to deal with the pain. It seems pretty obviously just a ploy to ingratiate himself with the Inhumans, though I like to believe it's at least partly based on his real feelings - Doom does have a personal attachment to the concept of motherhood, given the lengths he went through to save his own. Doom immediately sticks his foot in his mouth by refusing to respect the spouse of his fellow monarch, though. I don't think they've really interacted before, so he might not have realized how spurning Medusa would be taken. Pretty sure he ruined his chances of them accepting sanctuary right then and there! Curiously, Doom's offer was mostly genuine - he had plans to sway them later, sure, but for the moment his offer seems to have been on the level.

The interactions with Johnny and Sue when Doom steps in to help are pretty fun - he slaps down Johnny for implying he'd come here to hurt his sister when not doing anything would achieve the same, and then he unironically tells Sue that there's no reason to fear him, and that she must trust him. Yeah, sure, this doesn't sound suspicious at all… I assume sheer desperation is the only reason they signed up for this. And then… Doom saves her. Like it was easy. He pretty handily rescues both her and her baby, and Sue apparently allowed Doom to hold the baby and show her to Reed. That moment when he just gives this smug grin towards Reed when he walks in is… perfect. Doom the midwife is freaking hilarious, and it's pretty clear that a large part of Doom's reason to even get involved is specifically for that moment, for holding this event over Reed's head forever. As a bonus, he also cures Johnny's long-standing issues on the side, because why not. He can just do that.

I think Reed's characterization in this scene sells it for me - while Doom is preening and feeling so very gleeful about his victory, Reed just bypasses him and hugs his wife, less than interested in the way this was made possible than the safety of his family. It's the factor which makes this Reed different from the rather more mercenary mad scientist versions of him in the multiverse - his family defines him. Doom, naturally, thinks Reed is being rather thankless, but reveals the twist - he made a deal with Sue! In exchange for saving her child, he asked for the satisfaction of naming her. And he chose, of course, to name her after his childhood love - Valeria. Gotta love Doom poking fun at his own name, though, by dismissing something as crass as 'Dooma.' Hah! Then, in what will turn out to be fairly portentous, Doom places Valeria under his royal protection - if anyone is ever foolish enough to strike at her, they'll have to deal with him. We'll be coming back to that. A bunch.

Now, I have to wonder - what exactly did Doom know? You know, about the second Valeria? The teenage one that got sort of retconned recently? It's surely not a coincidence that the Valeria from that possible future had the same name, given that she was raised by Victor von Doom. Presumably this Doom and that one shared the same mental rolodex of names for future children. Also, did Doom know what Reed and Sue were going to call their child, if she have survived the first time around? Because an earlier issue confirms that they were planning on naming her Valerie. Only a single letter is different there - is that a coincidence? What did he know?

Anyway, for all that I didn't care much about the Hidden Ones, we get some pretty neat closure there - the newscaster and Doom narrate the events from their perspectives, and it turns out that Doom didn't actually know about the Hidden Ones' involvement until that point - or he didn't care. This implies that when he arrived at the UN to offer sanctuary, he might not have known they were all being mind-controlled? At any rate, it seems Doom has procedures in place to avoid their interference, but unlike Reed he never bothered to tell anyone else since they're easily manipulated. Figures. It also turns out that the entire Inhumans thing was just a diversion for Doom, an opportunity that he saw in the moment and couldn't ignore. He really only had vague plans of eventually winning them over to his side, nothing more, which is honestly not nearly as megalomaniac as you might expect.

So, what did I think of this issue as a whole? Well, if this wasn't a Doctor Doom thread focused on his exploits, I might knock off a point for the meandering Hidden Ones plot that doesn't really go anywhere, and the repetition of having Ben break out of his cell in the same way twice in subsequent issues - they should've just made that one big dramatic moment instead of duplicating it. Beyond that, though, I think the entire Doom plot here is great, and it leaves a lot of questions open about his motives, and any repercussions coming from this. Valeria has been born, and we'll see more of her in due time - and we'll also see the darker side of Doom's apparent magnanimous actions here. For now, though, Doom just saved two lives specifically so he can hold it over Reed, who really doesn't care. Love it. This goes in the 'great' bucket. Would've been four stars, but Doom's gleeful mask-smile and delivery (hah) boosts it up.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"Boundaries on a map can be changed as easily as pencil on paper. An unexpected bloody rebellion might break out which, as the ruler of a neighboring nation, the concerned Doctor Doom would feel compelled to suppress. What finer gift to present the homeless Inhumans than their own, newly annexed corner of Latveria, should Black Bolt accept my magnanimous offer of sanctuary?"

"I'd invite you inside - but the smokey stench you leave in your wake is almost impossible to remove from the tapestries."

"Such strength… Even the iron will of Doctor Doom would be tried by this level of endless, torturous pain. But Susan Richards will fight till her last breath for those she loves. I dare say that the determination to protect your own is common to matriarch and monarch alike."

"There's no reason to fear me, Susan - not that you ever have."

"Ah. You're here at last, Richards. Allow me to present - your new baby daughter. I believe congratulations are in order. And thanks. Mother and child - and your brother-in-law - are all doing fine."

"Your gratitude is overwhelming, Richards. But I will receive some measure of satisfaction from naming the girl. … Susan, at least, knows that I am a man of honor and style. I would not be so crass as to name the child 'Dooma', for instance. No. She shall be called… Valeria."

"I place you under my royal protection, little Valeria. If anyone is ever foolish enough to strike at you… they will deal with me."

"Enjoy your family, Richards. And remember every time you look at your wife and daughter that Doom saved them both… when, once before, you could not."

 

[Estro]

This is one of the greatest DOOM appearances in the FF canon. Not the best - we're a decade and change away from that, in my opinion - but honestly I would put this as the best we've had since Triumph and Torment, just because it is the best of DOOM. Both morally - he does do this for what is relatively little (a name and smugness) when Sue is throwing off energies that threaten the Inhumans - but also just in... Chutzpah. Skill. Sheer affrontery.

DOOM is here, and he's going to be better than Reed ever was. Because fuck you, he's Doctor Victor Von DOOM.

 

[Johnreiter]

Looking over your list of upcoming issues, I'm a little sad we are skipping Marvel Universe: The End, but I'm still overwhelmed by how awesome all of this is, an I continue to follow with keen anticipation. Lots of excitement is coming up really soon (and probably Doom's most controversial story arch)

Mostly, the Doom content from Marvel Universe: The End which I like the best is Thanos' comment about Dr. Doom, since as far as I know this is the only time the mad titan has expressed his opinion of Doom.

 

[Roarian]

Looking over your list of upcoming issues, I'm a little sad we are skipping Marvel Universe: The End

Click to shrink...

It's in variants for 2003 so I will get there...

 

[Roarian]

Edge Case Dooms

Introduction

You know how I cover minor appearances in their own posts? These aren't minor, but... Sometimes things are difficult to categorize, so I needed a bucket to put all the Doom appearances which were not small enough to be considered a mere cameo, but too limited in scope to spend a whole post on covering them in detail. And where would I put Dooms that are present in a story, but almost entirely inconsequential? What about variant comics that were so terribly boring that I could barely make it through them despite occasional sprinkles of Doctor Doom? What about ones that were just advertisements? Basically, this is the waste bucket where all my 'I dunno' stuff ended up.

For this first swing at it I'm going back in time quite to the late 80's and early 90's to cover three comics - a comic included with a videogame from the late 80's, a She-Hulk issue featuring a one-shot villain who's distantly related to Doctor Doom, and finally a novelty comic published by a cereal company, Drake's, which was distributed for free in specially marked boxes of their snack cakes. I think only the second is canon, but it's more of a humor piece than anything serious.



Covers

I appreciate that all three covers actually prominently feature their Doom - not a given, especially in recent times. We also get a few different takes - a very classic Giant Cover Doom on the first, and a variant of it on the third cover - it's more of a Giant Cover Face. Gotta give credit to that tagline on the second cover - 'Featuring Doctor Doom's fifth cousin! That's some nice cheek. The cover image also shows that Doom's fifth cousin doesn't stray very far from his theme, and judging by the robot hands grabbing She-Hulk, he might have also built a robot in his own image. Would that be a Doom'sfifthcousinbot?

Story Overviews

The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America in: Doctor Doom's Revenge!

This comic was a companion piece to the identically-named 1989 side-scrolling video game which came out on the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum. Here, we learn that Doctor Doom has stolen the Ultimate Weapon, so let the world beware! Over in New York City, we witness Captain America stop a bunch of thugs from stealing dangerous materials from a truck - they're helpfully labeled as such. One of the thugs tries to shoot Cap from behind but is disarmed by Spider-Man, who figures Cap can't have all this fun without him. While Cap takes on the street-level foes, Spidey chases after a few thugs who escape via the roofs. After cleaning up the thugs together, the two heroes then drive away in Cap's van - Spider-Man doesn't swing away because it's raining, heh.

Cap wants to check if those thugs were linked to any known terrorist or criminal groups and pulls out a laptop with wireless internet - he's pretty up to date for the late 80's! He can't find anything to suggest these thieves were connecting to anybody. He does notice there's a message waiting for him on his electronic bulletin board, though - Doctor Doom has stolen a Thermo C4 V.G. missile from an American base in Europe. He's using it to blackmail the government! Cap can't get hold of the Avengers or the Fantastic Four for some reason, and this is too big for him to handle alone! Spidey points out he's not alone, and proposes continuing their team-up. Cap is happy to accept and floors it.



The two soon drive through a holographic wall to reach a secret meet-up spot where they can speak with the Undersecretary of Defense and the rest of the staff - it's a secret National Security Council regional headquarters. The people there are wary of having an outlaw like Spider-Man participate in this operation, but President George H.W. Bush himself calls in to say that if Captain America says it, that's good enough for him! The two heroes are then introduced to their target location: Latveria! Naturally, that's where Doom is keeping his missile. Spider-Man feels that he's in over his head here - but if he doesn't win, Doctor Doom will!

An hour after the briefing a sleek supersonic aircraft carries two colorfully-dressed passengers to Latveria, but Doom is already waiting for them. Did they think him unprepared? He launches a pair of missiles which easily destroy the airplane, seemingly killing the heroes. Doom muses that if that's the best they can send against him, by nightfall the United States will have acceded to his demand and agreed to become a colony of Latveria… or the C4 V.G. will reduce New York City to a smoking crater! Twenty miles away, at a Latverian border outpost, a suspicious truck is stopped and the border guards discover that among the carpets being traded the driver is smuggling American Rock and Roll compact discs! Such decadent trash is not allowed in Latveria, but the border guards will forgive this… if they get to keep the forbidden fruit.



