I dreaded reviewing this.
While I enjoyed some of the aspects of how Matt Fraction writes what’s left of the Future Foundation, I absolutely hated his interpretation of Doctor Doom.
So I’m doing this as fast as I can to get it out of the way and because I never want to look at these comics ever again in my life.
Strap in, this is going to be a long and painful one.
F.F. vol2 #7 (2013)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
The premise of this book is that, while the Fantastic Four are busy in their own book with a journey through the multiverse, the Future Foundation kids are handled by a new team.
They’re headed by Ant-Man after his resurrection during Children’s Crusade; also in the team are FF mainstays Medusa and She-Hulk.
Joined by pink-haired music star Darla Deering, who goes around in a Thing exoskeleton.
The Doom connection shows up when he kidnaps Alex Powers, one of the former members of the Power Pack and current member of the Future Foundation.
Because he has learned that, because Doom killed Ant-Man’s daughter Cassie during “Children’s Crusade”, the Future Foundation has decided to stop him for good.
F.F. vol2 #8 (2013)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
Doom’s conversation with Alex continues in the following issue.
Uhm, I think Doctor Doom has been drinking a bit too much lately.
Doom has also kidnapped Alex’s parents, threatening to torture them if he disobeys.
Which wouldn’t be anything new for them, considering the amount of trauma they went through during the original Power Pack series.
So Alex is sent back to the Future Foundation for later use, and we learn that Doctor Doom has allied himself with YET ANOTHER VERSION OF KANG.
And if THAT alliance sounds weird, he’s also working with Annihilus of all people.
F.F. vol2 #10 (2013)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
The Future Foundation is dealing with an older version of the Human Torch from the future… just go with it… but Doom is not convinced.
What the heck is he doing hanging around with monks?
I won’t go into the specifics of stuff that is not related to Doom, but at this point the series was starting to lose me. Weird comic book shenanigans are perfectly fine with me, but taking Matt Fraction and Mike Allred in a trip to the Microverse is too much.
Yes, these are the actual writer and penciler of the comic.
F.F. vol2 #12 (2013)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
Doom has been watching the events of the series from behind the scenes, and he shows to “Kid Immortus” the respect he deserves.
Being able to completely dismiss Annihilus is something else. Granted, this is a newly reincarnated and far less powerful version of Annihilus, but still.
Fraction is definitely going for absurdity here. Sometimes it works, like the undercover Alex Powers needing to contact Doom from the bathroom…
…but then he goes too far in turning Doom into a caricature.
You absolutely CAN play up the silliness of Doom’s over-the-top shenanigans, but this is just stupid.
Meanwhile, the Future Foundation is about to rescue the Fantastic Four thanks to an interdimensional portal built by Maximus of the Inhumans and a time-traveling Julius Caesar.
Because comics.
Kid Immortus is convinced that the only way they can defeat the Fantastic Four is by merging into a single entity. For some reason.
However the portal just ends up teleporting the Future Foundation somewhere else.
F.F. vol2 #13 (2013)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
I don’t have to tell you that the reason why the portal malfunctioned is that by opening a multilinear chronostellar manifold it opened a null-time bubble.
I mean that’s just obvious.
Well. Glad we cleared THAT out.
F.F. vol2 #14 (2014)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
After returning to their home dimension, the Future Foundation has discovered Alex was working for Doom. And they begin to implement their plan to stop him.
You’ve already seen that Fraction writes Doom like a cartoonish villain. Things are so bad that he needs Ravonna, who he imprisoned to threaten Kid Immortus, to explain to him that the Future Foundation is still alive… because Doom can’t comprehend other people caring for kids.
And doubling down on the idea that Doctor Freaking Doom should be scared by Ant-Man and his ragtag team.
Doom is completely clueless about EVERYTHING in this storyline!!! He even needs Annihilus to explain basic things to him, and this version is barely sentient!!!
He definitely hasn’t made the case that this merging nonsense is necessary.
I won’t go over Ant-Man’s preparations for his plan, because A) it’s so stupid B) it goes on forever.
And I’m not downplaying Cassie Lang as a character… I liked her a lot… but this is definitely not making the case that her death was a tragedy that would affect THE FREAKING WATCHER.
And then FOR NO REASON we have the “Council of Dooms” as a throwaway concept.
It’s technically the same gathering of alternate version of Doom that we saw in Fantastic Four vol4 #9 which I reviewed some time ago. Which is infuriating because that one was ALSO written by Fraction and treated Doom with respect.
If you only read THIS book though, the Council comes out of nowhere. Not to mention it makes little sense… if these are alternate versions, why is there a “Prime Doom” and why would his death cause their disappearance? WTF is going on???
We finally learn why Doom allied himself with this version of Annihilus: to unlock his Cosmic Control Rod™.
Doom then makes the baffling deduction that there is only ONE Negative Zone across different timelines. That’s not entirely new, Marvel sometimes plays with this idea… and it makes absolutely no sense, considering the many What Ifs that involve the Negative Zone.
