Doctor Doom #4-5

Doctor Doom #4 (2020)
by Christopher Cantwell & Salvador Larroca
cover by Tomm Coker

Previously, Doctor Doom died and was resurrected. He’s still miffed about it.

We begin with a flashback showing someone rescuing Dimitri Fortunov, the last heir to the Latverian dynasty that Doom overthrew.
Things seem to have been rough for him since X-Force #63; in fact, there is no mention that this is not a new character.

In the present, Doom is still in disguise in New York City, where he attacks a secret AIM base.
Throughout the entire issue there is a philosophical discussion between two people, who won’t be identified until the end of the story.
I tried following their discussion, but it’s so vague and pseudo-intellectual that I just can’t bring myself to care.

Although you can probably figure out that one of the two is Doom, considering he’s talking about the future version of him that he’s seen in visions throughout the series.

And you thought you had a bad day at work!

I like how Doom is using both technology and magic in dealing with his enemies, now that he’s not wearing his armor. It’s surprisingly NOT a universal thing.

And he’s also QUITE brutal.

The reason why Doom is here is because he’s looking for whoever hired Taskmaster to kill him.

A reminder that Taskmaster is one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe.
Doctor Doom defeats him in 5 panels.
Without using technology or magic… just Taskmaster’s own weapon.

This is likely the most offensive insult Doom can deliver.

Interrogating Taskmaster, Doom learns that there is some connection to the woman he married in his visions: Fruzsina.

Turns out that the whole philosophical discussion had been between Doom and M.O.D.O.K., who is curious about his relationship with Fruzsina.

Awww, Doom is in love!

M.O.D.O.K. then allows himself to be stabbed if that means Doom will make the world a better place.
Sounds legit.

During all this, Victorious is prepared to fight the entire army of Symkaria.
Which is currently being ruled by Silver Sable’s uncle.

He’s ALSO a pre-existing character… just barely, debuting in 2016 on Black Panther v6 #5 of all places.

And he’s the one to bring Dimitri back to Latveria.

He doesn’t really get along with Victorious.

This results into, what else, a big dumb catfight…

…but Sable still doesn’t buy that Doctor Doom was really guilty of the attack on the lunar base.

And we end with a glimpse of the woman pulling the strings behind the entire conspiracy…

…and the revelation that things are so bad on the Moon that even Tony Stark might be forced to ask for help.

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Doctor Doom #5 (2020)
by Christopher Cantwell & Salvador Larroca
cover by Tomm Coker

How is THIS a cover for a story that doesn’t feature Doctor Strange?

Doom’s visions of his other perfect life are getting harder to ignore.

But more importantly we finally meet this Fruzsina we’ve heard so much about: she’s a meteorologist working in the United States.

She still gives the Latverian sales pitch.

Including the bad parts.

Meanwhile Doom learns that the new regime has been established.

Honestly, Doom is reacting better than I expected.

Dammit Victorious, you had ONE JOB!

Doom does a bit of research on Fruzsina…

…interrupted by Kang once again. I swear you could remove Kang and 99% of this entire series would only benefit.

The remaining 1% is hearing Doom’s insults.

Blue Marvel and H.E.R.B.I.E. are also looking for Fruzsina, after interrogating Taskmaster.

And so are Silver Sable and Victorious, thanks to H.E.R.B.I.E’s crappy security.
Doom was right, Reed CAN be sloppy.

And Fruzsina does finally meet Doom… after doing an awkward pose.
I don’t know what the heck Larroca wanted to convey here.

The second she recognizes Doom’s voice, she acts the Latverian way.

Honestly, she’s reacting better than I expected.

Doom immediately assumes she’s rejecting him because of his scars… but it’s actually because HE’S DOCTOR FREAKING DOOM.

Considering Fruzsina is an adult with a doctorate, how long ago was her father imprisoned?
She mentioned Doom’s “Wakanda incursions”, but in-universe Doomwar was most definitely too recent if she was still 13 years old.
A far more likely candidate is Rise of the Black Panther, which was published very recently but was set at the beginning of Doom’s career, anywhere between 10 and 15 years before the present.

Remember that Doom loves this woman AND he’s been struggling with visions of a future where he’s redeemed himself.
So you might expect him to question his past actions, but because HE’S DOCTOR DOOM, this is what he says in the following panel.

And then EVERYONE finds Doom at the same time!

I’ve barely talked about Blue Marvel, but trust me: the fact that Doom can shield himself against one of his blasts is QUITE impressive.

Thanks to Silver Sable providing a distraction, Kang is able to show up and provide Doom with a spare armor.
The idea of Kang helping Doom secure world peace because that would make the world easier to conquer is spectacular… too bad it’s COMPLETELY wasted in this series.

Told you Blue Marvel is impressive: he manages to one-shot Kang, taking revenge for the destruction of H.E.R.B.I.E.

Once Doom gets the armor, there’s one other player to deal with: the ninja that previously attacked Victorious.

That was Amy Chen, the member of Sable’s Wild Pack.

She was actually a fairly important character in Silver Sable’s series back in the 90s.

Doom kills her with no regrets.

While that series wasn’t always great, I’m slightly bummed by that loss.
Why couldn’t KANG get out of this series instead?

And so we end with Doctor Doom deciding to get back to Latveria, leaving behind his potential wife.

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Doom significance: 4/10
Doom learns absolutely nothing from his personal journey here, as it’s often the case with him. But we do get some pretty big clues for the rest of the mystery.

 Silver Age-ness: 1/10
The fact that everyone conveniently finds Doom exactly at the same time is a tiny bit Silver Age.

Will it stand the test of time? 4/10
Let’s start with the positives: Fruzsina. It’s always a treat to see the perspective of Latverian citizens, and hers is pretty complex: she hates the regime, but it was ingrained so deeply into her mind that she obeys by reflex.
And I absolutely love how Doom is not moved in the slightest by her personal tragedy, IMMEDIATELY doubling down on his own decisions. I don’t even think he remembers jailing her father! Good stuff.
As for the bad… boy is there a whole lot of nothing happening in this story. The entire Taskmaster and M.O.D.O.K. detour doesn’t lead to anyhing interesting, and I just found the whole phylosophical discussion so shallow that it goes all the way to being deep and then shallow again. Ugh.
I continue to be extremely annoyed at Kang dragging down every scene he’s in, and spoiler alert: it’s only going to get worse.
It’s also losing its focus, and seems to be leaving behind things established in previous issues without giving a payoff. Why has Morgan LeFay disappeared from the story? Where has Doctor Strange disappeared to? And while it’s established that the Fantastic Four and Iron Man are busy dealing with the black hole disaster… where is EVERYONE ELSE?
You mean to tell me SILVER SABLE and Blue Marvel are the ONLY heroes looking for an escaped Doctor Doom!? After he’s been confirmed to be in America? Come on!!!

Times Latveria has been conquered: 19