There are only 2 issues of the first volume of What If where Doom plays a significant role despite not being the main focus.
WHAT IF? vol.1 #15 (1979)
written by Marv Wolfman
cover by Rich Buckler
This is an unusual way to structure a What If story. Essentially there are four stories, all written by Marv Wolfman but with four different pencilers, each one showing what would happen if a different person got the powers of Nova.
The first one, with Walt Simonson pencils, is by far the best one. This time the powers of Nova are given to a woman whose husband just died at the hands of a drunk driver.
However she is so intoxicated by anger and power that she ends up being a very ruthless vigilante…
…and she becomes so dangerous that the Fantastic Four have to exile her in the Negative Zone.
It’s a bittersweet tragedy: all this time she was trying to avenge her husband, but the murderer has been dead this entire time.
Despite being a VERY fast story, it’s rather engaging and I’m honestly surprised the woman’s identity (Helen Taylor) has not been re-used in a Nova story in continuity.
The second story is notable because it has pencils by Carmine Infantino, something rare at Marvel.
And it’s also a mess: the premise of the powers of Nova going to a homeless person is muddled by the fact that this happens on a timeline where there are no superheroes on Earth.
So the guy has barely any idea what to do with his powers, and ends up killing himself while saving the planet from a Skrull invasion.
Good grief, that ending looks like something Roy Thomas would write… I expected better from Wolfman.
The third story, with Ross Andru pencils, has Peter Parker having a somewhat more realistic reaction to being bitten by a radioactive spider.
He ends up on a wheelchair (!!!), which gives Aunt May a heart attack (!!!); Peter SOMEHOW blames himself. After he gets the powers of Nova he ends up killing the burglar that caused the death of Uncle Ben in the original timeline.
I’m not entirely sure too much thought went into this story. Then again, his run of Spider-Man is what I consider one of the few major misfires in Wolfman’s career, so I’m not entirely surprised.
Doctor Doom shows up in the fourth story, where the powers of Nova are given to an unnamed cigar-smoking criminal boss.
The artwork is by George Perez, completely and utterly unrecognizable with Tom Palmer inks.
I mean the result is not bad by any means, but if the story didn’t have credits I would’ve sworn this was John Buscema.
The nameless criminal has forged an alliance with the unlikely trio of Doctor Doom, Red Skull and the Sphinx (the original Nova’s nemesis) that is SO successful they ended up killing off every single superhero on the planet.
Much like during Acts of Vengeance years later, the fact that these villains absolutely cannot work together is a central point.
Doom is the first one to attack the criminal Nova…
…only the be killed by Red Skull. SOMEHOW.
But then everybody is just killed by the Sphinx.
In the very last page (the only one where I recognize George Perez), the Sphinx ends up finally being able to search for the only one who holds the secret of ending the Sphinx’s life… except it turns out it was the criminal Nova, who being dead can’t tell him the secret.
Nice artwork, but…
Did any of this show up in continuity?
Many people will end up with the powers of Nova, these people never show up again.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
On the Marvel scale, this is extremely random.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
As a whole, this sucks. The premise is flimsy and 3 of the 4 stories are incredibly forgettable.
The “redhead Nova” story is the only one I can recommend; despite its brevity it does its job and on its own it would merit perhaps a 8/10.
Peter Nova is just concentrated angst, Homeless Nova makes little sense and completely wastes its TWO premises, and Mob Nova is just… just (ʘ_ʘ) despite the good artwork.
WHAT IF? vol.1 #18 (1979)
by Peter Gillis & Tom Sutton
Now THIS is a classic What If premise.
The details are a little complex, but Doctor Strange ends up choosing to serve Dormammu, so the Ancient One decides to recruit someone to stop him.
Doom straight up refuses the call, and that’s the extent of his contribution to the story.
Notice that the Ancient One EASILY cures Doom’s scars, so perhaps the real Doctor Strange should be able to by now? Food for thought.
“What if Doctor Strange was bad” has been done many times; this one doesn’t particularly stand out, but it’s fine.
It DOES include what I believe is the only instance of him becoming the lover of Dormammu’s sister, though.
Although at first it looks like they’re just using each other…
…but they do end up becoming an Evil Power Couple that works shockingly well.
It takes an intervention of the unlikely alliance between Dormammu and freaking ETERNITY to exorcise evil from Doctor Strange and turn him into a good guy.
It’s a well told Doctor Strange story (not surprisingly since both writer and artist have experience with him), but it was a shame to drop the Evil Power Couple dynamic.
Did any of this show up in continuity?
Like I said here are tons of Evil Doctor Strange story, but I don’t think any of them draw upon these issues.
I’m not giving other scores because I didn’t review the proper story, but it’s worth checking out if you’re a Doctor Strange fan.
For Doctor Doom fans, it’s exclusively for extreme completionists.