Fantastic Four v3 #68-70

Fantastic Four v3 #68 (2003)
by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo 

It will take some time before Valeria Richards turns out to be a super-genius, but she’s already smart enough to spell.

There’s A LOT of Doom stuff to cover in this storyline, so I’ll be skipping all the non-essential Fantastic Four parts.

But I should mention that in issue #61, Franklin and Valeria were the targets of a horrific magical attack that has gone completely unexplained since then.

In this issue Susan brings it up during an unrelated mission. Reed’s relationship with magic will be explored in detail throughout this storyline.

The fact that the Human Torch needs to get back at the Thing for throwing a giant water balloon at him will turn out to be a plot point!

This is the also the first storyline that focuses a little on Valeria. Unsurprisingly, since she was born quite recently.

On one hand, the fact that Valeria will grow up to be a super-genius like her father is a bit predictable. But I don’t mind that development, both because Valeria will be a great character and because keeping her as a normal kid would’ve been a repeat of the early Franklin years (where he didn’t have powers for long stretches of time).

This is when Doom magically contacts her, through her toys. That makes for a funny visual.

After telling Valeria how he helped during her birth, Doom reveals that he took the opportunity to put a spell on her. Talk about multitasking.

The fact that Doom made her his familiar is incredibly cool, and definitely something Reed wouldn’t think of.

Doom swearing not to harm Valeria is going to be very important soon.

To cement his link to Valeria, Doom even shows her his unmasked face! The fact that she doesn’t immediately scream says volumes about how she’s definitely NOT a normal kid.

Once again, Waid lets Wieringo’s artwork speak for itself.

Remember how I said the Torch’s pranks would be a plot point? Well, once Reed helps him out, all hell breaks loose.

LITERALLY, because when Reed tries to teleport Franklin to safety, he’s teleported to Hell!!!

While this is going on, Valeria is ready to say her first word!

Awww. They grow up so fast.

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Fantastic Four v3 #69 (2003)
by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo

This is where the “Unthinkable” storyline REALLY kicks off.

The Thing tries to reassure Susan that Valeria’s first word shouldn’t be something to worry about, but even he doesn’t buy it.

The Torch does his best to save Franklin from Hell, but that’s easier said than done.

It’s the Thing that makes the connection to Doom, since Reed wasn’t in the room for Valeria’s first word.

The situation is bad: Reed’s technology doesn’t respond…

…and Doom is watching.

Between his son’s kidnapping, Doom outsmarting him and being out of his depth when it comes to magic… Reed’s completely losing it.

Waid should write horror stories more often. He definitely has a talent for scary and unsettling moments.

Doom always has the best insults.

We meet the three super-demons that Doom bargained with to get his magical power-up: the Haazareth Three. I think they’re the weakest part of the storyline, as they come across as incredibly generic demons.

Also Doom makes it VERY clear from the very beginning he doesn’t have any intention to honoring the demons’ request to acknowledge their contribution.

Unsurprisingly, Franklin will have his own subplot about being traumatized by this story once the proper storyline is over. That’s all well and good, but it’s a bit far-fetched he’s not in therapy for the rest of his life.

Since Reed’s technology can’t access Hell, the team decides to take the fight directly to Latveria.
Bringing Valeria with them because she’s demonstrated the demons won’t get near her.
Notably, Reed is not planning to fight fair this time.

Now you might be thinking: with all this focus on magic, why don’t they just call Doctor Strange for help? They do, and he’s going to be an important part of the story.
You have to love Doom being unable to mention how he would totally kick Strange’s butt even when he’s pretending to be him! Doom’s gonna Doom.

Magic being a blind spot for Reed is one thing, but him not understanding why Doom would use magic to fight them is a bit too much.

The Think understandably calls Reed out for his “I don’t believe in magic” crap, since THEY JUST TALKED TO A MAGICIAN and Agatha Harkness used to be Franklin’s nanny!

