One last entry in the “Infamous Iron Man” era; while this does takes place before the disappointing finale of the era, it directly ties into what will follow.
Marvel 2-In-One #1 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Jim Cheung
Not to be confused with Marvel Two-In-One, the Thing’s long-standing team-up book.
This one follows the adventures of the Thing and the Human Torch in the period where the Fantastic Four were disbanded, since Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman were considered dead after Secret Wars.
Since this is the setup for the return of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man gives the keys to the Baxter Building (literally) back to the Thing.
We can all forget that period when Peter Parker was the richest man in the world, right?
Man that was dumb.
The Thing thinks back at the last time he saw Susan…
…which is when Doom shows up.
Turns out that Doom visited the Baxter Building to find any clues to what actually happened to Reed, refusing to believe anything but Doom could have killed him.
Including stealing something that Reed left specifically for the Thing.
Ben takes this better than I expected.
Doom also starts reacting like you’d expect…
…but since he’s still in his own redemption arc, he calms down.
Reed’s inheritance is The Multisect™, a device that allows to explore the multiverse.
In addition to securing the device, Reed’s recording asks the Thing and the Human Torch to continue the legacy of the Fantastic Four.
The other part of the plot is that the Human Torch (and we will soon see the Thing as well) is slowly losing his powers.
But the news that Reed and Susan might still be alive cheers up Johnny.
As well as Doom.
Marvel 2-In-One #2 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Jim Cheung
Doom demands first billing to be on the cover!
Reed’s instructions for recovering the The Multisect™ is that he hid it at “the site of our first adventure”, so naturally the Fantastic Two visit the Mole Man’s island… where Doom has to save them.
Doom would appreciate some gratitude!
He’s convinced that the Thing is just lying about Reed being alive just to ease Johnny’s pain… and he’s entirely correct in the sense that the Thing doesn’t believe it either.
Comics Archeology proudly endorses President Metal Man.
Yes he’s not a native, he just visited for his own personal business, he will leave immediately and he will never show up again, but he’s a President you could have a goblet of wine with.
President Metal Man does not pull any punches here.
Johnny, I know you’re losing your powers, but that is the lamest possible attempt at a sick burn.
This makes the Thing think back at the time when Doom received a prize when they were in college.
Unsurprisingly, Doom’s paper was about time travel.
Notice that Doom managed to get the prize by schmoozing with the professors, probably even sabotaging one’s car for it.
But also this specifically identifies that Doom was given the prize in 1998!
This doesn’t tell us Doom’s age with any certainty, considering A) we don’t know how old Doom was exactly when he went to college B) we don’t know how long he stayed there.
Doctor Doom famously didn’t get his doctorate, but I don’t know any comic that specifically says he didn’t get a degree… if so, it’s conceivable that he got an associate’s degree in 2 years or a bachelor’s degree in 4 years. I think the 2 years are more likely, considering there have been several references to Doom’s time at college not lasting very long.
Assuming Doom went to college at 18… just out of convenience because he might easily been slightly younger or slightly older… I would estimate he’s around 20 years old when he gets this prize. That would make him born around 1968 and, at the time this comic was published, he would have been about 50 years old.
And considering Marvel’s present is considered to be about 15 years after the debut of the Fantastic Four, Doom would have been 35 years old when he first fought them.
Reed and Ben’s “first adventure” was sabotaging Doom’s first trophy…
…to being assigned to Victor Von Doof.
I like to imagine that THIS is the real reason for why Doom hates Reed Richards.
Hey it’s not THAT much dumber than Lex Luthor hating Superman because he made him bald!
Marvel 2-In-One #3 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Jim Cheung
Doom decides to pay a visit to the Mad Thinker.
One of the Thinker’s weaknesses when compared to other Marvel super-geniuses is that he’s supposedly far less creative.
This isn’t the first time he has stolen Reed’s technology: he did it in his first appearance!
Doom’s interested in what he stole, but the Mad Thinker is busy being mad.
If Doom can take Tony Stark’s place by becoming the Infamous Iron Man, then the Thinker will take Reed Richard’s place by becoming Mister Not Quite Fantastic.
He’ll be the adversary in issues where Doom doesn’t show up.
Meanwhile the Thing and the Torch discover why they’re slowly losing their powers: it’s because they have been separated from the rest of the Fantastic Four.
Because it turns out that their powers are connected. This actually KIND OF works with the Fantastic Four’s past: yes they have been separated for extended periods of time (most notably Reed was stuck in another time period during most of DeFalco’s run, and the Thing was stuck on Battleworld for half of Byrne’s run)… but they were still in the same universe.
I think that this is the first time they have been separated in different universes for such an extended period of time.
Marvel 2-In-One #4 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Valerio Schiti
The Thing and the Torch will now look for the missing FF, thanks to the help of super-scientist Rachna Koul who debuts in this series. So far she has only appeared in this series.
The first Reed they find is the wrong one…
…in fact in THIS universe, Doctor Doom stole the power of Galactus in his first visit to Earth.
This did save Earth…
…and NOTHING ELSE.