With a laugh they send the driver onwards with just his carpets - maybe Doom will buy one! Inside the borders, of course, it turns out Cap and Spidey were hanging onto the underside of the truck and used a double decoy plan to avoid notice. The plane was another decoy, it turns out - there were only a couple robots in there! Despite all their efforts at stealth, Doom already knows what's going on and is keeping an eye on the two infiltrators. He's impressed by their resourcefulness, though not surprised or concerned. Even if the fools get through his death traps in the woods, Doom believes his Doom's Brigade will take care of them once they reach the castle! Doom's Brigade consists of various familiar villains like Electro, Grey Gargoyle, Rhino, Hobgoblin and Boomerang, as well as weirder and more obscure baddies like Lobo (not that one), Oddball, Rattan, Machete, and Batroc the Leaper.

After these various villains spend entirely too many incredibly one-note pages insulting each other and fighting for no reason, Doom tells them all to stop this nonsense - they're here to fight his enemies, not each other! Perhaps they all think the power they possess gives them the right to do as they please? If so - he shall disabuse them of that notion! He levitates the entire group with his magic and slams them against a wall, telling them that if they succeed, wealth and power will be theirs. If they fail… they shall pay the ultimate price!



Cap and Spider-Man approach the castle, but are attacked by Doom's death traps on the way there - mostly sneaky machine guns hidden in the underbrush. Spidey dodges their bullets while Cap takes them out with his shield, but he is soon caught in a tentacle trap which Spidey needs to save him from. Doom's robot troops start attacking them too at this point, while Doom busies himself by threatening President Bush, who has full confidence in Cap and Spidey.

The heroes finally wrestle through the robot lines and towards the castle, where Doom's Brigade gets ready to intercept them. Each hero takes a separate route to have a better chance at neutralizing the bomb, and Doom decides to watch the whole mess from his surveillance room, quite confident in his Brigade. He boasts that no matter if his servants stop the heroes or not, Doctor Doom will this day triumph! With that it's the player's turn… Let the game begin!



The Sensational She-Hulk #18 - The Dentist in the Iron Mask!

We start this 1990 issue with Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk, dreaming that she's skinny-dipping with Hercules. They're interrupted by a giant robot, the Digital Autobotic Vixen-Eradicator, who argues that her current conduct is incompatible with being a role model to millions of little girls, so she must get DAVEd! It tries to buzzsaw her to death, then applies a drill bit, but she just smashes the bot to smithereens. When she turns around Hercules has been replaced by Brent Wilcox, a minor supporting cast member of hers, and she protests heavily - she wants the guy with muscles, beard, and stilted elocution! She wants fun, not a relationship! She wakes up mid-lunge and accidentally smashes her own bed…

Supporting cast member Weezi - an aged Blonde Phantom - comes to check on Jen, and mentions there's a message waiting on her answering machine from a client. It's a message from a man named Sanford Packard who was referred to her by Blake Tower, the district attorney. He wants to file a dental malpractice lawsuit. The man is briefly interrupted by a loud radio program, much to Jen's confusion, but he gives his address and asks her to swing by so he can explain everything to her. Weezi figures that Tower might have fired her, but he clearly still has great regard for her ability. Jen isn't sure that's what this is… but a lawyer doesn't earn a living by turning down clients, so she's got nothing to lose meeting this guy!



Jen goes to visit her client, who is at another dentist to fix the mess the last guy left. It turns out that strange interruption earlier actually means something, since it appears a small radio tuned to a shock jock channel was just removed from one of the man's teeth. The dentist admits he has no idea why the previous dentist put it there, or how! Jen asks him to sign an affidavit attesting to what he found in the tooth, while the client figures that means she'll take the case. Jen agrees to take it - assuming Packard didn't ask to have a radio installed in his molar. Jen then inquires after the name of Packard's prior dentist, and she's told it was… Doctor Doom! 'I beg your pardon…?' Jen asks, flabbergasted.

It turns out that Packard was actually talking about Doctor Bob Doom D.D.S., a practicing dentist. Jen goes to speak with him the next day, just as Bob finishes with a patient. Jen explains she's there on behalf of a former patient of his - she's his attorney, and they're firing a malpractice claim. Doom is astonished by this, and wonders why, if Sanford had a problem, he didn't just come to him? Jen sarcastically muses that maybe he didn't want to find a CD player in his incisor next? Doom quickly tells his assistant to cancel all his appointments for the week, as this matter will require his full attention…



Later that day, at Empire State University, Jen shows Brent Wilcox at the engineering department the radio implant from Packard's tooth. It turns out it's not really a radio at all - the reception was accidental, as Packard must have bitten down too hard and damaged the microcircuitry in the implant. It's actually meant to receive an ultra-high frequency digital signal and transmit it directly to the nervous system of the recipient! Jen wonders what that would be for, and Wilcox muses that theoretically that kind of stimulation could affect brain chemistry and inhibit or induce certain behaviors. In other words, it's a post-hypnotic suggestion delivered via uplink. Jen thanks Brent for his help and he immediately asks her out to dinner, but she turns him down. Maybe some other time…

That night we visit Bob Doom over at his home, and find him shouting at a life-sized Doctor Doom replica he's set up on a chair. He declares that his plan to achieve wealth, fame, and power through dental surgery has been placed in dire jeopardy! His career is ruined, his life is ruined, and he'll never be anything but Victor von Doom's dorky, laughably fifth cousin! It's not his fault that his grandparents emigrated to America while Victor's were still hawking love potions and telling fortunes with marked tarot cards! Who figured his cousin would become royalty!? Now he's cursed with Victor von Doom's name, and dwells in his shadow - with his fingers in people's mouths all day!

He punches the Doom puppet's head off and snarls that he can't stand it anymore! Really, he can't! He's got stocks, bonds, two BMW's, a practice any tooth guy could envy - and next to Victor, he's still a failure! How can he possibly take pride in belonging to the country club - when he has an entire country?! Well, he wants one too!



Bob puts on the discarded mask of his Doom puppet, and muses that out of respect for his heritage, and because he didn't wish to embarrass his oh-so-famous relative, he proceeded slowly and cautiously with his plan. Too cautious, he realizes now! Sooner or later a patient's bite was bound to exceed the PSI specs of his neuro-transceiver. Very well then, the mold is cast! Rather than permit himself to be dragged through the courts in disgrace, he shall launch a preemptive strike!

While Bob's cousin has castles, and robots, and death rays and vehicles to transport him over land, sea, space and time… even he doesn't have a command center based upon the advanced ergonomic design of the modern dental unit! Bob sits down in his fancy and super-advanced chair, and muses that his cousin cannot imagine what wealthy patients are willing to do or say - or sign - under the influence of the proper anesthetic. Soon enough, though, all the world will see that the depths of his cunning matches the scope of his ambition, and then some!



Bob activates his chair and the neurotronic mechanism installed within, and the chair extends in a rather underwhelming fashion. Targeting root canals now! Doom gives his unwitting victims the instruction to dress oddly and go out in the street acting aberrantly! Sure enough we soon see three of his patients going off their rocker, hanging themselves out of windows by their feet, wearing buckets on their head, or dancing on the roofs of cars with blue boots and an antenna in their hair… Real scary stuff there, Doc…

A few days later, in court, we learn that the three affected people had all appointed Doctor Bob Doom as their trustee, and in view of their current incompetence in managing their own affairs, Bob has asked to be the conservator of their estates. The judge agrees the papers appear to be in order, and sees no reason not to grant the request. Bob smiles - easiest 53 million he's ever made! The following day Bob pays off Packard's malpractice suit with a cool million - twice the amount he sued for. In exchange for the cash, though, he'd like Packard to sign an NDA which says she won't discuss the case or settlement with anyone but his attorney. Bob pretends the implant thing was just a mistake, and claims he thought it was harmless filling material. Fortunately no real harm was done. Packard happily signs the paper…



When Jen learns that her client signed papers without informing her, she gets rather mad - he's supposed to consult her before…! Still, when Jen learns Bob came to Packard personally and offered him way more than he asked for, she gets it, but notes she's still entitled to her percentage. Packard is glad to write her a check for her 30%, and Jen tells Weezi she can seal that file. Still, it doesn't sit well with her - where did Doom come up with that kind of money so quickly? Why was he so eager to settle? Weezi argues she shouldn't look gift horses in the mouth, but Jen can't quite believe anyone named 'Doctor Doom' gets beaten this easily…

That night, at Doom's house, he tells the three gibbering people he screwed over that he'd just like to thank each of them for signing those trustee agreements. He wants them to enjoy their new home here in his garage, and promises them a wonderful life - the best that gypsy sorcery and American dentistry can provide! With their fortunes as seed money he shall make himself Master of the Tri-State Area! From the region known as New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, he shall forge his kingdom of New Latveria! And then, dear friends, the world will finally acknowledge him as the real DOCTOR DOOM!



A month later, Weezi shows Jen to a newspaper article talking about the conservatorship of Bob Doom being upheld - the families tried to challenge the ruling but lost. Jennifer suggests calling the relatives directly - she'd like to know if they had root canals… Jennifer then arranges a court order for the dental X-rays of the three affected people, and calls Bob about it, explaining that she'll swing by his place to pick them up. Bob's voice jumped at least three octaves at the request, so she's pretty sure she's got the malpractice claim of the century here, and probably a grand larceny charge too. She drives over and goes to knock on Bob's door - Oh Doctor Doo-oom! Hope he's got the good sense to be honest!

A pair of electrified armor-clad arms smash through the door and drag Jen inside. It turns out that Doom-replica from earlier is a crusade robot belonging to Bob - Is this a Bobbot? Anyway, an off-screen Bob states that it's a clever little device, isn't it? It uses cold fusion to generate a charge of, oh, half a gigawatt or so… more than enough to immobilize her! Doom then reveals himself - and he's now dressed in teeth-themed armor and his Doctor Doom mask, so he looks entirely ridiculous. He snarls that Jen has been poking her nose in his business twice too often, so he's going to poke his finger into her mouth, where his adamantium-tipped drill attachment will carve out a little niche for her very own neuro-transceiver!



As he goes to follow through on his threat Jen bites into the drill and manages to bend it, then moves her legs despite the robot's power and electrical charge and goes to kick Bob's teeth out - the ones on his costume, more specifically. Bob figures she assumes those teeth were ornamental - not so much. The giant mouth on his chest clamps down on her legs while the robot cuts off her airway. Bob observes it would have been wiser to cooperate. Now, she'll have to bite the big one! There's several options available - his adamantium dentures can gnaw her feet off, his surrogate's hands can throttle her, or he can turn up the juice and she'll fry! Any preference?

