Super-Villain Team-Up #7

SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #7 (1976)
by Steve Englehart & Herb Trimpe
Cover by Rich Buckler & Klaus Janson

Warning: if you are a Doctor Doom fan, this story will make your blood boil.

We pick off right after the ending of last issue, with the Fantastic Four leaving Latveria thanks to Henry Kissinger.

I was actually surprised to see Kissinger’s name. Even in its early period, Marvel typically refrained from using the real names of real people that got involved in the plot; in fact, during last issue it was only “the Secretary of State”, never “Kissinger”.

But this time we also name check every single President during the FF’s history up to this poing.

You’ll see pretty soon how much this story butchers Doom’s character, but the doctor can at least be happy that Reed is also out of character this time.

When THE HUMAN TORCH is the voice of reason, you know you’ve fu#ed up.
(also: add Susan to the list of horribly written characters!)

I understand Englehart is probably doing satire, showing that Kissinger is highly respected by a Dr. Doom in full dictator mode. It doesn’t make the rest of the story any good if he has to write the FF that way, though.

Namor wonders if he also has anything in common with Kissinger, since Namor is also part of an alliance with Doom for his own interests. That’s where he finds out that the Shroud has infiltrated Doom’s castle.

Namor doesn’t know anything about the Shroud, so he listens to his origin story while he takes a bath. (???)

His origin is that he’s Batman.

I mean, what jokes can I possibly make about this? This is point-by-point a blatant copy of Batman’s origin!

Well, to be fair, the Shroud doesn’t just copy Batman’s origin. He also copies Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom.

It’s not completely unoriginal, though. There’s also this:

And this, meaning the Shroud is Batman + the Shadow + Daredevil.

Well… there are two things you can’t possibly say about the Shroud:
1) that he’s original
2) that he doesn’t have, let’s say, testicular fortitude

So, to recap… the Shroud though that the way to make a name for himself would to start his superhero career by killing Doctor Freakin’ Doom.

And speaking of insanity, we have reached the moment I was dreading. Which begins with Doom going for a walk with his hounds.

Then he barges into the home of some random Latverian to do… THIS.

Yes, we are really doing this. Doom is invoking droit du seigneur, perhaps better known as jus primae noctis. Meaning he’s basically going to rape this girl.

Now… if we’re going to give this comic the benefit of the doubt… WHICH IT DOESN’T DESERVE… Doom doesn’t technically say what he’s going to do: all we see is him dragging the girl along as he takes his hounds hunting.
But, I mean, come on. You know what Englehart is telling you.

The Shroud then interrupts the scene to challenge Doom, and it’s the first time in this series that I’m glad to see the Shroud.

Doctor Doom doesn’t think very highly of the Shroud.

If Doom simply killed the Shroud in two panels and we didn’t have the implied rape scene, this moment could’ve saved the comic.
But no… the fight continues.

Okay stop right there! The Shroud does have superhuman powers (that never come up in this story!!!), but he’s not super-strong. A direct punch from Doom SHOULD’VE knocked him out!

He also comes equipped with legally-distinct-from-batarangs.

Doom is rightfully not impressed.

The fact that the fight goes on for so long is utterly ridiculous. And what the heck is a “parallo-mist”!?

Even worse: not only the Shroud somehow managed to sneak a magnesium bomb inside Doom’s chestplate…

…but it’s powerful enough to force Doom to take off part of his armor!
The dude fights THE HUMAN TORCH on a regular basis and his armor is THAT vulnerable to heat!?

The Shroud technical doesn’t defeat Doom. It’s his hounds that FOR SOME REASON attack Doom. (WTF!?)

I would say that this is the most embarrassing Dr. Doom scene we have seen so far, but that would mean having to completely forget the implied rape scene exists.

So yeah, this is the most embarrassing Dr. Doom scene we have seen so far.

The Shroud informs Namor about Doom’s death and takes him to Reed Richards.

We end with Doom waking up at an Atlantean base, where Namor’s allies have taken him after finding him at the bottom of a Latverian river.

I would ask why the heck were the Atlanteans there without Doom noticing or why would ANYONE (especially Namor!!!) believe that Doom is dead because he fell from a cliff when DOCTOR DOOM CAN FLY… but honestly I’m just glad this dumpster fire of a story is finally over.

Doom significance: -5/10
The reason for this category is the impact of a story on a character’s history and development. I have never given a negative score before because typically the worst you can do is discount any impact on the character. This is much easier at DC, where continuity tends to be very loose.
But this is different. If we were to take into account that Doom really does go around Latveria forcing women to have sex with him… because let’s not kid around, that’s obviously the message here… it would utterly destroy the character. This is the first time that, if if you bring up this story, you either have to go out of your way to dismiss a particular scene or come up with a convoluted explanation.
So there you go. If it wasn’t for THAT scene, it would be a 2/10 because the events of this story kick off the plot of the next 4/5 issues and a crossover with the Avengers.
But as things stand, I can’t in good conscience give this one a positive score.

Silver Age-ness: 9/10
On the Marvel scale. Doctor Doom defeated by his hounds and a Batman ripoff on his first mission!?

Does it stand the test of time? -20/10
Similarly to the historical significance, only worse. In addition to THAT scene, we also have the fact that the Shroud is just a bad character here. His origin is a ripoff of several more interesting ones, but his blindness has no significance to anything he does. And it’s really, REALLY ham-fisted in how this rookie managed to take down a threat on Doom’s level.
He will become a great character, but future stories will completely ignore everything about him except for his origin story.
But nobody is safe this time! Namor is out of character, Reed and Susan are out of character… this sucks from every point of view.

It was a Doombot all along
This is EXACTLY the kind of story for which Doombots were invented.
It doesn’t align perfectly… Doom’s chest injury will be acknowledged and will play a minor part in the next few issues. But considering that Doom never really cared that much for the Shroud after this, and since we don’t want THAT scene to part of Doom’s canon… I’m going to believe that this one was a particularly defective Doombot.

 Take over the world & Destroy the FF!
Neither objective is in Doom’s mind this time. Let’s not dwell on what WAS in his mind…

Crazy tech
Not on Doom’s part, this time. What WAS in that “magnesium bomb” to be a bigger threat to Doom than the Human Torch!?

Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 21
Adding the Shroud, who unfortunately has the best record of anyone with his first match with Doom.