Beginning the intermission after Doom “died” at the end of Fantastic Four #381, let’s go back to a couple of stories that don’t technically feature Doctor Doom, but…
Deathlok vol.2 #2 (1991)
by Dwayne McDuffie & Denys Cowan
This requires a bit of an introduction, as the history of Deathlok is a bit complicated.
The first Deathlok was a 1974 series set in the far-off future of 1990; it was alright.
The second Deathlok, debuting in 1990, is a series about a pacifist programmer who is trapped inside the body of a super-cyborg.
Which might sound dumb, but it was expertly written by the late Dwayne McDuffie. It’s a GREAT series… if you can get past the artwork.
We begin with Forge and Misty Knight being attacked by robots. You probably know him from the X-Men, while she’s a supporting character slash love interest of Iron Fist.
No idea if they previously met, but Misty was an X-Men supporting character for a while, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Misty tracks down Deathlok to ask for his help. She’s not just a regular badass: she’s a cyborg thanks to her robotic arm.
This is where McDuffie’s writing REALLY shines. Misty talks about being part of the community of cybernetic individuals as a clear parallel of black people… but at the same time it’s not a cop-out: both Misty and Deathlok ARE black, so the obvious parallel is made overt AND is discussed.
It definitely helps that McDuffie is talking from experience, since he was black too.
As a white guy living in Europe obviously I can’t speak on how this reflects the life of an actual African American, but for what it’s worth if feels 100% genuine.
Man do I miss Dwayne McDuffie.
The two spend the issue investigating the trail left behind by the robots that have kidnapped Forge (and who are still trying to kidnap Misty too). They track them to an underwater base where they find… possibly THE most random collection of cyborgs and robots.
That’s Forge, Machine Man, the severed head of Jocasta (!!!), supervillain Ruby Thursday, Daredevil villain Bushwacker and FREAKING ULTRON.
Deathlok asks the obvious question: who the heck kidnaps Ultron!?
Well it’s in my reviews, so…
Deathlok vol.2 #3 (1991)
by Dwayne McDuffie & Denys Cowan
Told you the artwork would be rough.
By far the best part of the Deathlok series is the banter between its human host (Micheal Collins) and its artificial intelligence, simply called Computer.
Computer is always dead serious but sometimes with a sarcastic streak, and the source of endless frustration for Micheal. Seriously, these two are FANTASTIC.
On the other hand, Doom is not amused.
Deathlok is no pushover, but against Doom he’s utterly outclassed. It doesn’t help that Deathlok has a strict “no killing rule”, so he’s unwilling to go all-out against a human.
Did I mention that Deathlok is a newbie at this whole superhero thing?
The fight takes Deathlok to a lower lever of the base, where he finds out this is a Doombot Factory!!!
The Doom that Deathlok has been fighting all this time is a Doombot too.
“Strongly advise allotting higher percentage of available computing power to immediate threat”… I told you, Computer is HILARIOUS.
It must’ve been a rather low-level Doombot too, because Deathlok manages to defeat it by shooting it. A lot.
Misty Knight was wounded during the fight, so Deathlok decides to bring her AND what’s left of the Doombot to the best expert on the subject…
…Reed Richards. Who has never met THIS Deathlok, but he HAS met the previous Deathlok that is actually from the future. Comics, everybody!
In addition to fixing Misty’s artificial arm, Reed also reveals that this Doombot was WAY more advanced than the typical models. Not in terms of defensive capabilities, that’s for sure!
Deathlok decides to go back to the Doombot Factory, and the Fantastic Four can’t help him right now because… let’s see, what are the usual excuses? Can we use any one of them?
A) the Fantastic Four are out of town
B) the Fantastic Four are currently fighting someone else
C) Reed is running an experiment that he can’t shut down
D) Marvel doesn’t own the full rights to the characters at the time
Computer does not agree on what Deathlok wants to do. Which, to be fair, account to 90% of what Computer ever says.
(the remaining 10% are variations of “I told you so”)
And Computer is right: soon after sneaking into Doombot Factory, Deathlok discovers the REAL villain of the story: Mechadoom.
Deathlok vol.2 #4 (1991)
by Dwayne McDuffie & Denys Cowan
Seriously, this is a good story; are they TRYING to make it sell less by giving it the worst possible covers!?
After a long and kind of pointless “battle of the minds” where Mechadoom is trying to reprogram Deathlok…
…Mechadoom explains his origin story. Which goes all the way back to when Kristoff replaced Doctor Doom…
…we learn that Kristoff himself used Doombots to a much lesser extent to how much Doom used them. Which actually checks out, as we didn’t see that many Doombots assisting Kristoff after he took power in Fantastic Four Annual #20.