Doom also absorbs the power of the Cosmic Control Rod™, because he’s playing the hits.
Fantastic Four vol4 #15 (2014)
written by Matt Fraction & Karl Kesel
pencils by Raffaele Ienco
cover by Mark Bagley
This freaking storyline even interrupts the GOOD Fantastic Four series that Fraction was co-writing.
The Fantastic Four are in an alternate timeline with a Doctor Doom that is WAY more badass than the one written by Fraction.
Specifically, this is a reality threatened by a fusion between Kang and Annihilus.
Because everyone’s fusing these days.
Honestly this part of the series is needlessly complicated, but man is this Doom a breath of fresh air after the goofy one we’ve seen on F.F.
The Ant-Man of THIS reality sacrifices himself to save Marvel Girl…
…leading to one of the coldest Doctor Doom lines ever.
Not to mention an INCREDIBLE reversal, as once Kang shows up to completely destroy Doom…
…Doom does what he does best.
Which leads to a triple fusion between Doctor Doom, Kang The Conqueror and Annihilus… “Doom the Annihilating Conqueror”.
How is THAT less stupid than what’s happening in the other series???
F.F. vol2 #15 (2014)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
I told you the plan is stupid and complicated.
You know, there is SOME explanation for this nonsense… but trust me, even explained it wouldn’t make sense.
Yes the Future Foundation has launched an invasion of Latveria, and Doctor Doom is maddeningly incompetent all of a sudden.
ARRRRRRRRGH indeed. This is just embarrassing.
Alex’s parents are eventually rescued.
How childish is this story? The robots attacking Latveria are being controlled by literal children on sugar rush. Sure they’re super-intelligent children, but come on!!!
They’ve also recruited an EXTREMELY obscure character: Dakor The Magician, a Golden Age hero debuting all the way back in Mystic Comics #1.
The fact he’s not even in the Hero Origins retrospective should tell you everything about how interesting he is.
Yes THIS GUY is supposed to be a concern.
Part of the plan is having the Inhumans attack every single Latverian embassy on the planet.
I’m sure that will GREATLY improve their relationship with other countries.
We also have an old Human Torch from a different timeline helping.
How this entire storyline SHOULD have ended.
The Watcher and the Council of Dooms are here to witness the merging of Doom and Kid Immortus.
Because apparently Kid Immortus can just fuse himself with another person, I guess?
This doesn’t work, however, as Doom is too cool to share a body with Kid Immortus.
I know I’m biased towards Doctor Doom, but really, don’t tell me you’re not breathing a sigh of relief at him removing SOME people from this overcrowded story.
After defeating four alternate versions of himself and A WATCHER, Doctor Doom is stripped of his cosmic powers by the Discount Fantastic Four.
At least this knocks out everyone else… except Ant-Man.
Fantastic Four vol4 #16 (2014)
written by Matt Fraction & Karl Kesel
pencils by Raffaele Ienco
cover by Mark Bagley
Meanwhile, Doom The Annihilating Conqueror battles two versions of the Fantastic Four.
He’s also aware of what is happening in the other series, which is why I’m bringing this up.
Since everyone is fusing, Alternate Reed comes up with the idea of his version of the Fantastic Four boosting the powers of the regular ones.
And with that power-up, the Fantastic Four defeat him.
Or so it seems. Because once everything is done, Old Johnny Storm who has been hanging around the Future Foundation is revealed to be from the alternate reality where the other Doom was defeated… and to close the circle, Johnny travels back in time to provide the real behind-the-scenes reason why Doom The Annihilating Conqueror was defeated.
Again, this was needlessly complicated, but that’s a good contrast to how to do this kind of story.
And now… the moment I’ve been dreading… how to trainwreck this whole thing.
F.F. vol2 #16 (2014)
by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
Doom tries to bargain with Ant-Man into giving him back his powers, so that he can use them to resurrect Cassie. So we’re starting off stupid.
This would hit differently if Doom killed Cassie on purpose in Children’s Crusade, which is definitely NOT what happened. Cassie died because she was overconfident, no matter if her goals were noble or not.
Don’t get me wrong… I like Scott Lang. A LOT. I even really liked how DeFalco integrated him in the Fantastic Four back in the day.
But the way this comic overhypes him is frankly embarrassing.
Because now he’s basically invincible.
Ant-Man doesn’t give an explanation, but the Watcher does… and get ready because it’s one of the stupidest retcons I’ve ever heard.
Because it explains that the Pym Particles, and the Ionic Energy that gives super-strength to Wonder Man, are now the same thing.
We’re also linking this idiocy to EVERYTHING from the Cosmic Rays, Gamma Rays, Super-Soldier Serum, Korvac and the Destiny Force from Avengers Infinity.
This is the kind of masturbatory overwriting that ruined concepts like the Speed Force and the DC Multiverse for me, and I hate it with every fiber of my being.
When EVERY LITTLE THING is somehow connected, it makes this otherwise fantastically diverse universe far too small.
