Doctor Doom Appreciation

[Iron Maiden]

So what good Doom books are out there? I'm new to Marvel and I only have Millar's Fantastic Four book Master of Doom.

Oh dear me, I hope you survived that. LOL....I know a lot of people have a sentimental attachment to their intro to a series but personally I am not a fan of the Million Year Old Doom that Millar hatched. I suppose the fellow who finished off the arc when Millar took his leave is partially to blame too...Joe Ahearne IIRC.

We had started to talk about creating a sticky somehow in the beginning of the thread and maybe that's something moderator Joe Acro can look into. The poster Doomscribe had a good list posted a month or two ago.

First of all, I am going to say I am definitely going to buy the mini series "Victor Von Doom" coming out this November. And if you have not been picking up Hickman's FF I would try and see if you can get some back issues. The preview's for next week's issue look pretty awesome. You can always get up to speed by asking around here on the MB.

Maybe what we can do is start a list again and then the next contributor just copies it and then adds their picks to the bottom. I will start off with a few. I am leading off with Books of Doom because I think Brubaker does an excellent job of retelling the Lee/Kirby origin from FF annual #2. He does toss out a few things and expands in some areas but essentially sticks to the main elements.

Super-Villain Team Up is another good choice. In addition to his first solo story in Marvel Super Heroes #20, it collects Doom's two solo series, SVTU and Astonishing Tales along with some of the crossover issues from the Avengers and the Champions. Yeah, you might find some of the Silver Age stuff kind of goofy but I think you will find some surprisingly well done character work in there too, particularly in Astonishing Tales #8, a tale that Roger Stern would later use as his inspiration for his graphic novel, Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment.

Now I will let someone else take a turn at it...

The Essential Doctor Victor von Doom

Books of Doom
The Essential Super-Villain Team-Up (reprinted works in black and white)
Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment.

[Ravin' Ray]

And Doom vs the JLA by John Bryne

Sadly, Doom was trounced by the JLA in their crossover with the Avengers when he tried to breach the DCU's Wall. The image of an immense, lifeless Doom adorning the Wall with eyebeams reaching across the infinite freaked me out when I first saw it.

[DoomScribe]

Sadly, Doom was trounced by the JLA in their crossover with the Avengers when he tried to breach the DCU's Wall. The image of an immense, lifeless Doom adorning the Wall with eyebeams reaching across the infinite freaked me out when I first saw it.

Occurred off-panel ... JLA/Avengers #3, page1; Doom doesn't actually appear, otherwise.


And then there is This(Spoiler for the latest issue of Avengers Children's Crusade #7):


Iron Maiden has it right, shades of Secret War (the original). Loved the visual of the mask hitting the ground on the previous page, though.

[Rheged]

The Essential Doctor Victor von Doom

Books of Doom
The Essential Super-Villain Team-Up (reprinted works in black and white)
Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment.
Doom
Heroes Reborn: The Return
Doctor Doom and the Masters of Evil
Emperor Doom


Excellent choices. I'm left recommending these:

Nekkid Lion Fighting. 'Nuff said!



Doom is cast down to a counter earth, but that doesn't slow him down at all. Actually, I think this comes before Nekkid Lion Fighting.




What if Doom conquered the world? A surprising answer.



Marvel All Ages Doom, but nicely done and fun!

[Rheged]

We had started to talk about creating a sticky somehow in the beginning of the thread and maybe that's something moderator Joe Acro can look into. The poster Doomscribe had a good list posted a month or two ago.

That AWESOME list of important Dr. Doom appearances by Doomscribe should definitely be edited into the first post, as well as a basic list of Doom trades.

