X-Men Legends #5 (2021)
by Peter David & Todd Nauck
Let’s finish Doctor Doom’s 2021 interactions with mutants with a throwback: a story set during Peter David’s legendary X-Factor, and written by the man himself.
This is likely the last time he ever wrote Doom.
The story is explicitly set between X-Factor #75 and #76, as specified in the next issue.
Going by the cover date, this would place the story either immediately before or immediately after Doom’s appearance in Fantastic Four #361, very early in the DeFalco run.
We’ll see if this makes sense.
This version of X-Factor was a team answering to the US government, so the story is told through flashback while testifying before congress.
The flashbacks are set at Christmas Eve, placing the events right after Fantastic Four #361 which was explicitly set a few days earlier.
The claim that Latveria doesn’t celebrate Christmas is bizarre to say the least… Latveria has been shown multiple times to have Christians and Doom has boasted many times that there is religious freedom. Even if he’s exaggerating, I find it hard to believe Doom would outlaw Christamas.
Except maybe that one time.
A bunch of rebels invade the Latverian embassy and slaughter the staff, including a Doombot.
They sound reasonable enough.
With the Fantastic Four continuity so tight, it’s weird to reference an Avengers story that doesn’t exist: they were not fighting Skrulls anywhere near the point this is supposed to be set.
I also have a hard time believing either team would be fine with the rebels killing people in the embassy, even if of course they would gladly see Doom’s regime fail.
Credit where it’s due, the dialogue is set in a way where you can believe this is entirely in Quicksilver’s head… and this is a very Quicksilver point of view.
X-Factor tries to intervene, but it doesn’t go well.
But it’s just a distraction so that Wolfsbane can infiltrate the embassy.
But one of the rebels has the power to make you face your worst fear, and Wolfsbane freaks out.
X-Men Legends #6 (2021)
by Peter David & Todd Nauck
Kind of unusual way to have an X on the cover.
That’s because Wolfsbane got herself captured and crucified!
The reason why Havok is testifying is that while he was trying to negotiate the release of the hostages, the police fired first.
However this made him look sympathetic to the kidnappers, who turns out are part of the Latverian resistance. Or whatever they want to call themselves.
I miss Peter David so much.
They’re mad at Doctor Doom for… well, being Doctor Doom, but also for activating their mutant powers to use them as weapons.
But it’s AGAIN a distraction so that Polaris can free Wolfsbane, who is so out of control she almost kills her opponent.
The others have energy powers (one creates barrier, another force fields, one shoots green flames) and use them to escape, planning to blow up the embassy.
Hey the guys who crucified a hostage and killed civilians might not be the good guys, who would’ve thought?
They don’t exactly go far…
…because guess who showed up.
I will never get tired of Doom showing up just to hype himself.
Turns out that Quicksilver decided to literally bring Doctor Doom into the story.
The story is set in Washington D.C, so Quicksilver had to go all the way to New York to pick up Doom right after his last appearance.
Perfect continuity setup.
Quicksilver’s way of locating Doom is brilliantly simple: he knows Doom likes luxury, so he just checked the best hotels.
Neat sight gag by Todd Nauck of Quicksilver taking the occasion to get some coffee!
Something established in Peter David’s run was Quicksilver’s love for classical music, so he does have a bit of a connection with Doom.
Surprisingly enough, Doom and Quicksilver haven’t met each other many times. I believe the last time they spoke prior to when this story is set was Fantastic Four Annual #21, and they didn’t even meet in person that time!
I have a harder time believing Quicksilver’s claim that Doom doesn’t watch the news.
Not only because we have SEEN Doom watch the news multiple times, but a recurring thing with Doom is that he’s often absurdly well-informed… of the stuff he cares about at least.
And I’m sure he has procedures in place to inform him when the Latverian embassy is under attack.
He probably just switched it off because he wanted to relax playing the piano for a bit… the guy can’t catch a break!
I’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t, you know. Doctor Doom.
The one time when it’s Doctor Doom who should have chosen his words more carefully.
Assuming it took Quicksilver 5 seconds (and that’s conservative!) for the trip from New York to Washington, he must’ve gone at least 190 times the speed of sound.
Doom is ready to incinerate the rebels, but he’s stopped by Havok.
That leaves the one with fear powers in the hospital, recovering from her wounds.
Until the other three show up to rescue her…
…which leaves them in Doctor Doom’s hands, with the help of Wolfsbane.
I wonder why we never saw these guys again.
Doom significance: 0/10
We will see Latverian mutants in this era. These guys won’t return.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Quicksilver’s trip barely qualifies.
Will it stand the test of time? 8/10
I should be more knowledgeable of the X-Factor of this era to properly understand the significance of the ending. To me it implies that Wolfsbane is acting against Havok’s orders in the end; it wouldn’t have made sense to help them escape otherwise.
Wolfsbane went through A LOT in that era, and the way she reacts makes me think she’s not entirely herself. Which would be fine if there was a note or something, but here it comes off as unnecessarily cruel.
Yes the rebels were ready to kill innocent people to prove their point (there was one dissident among them, but Wolfsbane didn’t hear her say it)… so these are not really good guys.
But handing them over to Doctor Doom, with the full knowledge that he will either torture them or kill them, or both? That feels too far even for Wolfsbane’s darkest periods.
It doesn’t ruin the story since it comes at the very end, but it does leave a sour taste.
Supervillains created by Dr. Doom: 28
Beltane, Imbolc, Lughnasa and Samhain feels supervillain-adjacent enough to count.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 151
Havok was in the list already, and nobody else really fights Doom. So no change to the total, but FINALLY I get the chance to fix something that has been bothering me and nobody else since 2021. Because that’s how long Havok has been on the list thanks to the continuity insert that is World’s Greatest Comics Magazine; most other heroes who first got in the list because of that miniseries have a canonical other fight with Doom… but not Havok, who ironically had to wait until THIS continuity insert.
There is only ONE hero left in that list without a second proper fight… and it’s Polaris, who frustratingly is in THIS story too but never fights Doom!
Thankfully she’s become more prevalent in the past few years, so I’m holding out hope that she will one day fight Doctor Doom and finally fixes that damn list for good.