But back to hyping Ant-Man at the cost of Doom’s dignity.
It IS significant that Doom always fixes his face first whenever he gets ultimate power, I’ll give him that…
…and there IS something to be said about Doom being the one causing his own scars.
That’s a parallel to self-harm to be made.
And I would make a serious discussion about that if Matt Fraction didn’t misunderstand Doom at a fundamental level.
Because while he does have sociopathic tendencies, and an argument could be made about Doom being a sociopath…
…it goes too far. Of course it’s easy to treat Doom as a cartoonishly evil Saturday morning villain if you ignore DECADES of development and you write him as a buffoon that kills his servants because they don’t cut the crust off his sandwiches!!!
And if you think Fraction has gone too far… oh boy, we are just starting.
Because not only Ant-Man is also able to prevent Doom from using the Ovoid Mind Transfer, he also downloaded Doom’s mind into the Internet. SOMEHOW.
And we’re supposed to believe SCOTT LANG is somehow a Punisher-level tough guy!
What the heck is THIS crap!? Cassie died from a blast she took in front of the Avengers mansion!!!
We hit rock bottom when Fraction even brings up the Living Tribunal!!!
If you know ANYTHING about the cosmic side of Marvel is supposed to work, THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.
The Living Tribunal is so above the concerns of regular being that he didn’t lift a finger WHEN THANOS KILLED HALF THE UNIVERSE, but now the fact that Doom misused his powers to kill Cassie is important enough for him to intervene???
To the point that the Living Tribunal decrees that Doom’s scars can NEVER be healed.
If this were the Spectre I could totally believe it, but this is so out of character for the Living Tribunal that it physically hurts my soul.
Even despite all this, DOOM IS NOT IMPRESSED.
Not content, Ant-Man then proceeds punching out Doom with his bare hands.
And DOCTOR DOOM, the man who didn’t call for help even while he was being TORTURED IN HELL, asks for mercy when facing Scott Lang.
Even Batman is not this overhyped.
But we are still NOT DONE WITH THE STUPID, because Doom attacks Ant-Man only to hit Valeria.
But that’s just an illusion to break Doom’s heart.
Wait, aren’t you already contradicting the idea that Doom doesn’t care about anyone, if “killing” Valeria hurts him this much?
Also, “Ravonna” may have been an alternate version of Valeria, but I lost the strength to care.
And that’s how we close: with Doctor Doom having been completely destroyed as a man.
Did Fraction think the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom would simply stop appearing after this?
Doom significance: -15/10
Negative scores in this category are reserved for stories that stories that absolutely break canon or characterization. Not only this absolutely qualifies for that… it comes up with convoluted connections that are never used again, utterly misuses the Living Tribunal, totally butches the Doctor Doom characterization… this does such a bad job that it has a lower score than Super-Villain Team-Up #7. Yes, I rank this as lower than the comic that tells us Doom rapes his subjects.
No wonder this is COMPLETELY IGNORED by any future writer.
Forcing the Living Tribunal to be the reason Doom is unable to heal his face is particularly funny to me, however, considering the NEXT time Doom will cure his face… will be after stealing the power of something even more powerful than the Living Tribunal.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Does it stand the test of time? -40/10
This is also a category where negative scores are served for horrible messages and damaging characterization. And I rank this TWICE as bad as the one with Doom raping… yes, in my eyes it’s THAT BAD.
I also consider this to be a completely unprofessional way to write a comic book.
It’s perfectly fine if you don’t like a character or you have an interpreation I disagree with: the same thing happened with Mark Waid’s ideas on Doom on his Fantastic Four run and I absolutely loved what he did there.
But this? This is just s###ting on a character you don’t like because you’re completely ignoring and twisting everything that has been done with him. All while coming up with an edgelord narrative to hype your pet character.
I don’t know if this is the worst Doctor Doom story I’ve ever read, but it’s CERTAINLY the one that made me the angriest.
It was a Doombot all along
Assuming these are the real Watcher and the real Living Tribunal… BIG IF on the last one… it’s unlikely. But honestly Doom is SO out of character that I genuinely wonder if this is just a version from another timeline brought by Kid Immortus.
Destroy the FF! : 59
Kind of indirectly, but still.
Times Doctor Doom has gained ultimate power: 13
Only to lose it in possibly the dumbest way possible.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 121
Ant-Man was already in the count, as were Medusa, She-Hulk and Alex Powers.
Darla Deering, who sometimes goes by the codename “Miss Thing”, acts as a superhero in this period so she counts.
But what about the rest of the Future Foundation?
There are a lot of kids there, but I would hardly classify them as superheroes. But Ahura (Medusa and Black Bolt’s son) is enough of a super to quality. As does Dragon Man, who in this period had been redeemed (reprogrammed?).
I’m also adding Dakor The Magician and Old Human Torch, since he’s a different character from the regular one and he does fight the regular Doom as well as the one from his reality.
Crazy tech
Hidden among this crap is the fact that Doom could steal the powers of Annihilus whenever he wanted.