FANTASTIC FOUR #260 (1983)
Writer, penciler & inker: John Byrne
Whoa, cover, that’s one heck of a spoiler!!!
Honestly we could’ve easily skipped the previous issue because we start at exactly the same time:
Even if the Human Torch and the Invisible Girl have joined the fight, Tyros is still mopping the floor with all of them. Eventually they have to call Mister Fantastic.
Which is all according to Doom’s plan. Tyros will die within 45 minutes because the power Doom gave him is unstable, but all he has to do is for his nemesis to show up.
Except… Richards is too busy with a subplot (he’ll show up 2 issues from now in the iconic “Trial of Galactus” story). He won’t appear in this entire storyline.
So Doom decides to show up in person, in a somewhat rare occasion of him fighting the Fantastic Four in public.
Best. Reaction. EVER.
Doom can’t allow Tyros to kill the rest of the Fantastic Four if Richards isn’t present, so he has to convince him to wait a little longer.
Which ends up with Doom picking up a fight with Tyros, because of course it does.
At first it goes remarkably well, considering the amount of power he gave Tyros.
Emphasis on “at first”.
Fortunately for the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer was attracted to their position by a subplot and shows up to fight Tyros for them.
In an impossibly rare example of self-criticism (!!!), Doom admits that attacking Tyros without any sort of plan was very stupid.
He DOES have a way to get out of this, even though he’s “not attempted for many years” to do this.
It’s not explicitly said in this story, but he just used the Ovoid Mind Transfer her learned aaaall the way back in Fantastic Four #10 to switch bodies with a bystander.
Also he’s not a fan of Spider-Man’s Aunt May (she’s not explicitly named here, but come on!).
That’s actually only the SECOND time Doom has ever made the Ovoid Mind Transfer. That’s twenty years between uses (not counting Daredevil 37 since he used a machine there), so I wouldn’t blame 1983 readers for not picking up the clue.
The Silver Surfer fight goes on, to the point when Tyros is about to explode. Fantastic job by Byrne’s art here, as Tyros is genuinely terrifying.
And guess who gets hit directly by the blast?
The Fantastic Almost Four survive only thanks to the Invisible Girl’s field.
As spoiled by the cover, the only things that remains of Doctor Doom is his mask.
I know he took the blunt of an explosion that disintegrated Tyros and that almost took down Silver Surfer (who is RIDICULOUSLY powerful), but I still think the good guys take Doom’s death for granted way, WAY too easily.
Surprisingly enough, considering Doom JUST got his status quo restored, this death is going to stick: he’s not coming back to this title for almost three years!!!
Well… for what concerns the Fantastic Four title, at least.
Doctor Doom returns the following year in a really big way… because the next appearances we are going to cover are the first Secret Wars.
I wonder how the FF are going to react when they see he survived.
Doom significance: 6/10
You would think Doom’s death would elevate the significance. It kind of does… and the story where this plot is eventually resolved will be a FAR better story… but it’s utterly dwarfed by the colossally important Secret Wars which basically completely ignore it.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
While almost entirely in character, there’s something delightfully Silver Age about Doom jumping the gun attacking a guy HE KNOWS is minutes away from exploting like a nuke.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
This is a bit of a disappointment. It’s not a bad story, but it’s a bit clunky:
-6 pages of a Namor subplot that goes nowhere in this series and will be resolved in Alpha Flight
-5 pages of the Fantastic Almost Four versus Tyroc which, while a fun fight, doesn’t go anywhere
-4 pages of Doom vs Tyroc, plus the mind switch
-7 pages of Silver Surfer vs Tyroc. Again, very good, and Silver Surfer doesn’t exactly come out of nowhere (he was established as looking for Mr. Fantastic last issue), but that leaves…
-exactly ZERO PAGES of the FF against Doom in what is supposed to be the story of his death (!!!)
While certainly entertaining, it doesn’t seem to have as much focus at is should have.
It was a Doombot all along
One of the few “this is 1,000% the real Doom” occasions.
Destroy the FF! : 44
And he would’ve gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those pesky subplots!
Crazy tech
Doom’s armor has a surprisingly good show against Tyros, but since the real winner is the non-tech Ovoid Mind Transfer there’s no winner this time.