This is the last Doom story I’m placing in the 90s category. There’s a couple with more a 1999 release date and a 2000 cover date, by they tie so much to Doom’s early 2000s that they’re more fitting there.
This one is sort of a last epilogue to the Heroes Return debacle, plus it’s literally called “Thor Annual 1999”.
Thor Annual 1999 (1999)
by Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens was the writer of the regular Thor series at the time, mostly working with John Romita Jr., but he takes over the artwork as well here.
Jurgens was one of the best Superman writers in my opinion, but I’m not a fan of his Thor… I just found it incredibly boring. Almost as much as this generic cover.
We begin with Thor visiting the Fantastic Four. You might remember that at the very end of Heroes Return he saved young Franklin Richards, and he’s here to say hello to the kid.
Reed wants to know what the heck happened to Doom, since while Thor has since returned to the main Marvel Universe, Doom is still missing.
Jurgens doesn’t get to write a lot of Doctor Doom, which is a shame since I think he has a firm grasp of the character.
The battle between Thor and Doom was interrupted by “an event”…
…and Thor doesn’t remember what happened after that, because he just woke up in Asgard to deal with the shenanigans of his regular series.
So that’s our framing device: what happened to Thor and Doom after “the event”?
The rest of the story reveals what Thor doesn’t remember: that he was rescued by a woman named Ceranda.
This is both an alien planet and an alternate dimension. Or, as Thor calls it, a regular Tuesday.
Specifically this is a science fiction planet, which is why Ceranda has been exiled for being a witch.
This doesn’t bother Thor, who wants nothing more than to get back home… except something’s wrong with Mjolnir. It might have something to do with Doctor Doom.
Speaking of Doom, he’s also on the same planet, managing to repair his own armor…
…but not to the point of being able to get back home, so he’s going to need Thor’s help.
Ah yes, “I come in peace”, the least believable thing Doctor Doom could say besides “I am a very humble man”.
Doom is not WRONG about the fact that Thor is looking for him, but it’s very likely that Doom believes every single person alive is always thinking about him. And that if they don’t, they should be punished.
Naturally, Doom takes about five minutes to get his armor recharged and murder this planet’s authority figures.
Thor has other priorities.
We get Doom’s thoughts on Thor, which is quite interesting.
Doom considers himself a god, so he has a bit of a grudge against an actual god who doesn’t act the way Doom would.
Doom goes a liiiiitle overboard with his blackmail: if he doesn’t get what he wants, he’s going to MURDER THE ENTIRE PLANET.
That’s, uhm, that’s a little extreme for Doom, isn’t it? I get that we’re talking about a guy who barely knows the meaning of the word “restrain”, but come on!!!
AMAZINGLY, the people are not 100% behind the plan than involves killing the planet.
Despite the fact that Thor didn’t get the chance to hit Doom ONCE (or at least it’s not shown in any panel), Doom is out for the count…
…except it’s not Doom at all. Not a Doombot this time, but just a regular guy! This might be the first time ever Doom has used a body double who is NOT a robot.
Turns out Doom’s real target wasn’t even Thor in the first place.
But why? Doom needed to absorb Ceranda’s magic powers to break through the dimensional barrier…
…because SHE was responsible for “the event”, and she’s been keeping them trapped here.
Doom leaves for Earth’s dimension, and as Ceranda dies she casts one last spell on Thor: making him forget the whole thing to avoid making him sad.
And so Thor is able to enjoy an extremely cheesy ending, without any memory of this tragedy.
Well that was a sweet self-contained little Thor story. It sure would suck if Jurgens brought back Ceranda a year later in a nonsensical plot involving a sorceror resurrecting and possessing her body.
Yeah, that would have sucked.
Doom significance: 0/10
Doom never makes reference to these events. And even after Thor recovers his memories, it doesn’t look like he cares all that much that Doom killed one of his love interests.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Thor’s characterization and mannerisms are VERY Silver Age in the Jurgens run.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/10
Meh. Doom is fine, the basic plot works and the final twist was relatively unexpected… but man is that some lackluster worldbuilding. Ceranda has some nice chemistry with Thor, but the rest of her people are blank slates and the planet is overall not very interesting.
Crazy tech
So apparently Doom can whip out a planet-poisoning device with no effort. Maybe it’s a good thing that he wants to rule the place, or Earth would’ve been Doomed either way.