Marvel 2-In-One #5 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Valerio Schiti
Doom eventually shows up to help fight his cosmic counterpart.
The Fantastic Two are understandably skeptical, but it’s not like they have a ton of options.
He’s still Doom about it, because of course he is.
Marvel 2-In-One #6 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Jim Cheung
Remember that during Infamous Iron Man, Doom was sincerely missing Reed?
If a scene like this was in that series, it would have been FAR more engaging.
The way to defeat Cosmic Doom is the same to defeat the regular one… annoy him to no end.
Also punching him. A lot.
While the Thing (supercharged of cosmic energy to be enough of a threat) fights the big guy, Doom deals with his counterpart’s heralds… the Silver Dooms.
Also helping is this dimension’s Human Torch, who has been acting at Earth’s Sun for a while.
This is probably the kindest Doom has ever been to Johnny.
Cosmic Doom is temporarily satiated from his hunger (long story), but of course you can’t have regular Doom around unlimited power and expect him to do nothing.
I’m reviewing this AFTER the end of the Infamous Iron Man storyline for three reasons.
I’ve already said the first two… it leads into the next FF series, and I wanted to get the awful Bendis stories out of the way as fast as I could.
But there’s a third: this is a FAR more satisfying conclusion to his personal journey!
Even if Doom’s chance of proving that he’s no longer a villain is… just do nothing and allow the other heroes to defeat Cosmic Doom.
It’s also a bittersweet development, because as this universe’s Emma Frost dies she has to remind him that Doom will ALWAYS be the villain.
She died by transferring her mind into Cosmic Doom’s body (!!!) and using its power to create a new universe.
Also, since this dimension’s Doom took the body of Galactus during his first invasion, it turns out that the real Galactus has been buried in Doom’s body the whole time.
Marvel 2-In-One #7 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Ramón Pérez
Doom next appears in an annual, which will get its own review because it’s far more Doom-centric and actually important to his history.
To quickly cover the rest of his role in THIS series, he leads the Fantastic Two into another lead.
For his own reasons.
Yeah, by my own count, he’s tried at least 62 times. But one of these days!
This universe’s Doctor Strange removes Doom’s armor…
…and he ends up fighting (without armor) alongside the Fantastic Two in a gladiatorial arena.
All while discovering that Rachna wasn’t interested in finding Reed: she’s been looking for an exact duplicate of her sister, who currently has brain damage.
When will people learn that Doom is still unbelievably dangerous WITHOUT the armor?
Doom actually leaves the series after this, following Rachna who has stolen the Multisect™.
Marvel 2-In-One #11 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Ramón Pérez
Before the end of the series, however, the Thing does find the real Mister Fantastic.
He’s been busy rebuilding the Multiverse (thanks to Franklin and Molecule Man), much to the Thing’s confusion.
Reed, if you just wanted to retire, you could’ve said it.
Honestly, Ben takes this better than I expected.
The other reason why Reed didn’t come back… is that he found Nice Doom.
After finding Nice Doom, Reed hoped that if he stayed dead the original Doom would develop into a heroic persona. He was KIND OF right, given the Infamous Iron Man stuff.
There’s a suggestion that Nice Doom might become evil again, since he’s planning to invade his timeline’s Hell, but he does give Reed a genuine sendoff.
Marvel 2-In-One #12 (2018)
by Chip Zdarsky & Ramón Pérez
In the last issue of the series, the Fantastic Four are fully reunited.
Doom significance: 4/10
It’s important for the Fantastic Four, since it brings them back and it formalizes the concept of them losing powers if they’re separated (thought there are solid precedents in previous arcs), but for Doom it doesn’t add much in terms of influence.
Silver Age-ness: 5/10
Regular universe-hopping insanity for the Fantastic Four.
Does it stand the test of time: 8/10
I think I had a better opinion of the Infamous Iron Man arc because I conflated THIS series with the far more disappointing Bendis one.
As mentioned, this gives him much better journey and a more satisfying development… and he’s not even the protagonist!!!
It’s a solid Fantastic Four tale, even if two members don’t show up until the very end.
Jim Cheung also gives my absolute favorite rendition of the Infamous Iron Man armor.
Overall it’s a bit dispersive at places… there’s an issue where Johnny and Ben are stuck in a universe where they don’t have powers and it really drags… but if you’re a FF fan, I highly recommend it.
Times Doom has saved the world: 24
It’s ANOTHER world, but it still counts!
Sorry, but under Jim Shooter’s supervision such a blunder would’ve NEVER happened! The Infamous iron Man series would’ve found its apex arc in THIS story instead of setting it in 2i1! There are here ALL the basis to justify the return of Doom to his dark side, there is his perfect characterization to show his redemption was always tainted by his supreme confidence, the works!
Instead, they chose to rely on BENDIS to do a watered version of Doom who couldn’t even stand up to HOOD and a bunch of C-series petty criminals, with the Thing acting like a self-obsessed !!
Lucky us we got at least this series that gave us a true glimps of great writing and touching moments! (PS – I would’ve rather loved Willy Lumpkin delivering the holotestament to Ben)