[mausi12]

[mausi12]

[DoomScribe]

DOOM’S BEST BOOKS by DoomScribe

Fantastic Four - Annual 2 1964 Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby “Origin of Doctor Doom”; & “The Final Victory of Dr. Doom!” (2 new stories) Origin story. Then rescued from space (issue 23) by Rama Tut; Dr Doom uses berry juice to turn FF against each other; but defeated by Reed at the Encephalo-gun. **

Marvel Superheroes 20 May, 1969 Roy Thomas/ Larry Lieber “This Man . . . This Demon!” Diablo. Retells Doom’s origin and the story of Valeria, as Diablo seeks a partnership to rule using Doom’s time platform, currently under armed guard at his replica castle in the USA. **

Fantastic Four 86 May, 1969 Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby “The Victims!” The FF & villagers defeat Omnipurpose robots; Doom destroys the village but Sue’s shield saves them. **
Fantastic Four 87 June, 1969 Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby “The Power and the Pride!” The FF storm the castle; Doom uses hypersound against Hauptmann to prevent destruction of valuable art. **

Astonishing Tales 1 Aug., 1970 Roy Thomas/ Wally Wood “Unto You is Born . . the Doomsman!” Prince Rudolfo. Doom creates an artificial being using cosmic power and his own brain patterns; Ramona who looks like Valeria, sets a trap. **
Astonishing Tales 2 Oct., 1970 Roy Thomas/ Wally Wood “Revolution!“ The Faceless One. Former Crown Prince Rudolfo seeks to usurp the throne of Latveria, aided by the mysterious Faceless, while the android Doomsman runs amok, toppling all in it’s path. **
Astonishing Tales 3 Dec., 1970 Larry Lieber/ Wally Wood “Doom Must Die!” Doom and Faceless struggle for control of Doomsman; an earthquake destroys Castle Doom & the hopes of the Rudolfo’s rebels. **
Astonishing Tales 5 Apr., 1971 Larry Lieber/ George Tuska “A Land Enslaved!” Red Skull. Doom battles Skull, is caught by surprise and trapped in an adamantine mummy, but he defeats them & uses shrinking ray on his enemies. **
Astonishing Tales 8 Oct., 1971 Gerry Conway/ Gene Colan “Though Some Call it Magic!” Mephisto. Doom embarks on a dangerous battle with demons on a midsummer’s eve for the soul of his lost mother. The first telling of this tragic tale. *******

Fantastic Four 116 Nov., 1971 Archie Goodwin/ John Buscema. “The Alien, The Ally and Armageddon!” The Watcher, and the Stranger. Reed is brainwashed by the alien Over-Mind (an Eternal), and Sue asks Doom to aid the rest of the FF in a desperate battle. *******

Sub-Mariner 47 (vol 1) Mar-72 “Doomsmasque”
Sub-Mariner 48 (vol 1) Apr-72 “Twilight of the Hunted”
Sub-Mariner 49 (vol 1) May-72 “The Dream Stone” Sort of a campy story when read now, but overall an interesting take on these two titanic monarchs of the Marvel Universe told over three issues. An amnesiac Namor is re-acquainted with Doctor Doom, and taken on a hunt for the Cosmic Cube! With Modok. And contains a remarkably restrained, honorable, and self-reflective portrayal of Victor Von Doom. ****

Marvel Team-Up 42 Feb., 1976 Bill Mantlo/ Sal Buscema “Visions of Hate!” Spidey has time traveled to the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The Vision is drawn into the conflict with the Dark Rider. Doom joins them to defend the past. **
Marvel Team-Up 43 Mar., 1976 Bill Mantlo/ Sal Buscema “A Past Gone Mad!” The Dark Rider attempts to extract magical energies from Doom to increase his own power **
Marvel Team-Up 44 Apr., 1976 Bill Mantlo/ Sal Buscema “Death in the Year Before Yesterday!” Moondragon. Doom is almost lost, but finally uses his magical might with the aid of the others to defeat the Dark Rider. **

Super-Villain Team-Up 10 Feb.,1977 Bill Mantlo/ Bob Hall “The Sign of the Skull!” Captain American storms the Latverian embassy while Shroud and Rudolfo invade castle Doom, now controlled by Red Skull, who shoots down Doom & Cap’s plane. *****
Super-Villain Team-Up 11 Apr., 1977 Bill Mantlo/ Bob Hall “My Ally, My Enemy!” Red Skull plans to use the Hypno-Ray, Doom & Cap are shrunk, but make way to the castle where Namor and Shroud assist them against the Skull *****
Super-Villain Team-Up 12 June, 1977 Bill Mantlo/ Bob Hall “Death-Duel!” Doom and Red Skull battle on the Moon *******

