FANTASTIC FOUR #268 (1984)
by John Byrne
This begins thee of issues that don’t actually feature Doctor Doom save for a flashback, but they are of MAJOR importance to the chronology.
Let’s begin with issue 268, which has one of the weirdest covers I’ve ever seen.
This issue follows the gut-wrenching #267 where Susan had a miscarriage, and Byrne dedicates quite some time to the consequences. Great character stuff.
Byrne is also integrating She-Hulk into the team; she officially joined in #265 but hasn’t had the chance to do anything.
Byrne is really great at showing off all the minutiae of Reed’s technology. None of this is technically necessary for the story, but it helps make the world feel more realistic.
Of interest is the Fantastic Four’s “Trophy Room”. Usually these kind of scenes are filled with easter eggs, but there’s only one I can think of: the weapon on the right MIGHT be the one used to kill Dark Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men #137.
Or at least that’s what I thought at first. Going back to look at that issue, it doesn’t quite look the same. Of course I might be reading too much into it, or it could be a different easter egg.
At this point you might be wondering why the hell I’m including this in the Doom retrospective, but…
Yeah, uhm… this doesn’t work, guys. Like, AT ALL.
This story has a cover date of July 1984, the same one of Secret Wars #3. Which means that readers already knew Doom was still alive, but more importantly both the Human Torch and She-Hulk knew! Especially if you consider this is set after Secret Wars #12, so from their point of view they met Doctor Doom AT MOST one day earlier!
But no, they are completely and utterly sure Doom is still dead from Fantastic Four #260.
Even when they spend most of the issue fighting Doom’s mask, they STILL think he’s dead!
Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Even putting aside the whole Secret Wars thing, it’s ludicrous to believe the Fantastic Four are THIS certain that Doom is dead.
Of course you don’t put a big red button in your story unless you want it to be pressed, and Reed’s deduction that the mask is remote controlled turns out to be correct.
We won’t get a follow-up to this plot thread for another ten issues.
FANTASTIC FOUR #288 (1985)
by John Byrne
This has a cover date of May 1985, one full month after the conclusion of Secret Wars.
Considering the timing, Fantastic Four readers were probably waiting for the actual return of Doctor Doom. The first page is pretty telling.
The splash page also includes a rather interesting quote.
We begin with a Doombot informing Kristoff of the death of Doctor Doom.
We get one of my absolute favorite facts about Doombots, that they can fool telepaths (!!!)…
…and an interesting bit about Doom not wanting the people of Latveria to be permanently ruled by robots.
And so the Doombots transfer the memories of Doom into Kristoff, in order to make him the new Doctor Doom.
Until we got Books of Doom, this was the most detailed retelling of Doom’s history. Also in common with Books of Doom is the fact that he’s technically the one to narrate.
We get all the classic scenes that show up in most retellings of the origin story.
This time the role of Valeria is very underplayed, though. I suspect Byrne didn’t have much interest in her, but then again it might be because he has so much ground to cover that something needed to be cut.
Much like Books of Doom, this story also underplays the time Doom and Reed spent together at State University. This is the most extreme version I’ve seen, to the point that they just meet ONCE right before the failed experiment!!!
Compare with the original version, which had Reed noticing the error in the calculations right before the incident but lacked the “who are you” passage.
More importantly, this is the ONLY story to fully show the scars Doom received with the experiment.
Byrne is choosing a compromise between the classical interpretation of the incident, and Jack Kirby’s idea of Doom only receiving a barely noticeable scar.
As I’ve said before Kirby’s idea doesn’t make much sense, since plenty of people have seen Doom without his mask and recoiled in horror.
The idea of Doom freaking out over a minor scar also makes him kind of ridiculous; Byrne compromises by giving him at least a very noticeably and nasty scar.
This would still leave the problem of people overreacting if THAT is the extent of Doom’s disfigurement, so Byrne uses a second compromise by exploiting a neat minor detail of the origin.
In the Lee & Kirby story, the comment about the mask still being hot went absolutely nowhere.
But in the Byrne version, the reason is to compromise between the minor scar and the major disfigurement by having Doom BURN AWAY HIS OWN FACE.
The memory implant flash forwards up to Fantastic Four #6, when Kristoff orders the Doombots to stop because he’s learned enough.
The issue also ties in with a different plot going on at the time, relating to a new Hate Monger running around. After the near character assassination of Secret Wars, it’s good to finally see a Human Torch I can appreciate!
Only in comics, folks.
“Doctor Doom” contacts the FF, with Reed being snarky about rehashing old plans.
It’s explicitly stated that the FF are the only people in the building at the moment, and it’s suggested Doom somehow influenced everyone else to leave.
Which is great news because…
FANTASTIC FOUR #289 (1985)
by John Byrne
Despite the explosion, the FF (plus Franklin and She-Hulk’s boyfriend Wyatt) are still alive thanks to the absurdly useful invisible forcefield.
Okay, Reed’s denial about Doom being alive is now way beyond ridiculous.
The way the team returns to Earth is brilliant: Invisible Girl protects them with a forcefield, while the Human Torch absorbs the heat from the air friction during the descent.
Great stuff!
I wonder if Byrne was using a specific reference for Castle Doom because it’s just gorgeous.
Most of the action is a big dumb fight against the castle’s robots, but it’s very fun.
Even the Doombots are not entirely sold on this New Doom.
I wonder why.
I just love She-Hulk’s reaction.
The flaw in Kristoff’s plan is of, course, the fact that Invisible Girl was completely useless in the earliest stories.
The smartest man in the world, ladies and gentlemen.
Doom significance: 10/10
Doom himself only appears in the flashbacks, but the consequences of brainwashing Kristoff will be felt for roughly ten years.
This is also VERY significant for the Fantastic Four, since it will be several years before they use a new Baxter Building as their base of operations.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Kristoff is almost literally Doctor Doom from the Silver Age, so…
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Top notch quality, from top to bottom. My only objection is the utter lack of coordination with Secret Wars and the absurd length everyone goes through in believing Doctor Doom is dead. But even that is not enough to lower the score… this is Byrne at the very top of his game.
It was a Doombot all along
This is the final piece in the puzzle to create the final status quo of the Doombots. Indistinguishible from the original even by telepaths, believing themselves to be Doom up until the real one shows up.
Supervillains created by Doctor Doom: 10
Kristoff is in a category of his own, but he fits.
Crazy tech
We have already seen the tiny device capable of launching a skyscraper into orbit. The details of the Doombots and the mind transfer technology are impressive, sure… but not as impressive as the fact that Doom’s mask ALONE is enough to fight three super-heroes for almost an entire issue!!!