Jen chokes and gasps out 'Yes!' then manages to rip herself free from the robot's hands, snarling that she picks none of the above! Bob points out that she just narrowed her options down to the single most painful, since she's still stuck in the maw of his costume! She's powerful, but lacking in strategic skills… Jen says they all have their shortcomings, don't they? She probably has come to rely too much on brute force, but his fixation is entirely oral! She uses the leverage of her trapped legs to slam Bob into a wall head-first, knocking him out, and she tells him to chew on that while she goes to find his three 'wards.'



One week later we catch up with Jen again, and it's now official - Bob Doom is behind bars, and his conservatorship has been nullified. His three victims have their money - and minds - returned to them. The three are very grateful to Jen, and would like to retain her services to handle the civil action against Doom on their behalf. Also, uh, they'd like a recommendation for a good dentist…

Silver Surfer: Lunacy in Latveria

This comic is a 1993 Drake's Snack Cakes giveaway, and the final issue in a four-issue limited series specifically produced as promotional material. Mercifully, though, the actual cakes don't have a central role like in some of these advertisement-comics. We start with the Silver Surfer up in space, detecting an eruption on the Sun - and the interference causing it seems to be coming from Earth! He must stop it at once, for tampering with the Sun will lead to disaster for the entire universe! Down on Earth we swee Latveria, its storybook exterior masking a world of misery for its people. There we see Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man overlooking Castle Doom from a tall cliff - they're after Jubilee, and Wolverine can smell her down there. Spidey figures they need a plan, and Hulk says he's got one…

Meanwhile, inside the castle, it turns out Doctor Doom has captured Jubilee inside a purple machine, and he says it's time for another round of experiments! See, Jubilee's ability to create light plasmoids holds the key to his country's energy crisis. Once he harnesses her mutant power, he will be able to care and protect his subjects. He looks up at some monitors depicting the three heroes up on the cliff, and mentions that her friends have arrived… No matter, he's prepared for all contingencies! With that, he hits a button…



As the three heroes smash their way into the castle, Spider-Man wonders if this is really Hulk's idea of a planned attack - smashing the front door? Hulk says he prefers cutting to the chase - or more precisely, the battle. Wolverine calls out for Doom to show himself! Instead some 'Deathbots' arrive, rolling ball-bots with lasers that unfold from the side. The three heroes go to town on the 'flying tennis balls', and Wolverine mentons that Jubilee is behind a nearby door, so he goes to smash it open as well.

Inside, Doom angrily snarls that he won't tolerate interference, not when he's so close! He blasts them with his palms, and Hulk recognizes these as repulsor blasts! Wolverine just calls out to Jubilee and tells her to hang on. Doom agrees - she should hang on. Indeed, his hand has been forced and the situation calls for drastic action!



He hits a button and tells the heroes he wants to see how they fare against one of their own! The purple machine then gets up, since it turns out to be a mech! Jubilee can't stop the thing, and Spidey thinks they've got a serious problem now… Wolverine states they've got to stop the machine without hurting Jubilee, and Spidey has an idea. Let's see if some webbing can gum up the works a bit! He sprays webs into the mech's systems but it's not working. Hulk, meanwhile, tells Jubilee to stay calm - he'll get her out. Before he can manage, though, the mech fires a blast in the Hulk's face and sends him careening back. Doom cackles - hah, fools! Now they shall witness the full power of his construct… and die! With that he pulls a lever, and the machine starts draining all of Jubilee's energy - make it stop, make it stop!



Suddenly the Silver Surfer smashes through a window and tells Doom that the feedback from his mad experiments threatens the very fabric of the cosmos itself, and he won't allow it to continue! He notes that Doom is still up to his old tricks… Trying to conquer the Earth again? 'Blast you, Surfer!' Doom snaps. Surfer goes to destroy Doom's evil creation, but Hulk grabs him before he can do it - Jubilee is still trapped inside! Wolverine isn't interested in all the talking and rushes in close enough to cut the restraints, draggin Jubilee out of danger right as the machine starts overloading. 'Dolts!' Doom declares. They managed to damage the controls beyond repair, and it's going to explode!



Spidey tells everyone to hang back as he rushes in close to have a look - the power modulator is beyond repair, but he'll take a look under the hood anyway! What a mess… The insulation on the wires has melted off, but he can just use some wedding to reinsulate them. There - that should buy them a few extra minutes. Just enough time for the Hulk and the Surfer to do their thing. Hulk rips the entire machine off the ground and tosses it high into the air, where the Surfer detonates it with a cosmic blast, annihilating the device harmlessly.

Next, Wolverine snarls, it's Doom's turn! Doom snaps back that he's the ruler of Latveria, and they wouldn't dare lay hands upon him! As Hulk approaches to smash him anyway, Jubilee suddenly gets in the way. Beating up Doom won't solve anything - he kidnapped her in search of alternative energy sources, since Latveria is suffering from a severe energy crisis.



That's not an excuse for all he's done, but if they take him down, who will take care of the Latverian people? The Silver Surfer agrees she has a point and decides Doom escapes punishment this time - but he's warned that should he tamper with that which is forbidden to him, he'll feel the wrath of the Silver Surfer!

The other heroes leave Latveria, and figure they won't have to worry about Doom acting up any time soon - and they'll be there to stop him if he does. Next time he needs a source of energy, he'd better buy a pack of batteries!

 

[Walter]

That Dentist / 5th cousin character idea is actually a slick one shot villain. Got a themed outfit, motive, whole nine. Lots of love for a spinoff.

 

[Johnreiter]

The plane was another decoy, it turns out - there were only a couple robots in there!

Click to shrink...

It's ironic they tricked Doom with robot doubles. The shoe sure pinches on the other foot

Doom's Brigade consists of various familiar villains like Electro, Grey Gargoyle, Rhino, Hobgoblin and Boomerang, as well as weirder and more obscure baddies like Lobo (not that one), Oddball, Rattan, Machete, and Batroc the Leaper.

Click to shrink...

This reminds me of the team we saw Doom and Kristoff assemble to fight each other in Sue's dream sequence

 

[krinsbez]

That Dentist / 5th cousin character idea is actually a slick one shot villain. Got a themed outfit, motive, whole nine. Lots of love for a spinoff.

Click to shrink...

Agreed.

Also, I read those Drake's Comics comics as a kid!

 

[Roarian]

⚠ Warning: This issue contains references to Suicide. ⚠

Marvel Double-Shot #2 (February 2003)

Cover

Marvel Double-Shot was a four-issue limited series which showcased unusual takes on well-known Marvel characters, with each issue tackling two stories at a time like the title suggests. While one of those stories is a Simpsons take on the Avengers by Morrison, the story we're here for is a take on Doctor Doom by Cristopher Priest, who mostly wrote Conan and Black Panther stories up until this point. (He created Everett Ross, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje, for example.) The penciling, inking, and coloring was done by Paolo Rivera, who generally worked on a multitude of comic book covers - this seems to have been his first foray into doing the art for an entire story.

The cover is a classic shot of Doom sitting in his throne, complete with the old-school decorative 'D' above his head - the only thing missing is the golden goblet of wine. I like that even the lighting fixture in the foreground, that vaguely sinister bowl-shaped torch, seems to be a reference to early comics, specifically those where Doom went to battle demons…

Story Overview

Masks

Okay, wow - the art style of this comic is really something else! While it is pretty low in detail in many places, it's very painterly and the subject matter is represented in a fairly realistic, true-to-life way, without many of the conventional comic book exaggerations. This does have its downsides, since Doom's mask looks a bit like tinfoil in some panels - though I appreciate that it really uses the 60's design aesthetic. To underline the different style, the usual solid dialogue boxes are done away with as well in favor of lines in different colors to denote the speaker. Doom, naturally, gets to claim the green color for his dialogue, and the same goes for his narration.

We open with Doom attending an orchestral concert from a seat of honor within the middle of the grand hall, sitting there alongside a 'countess' while a huge number of other people are scattered around the rest of the building, its walls draped in dramatic 'Doom' banners. The conductor glances over his shoulder at Doom, and the monarch suspects his arms are growing tired. It's a small price to pay for the honor of service in the Kingdom Hall of Latveria, the seat of the Most High - He, Doom!



Doom tells the conductor to proceed, and muses to himself that it was his decree that the Latverian Ministry of Fine Arts should guarantee all Latverians a well-rounded cultural education. Tonight the subject material is Russians. Russians… a great and noble people. The entire planet once trembled at their might, but now they have been ruined by politics and greed. Had they only turned to Doom, the world would tremble still! It's good that the people should see Doom enjoy this dirge of whining Russians… It is good that Doom is Doom!

As the concert continues, however, it's clear that Doom's attention is focused on one of these Russians in particular - a young girl playing the viola who bows to Doom alongside the conductor when their song is finished. She's a girl who bears a striking resemblance to a woman from Doom's past, a woman he once loved! A minion of Doom's leans over his shoulder and asks whether he and the countess will adjourn to the garden? Doom denies this immediately, but tells the minion to attend to the countess's every whim, and to extend the state's regret that their evening must now come to an end. Pressing matters of state, you see… His eyes still linger on the violist. Of note, Doom is wearing a rather different costume from his usual during this scene - not only is his armor gleaming gold, but his robe is a dark blue or black, and there are medals pinned to his chest. (He also, of course, has a gleaming silver goblet in hand for his wine.)



Some time later we hear a door slam closed, and see the viola player turn in confusion at the noise, shocked at being disturbed. Doom compliments the woman from off-panel, stating that she's quite good - her performance thus far has been impeccable… The viola playing was acceptable as well. The girl plays the part of a confused foreigner, calling him her lord, but Doom quickly corrects her by saying he's hardly that. Her Russian is terrible, by the way - she should just speak German, her native tongue! The girl fumbles a response, and Doom clarifies that he's indeed fully aware she's a spy - one of several substitutes for ailing orchestra members. He knows she's been recruited by NATO intelligence, and fashioned in a repulsive and insulting image as the latest pin prick in the West's propaganda war with Doom's world. Bio scans revealed the extensive constructive surgery she underwent for this mission…

Doom pauses in front of a roaring fireplace, and muses that her mission's true agenda may only now become apparent to her. Her handlers attempt to fathom the mind of Doom. Shall he expel her in protest, or have her executed? They will make efficient propaganda out of either decision. The woman hesitates at the mention of her execution, as she's just a reporter! Doom snarls that she's a criminal. She's an enemy of this State, presented in a most… repulsive… fashion. He presumes that her masters told her the tale, right? Of the woman Doom once loved…? Of Valeria!



Alongside a series of dreamlike images of the past, some of which look a bit comical, Doom remembers a time when the impoverished Zefiro suffered greatly under the former regime of the Barons. Certainly they must have told the 'reporter' of the poor boy whose future was only ephemeral musings he shared with the only one in his life who believed him… and how those dreams were summarily shattered by the tyranny of the evil Barons. Doom's mother was murdered when he was but an infant, and in the flower of his youth they killed Doom's father as well. That was when Doom knew he had no one to protect him - none he could completely trust!