Waid making a parallel between Reed’s sense of inferiority towards magic and Doom’s… Doominess is interesting. I never thought about it this way before reading this story, but it makes a frightening amount of sense.

The FF reach Latveria and crash their ship, because science doesn’t work there anymore… whatever the heck THAT means.

Doom is already there when they land, and Susan is not playing around… for all the good that makes, because Doom straight up ignores her powers.

Damn, Doom, that’s cold. Even for you.

And so Doom issues his challenge to the Fantastic Four.

So… the Fantastic Four are basically screwed, right?

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Fantastic Four v3 #70 (2003)
by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo

While I really like Wieringo’s artwork in this run, I think he made Susan look a bit too young.

Reed insisting of attacking Doom through scientific means might sound strange, but it makes total sense in the Marvel Universe: SOMETIMES this actually works!!!

I usually enjoy “science versus magic” stories, but it’s hard to make any solid parallels or contrasts: science is real^[1] and magic isn’t^[2], so any story has to pick and choose which specific aspects are still applying.
^{[1]source: the universe
[2] citation needed}

In THIS specific instance, however, magic completely bypasses science.

The glowing signs on Doom’s new armor are not just for show: they’re magic runes that he can deploy at will…

…to easily de-power the Fantastic Four.

Told you: Doom is THE best at insults.

As if things weren’t terrifying enough, Doom’s got Valeria now.

The ever so practical Benjamin J. Grimm, ladies and gentlemen.

Like I said: Waid is shockingly good at horror.

To get his revenge, Doom even recruits some of the Mindless Ones (servants to Doctor Strange uber-villain Dormammu). Sadly, they’re too dumb to appreciate his mastery of insults.

And now we get to Doom’s master stroke: bargaining the release of Franklin in exchange for Reed to admit that Doom is his superior.

Even Reed Richards can’t think his way through the situation, and with his son’s life on the line, he has no other choice: the Fantastic Four surrender.

And so Doctor Doom honors his word to “release the child”.
But he didn’t specify WHICH ONE, so he closes the portal to Hell stranding Franklin there.

Doom has won the battle, but what’s victory without just a little gloating?

Okay, A LOT of gloating. He even switches the team’s powers to torture them.

This is one of the most detailed Doom monologues about why he hates Reed so much.
He hates Reed’s vanity, his need to constantly prove himself better than anyone, and the fact that his boasting hides a deep insecurity about… wait, we’re still talking about Reed right?

Yeah Doom might be projecting a little.

And so we close the issue with Doom revealing he’s left one last challenge for Reed: in order to save his family, he has to learn ONE spell.

The spell is on a book inside Doom’s GIGANTIC magic library, which is shown on a magnificent two-page spread.

Even with all the time in the world, this is beyond Reed’s understanding.

Or is it? After all, as a mysterious flame reminds him… “knowledge isn’t everything”.

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Doom significance: 10/10
This storyline is quite important for both establishing Doom’s relationship with Valeria Richards and for doubling down on Doom’s use of magic. Even if his power-up will fade after this storyline, he will use magic far more frequently than he used to.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
There might have been the potential for some Silver Age-ness with all this magic around, but the horror aspect cancels it out.

Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Waid continues a very strong and well-thought story. Doom’s projecting is a little too on the nose, but it’s not contradicting Doom’s thoughts from previous runs.
Reed’s blind spot against magic is often taken to absurd lengths, but Waid is doing a good job at making it believable.
There’s a bit of controversy among Doom fans on him trapping Franklin in Hell. I don’t have a problem with it: Franklin is still a kid but he’s no longer a little child, and it’s not even the first time Doom has been ready to send him to Hell: he was about to sacrifice him to Mephisto in Fantastic Four Annual #20.

Destroy the FF! : 55
Arguably the time he came closest to his goal. As it’s often the case, the ONLY reason the Fantastic Four are still around is Doom’s need to show off a little too much.