Namor: The First Mutant #6 (2011)
by Stuart Moore & Ariel Olivetti
cover by Phil Noto
Time for Doctor Doom to rekindle his bromance with Namor. What better occasion than going to Hell?
With a sub-title like “the first mutant”, it’s no surprise that this series involves the X-Men.
Specifically, that’s because teenage mutant Loa (who normally has the power to destroy whatever she phases through) has been mutated even further by interacting with an Atlantean amulet.
This is explained by mutant super-scientist Doctor Nemesis.
The amulet has… other effects.
The amulet sends Namor to his personal hell: a desert.
Namor spends the rest of the issue fighting the ghosts of the ancient kings of Atlantis…
…while the X-Men are pretty much useless at recovering Namor.
Good thing they have an expert who volunteers to help.
Doom, I get not wanting to get you head wet, but you look WEIRD without the top part of the helmet!!!
Namor: The First Mutant #7 (2011)
by Stuart Moore & Ariel Olivetti
cover by Phil Noto
Just kiss already, you two!
With Doctor Doom on the case, who needs Doctor Nemesis?
You have to love just how little Doom values Nemesis.
I was wondering whether I should consider this storyline taking place BEFORE Doom’s intellect was drained in the Hulk storyline, but this little comment confirms he’s not yet himself.
And he’s STILL smart enough to teleport himself, Loa and the Atlantean warrior Abira to Namor’s personal hell!!!
Which I guess is a weird photoshop. Oh well, it makes more sense than Kirby’s collages (barely).
Doom is such a frequent visitor that he can explain this better.
He also knows everything about Loa’s amulet, because OF COURSE he does.
This is one of the very few occasions where Doom is genuinely only trying to help.
Now don’t be jealous, Doom.
I said that Doom is trying to help, but he’s still Doom.
He’s also very amused by Loa thinking she can reason with Namor.
Speaking of Loa: she’s pretty much a non-entity in the X-Men books, but she’s great here.
Too bad Namor is in his emo phase.
Here’s what Doom thinks of his attitude!
This is one of the best summaries of Doom’s relationship with Namor EVER.
This shock therapy does shake Namor back to his senses.
All according to Doom plan, because this releases the ghosts of the past kings.
That’s good for Namor, but it basically destroys Abira’s mind.
Doom was here to help Namor. Everyone else is not a priority.
However Namor knows enough about Doctor Doom to be sure his motives are not entirely altruistic, and he negotiates Doom’s help to get Abira back.
Namor: The First Mutant #8 (2011)
written by Stuart Moore
pencils by Carlos Rodriguez, Sergio Arino & Antonio Fuso
cover by Phil Noto
That’s a lot of pencilers.
The team is following Doom out of Hell…
…until he gets bored.
So Namor is left behind to fight other ghosts with Loa, who thanks to the amulet now has magic powers.
Defeating the ghosts also restores Abira’s mind, and they all get back to Atlantis.
The X-Men are not happy to learn Doom was involved.
And Namor is like “What do you want from me, it’s MY kingdom!”.
And in case you were wondering: yes, of course Namor ends up sleeping with Abira.
Honestly the only reason he doesn’t also sleep with Loa is that she’s sixteen.
She also sensed that something wasn’t quite right with Doom.
Speaking of Doom, turns out that he didn’t do all this only to gather favors from Namor but also from an Atlantean witch who was looking for flowers that grow in Hell (!!!).
Say what you want about Doom being a bad friend, but one thing’s for sure: he won’t let other people speak ill of you!!!
That’s the extent of Doom’s involvement, but there is an interesting development later.
Issue 10 has a the son of Namor from an alternate future travel back in time thanks to a “Doombox”.
And we get a very short glimpse of his future, where apparently Doom has a daughter.
At least she keeps her hair.
This is a nice series; the artwork is extremely inconsistent, but it’s worth checking out if you like Namor.
Doom significance: 0/10
I don’t think Doom ever cashes in that favor Namor owes him.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
The series has a rather complex storyline and Doom is not particularly involved besides issue 7, but it’s quite good. However the artwork of issues 6 and 7 is VERY distracting! It works well enough for the underwater scenes, but when we transition to Hell it’s very underwhelming.
Still, it has great interaction between Doom and Loa, and it REALLY understands Doom’s relationship with Namor.
It was a Doombot all along
Considering the brain damage and the stuff about Hell, I doubt it.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 105
Doom doesn’t fight either Loa or Doctor Nemesis, so they’re not added to the list.
Crazy tech
There’s some tech involved in how they get to Hell, but it’s one of those times where magic takes the spotlight.