Too bad that Kristoff was defeated in Fantastic Four #350 (published just a few months earlier than this story), and at the time he was presumed dead.
So Mechadoom is an incomplete Doombot prototype that Kristoff didn’t finish.
And now he’s basically Kristoff’s rebellious teenage murderbot son. They grow up so fast!
It’s long been established that the Doombots think they are the real deal only until they meet Doom. But this is the first time that anyone wonders: how does the robot feel about that?
Notably, Mechadoom has built his own versions of Doombot. So not only we can use Doombots as an excuse for badly written Doom stories… we have bad copies of the Doombots running around as well!
Knowing Doom, who wants to bet that the fact that Doombots can’t be creative in what kind of robots they build is integrated into their very source code?
Mechadoom also explains why he has kidnapped robots and cyborgs: he wants to study them to figure out how to create new robots that are NOT simply other Doombots.
That’s why he attacked Misty Knight and familiar faces like Machine Man…
…but also minor cyborg vigilante Coldblood, better known as “Who!?” and “That’s not Cable, right?”.
Coldblood is such a minor character that A) Mechadoom doesn’t even kidnap him B) these two panels are probably his highest profile appearance.
Speaking of superheroes, though, Misty Knight has brough some allies to help Deathlok.
How weird is it that Mechadoom kidnapped Misty Knight to study her arm and Forge to study his leg (????) but didn’t kidnap Vision?
Deathlok vol.2 #5 (1991)
by Dwayne McDuffie & Denys Cowan
SOMEHOW a worse cover than the previous ones.
Deathlok is a pacifist to a fault, and doesn’t want to murder Mechadoom.
Soooo… big dumb fight?
Yep.
Turns out Mechadoom uses an external power source. And his programming at this point is so far removed from Doom’s personality that he begs for mercy.
Honestly Mechadoom is lucky Doom didn’t find him first or things could’ve been ugly.
Okay I’ve praised McDuffie throughout the story, but… I’m sorry, there is a COLOSSALLY stupid moment.
When Mechadoom deactivates his robots, the heroes decide not to destroy him… but as they debate about what exactly they’re going to do with him, THEY LET ULTRON GO!!!
That’s just… WTF, GUYS!?!? What follows is a very heartfelt moment that is admittedly well-written and profound, but… THEY JUST LET ULTRON GO!?!?
This hits Deathlok particularly hard because he HAS struggled with his humanity more than probably any of the other characters present. He gets particularly angry when Mechadoom threatens to self-destruct if he’s not released.
And so we have a happy ending: Mechadoom is reprogrammed into being slightly harmless and to be a mostly positive member of society.
Or that’s what WOULD have happened IF YOU MORONS DIDN’T LET ULTRON GET AWAY!!!
Yep. Mechadoom is dead. This would be really tragic and stuff if it hadn’t been COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE!!!
I still love this storyline and I still love McDuffie’s writing, but that stupid plot point leaves a bad aftertaste.
WTF, dude!?!?
Doom significance: 0/10
We’ll encounter other Doombots that become fully sentient, but Doom never brings up Mechadoom.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
The fact that he heroes let Ultron get away WILLINGLY because he was technically a victim is at least a bit Silver Age, isn’t it?
90-ness: DIGITAL!!!/10
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
If only this had better artwork it would score much higher, but it still has problems. Not just the fact they let Ultron (seriously, WTF was up with that!?). The heroes showing up at the end have no business being here: I’m fine with the Fantastic Four, since Reed did play a part… but did we really need the X-Men and Vision? Or the kidnapped characters, since most of them don’t do or say anything! Mechadoom is also a disappointment: his reveal is AWESOME and he starts as a genuine threat… but while the analysis of his psychology is great, he really turns out to be way too easy to defeat.
That being said, the centerpiece is certainly Deathlok’s journey to accept his being a cyborg; his dialogues with Misty were great, and it’s a pity she didn’t stay as a regular supporting character.
Still… get a different artist, lose some cameos and fix that stupid Ultron scene, and it holds up.
It was a Doombot all along
Well duh!!!
Supervillains created by Dr. Doom: 17
Mechadoom is distinct enough from a regular Doombot to count.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 87
Oh boy. I consider Mechadoom as a creation of Doom (via Kristoff, but still), and while he grows independent he’s still carrying out SOME of Doom’s plans, so… yep, I’m counting all the heroes fighting Mechadoom.
That naturally includes Deathlok, but also those kidnapped and attacked by Forge. Misty Knight will later function as a superhero so I’m including her, as well as Forge, Coldblood and Jubilee.
Everyone else was already in the count. Jocasta is also among the kidnapped, but she’s a disembodied head throughout the story! Even I don’t count that.