Fantastic Four 198 Sept., 1978 Marv Wolfman Keith Pollard “Invasion!” ***
Fantastic Four 199 Oct., 1978 Marv Wolfman/ Keith Pollard “The Son of Doctor Doom!” ***
Fantastic Four 200 Nov., 1978 Marv Wolfman/ Keith Pollard “When Titans Clash!” ***
Superman and Spider-man Marvel Treasury Edition #28 1981 ***

Iron Man 149 Aug., 1981 David Michelinie/ John Romita Jr “Doomquest” Iron Man and Dr Doom are sent to England of the past, to King Arthur’s court! ******
Iron Man 150 Sept., 1981 David Michelinie/ John Romita Jr “Knightmare” Doom seeks to ally himself with Morgan LeFey, as Iron Man sides with King Arthur. But they must work together in order to return to their proper time. ******

Fantastic Four 236 Nov., 1981 John Byrne “Terror in a Tiny Town!” ******
Fantastic Four 246 Sept., 1982 John Byrne“Too Many Dooms!” *******
Fantastic Four 247 Oct., 1982 John Byrne “This Land is Mine!” *******
Fantastic Four 258 Sept. 1983 John Byrne “Interlude” *******
Fantastic Four 259 Oct. 1983 John Byrne “Choices” ****

Secret Wars 1 – 12 (Limited Series) May 1984. Heroes and Villains are transported to Battleworld by the all powerful Beyonder, in order to battle to see who is the most powerful. Doom ostensibly leads the villains, all while plotting to take the power of Galactus, and then the Beyonder himself. ***

Emperor Doom (Graphic Novel) Jun-87 Dr Doom has harnessed the power of the Purple Man, and has declared himself Emperor of the Earth, instilling peace and prosperity throughout the world. But one Avenger must decide whether to take the power away from him, and risk returning the world to one of strife and conflict. Stars the Avengers. *******

Triumph and Torment (Graphic Novel) 1989 Roger Stern/Mike Mignola/Mark Badger. Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange battle Mephisto in order to free the soul of Doom’s mother from his infernal realm. Includes a synopsis origin story for each of the good doctors. ********

Amazing Spider-Man 349 July, 1991 “Man Of Steal!”
Amazing Spider-Man 350 Aug, 1991 “Doom Service!” Remarkable appearance for Doom’s ultimate restraint, and also for quite thoroughly kicking Peter’s butt. ****

Doom 2099 1 – 40 January 1993 Sometimes brilliant, ended too soon. Issues after #40 are best left unread. ******

Heroes Reborn: DOOM one shot, January 2000 “Doom!” ******
Heroes Reborn: Ashema one shot, January 2000 “Ashema” ****
Heroes Reborn: Doomsday one shot, January 2000 “A World Untamed” ******

DOOM 1 – 3 (Limited Series); October 2000 *** (starts out strong)
Doom: The Emperor Returns 1 – 3 (Limited Series); January 2002 ** (ends poorly)

Books of Doom 1 – 6 (Limited Series); November 2005. An expanded re-telling of the rise of Victor Von Doom, and the conquest of Latveria. Great new insights, fabulous art, very well done and highly recommended. *******

Stan Lee Meets Doctor Doom – one shot December 2006. ***

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom 1 – 4 (Limited Series) April 2008; Iron Man and Doctor Doom tangle again over fragments of Excalibur, magic and science do battle. ****

Doctor Doom & the Masters of Evil 1 – 4 (Limited Series) January 2009 **** A fun mini series aimed at all ages.

Fall of Hulks: Alpha one shot, Feb-10 “Meeting of the Minds” The Intelligentsia gather knowledge from the world, Doom keeps it. Fall of Hulks was difficult to follow unless you got all of the Hulk titles, but this one-shot was a particularly nice showing for Doom. **

Spider-Man & the Secret Wars 1 – 4 (Limited Series) January 2010 Another all-ages title, recaps Secret Wars from Spider-Mans POV, with Dr Doom; again providing a new take on a classic story. ****

DoomWar 1 -6 (Limited Series) April 2010. Doom attacks Wakanda to steal the Vibranium. Although some notable character flaws and the end is anti-climatic given the build-up, there were some moments of absolute delicious Doom-ness. Plus, he may (or may not) have been brain damaged (after Fall of Hulks) while all this was going on.