To survive, to avenge these injustices, Doom realized he must become strong. He immersed himself in scientific discipline and arcane mysticism, and despite Valeria's pleas, Doom's duty, destiny, and honor demanded he put childish things aside - and take hold of the greatness that was Doom's alone! And yet, even in the moment of Doom's triumph, fate shattered all hope for those who once were dreaming children. Valeria had love only for the gentle child Victor, and not for the grim and calloused Doom. She left these lands, never to return - but of course, the spy already knew that. Surgeons created in her the very picture of the woman Doom once loved, while entirely losing the essence of her greatness.

The reporter hesitantly argues that she only wanted to do a story, and she didn't know… She didn't mean any harm. Doom snaps that he is deeply insulted. As he leads the woman outside to a technologically-enhanced horse-drawn carriage, Doom muses to himself that his enemies have not the mettle to challenge him host to host - tooth to nail - so they aggrieve him by the sublimity of evanescent waifs. Economic and military options fail them, so they resort to simple rudeness and send a psychological assassin! The girl again protests - she's not an assassin. She's a reporter, and she'd really like to go home now. Doom again states that she, Ms. Sutter, is a criminal. At the very least she will be tried and punished as an enemy of the State. At worst, he shall summon his guards… and have her shot.



The woman is astonished that Doom knows her name. Doom offers his hand to draw her into the carriage, and then it takes off into the sky. Because of course Doom would own a Santa Claus-style flying carriage with actual horses. As they fly, he explains that of course he knew her name all along - he is Doom, is he not? She, Karen Sutter, is a German national, and a journalist for a small local paper in Stuttgart. She earned 42,000 Euro last year, barely enough to pay for her flat and feed Hector, her Shih Tzu mix breed. (Doom misspells it as Shitzu, funnily enough.) Festival, a national publication, sought her out because of her uncanny resemblance to a woman from Doom's past - and she eagerly accepted the assignment of writing an in-depth exposé on the emotional side of Doom, about the man beneath the mask.

So desperate was she to escape her pitiful life, that she accepted the assignment without stopping to consider that it would be impossible for her to get close to Doom without the resources of a national intelligence agency. The magazine was only a facade - a mask for her true masters: NATO Intelligence. Sutter is but a tool in their fruitless propaganda efforts to create unrest in Latveria - as though such a thing were possible. Latveria, once an impoverished land of brutal despots, has become a paradise under the inspired vision of Doom. How does one foster unrest in paradise? In a land without poverty, disease, famine or plague? Latveria is the model for what the entire planet should be - and would be - if only it would follow Doom's example!



Doom flies the carriage around his castle, as depicted in blurs of bridges and towers, before he finally lands near several tents where he and Sutter get off. She tries to appeal to Doom again, insisting she's just a reporter. If he must investigate her, he must know that she never intended him any harm! Doom responds that her intentions are irrelevant - she is irrelevant. All that truly matters is the messages her presence was intended to send to Doom, and what message he'll choose to send back. Sutter is offended that that's it. He'll just use her for his own purposes? Doom points out that's what she intended for him, wasn't it? Sutter snaps that he's no better than they are! Doom denies this while pouring himself some wine, declaring that Doom is infinitely better than them. Mankind could never fathom the mind of Doom…

Sutter, apropos of nothing, mentions that her car got repossessed last month. She's got maybe 200 Euro in the bank, and more bills than she can possibly manage - and a news career that was going nowhere until she got this job. She didn't know this was a set-up, but she didn't take that long to consider the offer either. It was her way out - her way out of the hell her life is. Can the 'mind of Doom' fathom that?! Doom is offended she'd dare to address him in this way, but she just asks what he's going to do? Kill her twice? She doesn't live in Latveria! She doesn't have Evian running from her kitchen sink. She has the tiny world outside her window, and that's it! Doom escaped his misery, so why can't she escape hers? That mask of his bought his freedom - so why can't her mask do the same for her?



Doom lashes out at this, wrapping his hand around Sutter's throat and snarling that her mask mocks the image of his beloved Valeria! His own has bought him nothing. Sutter argues Doom could have simply ignored her, said nothing. She would have been on the next flight out of his universe. She was never a real threat to him in any way… and he knew that she knew nothing, could provide no information he didn't already have. Which beggars the question - why is she even here? Why take the effort of threatening her? Unless he misses 'her' that much. Doom muses that Sutter's really quite good - a psychological assassin, as he said. Very progressive thinking. He almost admires her great powers…



Doom releases her, and Sutter points out that he now knows who she is, and that she was duped… Doom agrees that he knows precisely what her masters intended for Doom to know. At dawn, he will decide her fate. Sutter wonders if she's supposed to spend a terror-filled night with a monster like him, then? A maniac so full of himself he can't even see how pathetically needy he is…? He won't be manipulated, and neither will she! To hell with dawn, she tells Doom - he should do his worst! In response Doom simply takes off his mask, and we see Sutter recoil in horror from whatever she sees under it, before fainting on the spot.



Later, Sutter wakes up in a bed to the early light of morning. Doom is waiting for her nearby, sitting at a table which has been set up by a cliffside overlooking a lake, and he's lacking his armor and green robes in favor of a more casual attire, though he's wearing his mask again. He's reading something on a tablet, and without looking up he dryly notes that as he recalls it, Sutter was lecturing Doom on how similar their lives were when she convulsed and swooned. She shouldn't flatter herself, though - Doom took no advantage of her during the night. Sutter, aghast by what happened, admits she can't forget his face… Dear god, poor man, that explains so very much about him! She had no idea... Doom says that of course she didn't. And now she'll busy her fingers with the clattering of keys - telling her handlers of the man beneath the mask. Sutter reminds him that she won't if Doom kills her, or imprisons her.

Doom scoffs at that, and says that she and her pitiable masters are of less concern to Doom than the sifting of leaves by the morning breeze. Doom shall not play the fool for her amusement. She can stay, or go - she can do what she wants. Sutter concludes that Doom does miss her - Valeria, that is. Wearing this face, her face, and coming here… She's ruined the last shred of humanity that Doom had left, pierced right through that armor… and destroyed his smallest hope for redemption. Doom calls her a deluded child for coming to this conclusion.



Doom is Doom, he inists, as Doom ever was. Sutter realizes belatedly that she really was what he said she was - a psychological weapon, an assassin. She swears she meant no harm, but Doom still thinks her platitudes are wholly unconvincing.

Sutter finally agrees with Doom's conclusion, horrified by what she's been turned into. She has taken something from Doom, she concludes, and she has to give it back! She walks towards the cliffside, and we cut away to Doom having a snack while browsing on his tablet, utterly unconcerned by what's happening in the background. A scream rends the air as Sutter presumably throws herself to her death, while Doom takes a sip from his coffee and keeps scrolling.



Of course, Doom could have saved her…

Rating & Comments



Huh. This comic was a surprise - I knew that certain events were forthcoming which call back to the original Valeria, but I didn't realize there was another issue that addresses the same thing only a few months earlier! What also surprised me is how much I enjoyed it? Okay, sure, the ending comes sort of out of nowhere, but up until that point I really liked this strange tale where Doom has someone completely at his mercy, but seemingly can't get himself to actually harm her directly - and yet he feels compelled to interact with her, even though he's fully aware that it's a trick, a fake. We can discuss whether he's being genuine in what he says here or not, but Sutter makes a few points along the way that Doom never really has a good answer for.

Firstly, in this comic we get a few more insights into Latverian society - we already knew that Doom appreciates the fine arts, but here we see that he extends that he wishes to share that with his people - he arranges for exhibitions of art from around the world in order to give everyone in his nation a well-rounded cultural education. His views on Russia are not too complimentary, since he seems to think the USSR could have remained a superpower had they turned to Doom for help, but he still sees purpose in showcasing their artistic merit. There's a mention of a countess that seems to have a very significant amount of power in Latveria, given that she's sitting beside Doom in a place of honor - I assume it's the same person that showed up in those issues when Reed was stuck in Doom's armor and Sue was going around as the 'Baroness.'

This issue's art style makes it a bit hard to actually identify Sutter as being a double of the original Valeria, but presumably the resemblance is there - and Doom is definitely affected by it. Judging by his words, though, Doom knew Sutter was a spy from the start, but still allowed her to do the song and dance of pretending to be a Russian viola player. I guess he just wanted to enjoy the performance by an old and familiar face, even if it's not the real deal? I'm not sure how much I should read into Doom's headspace there. There's a reason he didn't just have her killed by robots or something - and then he approached her, alone, to have this extended discussion with her that he would not have tolerated with basically anyone else. He's smacked his own adoptive son for less.

As if to showcase how much Doom is invested in this, he starts recounting much of his backstory to her, focusing on the early parts in Latveria - there's barely a whisper about his unfortunate experiment or his trip to the Himalayas, but instead the loss of his parents and Valeria. Notably, this comic brings up the events of Marvel Super-Heroes #20, which I covered ages ago, when it describes how Valeria rejected the Doom he had become, since he was no longer the Victor she knew. It seems almost like Doom wants to get all this off his chest, because 'Valeria' reappearing has caused all these memories to bubble up again. Judging by the fact that he recently named Sue's newborn after her, though, I can't imagine she's ever that far from Doom's thoughts. Even if he's already resigned himself to having lost her.

Doom tells Sutter that he feels deeply insulted, but quickly refocuses the conversation by claiming he actually feels insulted by his enemies in the UN - they don't dare challenge him man-to-man, so they use trickery! He calls Sutter out as a psychological assassin, and I honestly think he's justifying himself there, to some extent. I don't know if Sutter is actually some super-spy… but even if she is, I still think Doom seeks to explain away his own irrational behavior here. It's much easier to blame some amorphous enemy faction from elsewhere for sending over someone who can attack him psychologically, than admit that maybe he's not over Valeria. That Sutter is poking at wounds he thought had scarred over a long time ago. Maybe he's even lying to himself about it? Mind you, that's just a possible interpretation.

Doom recontextualizes Sutter's entire presence in the country by claiming she must have had help from a national intelligence agency to get close to Doom - but note that she didn't actually do that. She'd been fingered as a spy before she even set foot in the grand hall to play music, and it was Doom himself that approached her afterwards. He quite willfully stepped into this particular trap himself. Doom is also the one who brings up bio scans that confirm she had reconstructive surgery, but later admits she already resembled Valeria a great deal before all that - so how much of this is real spycraft, and how much of this is Doom manipulating Sutter? By constantly hammering on her role as a psychological assassin, which she seems to have been unaware of (even if it's true) he might actually be the one who's employing the psychological attacks against her. It's not hard to parse from her own admissions that Sutter is depressed and perhaps unstable, and Doom might have elected to give her a metaphorical push… to spare himself the need to give her a physical one.

