Captain America #453 (1996)
written by Mark Waid
pencils by Ron Garney & Pino Rinaldi
cover by Ron Garney
Doctor Doom makes a quick appearance in the critically acclaimed Waid&Garney run on Captain America.
Savor this one, because it’ll be Doom’ last GOOD story for a while.
This is the last chapter of a storyline, so it needs some introduction.
Supervillain Machinesmith has used his powers to control machines to start several diplomatic incidents, and is just about ready to start a war between the United States and the fictional country of Moldavia (not to be confused with the ACTUAL country of Moldova).
And his first course of action is cause the Helicarrier to crash. That hasn’t happened for a whole week, that’s a record!
Steve Rogers is not currently Captain America, though, because he’s been framed by Machinesmith and stripped of his position, costume and shield.
So he’s using a different costume now.
No, not that one.
No, not that one either.
Close enough… there it is!
Captain Not America and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter manage to stop the Helicarrier from crashing, but there’s still the matter of Machinesmith launching an assault from Moldavia.
He can’t currently call the Avengers, so Steve has a different plan…
…walk through the border between Latveria and Moldavia, because sooner or later ALL fictional countries end up sharing a border with Latveria.
Hey, that’s clearly a reference to the awesome Fantastic Four #258! Nice callback to one of the best Doom stories ever!
Understandably, Captain Not America is far from a fan of how the country is run.
Awesome one-liner from one of the robots.
Unfortunately the Doom pages are drawn by Rinaldi and not by Garney. Nothing against him, but it doesn’t really fit his style.
Cap and Doom have fantastic chemistry. It’s a pity they don’t interact more often.
It’s a GREAT scene, and it really goes to show the level of respect Doom has for Cap, because it’s hard to imagine him tolerating anyone else talking to him with this tone.
And that’s it for Doom! Amusingly, he also provides Cap a new costume, just to twist the knife.
Of course Cap defeats Machinesmith, saves the President and prevents WWIII, because there was ever any doubt whatsoever?
Doom significance: 0/10
This appearance is not referenced again. The fact that Doom never claims that Cap owes him a favor for his actions in this story is yet another indication of the respect he has for the Living Legend.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really. There’s SOME corniness with Captain America’s unbound patriotism, but come on, it’s Captain America.
90-ness: Clinton/10
Usually Marvel goes out of its way to keep the President in the shadows, to avoid dating the story. This is one of the VERY rare cases where that doesn’t happen because the President, while not explicitly named, is clearly Bill Clinton.
(no political commentary on this in the comments, or it will be removed)
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
This run is acclaimed for a reason. The only thing preventing this specific issue from reaching a 10/10 is that Garney and Rinaldi pencil different pages, and the clash between the two styles is extremly distracting.
It was a Doombot all along
It would be ironic if it was a robot to help defeat Machinesmith, but there isn’t any indication one way or the other.
Times Doom has saved the world: 8
The reason why it’s important to send Cap back to the USA is to prevent Machinesmith from using the Presidential codes to launch a nuclear strike that will start WWIII, so… yes, I guess Doom really help save the world!
The doomy land of doom
We learn about another fictional country that borders Latveria. Unlike the far more important Symkaria, Moldovia is mostly forgotten, Outstide of this storyline, it’s been mentioned once in a 2013 Hulk story. Who knows if it’s still independent or if Latveria has annexed it.
Crazy tech
Sadly, nothing here. Even the shield’s replica he gives Cap is of low quality (which Cap thinks is made on purpose).