Fantastic Four vol.5 #3 (2014)
by James Robinson & Leonard Kirk
cover by John Romita Jr.
In a rather cynical move, the Fantastic Four were basically forced by Marvel to take a backseat because they didn’t have the movie rights to their own First Family.
So this run basically had the mandate to destroy the team, something that naturally has implications for Doctor Doom as well.
With that premise, I don’t envy James Robinson for needing to implement the idea into his new run.
Perhaps that’s why his writing feels a little bit off during the entire thing; despite what the cover says, it’s pretty forgettable.
The team is hit by a series of plots… the Baxter Building is damaged by monsters, the Human Torch loses his powers… which will eventually be revealed to be part of a conspiracy against them.
That’s besides the scope of this review, but those are the reasons why Valeria has simply left home for Latveria!
Behold, perhaps the ONLY acknowledgement ever given to the awful FF #7-16.
But for the time being, Valeria is staying with her godfather.
Nice idea, Valeria, but I think the first order of business would be giving Doom a mask that looks less off-model.
Doom doesn’t appear in issue 4, which is a fight against the Frightful Four.
But I have to mention that this is one of the weirdest line-ups for the Frightful Four I’ve ever seen. As usual they’re led by Wizard, but he’s recruited half of the Wrecking Crew… who are typically Thor villains… not all of it.
I get getting the Wrecker and Thunderball, because let’s face it: they’re the only two interesting members of the Crew.
But also randomly he recruited the never-before-seen daughter of Bulldozer, and I only have two questions:
1) why?
2) there were seriously NO other candidates for a female member?
Fantastic Four vol.5 #5 (2014)
written by James Robinson
pencils by way too many people
cover by Leonard Kirk
This issue sees the trial of the Fantastic Four, who have been blamed for the latest disaster.
The guest artists are here to illustrate all the references to earliest stories.
That’s a neat idea, and honestly the trial is the only part of the run that I kind of enjoyed.
That’s because, while the trial is part of the conspiracy against the Fantastic Four, the prosecution DOES have a point when he brings up many problematic parts of their history.
Heck it even goes as far back as their very first story!!!
I like this because, while it’s part of the conspiracy, it’s completely believable that the Fantastic Four would be attacked as the scaping goats of the superhero community.
The fact that the general public have a love/hate relationship with heroes and fundamentally distrusts them IS a core part of the Marvel Universe, and over the years the heroes have become increasingly destructive… so this feels like a natural development.
The subject of Doom naturally comes up.
The reason why Doom is brought up is because, let’s be honest, allowing Valeria to live with him sounds like an unbelievably reckless thing to do.
The trial also brings up the fact that the Fantastic Four handle INCREDIBLY dangerous technology that shouldn’t be anywhere NEAR a populated area.
It’s honestly hard to argue against the idea that the Baxter Building is too dangerous to be in New York and that Reed should store that stuff in a more secure place.
Another thing this issue handles well is that regular humans SHOULD be afraid of people with powers.
Even if the Fantastic Four are better than most superheroes in this regard, as they at least try to pay for all the damages… realistically speaking, something will inevitably slip through.
But let’s bring this back to Doctor Doom, who for some reason has decided to fight Count Nefaria in Italy.
I’m rather surprised to see him in Puglia. Not just because Nefaria is supposed to be from Sicily, but because the comic actually uses the Italian name for the province of Apulia.
I’ve never been to Apulia myself, but it looks WAY too mountainous in these scenes.
Also, Doom: since you came to Italy you could have least dropped by Lombardy since that’s where I live!!!
Not really sure what Nefaria was even doing in Puglia.
At least the cars do look like they could be from the local police (even if the siren looks wrong)…
…but it’s weird to see that Nefaria warrants the intervention of the national police, as something like this would definitely more under the scope of the Carabinieri.
This really isn’t the first time Doom does something good without trying to get something out of it. Unless we exclude the times he helped save the world, which I don’t think would be fair classifying as a selfish thing.
Even if Doom has removed Nefaria’s powers, it’s kind of silly to see him being handcuffed while wearing the cape.
The problem with these kind of scenes is that they really make you think why Reed doesn’t do this on his own. Or other regular heroes, for that matter.
In recent years, Valeria has been aged up by comic book science to somewhere around 13 years old.
I don’t mind the change because, when she was younger, you couldn’t find two artists who could agree on how to draw her.
It’s an important plot point in a later story that she’s supposed to be THREE YEARS OLD at this point, and you tell me if she looks that young!
And that’s where we end things for now, because when the Invisible Woman visits her daughter next time… things won’t be pretty.
Doom significance: 4/10
Doom and Valeria have a couple of team-up adventures after this.
Silver Age-ness: N/A
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
Not a real review so no real scores. As mentioned I’m not a fan of this volume, but I do recommend checking out issue 5 since the trial is really well done.
Also I have to mention that this volume has probably one of my least favorite looks for the Fantastic Four… there’s something seriously wrong seeing them wearing red. And I hate that Susan’s costume doesn’t have the same color scheme of the boys!
No wonder they change back to the classic blue after issue 12.
It was a Doombot all along
There’s something weird about Doom’s eyes that makes me think it might be a Doombot.
Crazy tech
The superpowered version of Nefaria is a threat to an entire Avengers team, but Doom is a master at absorbing powers.