Doom can't stop justifying himself at any point, by the way. He claims Sutter is irrelevant, and all that really matters is his response to this provocation - even though he keeps her around so he can talk her ears off. He then fully crawls up his own ass when he proclaims that 'mankind could never fathom the mind of Doom.' Here, at last, Sutter snaps, and calls out Doom's hypocrisy - can his vaunted mind fathom her situation? She escaped her terrible situation, just as Doom did! He escaped his miserable origins and took up a mask, so why can't she do the same? Doom's answer to that is unsatisfying, and Sutter knows it. He could have ignored her, and she was never a real threat to him, so why did he even go through all this effort? Unless he does, in fact, miss Valeria that much?

Sutter is done with Doom at this point - she doesn't care to find out what fate he's got in store with her tomorrow. She just calls him out as a maniac so full of himself he can't see how needy he is - she's clearly baiting a violent response. Doom, again, seems incapable of actually harming her. Doom's decision to instead reveal his face is unexpected - but her swooning in response is a clear callback to some of Doom's earliest issues. Doom almost never actually shows his face to anyone, so one has to wonder here if he's already committed to taking out Sutter one way or another, or if her resemblance to Valeria has really affected him enough to commit to this…?

The final scene of the comic is the hardest to parse, but also has the most darkly comedic tone. Not for Sutter's side - that's still really depressing. She seems to have had a change of heart since last night - a rather radical one. She was baiting Doom into attacking her there, but now she's been… psychologically affected? Had a mental break? In any case, she can't seem to stop thinking about Doom's face, and even brings up that Doom could kill or imprison her to prevent the truth from getting out. She concludes that he does miss Valeria, and through wearing her face and coming here, she has ruined the last shred of humanity Doom had left. Destroyed his hope for redemption. She is a weapon, an assassin… She's taken something from Doom, and she has to give it back!

One possible interpretation here is that Doom turned the tactics of his enemies against them - he used psychological assassination against someone meant to do the same to him. The darkly amusing part of this entire scene is that while Sutter is having this great internal revelation and mental break… Doom could not possibly give less of a shit. He's busy browsing the internet on his tablet while having breakfast, and barely even looks up at her as she rants. Unimpressed, he tells her she's of no concern to him, and he won't play the fool for her amusement or that of her masters. In his view Sutter is deluded and her platitudes are utterly unconvincing. Even as Sutter goes to put deeds to her words by throwing herself off the nearby cliff, Doom just keeps reading his morning news, utterly unbothered by her screams. He does, of course, have to make it about himself by musing that he could have saved her…

As comics I've covered go, this is one of the more difficult to interpret - there's an entertaining back and forth between Doom and this one-shot character, and in the greater context of future comics this is suspiciously well-timed, but the ending kind of comes out of nowhere. There's interpretations where this sort of makes sense, but for the most part it's quite hard to understand the 'mind of Doom' in this one - ironic, I suppose. My favored interpretation is that Doom exaggerated Sutter's role as an assassin and then used similar tactics on her to get her to remove herself permanently without his direct interference, thereby making it a rather ineffective propaganda tool for the people who sent her. There are other options, though - among which is the idea that the UN really does send psychological assassins at Doom, which is kind of a crazy concept to toss out in a oneshot. Doubt we'll ever find out…

While this comic did include a suicide, it comes across as a lot less exploitative and gratuitous than the issues dealing with Sharon Ventura, so beyond adding a warning at the top I'm not going to dock it too much for that. I reserve dreadful scores for issues which really make a terrible mess of things, and this one is just generally depressing rather than violently offensive. Admittedly, a decent chunk of this story is recaps or Doom blurting exposition, but I think it's got something - I'll stick with 3 stars, held back mostly by my own poor grasp of what the comic is trying to say in places, and that ending. Maybe it deserves more...? I'm not sure...

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"It is good that Doom is Doom…"

"Despite Valeria's pleas, Doom's duty, destiny and honor demanded he put childhood things aside - and take hold of the greatness that was Doom's alone. And yet, even in the moment of Doom's triumph, fate shattered all hope for they who once were dreaming children - Valeria had love only for the gentle child Victor, and not for the grim and calloused Doom."

"Latveria, once an impoverished land of brutal despots - has, under the inspired vision of Doom, become paradise. How does one foster unrest in paradise? In a land without poverty, without disease, without famine or plague? Latveria is the model for what this entire planet should be - and would be - if only the world would follow Doom's example."

"Mankind could never fathom the mind of Doom…"

"You and your pitiable masters are of less concern to Doom than the sifting of leaves by the morning breeze. Doom shall not play the fool for your amusement. Stay - go - do what you will."

"Doom is Doom. As Doom ever was."

Doom-Tech of the Week

Well, there's the Anti-Gravity Horse-Drawn Carriage that's all sorts of amazing…

 

[Johnreiter]

My take is that Doom exaggerated her role a bit, but only a little. I don't think NATO intelligence actually intended to use psychologic warfare on Doom. That was more of a lucky accident (lucky for them, very unlucky for Sutter). I think the goal was to send her into Latveria in the hope that Doom would kill her in some terrible way, and cause an international incident. It's a pretty rotten move, since she was innocent and desperate, but I could easily imagine an intelligence agency doing this.

 

[Roarian]

Thor v2 #58 (March 2003)

Cover

It's trilogy time! 'Standoff' is a 2003 crossover story featuring Thor, Iron Man, and the Avengers comic book series (as represented by Captain America.) It mostly focuses on infighting, as the covers suggest. Nevertheless, there's someone else sneaking his way in here - a certain Latverian dictator is rather relevant to what's going on… This cover is pretty cool, and part of a three-part image that spans all of them. Thor is furious in the background, and that image of him is spread across all three issues, ending with Mjolnir smashing the logo of the Avengers. The foreground picture of this issue involves a crowd of people raising their hands towards Thor and grasping at his cloak while he facepalms - presumably out of grief of despair, but maybe he's just done?

Story Overview

Standoff (Part 1)

We open in a location that, at first glance, looks like a much dirtier, half-ruined Latveria. The narration informs us that there are places where man cannot aspire to the higher ideals of the gods, sadly, for they are too consumed with simple survival. These are places of poverty and desperation, where the precious few hold power - and use it to brutalize the weak. Such places like Slokovia. (Not to be confused with Sokovia.)



We watch as several soldiers in fatigues make their way through the muddy road, approaching a young woman and telling her they have business with her. It seems an inspection and search is warranted! She's transporting fruit, and the woman protests that these are meant for their station commander! One of the soldiers pulps some of the fruit in her face, then questions if she'd really have him eat substandard trash like this? It might be fine for gutter rats like her, but they deserve better! They forcefully throw the woman to the ground and tell her she's a pig who belongs in the mud and the slop with the rest of her kind! Yes, the narrator muses, there are few places more brutal than Slokovia… Here, personal freedom is a concept few can grasp, and how could it be any different when fear is the only constant?

Nearby, we see a man named Pitor watch the harassment and flee before he suffers the same fate, leaving his oxcart behind as he knocks at a nearby door and begs for someone to let him in. The soldiers soon notice the unattended ox and get curious.



Pitor is let in through the door, and warns the woman on the other side - Martina - that soldiers are right behind him. She snaps that he's a fool, then - he shouldn't have come here! He knows that General Stoykovicz's men are not to be trifled with! The two quickly head downstairs, and we find a religious service in progress down there - one that venerates Thor!

An old priestess tells everyone in attendance to take refuge from the hostility of their land in order that they might bow their heads as one and give thanks to the majesty of Thor! Open your hearts, brothers and sisters, and look to the fortune that awaits them - for Thor, who has brought heaven to Earth, will surely deliver them from the evil of their tormentors! She implores the God of Thunder to hear them, for they are his people - they know he shall soon smite their oppressors, and that on that day, freedom will be theirs. Until then, they ask that he protect them from the crushing fist of tyranny, and keep their families safe from its wrath… They know Thor to be a loving god - who cares deeply for the people who bow in supplication and give honor in his name!

'Hah!' snarls one of the three soldiers from before - they have broken into the site of worship after tracking down where Pitor went. They declare that Pagan worship is outlawed in Slokovia, and this is an unlawful assembly. The penalty for that… is death! The soldiers promptly open fire, massacring the entire congregation in their place of worship, while one of them yells that Thor shall punish them for this! Thor shall… come…!



The scene shifts over to America - more specifically, to New York City. For years people have come there, captivated by the array of buildings which seem to touch the sky. The sights, the sounds, and pace of the city are unlike any other. Despite all that, New York now stands secondary to a place of even greater majesty… and a distant second at that. Such is the grandeur of Asgard, floating in New York City's sky, and all those who live within its walls. It's said that Heimdall's senses are so keen that he can hear an ant scrambling up a tree in Earth's most distant corner, and sure enough, we see him listening in on any number of mundane topics while standing guard upon the rainbow bridge. Then he hears it - a distant prayer, and the massacre of the worshippers of Thor…

Inside, a guard announces to all that they should stand aside, for the light, life, and personification of all Asgard has arrived! Make way for the All-Father… Make way for Thor, God of Thunder! Yeah, he was a big-shot at this time… Odin was killed by Surtur in Thor v2 #40, Thor ascended to ruler in Thor v2 #42, and Asgard was brought down over New York at the end of issue Thor v2 #50.



Thor meets with Thialfi, Amora the Enchantress, Balder and Sif, and asks the first if the others have been briefed on Heimdall's report? Amora confirms that they have been, and that Thor should be honored to have mortals who worship him! Thialfi muses that such worship brought these people to their death, so a swift and suitable response is required. Thor agrees, declaring that those dedicated to the word of Thor must not suffer. He orders the Warriors Three to be assembled to settle the conflict in Slokovia!

Balder hesitantly speaks up, mentionings that he believes that such a response seems… excessive. It's one thing to lead mortals by example, but answering their individual prayers directly is another matter entirely! Thor muses that he has no intention of doing so, and yet… Balder guesses he searches for justice, then? Or vengeance? Thor, annoyed at the backtalk, observes that Balder is a friend and fellow warrior… but did he ever once question almighty Odin like this? Balder admits he didn't, and quickly apologizes. Thor decides that these mortals died with his name on their lips, and such disregard for life is never to be tolerated. They'll go to Slokovia!



Amora tells Balder that he's too skeptical - he must embrace the good that their lord Thor has brought to Midgard! Sif thinks that a leader should welcome those who question such bold, drastic action, but Amora wonders if even she questions their presence on Midgard, then? Or do Thor's other decisions bother her more? Thor tells them to cut it out - it's Slokovia that requires attention, now. It's clear that an evil regime exists there which abuses and tortures its people, and the burning flame of human rights and freedom has been extinguished amidst such terror. The honor of Thor demands action - and Slokovian suffering demands justice. Let their leaders be warned that the time of reckoning is at hand!