Avengers The Children's Crusade (Limited series) November 2010. Starting in issue #2, Doom appears in issues 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, but sometimes only briefly. The art in this series is positively stunning, although the story plods a little and there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Not a Dr Doom story per se, but he is engaged to marry an amnesiac but quite lovely Scarlet Witch.

FF 1 -4 May 2011. Dr Doom is invited by Valeria Richards to join the Future Foundation, to the chagrin of the old guard. His mental faculties are restored, and then he plots with the rest of the invitees on how to destroy the evil Reed Richards and save the world.

*-*-*-*-
The following notable Fantastic Four arcs are purposefully left off this list for unforgiveable transgressions against the Master, but there were some elements in each that were laudable. Reader, draw your own conclusions.Fantastic Four (vol 3) 67 – 71/500 May, 2003. “Under Her Skin” and “Unthinkable” parts 1 – 4.
Fantastic Four 566 to 569, July 2009 “Doom’s Master” and “Million Year Old Doom”

[Iron Maiden]

Sadly, Doom was trounced by the JLA in their crossover with the Avengers when he tried to breach the DCU's Wall. The image of an immense, lifeless Doom adorning the Wall with eyebeams reaching across the infinite freaked me out when I first saw it.

I remember that too! But I really don't know what the Wall is and why people end up getting stuck there. And why Dom ended up being almost Celestial-sized.

Good job on that list, Doomscribe! I should create an Access database out of it!

BTW, did anyone else get the premiere hard cover edition that came out last week "The Overthrow of Doom"? I picked this up online at Tales of Wonder and I love seeing these old comic that were printed newsprint style on premium paper. There's a couple of covers in there as bonus material where they recolored them and took away the usual trade dress stuff. I'd scan them but I don't want to mess up the binding.

IIIRC this is the last cover Jack Kirby would do for the Fantastic Four.

[Iron Maiden]

LOL....nice finds, mausi12.

I think I like this group the best. The whole Loki/Doom relationship sure had an interesting spin at first when JMS was using Fem-Loki. I still think the reason why Morgana Le Fey got all crazy on Doom was that she thought something was going on between the two of them and she got insanely jealous.

[nomadic writer]

So I've been reading the early Super Hero Squad comics on Marvel Digital (still workin' on that epic list of links to Doctor Doom comics) which are mostly more dumbed down and less charming than the show. Still, I've got to admit this made my day:

[Ravin' Ray]

Ugh. I never thought Marvel would allow Doom to be portrayed bare-chested, even on SHS, until I saw the preview pages of Children's Crusade with a shirtless young Victor.

[mausi12]

LOL....nice finds, mausi12.

I think I like this group the best. The whole Loki/Doom relationship sure had an interesting spin at first when JMS was using Fem-Loki. I still think the reason why Morgana Le Fey got all crazy on Doom was that she thought something was going on between the two of them and she got insanely jealous.

I think you're right she was really jealous of loki
I think he really likes loki
He knew that loki is in man
pity that odin was dead at the time he has not seen lady loki



Doom/Loki: «….The way he calmly snarks back at Loki, knowing Loki will betray him and yet being fine with it all the same, preparing for it with patient, calm acceptance. It’s great. It’s just great. I think Doom is like a cat owner who knows the cat is not his pet and will wander where he pleases, but at the end of the week is always going to come back for milk and treats.» (c) avali

[mausi12]

[nomadic writer]

Ugh. I never thought Marvel would allow Doom to be portrayed bare-chested, even on SHS, until I saw the preview pages of Children's Crusade with a shirtless young Victor.

That's based on a similar scene from Books of Doom. What's so weird about Doom being bare-chested? He's been naked before in his lion-fighting days. It's showing the damage to his face that's the mystique that shouldn't be broken; I don't see why there's anything wrong with artists showing the rest of him out of armour occasionally. Especially in a goofy out-of-continuity one-panel joke.