Cloak & Dagger #10

CLOAK & DAGGER vol.2 #10 (1987)
by Bill Mantlo & Bret Blevins

Doom shows up as a giant on so many covers that I wonder if some people believe that’s one of his powers.

The cover is pretty bad, but the fist splash page is just classic Doctor Doom awesomeness.

Between that and a panel of Doom in the shadows (you know I’m a sucker for those), we are definitely off to a great start.

We also get a glimpse to what’s inside Castle Doom, besides the usual halls.

Just a glimpse at Doom’s library should tell you everything about him.

Also why is Doom wasting so many complicated plots to conquer the world if he can predict the weather MONTHS in advance!? Just announce THAT and people will make you king by default!

His monologue about Reed Richards lacking the will to implement his “final solution” might raise quite a few red flags, though.

Considering this is the Marvel Universe, I have to assume Doom also has a plan to take down Zeus.

Doom’s plan is to remove nuclear power from the entire planet. (!!!!)

This must be placed after Emperor Doom, because in that story Doom was the one in charge of Earth’s nuclear weapons… which makes you wonder why he didn’t dispose of them during the full month in which he was in charge.
The most likely explanation is that he’s only worried when OTHER people have nuclear weapons because, well, he’s Doom so he’s automatically the best person for any job.

Interestingly, Doom would’ve got away with it if it wasn’t for Cloak and Dagger (and a civilian friend) to randomly be touring Europe for… complicated reasons… and just happening to pass nearby Latveria.

Since we are in Latveria, you might wonder which interpretation Mantlo is going for.
Is this the Latveria that loves Doom, or the Latveria that hates his guts?
The answer is both, which is quite more realistic.

Cloak teleports into the nearest town, where their friend figures out they’re in Latveria thanks to the language. I think this is the first indication we ever got about what Latverian is supposed to sound like.

Cloak and Dagger accept the invitation to meet Doctor Doom because… well what else is there to do in Latveria?
Cloak wonders if Doom is in any way connected to the series’ current storyline about drug trafficking, but obviously he’s WAY off.

Doctor Doom, ladies man.

Wait wait wait… “Vincent” Von Doom? Where I have heard that one before?

Oh for cryin’ out loud, Mantlo, AGAIN!?!? What is it with you and forgetting Doom’s name?
The man speaks in third person 90% of the time, HOW DO YOU FORGET HIS NAME!?!?!?
*groan*

As irritating as Mantlo’s memory lapse is, Doom himself is extremely entertaining.

I’m pretty sure everyone makes Dagger’s expression the first time they’re exposed to Doom.

I don’t think anyone seriously thinks Doom’s plan is going to work, but Mantlo is wise enough to establish from the beginning why Doom is not going to try again.
(although you kind of have to forget he has a time machine)

So… yeah, Doom has eliminated the possibility of nuclear war. “Just like that”.
You’re welcome.

Doom extends his hospitality to the Americans, and Boris gives us two interesting explanations: either he doesn’t think they can actually stop him, or Doom badly needs an audience.
Could be both, though.

We’re exactly in the same scenario of Emperor Doom: he’s done something good for the world.
Should the heroes stop him just because he used questionable methods to get there?

Since Doom is comparing himself to Zeus, the civilian argues that Cloak and Dagger should take the place of Prometheus in the story and restore nuclear power.
And Dagger’s answer is basically “WTF is wrong with you!?”.

The argument is that Doom hasn’t just taken away nuclear weapons, but all types of nuclear technology, including for medical purposes and energy production.
That’s at least somewhat more nuanced than the stance of Emperor Doom, even if the second argument… that if Doom has taken away nuclear power he might decide to take away electricity next… feels extremely forced.

Exhibit #134 that Doctor Doom absolutely cannot sit down like a normal person.

Basically “What do you mean TRY to conquer the world?”.
Admittedly, the revelation that Doom is still keeping nuclear weapons for himself makes the heroes’ suspicions slightly more believable.

Interestingly, Dagger’s powers have no effect on Doctor Doom because he doesn’t consider himself evil.
Kind of sounds like a major flaw in a hero’s power set, though.

Cloak is far more successful: he banishes Doom into the shadow dimension that exists inside… well, Cloak’s cloak… where Doom witnesses a chilling representation of his mother.

The effects of the shadow dimension work for a while, but Doom manages to escape. Also there’s SOMETHING living inside the cloak, which is a subplot of the regular series.

Oh so NOW you remember his name is Victor!?

The civilian ends up saving Cloak and Dagger in a frankly ridiculous scene that I would call pretty funny if this was a Jimmy Olsen story, but in this more serious context doesn’t really work.

The solution is, obviously, to blast the giant machine…

Aaaand Dagger fails. Again. This is definitely not her best story.

The actual solution is to trick Doom into firing at the machine, which Cloak accomplishes by pretending he’s banishing him to the shadows a second time.

Cloak teleports out of the country, and for the second time in a row I’m seriously questioning who we are supposed to be rooting for in the story.

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Doom significance: 0/10
Not surprising considering there’s an in-built explanation for why he doesn’t immediately try again.

Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Doom’s plan in general, plus that dumb scene with the door.

Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
A mixed bag. The artwork oscillates between passable and gorgeous, but it does its job.
I think this comic does a much better job than Emperor Doom at giving us a reason for trying to stop Doom from doing a good thing… this time around there are ACTUAL negative consequences. Which in my opinion aren’t enough (I’m a big supporter of improving nuclear technology but in 1987 I would’ve sided with Doom on this one), plus Doom himself is shown to be quite untrustworthy by having him keep his own arsenal…
The weak point of the story are Cloak and Dagger themselves. They’re young, relatively inexperienced street heroes, so it’s understandable they’re out of their depths facing Doctor Doom… but that can only work so far. Dagger comes off as too weak and somewhat dumb, Cloak basically does nothing but snarl the whole time, and their friend is an annoyingly irritating plot device.
The story is also in a weird place within their series: they basically have to take a detour from their drug smuggler chase to save the world’s nuclear stockpiles!

It was a Doombot all along
No clear indication, but it might explain the whole “Vincent” thing. And yes I’m still going on about that!

Take over the world : 20
This might be step 1 in a much larger plan to take over the world, but I don’t think it’s explicit enough to be added to the count.

Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 59
Obviously adding Cloak and Dagger.

The doomy land of Doom
It’s been a while since I had the chance to use this category, but we don’t learn stuff about Latveria often in this period. This time we learn that Latverian is “a balkan language similar to Transylvanian”. By this point Latveria is pretty firmly in the Balkans, which indeed does include at least partially Romania. Marvel writers sometimes seem to think Transylvania is its own country so often that I seriously wonder if that’s the case in the Marvel Universe, or if it’s just part of Romania like in the real world.

 Crazy tech
Obviously the particle accelerator that can remove nuclear technology is impressive on its own… but come on, it’s obviously the fact that Doctor Doom can predict the weather months in advance!