As we look over a mud-strewn battlefield full of tanks near a flattened town, we're told that few Slokovians dare to question the rule of General Stoykovicz, and those who do invite a response dwarfing any action they could contemplate - which explains the eradication of Pystoroka, one of the most beautiful villages in the entire country. A few soldiers are sharing a drink nearby, and one figures it's almost a shame to destroy such a place. The other agrees - almost, if not for the plundered wine and food which comes their way! The first wonders about these rumors of Asgardian intervention, though? Does he believe those? Never, the other argues - it's just a fabrication of the Western press. Slokovia is immune to outside attack, and everyone knows it!

Their discussion is rudely interrupted by the sudden arrival of an attack force of Asgardians upon winged horses. While they effortlessly chop the barrels off tanks with a swing of their swords, Balder declares that all mortals should listen - for the proclamation of almighty Thor, Lord of Asgard, is clear! Their country has committed numerous human rights violations against its own people, so they will surrender their arms and cease all hostilities!



Nearby, Fandral and Hogun conclude the soldiers aren't listening, and the tanks are getting ready to fire! They act accordingly, and get to smashing some more of them. Volstagg instructs the other two to attack the more lethal weapons, while he will protect the flank by removing any chance of support from reinforcements! The soldiers, overrun, make a break for it - there's more Asgardians than they could possibly cope with!

Meanwhile, over at the Pentagon, we watch Iron Man come in for a landing. The air defenses are made to stand down, as there's an Avenger on approach! Tony Stark is soon informed by several generals why he was called in - thirteen hours ago, Asgardians launched an attack against the nation of Slokovia, and since then they've decimated much of General Stoykovicz's army. The Pentagon is worried, because Slokovia lies on Latveria's border and Doctor Doom has always allowed Stoykovicz to stay in power as a buffer between him and the rest of the world. If the Asgardians make Doom too antsy, anything could happen! Tony points out that Doom is not unreasonable and cares for his people… One of the generals points out that if he believes Latveria is next on the Asgardians' hit parade, Doom might adopt a scorched earth policy - and nuke it all before giving them an inch of ground!

The generals agree that Thor's actions must be halted, but Tony wonders whether Thor was right to do what he did? Stoykovicz is ruthless, and has slaughtered thousands of his own people! One of the generals says that Thor is destabilizing the whole region and making some very powerful people very nervous in the process. Someone needs to make him listen to reason, and Tony has been elected.



Reluctantly Tony admits that he's welcome in Asgard, so he'll just go talk to Thor and make sure the problem isn't what the Pentagon perceives it to be. One of the generals tells Tony to fess up already, though - he's a bright guy, he knows how the world works. Thor's actions have to be making even him nervous! Tony closes his face plate and says he's got no comment on that…

Tony flies over to the floating city of Asgard, and Thor welcomes him - it's been too long since they last met! Tony immediately admits this visit isn't a social call, though - it's about Slokovia. Incidentally, what's with the Enchantress hanging around here? No offense, but she and trouble are synonymous! Amora calls Tony a brazen mortal, but Thor tells her to be quiet, and assures Tony that his troubles with her are in the past, and they should leave them there. Getting back to the actual point, Thor concludes that Slokovia is of no consequence - he'll have it under control soon. Tony muses that Thor is being incredibly blasé about overthrowing a nation's government, but Thor points out Stoykovicz is a bloodthirsty maniac who should have been removed long ago. Tony reminds Thor of Latveria's proximity, and Thor states that should Doom prove irrational, he too shall feel the righteous wrath of Thor! Tony wonders what'll happen in the country beyond Latveria, and the one after that? Does Thor really mean to wage war against any nation that doesn't agree with him…?

Thor declares that Tony worries too much - with Asgard now present, there is no threat! Midgard is safe! He asks Tony to follow him, and he'll show him the way! Tony asks what happens if people don't want to follow him? He knows Thor is trying to do good here, but he's going about it the wrong way! Thor asks what the right way is, then? Is it right to sit back while a butcher turns his forces on his own people? Should they allow innocent men and women to be slain in their own homes for the crime of worshiping as they see fit? His worshipers cried out to him for succor!



Still, he's not deaf to Tony's concerns. He'll journey to Slokovia and make sure the matter is handled properly! He spins his hammer to teleport over, and Tony can't even explain that he wants to come along before Thor has already vanished.

Tony quickly flies off to make his own way to Slokovia, and calls the Pentagon to update them on what happened. He discovers that his signal is being jammed, though, and soon enough it clears up - but it's not the US Government on the other end of the line! Indeed, Doctor Doom has joined the call and politely inquires if it is truly Tony's intent to stand by as his comrade guides this planet to catastrophe? Doom is lounging in his surveillance center, as he so often does, and idly muses that if the powers of this world wanted to be unified under a single fist, they should have turned to him! Clearly he would be preferable to a barbarian lout who fancies himself a deity… Thor will turn this planet to ash!



Tony tells Doom not to get his underwear in a ball - he's got nothing to worry about. Doom wonders why the Americans have enlisted him to stop Thor, if that's the case, and why else would Iron Man have carried his experiments with Thor's new energy source in the direction he did…?

Over in Slokovia, we see many soldiers rushing away from conflict, while a few ready a shiny, brand-new cannon. They decide this weapon will protect them - it was a gift from Latveria! They ready the sighting mechanism and focus it on the Asgardians on their winged horses, and fire. A giant blast nearly knocks Balder off his horse...



Only afterwards is the true horror made clear - that wasn't a conventional explosive, it contained nerve gas! As the Asgardians quickly fly upwards to avoid the gas, the soldiers on the ground start choking to death from the fumes of their own weapon… That's the very moment Thor arrives in mid-air, however, and he quickly whirls up a tornado to suck away all the gas until it's no longer a threat. He then turns to the men who fired the weapon, concluding these murderous dogs are even worse than he'd heard!



Charging Mjolnir with power, Thor announces that killing thousands of your own people in a hollow attempt to save themselves is unthinkable. Let the liberation of Slokovia begin! Before the great hammerblow can fall, though, a new voice intrudes - a familiar voice. 'Think again, Avenger,' Iron Man states as he descends from the sky to face off with Thor. He doesn't want to fight him, but if that's what makes Thor back off, then that's what he'll do!



To be continued...

Rating & Comments

I have to admit that I'm not fully up on my Thor continuity, so the status quo established here is a little - unusual. Thor is the All-Father, Asgard is hanging in the sky over New York, and for some reason Amora is not treated like a villain at the moment? Regardless, I assume all this contributes to Thor's characterization in this issue - as someone who might have good motives for what he's doing, but is woefully unprepared for stepping into the more complicated world of international political interests and realpolitik. Reading this given some of the current crises going on around the world, there's an unfortunate plausibility to how this plays out - it's a little too recognizable in places.

The opening segment covers the concept of a Thor cult in a nation where such is forbidden - it brings forth imagery of Christian congregations gathering in places where religion (or their particular religion) is frowned upon or outlawed. Judging by the dialogue, there's also some serious bigotry going on in this nation - against pagans, sure, but also some sort of racial or cultural underclass. The comic doesn't clarify what caused the soldiers to attack the woman at the start, but I'm not sure it matters. I'm honestly surprised that Doom would be okay with this sort of thing happening right next door - it's a little too close to home, I would think, for a Zefiro who suffered persecution. I suppose that's politics for you…

Slokovia is an interesting new addition to canon - a small nation in eastern Europe which gets away with terrible abuses against its people because nobody wants to piss off the neighbor, Doctor Doom. Doom's reasons for allowing this situation are political - he uses Slokovia as a buffer zone against the rest of the world, safeguarding his precious Latveria. The US government is worried that Doom might pull something crazy if Thor throws a wrench in this status quo, and think Doom might nuke the entire area in the hypothetical scenario where Thor doesn't stop at Slokovia - probably because Thor didn't really tell them his motivations, and they just think he went rogue. I find it intriguing that Tony Stark actually speaks up in defense of Doom here, pointing out that he's not unreasonable and cares for his people, so this whole concept that he'd nuke the whole area is probably not that likely.

Iron Man is set up here as a representative of the US government, and he's none too pleased about it - he questions whether Thor's actions are justified, since it's not like anyone else is doing anything about Slokovia's suffering. Despite his misgivings, though, Tony discusses the matter with Thor… but his arguments could use work. Thor pretty reasonably points out that Stoykovicz is a maniac who should have been removed long ago, and Tony pretty readily jumps to the assumption that Thor will start waging war against any nation he doesn't agree with… which seems a bit overblown, given that so far he's literally only targeted one that's murdering his own people. He just keeps saying Thor is doing things the wrong way, but he can't really show a right one - because the only position the government has is to back off and let the people suffer and die for the sake of other people's peace and comfort.

On Thor's side of things, it seems his people are on his side - among Thor's advisers, it appears only Balder is really opposed to Thor's intentions here, but he's more motivated by limiting the involvement of Asgard in human affairs than anything else. There is an aspect of ethics to it, since he justifiable wonders if Thor is going for justice or vengeance, and I admit it's hard to dismiss that Thor seems rather more interested in teaching the soldiers on the battlefield a lesson than going after Stoykovicz, the unseen dictator responsible for Slokovia's terrible state of affairs. Hell, going after Doctor Doom for allowing this situation to happen would make more sense than what he ends up doing, and Doom would probably be fine with an old-fashioned superhero dust-up…

While Doom isn't in this issue very much, he's still on everyone's mind - the entire reason the Pentagon is worried is because of Slokovia's proximity to Latveria, and his possible retaliation for Thor's actions is why Tony is sent in to deal with things. Doom himself doesn't even bother leaving his castle - he just hijacks Tony's zoom meeting to insinuate that Thor is trying to set himself up as leader of the world - in which case, they could have turned to him first, surely? Heh. More importantly, he questions the reason Tony of all people was sent in to deal with this - and why he carried out experiments with Thor's new energy in the direction he did…? I'm not sure what this is referencing, specifically, but it would not be the first time Tony did some dubious stuff with things Thor gave him - including that one clone…

The combat in Slokovia is great at showcasing how powerful the Asgardians really are, outside the context of dust-ups with superheroes or giant monsters - against normal military forces they're basically invincible, flying around on pegasuses and casually one-shotting entire tanks. The only weapon that actually has a chance, of course, just happens to be a gift from Latveria… This suggests that Doom is intentionally stoking this conflict so it becomes more violent, equipping Stoykovicz's men with highly dangerous and illegal weapons to bait a world reaction. What his ultimate goal is here is a little unclear, but it sure does piss Thor off!

No, wait. Hold one one second… With that last revelation in mind, we now know that Doom is causing civil war and rebellion in a neighboring country, leading to an unexpected bloody foreign invasion which he might feel compelled to suppress… Now where did I read something like that before…?



