Before we return to Doctor Doom’s involvement in Dark Reign, there’s a miniseries I forgot to cover: a rematch with Iron Man.
Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1 (2008)
written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton
cover by Bob Layton & Ron Lim
pencils by Ron Lim
This is basically the sequel to Iron Man #250, which itself was a sequel to Iron Man #150.
Perhaps the reason why I forgot this one is that the entire miniseries is narrated as a flashback by Tony Stark, who is remembering a past mission while he’s scrapping the armors he doesn’t use anymore. It’s completely unnecessary, the entire story could’ve been told skipping the framing device and we wouldn’t have lost anything.
The flashback begins with Doom summoning Iron Man while he’s busy repairing a satellite.
In my defense for forgetting this one, good luck understanding when this is supposed to take place!
At this point Doom was “currently deposed” according to Iron Man, and I’m a bit lost on which time this was.
A) it can’t be after Fantastic Four #200 since Iron Man didn’t have this armor
B) it can’t be during the Kristoff exile, because he’s not ruling Latveria
C) it can’t be after Onslaught, or during the Waid run on Fantastic Four, since both are WAY too late
My best guess is that it’s a recent revolt that just happened, if we go by Doom’s wording here. But really, would such a thing be even possible in Latveria? Yes there have been rebellions before, but under very specific circumstances.
Doom is too busy with a new invention to really care about the rebellion, so he sends out Iron Man to deal with them.
Uhm, Tony, maybe they believe you’re helping Doom BECAUSE YOU ARE?
Granted, he’s doing this because he fears Doom will slaughter the rebels once he’s done with his invention, but COME ON!!!
So what IS more important to Doom than a rebellion in his own country? Preventing Mephisto from causing the end of the world, apparently.
This is OBVIOUSLY a trap; Tony really should’ve wondered why Doom would ask HIM to help and not Doctor Strange. Or ask help from anyone, really.
But I do appreciate him being cautious enough to avoid at least ONE method of double-cross.
Doom does give him a reason for why he’s asked for Iron Man specifically, but it’s VERY flimsy.
Doom is uncharacteristically surprised by the new décor of Hell.
After fighting their way through some random demons, the duo meets with Mephisto…
…and OF COURSE he traps Iron Man in Hell.
Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #2 (2008)
written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton
cover by Bob Layton & Ron Lim
pencils by Ron Lim
This is already the second cover with Iron Man and Doom facing each other, but technically they haven’t fought yet.
Perhaps because it’s being narrated by Iron Man, the events are a bit disjointed: only new we learn Doom has Morgana LeFay prisoner.
Dark Avengers may lead you to believe that Morgana LeFay is a better magician than Doom; but while she still has stuff to teach him, he’s already knowledgeable enough to trap her! That’s no small feat, since she’s one of the best magic users in the Marvel Universe.
You may remember that aaaaall the way back in Iron Man #150, Morgana LeFay was after a shard from Excalibur. Turns out that, once she lost it, she then spent some time in Mephisto’s realm.
Now Doom has exchanged both the shard AND Morgana for Iron Man’s soul.
These two are always a lot of fun when they’re together.
Doom gets a spiffy new look out of this, once his armor is fused with the shard of Excalibur.
And Morgana LeFay gets nothing, being sent back to her time.
Iron Man spends the vast majority of the story fighting both generic demons and a twisted version of his daddy issues.
It’s by far the weakest issue of the miniseries. But at least Mephisto enjoys it.
Eventually, Iron Man manages to escape Hell thanks to Doom’s technology.
Once he gets back to Latveria, though, he has to face Doctor Doom wielding Excalibur.
Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #3 (2008)
written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton
cover by Bob Layton & Ron Lim
pencils by Ron Lim
It’s weird that it’s taken so long to have a variation of Doom’s looks with a black cape. It looks great!
Seriously, Doom should have a sword more often because he’s just AWESOME.
Iron Man can’t match him, so he sabotages Doom’s tech to electrocute him and flees.
I mean Iron Man already has trouble fighting Doctor Doom in his regular armor, but with Excalibur he’s REALLY overpowered.
As mentioned this is a sequel to both Iron Man #150 and Iron Man #250. And while it MOSTLY brings back elements from #150… it also brings back THE most annoying part of #250: Stoned Merlin.
At least, Stoned Merlin had SOME reason to exist in #250: he was adapting to the future slang. But here, why exactly is he acting this weird?
Tony… he SOLD YOUR SOUL TO MEPHISTO, did you really realize JUST NOW that Doom lied to you!?
If Stoned Merlin wasn’t so aggressively unfunny, the tension of preventing Doom from acquiring ALL the power of Excalibur would be something.
Yeah I’m with Iron Man for the fist time in this miniseries. Why is HE involved in all of this?
At least Stoned Merlin provides enough clues to lead Iron Man to the place where the final confrontation is going to take place: Ballanayr, Scotland.
I mean the place literally turns into an arena for them!
Doctor Doom needs people to constantly praise him for being smart all the freaking time.
Despite the arena, the purpose of the spell is to uncover the scabbard of Excalibur. There’s some magic resistance…
…but eventually Iron Man is the one to find it.
This gives Iron Man an amazing redesign!!!
Too bad it unleashes the apocalypse.
Or should I say the EYEpocalypse?
Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #4 (2008)
written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton
cover by Bob Layton & Ron Lim
pencils by Ron Lim
That’s some weird perspective on Iron Man’s arm.
The botched ritual has summoned THIS THING into the story.
Fortunately for Iron Man, the upgrade wasn’t just cosmetic.
Doom can’t let anyone else get the spotlight.
So what’s the deal with the Eyesore Monster? Turns out this is all Doom’s fault!
This also randomly ties into Emperor Doom (although there isn’t a footnote); not entirely unsurprising, since Michelinie was one of the writers.
Unfortunately the Eyesore Monster is way beyond both Doom and Iron Man’s abilities now…
…but then Merlin drops the last advice: the only way to defeat is STAB IRON MAN.
Iron Man volunteers, but it doesn’t work if he doesn’t believe in magic.
Fortunately, if there is one difference between Iron Man and Doctor Doom… other than talking in the third person WAY less… is that Tony Stark is able to admit someone knows more than him.
Doom stabs Iron Man again, and this time it works perfectly: the Eyesore Monster is defeated…
…the armors are returned to normal…
…and THANKFULLY so is Merlin.
And before departing, Merlin casts a spell that basically erases this story from continuity.
And so we close returning to the present day… this was all a flashback, remember… with Stark vowing to send a message to Merlin.
Said message is to preserve the lake where the, uhm, Lady Of The Lake is keeping Excalibur.
A good scene, but I still think the framing device was unnecessary.
Doom significance: 0/10
Literally erased from history.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
The Iron Man / Doctor Doom stories my Michelinie have diminishing returns. Iron Man #150 was awesome, Iron Man #250 was a mix of good scenes and dumb ones, and this one kind of drops the ball. The best part of the others was alternating between Iron Man and Doom, drawing parallels and highlighting differences. But here the focus is almost exclusively on Iron Man, with Doctor Doom getting some of the best scenes. Overall I found Iron Man quite underwhelming; the entire “Iron Man in Hell” angle is completely wasted.
It was a Doombot all along
The one getting the Excalibur shard HAS to be the real Doom, right?
Times Doom has saved the world: 14
Considering Doom is saving it from a menace he unleashed, the count doesn’t increase.
Crazy tech
The cage holding Morgana LeFay is at the very least partially technological. More impressively, Doom’s time machine can bring him to Hell and back!!!