Astonishing Tales #4

ASTONISHING TALES #4 (1971)
by Larry Lieber & Wally Wood

The cover teases someone trying to assassinate Doom in his sleep, so you know this is good.

We begin with Doom standing on the ruins of his castle after last issue, in a nice splash page.

Doom orders the reconstruction to begin immediately, despite some minor protestations.

Interesting to see that he’s not using robots for this, and he’s even getting involved personally.

Up to a point, at least. Why be the king if you have to do everything by yourself?

But as soon as Doom leaves Latveria, the Red Skull sets his eyes on conquering the country with his henchmen, the Exiles.
(no relationship to the superhero team, obviously)

Who are the Exiles, exactly?
Well, there’s Baldini, an Italian Fascist whose weapon is… a scarf.

There’s also a guy with a metal hand, a wrestler, and an old man with a wheelchair that shoots rockets. So, uhm, yeah. The Exiles are pretty lame.

But where is Doctor Doom during all of this?

ON VACATION.

This is FANTASTIC.

And we’re not done, because Doom is the target of CAT BURGLARS.

While he sleeps WITH HIS MASK ON.

This is the most hilarious thing in the history of comics.

I would read the hell of a comic starring Doctor Doom just walking around Monaco causing all sorts of trouble without even realizing why.

You have to admire the balls on these guys.

There was only one way this could end, to be honest.

And that way is “awesomely”, of course.

Doom departs for Latveria, where he’s not going to like what the Red Skull has done with the place.

Doom significance: 1/10
I’m devastated by the fact that this is the last time we ever see Doctor Doom in a casino. Saved from a 0/10 by Latveria being conquered by some else for the first time.

Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Stupid Exiles… if we didn’t have a country conquered in a day by such a lame team, this would’ve been extremely low.

Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
Red Skull and especially his exceedingly lame Exiles bring down the quality of the story, but everything focusing on Doctor Doom is PHENOMENAL.

It was a Doombot all along
I wouldn’t put it past Doom to make robots that go to sleep, but probably not.

Take over the world & Destroy the FF!
Doom’s on vacation, don’t bother him.

Crazy tech
Nothing that stands out… I guess the invisible force field, but that’s peanuts to Doom. 

Times Latveria has been conquered: 1
New category! This is the first time Latveria is conquered by someone else. It definitely won’t be the last!