Right, that was just two issues ago, wasn't it? I think I see the writing on the wall here - or the foreshadowing, at any rate. Looks like Doom might have gotten tired of Stoykovicz after all…

This comic is pretty good on the whole, though I feel like this attempts at being politically smart, but didn't really bother spending time on fleshing out anyone's position properly, so much of the underlying logic is implied. Iron Man represents the status quo, as he tends to, but he doesn't really bring any good arguments to the table for why Thor should stop - and then he just falls back on the slippery slope fallacy. Thor, meanwhile, seems to have good intentions… even if he's kind of a brainless lout about the whole thing. His whole solution to a murderous dictatorship is to hit it with a hammer. Granted, I've seen worse responses…

This is a case of heartless politics vs. heartfelt brashness, and neither side seems to be in any great hurry to hear the other out, so it's probably gonna come to blows in the next issue. And when both sides are sort of in the right, but also sort of wrong, I think the only one who will walk away with anything they'll be satisfied with is the guy eating popcorn in his castle while this all plays out. I'll give this issue a solid three stars, mostly held back because it's got so little Doom in it, and hope this turns out a little more interesting than fisticuffs and shouting.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"If the great powers of this world wanted to be unified under a single fist, they should have turned to me."

Doom-Tech of the Week

There's a Nerve-Gas Cannon that Doom so graciously gifted to the military junta of Slokovia…

 

[Johnreiter]

Doctor Doom has always allowed Stoykovicz to stay in power as a buffer between him and the rest of the world

Click to shrink...

I find this hard to believe, since Doom has never seemed to need or want buffer nations around himself before.

It's possible he keeps Slovokia as it is since it is basically his vassal nation. An even better possibility might be he is letting the general run his nation into the ground so that Doom can annex it later more easily.

And yes, I agree with you that Iron Man's arguments make no sense. It's a very typical Marvel hero over-reaction (Thor wants to overthrow a dictator, and everyone acts like he is trying to take over the world). This is why I only like Marvel villains

 

[krinsbez]

That is uncomfortably close to the name of a real country.

 

[Roarian]

That is uncomfortably close to the name of a real country.

Click to shrink...

Between Latveria and Sokovia, it seems 'change two or three letters and you're good' is about what you can expect from Marvel, heh.

 

[krinsbez]

Between Latveria and Sokovia, it seems 'change two or three letters and you're good' is about what you can expect from Marvel, heh.

Click to shrink...

Symkaria, Transia, Slorenia, Wakanda, Azania, Genosha, Siancong, Madripoor, I know there are more but that's what pops into my head.

EDIT: Slorenia fits, and Azania is just an archaic word for the part of Africa that the fictional country is located in...which ironically (because it's a stand-in for Apartheid South Africa) was revived by Marxists. Not sure about the rest of them though.

 

[Roarian]

Iron Man v3 #64 (March 2003)

Cover

Today's cover still has part of Thor swinging his hammer in the background, but it's dominated by Iron Man punching Thor in the face - while wearing a conspicuously bulky suit of armor that resembles the Destroyer from the Thor comics. Looks like Tony got himself a little upgrade, huh?

Story Overview

Iron Man v3 #64 - Standoff (Part 2)

We pick right back up where we last ended, with Iron Man having a standoff with Thor, telling him he can't do this - he can't invade Slokovia! Thor wonders if he should ignore the cries of those oppressed in his name?



Tony responds that it's got nothing to do with Thor or any religious group, but with generations, centuries of hatred. Thor is giving the Slokovians exactly what they want, namely an excuse to slaughter each other! Thor tells Tony to stand aside - their friendship doesn't give him the right to meddle in the affairs of the gods. Tony just fires back that Thor isn't his god. Still, Thor is his friend, and he wouldn't want to have to fight him over this… but he will, if he has to.

A group of Thor-worshippers who have survived the purges cry out to their god for help, and he tells them it's not safe for them here on the battlefield. He instructs Balder and Sif to usher the mortals to safety, then turns back to Tony. He concludes that this is Tony's 'line in the sand', then? He smashes Mjolnir down into the ground with a great flash of energy, rending the very earth and opening a deep fissure. This, he announces, is his own! Cross it at your peril! As Thor turns away, a few more of Stoykovicz's soldiers prepare to fire a gun into his back, but Tony intervenes and crushes the barrel - that's his friend they're trying to shoot in the back! The soldiers point out they thought Tony was going to handle this, but Tony admits that in the state Thor's currently in, nobody's equipped to handle him. Not yet…



Tony blazes off into the sky, and Doctor Doom once again takes over his radio systems to have a conversation. Tony is not pleased by this, but Doom claims he wants the same thing Tony does, for once, and suggests they meet up. A news broadcast, meanwhile, recounts that the Thor Cult has already spread to America, where it is viewed as a passing fad by some, and a distinct danger by others…

Iron Man flies over to nearby Latveria and makes his way to Doom's throne room to meet up with the monarch. Doom muses that he's often wondered whether Stark finds it easier, to live with or without the mask? He likes to think he regrets revealing his face to the world. Tony suggests that Doom should try it sometime, and he says he might - even if it means being investigated by the Federal Trade Commision, Congress, and… what was it…? Oh yes, the IRS, alluding to Tony's many troubles of late. Tony concludes Doom didn't invite him over to exchange pleasantries, though, and asks what's on his mind. Thor is on his mind, of course. It seems Thor cultists from Slokovia have also been infecting Latverians with their backwards notions of peace and harmony…



Tony wonders if Doom is really bothered by a few religious fanatics, or is his actual worry that World War III is breaking out in his backyard? Doom responds that there are those parties, like the United States, who might use this opportunity to impose their ideas of 'democracy' on people who have no need for such foolishness. Others are willing to push the world over the brink into war for their own ideals. If that were to happen, in his backyard as it were, Doom would be forced to take a hand in the matter... He assures Tony that he is not constrained by collateral damage.

We see more news images of pro-Thor sentiment, comparing it to the hippie movement, while Doom declares that Thor has fired the opening shot. Friend or not, unless Tony wishes to see a slaughter on both sides, he may well have to live up to his challenge and fight Thor. Tony notes that since taking Asgard's throne, Thor is more powerful than ever - they'd stand little chance of defeating him. Doom muses that Thor himself may have provided the means of doing just that already. How about a suit of armor powered by a reactor utilizing an enchanted element energized by Thor himself…?

Tony is shocked by the suggestion, but Doom points out that he himself once conquered the Silver Surfer by drawing off his own star-spawned energy to use against them… Of course, it nearly proved lethal to both of them, but imagine… to feel the power of a god, even for a moment, might be worth the risk, doesn't he agree?



Tony snaps that he doesn't know what Doom is talking about - there is no such reactor! And if he wants to see a fight between Thor and him, he's going to have to spring big bucks for Pay-Per-View! With that, he flies off into the sky again…

We see another news segment depicting radical anti-Thor groups which arose from racist organizations and the religious right, with one being interviewed and describing Asgardians as a bunch of deranged weirdos - ever notice how their symbol (Mjolnir) is half a communist flag? Why don't they all just pack up and move to Sweden or wherever instead of brainwashing their kids!? Of note, the same figure is watching all these segments, and is revealed to be a Stark employee who has a daughter that's in one of the Thor cults. He also owns a mug with a distinctive 'D' on the label. Hmm…

Back in Slokovia, Balder approaches Thor and notices that he's troubled. Thor agrees that this burden weighs heavily on his heart - the Thor-worshiping refugees emerge from hiding, drawn to his presence. They believe in the justice of the Thunder God, and he cannot leave them to the mercy of the Junta which rules this land.



In the distance, General Stoykovicz masses his forces, waiting for the opportunity to exterminate his own people. Thor had thought they would withdraw once they beheld his awesome power, but it seems that only death will end their hatred. His children cry out to him in their oppression and he cannot turn away… even if it means fighting a man who was his friend, and the world as well. As Odin's son he was destined for this, but he would if it were not so! Balder asks that surely there can be no doubt -- Thor cuts him off and puts a hand on the man's shoulder. Only a fool has no doubts, he says… or a loyal friend…

News segments describe how American and NATO allied forces continue to build up in the Slokovian region, and the U.S. State Department has recalled embassy personnel from Slokovia and issued a warning urging all Americans to leave at once. This is being called a precautionary move, but it's viewed with distrust by the Russians who perceive the destabilization of the region as a threat to their own national security. In local news, Anti-Thor groups have sprung up as quickly as Thor cults, and we see two representatives - the Thor cultist argues they follow the path of harmony between man and nature, and believe in the unity of all people and the responsibility to care for the planet. The anti-Thor rep just states that last time she looked, there was only one God!



We once again see the Stark employee watching the TV leave, and we get one more clip from the news - it shows a film which was allegedly smuggled out of Slokovia by Amnesty International, and depicts a mass roundup of Slokovian Thor cultists - a clear violation of human rights. Amnesty International charges that Slokovian officials are using the cult as an excuse to annihilate an entire class of people descended from ancient Vikings, who once raided along the Slokovian borders. That was centuries ago, but the hatred lingers on… (Racism, after all…)

At Stark Tower, Tony tells Pepper Potts that Thor is forcing him to make a stand - it's only a matter of time before somebody starts shooting and the whole region becomes an inferno! Pepper asks why it has to be him, though? Why not leave it to somebody else? In the foreground, a familiar Stark employee deposits some trash as the two pass by. We then see him study several of the schematics he's disposing of, surreptitiously making pictures of them. Tony is unaware of this, and walks by while asking Pepper who should handle this? The military? Could she imagine what they might do with a reactor that taps into the same energies as Thor's Hammer? (Oh, hey, look - Doom was right about that…)

Tony and Pepper head over to a huge vault, and the former admits they don't even know what the element Thor provided is, or where it originally came from… Whether the super-dense material is a fragment of a meteorite that fell from a binary star system, or it really holds the enchantment of Odin. Pepper skeptically asks if he's really going to wrap himself in an unperfected reactor that could melt down at any moment?



Tony snarls that he doesn't have a choice. The standoff won't last forever. Thor gave him that enchanted jewel fragment in hopes that it would be a source of energy to serve mankind, but now it's become a weapon… and he may have to use it against his friend. With that, a mighty Iron Man armor resembling the Destroyer is unveiled… The Thorbuster.

The Stark spy takes a seat in the park while reading the Daily News - it's talking about a UN resolution demanding the arrest of the Slokovian dictator. He leaves the paper behind, where it's soon picked up by an anti-Thor protester who then smuggles it on to yet another person who works at a travel agency. It turns out that a microdisc was hidden inside that paper which contains all the pictures the first spy took. Soon enough it's sent across the wire to - who else - Doctor Doom. Doom looks over the schematics and comments that these anti-Thor people are fools - their hate is only surpassed by their ignorance. Still, he supposes he should be grateful for this gift - with this final piece of the reactor design, he now holds the power to destroy Thor... If Iron Man doesn't do the job for him.



Back in Sokovia, Thor is tired of waiting - the mortals have disregarded his warnings, so now they shall know his wrath! This is the moment Iron Man returns wrapped in his newly empowered armor, declaring he cannot let this continue. Thor should look around - if he starts a war here, it would engulf the world! Is that what he wants? Armageddon? Thor yells that Iron Man should step away - for now the oppressors shall know the anguish of his people. Now the armies of the Earth shall know the fury of Thor! Iron Man uppercuts Thor in the face, sending his feathered helmet flying and carving a trench in the earth from where Thor slid along it.



Thor wipes his mouth and decides that if Iron Man aligns himself against Thor, then he shall be the first to feel his power! He throws Mjolnir at the huge suit of armor, but Tony easily deflects it and says he already has felt the power of Thor - because his armor is powered by the same enchantment that gives his hammer strength! The power Thor uses against him is absorbed and rechanneled into the armor! Thor is thoroughly offended that Tony took a gift and turned it into a weapon against him, but Tony just asks him as a friend and fellow Avenger to please let this go before it's too late…

'NEVER!' Thor snarls, punching Iron Man again before recalling Mjolnir to his hand and using it to block the intense beams that the suit sends his way from his repulsor gauntlets. As the two fight, and Thor's armor gets shredded to tatters, Tony asks if Thor can't see that he's giving the Slokovians exactly what they wanted? An excuse for war!



Thor responds by stating that men have never needed an excuse. Murder is part of the mortal world - men are ever devising new ways to subjugate and slaughter their brothers in the name of some cause or… 'Some God?' Iron Man wonders. Is that what he was about to say? Thor admits Tony stings him with words sharp as steel, but he's done with him. He's nothing without the power of Thor's own wrath. Tony says he wouldn't go so far as to say that - he also has the power of Iron Man! Figures he'd owe Thor his best shot…

As the two recommence their slugfest, beams against thunderous blows, we observe the perspective of the Pentagon. There, one of the generals states that they've just monitored Go-Codes from Slokovian headquarters - Stark has failed. He let it get personal. The general declares that it's time for Operation Righteous Anger - and may God have mercy on all of them.



As American tanks roll out to pacify the region, however, they are stopped by someone stepping out right in front of them - a man with a mighty shield. Captain America! A tank commander demands that he should get out of the way - they've got their orders! Cap announces that this isn't their battle anymore, as there's no stopping Thor and Iron Man now. Sure enough, the two come together in another mighty clash and strike each other with Mjolnir and an empowered fist respectively, unleashing a huge explosion which sends even Cap flying off his feet…

Rating & Comments



We're back with 'heroes making terrible arguments to stop a confrontation' hour, in which Iron Man tries to convince Thor to stand down by suggesting that intervening in a genocide actually makes you just as bad, because you're giving the murderers another excuse to genocide. Dude, Tony, you do realize Thor is here to get the people doing that stuff out of power? If they're out of power, they can't so easily do the genociding, even if they have more resentment now… Are you really on the right side here? Thor might be arrogant as hell, as per usual, but he does make his position pretty clear by literally drawing a line in the sand and protecting the people who are the targets of annihilation. More puzzling is why Thor then just… sits around for a good while doing nothing? Guess he's giving Tony a chance to come up with a better argument. Have to justify the 'Standoff' title somehow.

Doctor Doom makes a much earlier appearance in this issue, and it's shown that Tony actually does believe his statement from the last issue that Doom can be reasoned with, because they agree to have a discussion in person - in Latveria, no less. Doom initially pokes at Iron Man with his recent status quo - he got into quite a bit of trouble when his identity was revealed, a more protracted affair in the comics than his instant lack of secret identity in the MCU - but that just seems like a bit of banter. More important, I think, is the implication that Doom is bothered by Thor cults popping up in Latveria, and the reason why.

On initial reading, it seems that Doom is bothered by 'peace and harmony', calling them backwards notions. That seems a bit weird, given his own boasting about Latveria as a harmonious and peaceful state. I think what's meant here is that he's opposed to certain 'backwards notions' of what constitutes peace and harmony, such as democracy. He believes the United States would use the current opportunity to impose their own ideals of democracy on Latveria, and points out others are fully willing to wage war for their own ends. Doom cannot allow those things to happen given that it might endanger his power base, so he threatens to retaliate if this whole mess keeps going any longer. If Iron Man doesn't take care of this Thor business next door, he might have to get desperate…

Doom is also, as ever, extremely well-informed - he already knows that Thor has secretly gifted Tony a power source from Asgard, and that Tony has been using that substance to create a suit of armor powered by it. Tony is baffled how he could possibly know that, but Doom ignores that and is drawn into dreaming of past glories when the subject of god-like power is mentioned. We get a direct reference to the Silver Surfer Saga here, and it seems Doom remembers it rather fondly, despite the fact that he nearly died. To feel the power of a god for even a moment would be worth the risk, wouldn't it…? Tony poorly pretends like Doom isn't completely on the money about that secret project he's working on, and sets off to do exactly what Doom intended for him to do. Naturally.

A running thread throughout this issue is this random radicalized anti-Thor guy who works at the Stark company, and who uses that access to steal top secret plans for the Thor-empowered reactor. I'm a bit confused why the secret armor itself would be in a super-secure vault but the plans would just be lying around or get thrown in the regular trash, but there you go… Despite the mug with a 'D' on it, Doom's dialogue suggests that this whole spy-ring is not actually his own work, strictly speaking, but more of an attempt by Anti-Thor protestors to get Doom to deal with the whole situation. The Anti-Thor movement freely gave the reactor design to Doom so he could take down Thor with it, and he appreciates that… but he might not need it if Iron Man does the job for him.

Incidentally, the political situation from the last issue gets rather exaggerated in this one, as instead of dealing with a potential disaster if Doctor Doom gets scared into action, NATO and the United States now actually put soldiers on the ground in the Slokovian region, which naturally is seen as a rather significant provocation by Russia. Given what's happening in the world right now, yeah, I can see why it would! It also seems the news is broadcasting only the extremes of the Pro- and Anti-Thor perspectives, which is pretty accurate to reality, honestly. We swerve wildly between hippie flower children of peace and love, and religious conservatives who complain about commies and brainwashing of their kids. It's… not subtle which side the comic writer lands on here, I think.

Iron Man, big brain genius that he is, decides the best thing to do right now is to put on a suit of armor empowered by the power of the very friend he's about to be fighting. He was given an enchanted jewel as a source of energy to serve mankind, and he immediately turned it into a weapon to use against said friend. Tony remains, as ever, a total dick in the comics. This 'Thorbuster' armor is another exoskeleton type addition to another suit of armor like the Hulkbuster, and I appreciate that it takes design elements from the Destroyer robot. Why it needed an eight-pack is another question, though…

I'm not sure why Thor suddenly pitches a fit out of nowhere towards the end of the comic despite nothing happening, but I guess he realized that he was running out of pages. Tony arrives to stop that, and is again relying on his status quo messaging - if they start a war here, it could engulf the world in Armageddon! Thor still isn't buying it, intent on delivering to the oppressors what they deserve. Iron Man then stupidly reveals that the armor he's using was created with the jewel Thor gifted him, and naturally Thor obviously takes this poorly… Tony took a gift and turned it into a weapon against him!? Yeah… Tony then immediately implores his 'friend and fellow Avenger' to back down, which just gets him a justified punch to the face.

Towards the end, Thor points out people have never needed an excuse to go to war - they're always devising new ways to subjugate and slaughter their brothers in the name of some cause. Given that a genocide was happening here before Thor ever arrived, it's clear where he's coming from… Meanwhile, the geniuses at the Pentagon who sent Tony to deal with the situation decide it's a lost cause mid-fight, and send in the United States Army to pacify the region… They're probably starting the exact war they were hoping to prevent by doing that, aren't they? Captain America arrives out of nowhere to be the voice of reason, but he's really just there because he'll have some role to play in the next issue, because all he really argues is that this battle is too far gone to stop…

On the whole, I am bothered that this comic is so cavalier about what's actually going on here - it pretends to be political, but the actual military decisions here are kind of brainless, and the comic itself spends quite a while spinning its wheels while people fly back and forth to have talks setting up the arrival of this Thorbuster armor that's pretty much just there to make the fight even remotely fair. The comic goes out of its way to construct this status quo-argument for Tony to support, instead of having an actual exchange with Thor that might better the situation. He doesn't even speak up against the involvement of the US military and Russia, making an already charged situation even worse despite their own ostensibly wish to see this mess resolved peacefully. Then why send a legion of tanks, dude?

Hopefully the final part of this three-part storyline resolves some of this in a satisfying way - personally, I hope Cap is there specifically to get these two brawny fools to see sense and stop beating each other up so they could deal with the bigger problem. Focus on rescuing the civilians and getting Slokovia some stability instead of pounding even more holes into the battlefield that this country has become. Ugh. I imagine Doom is eating popcorn just watching this whole disaster play out - heroes and governments alike showcasing why they're complete incompetents and dangerous free agents. No wonder he wants to take over the world!

I'll give this issue three stars, mostly because Thor is a total badass, the fighting is pretty epic, and Doom's single scene neatly showcases why he dominates the conversation even in a story where he's mostly a sideshow. This comic represents one of the most obvious early breaking points between Tony and Thor, which would eventually lead to the entire drama surrounding the clone Thor that Tony creates… That's a whole other terrible thing. Next time we're finishing this conflict, and moving on to both comedic hijinks in Spider-Man... and one of the darkest turns ever.

Most Gloriously Villainous Doom Quotes

"There are those parties… the United States, for instance… who might use this opportunity to impose their ideas of democracy on people who have no need for such foolishness, and others willing to push the world over the brink into war for their own ideals. If that were to happen… in my backyard, as it were… I would be forced to take a hand in the matter. And I assure you, I am not constrained by collateral damage."

"I once conquered the Silver Surfer by drawing off his own star-spawned energy to use against him. Of course it nearly proved lethal to both of, but imagine… to feel the power of a god, even for a moment, might be worth the risk, don't you think?"

"Fools. Their hate is only surpassed by their ignorance."

 

[Zaealix]

'There's only one god, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't wear a cape.'
Anyone else get an echo of that line from that judge?

 

[Estro]

That is one dorky suit of armour tony has. Sculpted abs on an iron man suit? ehhh....

 

[Roarian]

That is one dorky suit of armour tony has. Sculpted abs on an iron man suit? ehhh....

Click to shrink...

The design was pretty clearly inspired by the Destroyer: