This is the last in-continuity intermission during the time where Doctor Doom was still dead, and we return to his impostor Nathaniel Richards.
Fantastic Four #396 (1995)
by Tom DeFalco & Paul Ryan
You have to love the minion’s axe smashing the title.
Paul Ryan gets to shine with a nice splash page about Doctor Doom walking around Latveria like he owns the place (and, well, he does). The armor shines as well!
But alas, it’s still just Nathaniel playing with Doom’s toys.
Despite Nathaniel dropping some serious hints about being Doom’s father in the previous issues, Susan is STILL not asking the real questions.
Instead she thrashes a few robots, and I’m starting to think Nathaniel’s not as bright as he wants us to believe if he needs to import circuits to build Doom’s robots. These things are DEFINITELY “Made in Latveria”, right?
Seriously, why does Susan trust ANYTHING this guy says!?!?
This was worth it just to see one of Doom’s robot use a vacuum cleaner.
Eventually, the two go on a mission using Reed’s Time Sled™, something he created during the AWESOME Walt Simonson run on Fantastic Four.
And it’s completely wasted here! The Time Sled™, as the name implies is a time machine… but they just use it to go to Tibet, IN PRESENT DAY.
The only reason I’m covering this issue into a little more details than the other Nathaniel stories is that this is one of the surprisingly rare occasion when we see Doom’s monastery.
I can see why Doom doesn’t use them more often: they’re not all that great. To be fair, they’re up against Invisible Woman who is not exactly a lightweight.
At this point you’re probably thinking: didn’t the cover promise us a giant monk with an axe?
Susan raised an interesting question: we don’t know who founded the monastery where Doom ended up becoming Doom. Someone will probably write that one day.
As for the giant monk… maybe Doom should’ve gone with something more high tech.
It’s neat to have someone from the Fantastic Four lurk around the place from Doom’s origin story.
Also, the confusion regarding Doom’s scars is totally canon!
The story comes to its cliffhanger once Susan finds a stasis chamber holding two people… but doesn’t get to learn if Reed is one of them because Nathaniel strikes her from behind.
Least shocking betrayal EVER.
Fantastic Four #397 (1995)
by Tom DeFalco & Paul Ryan
After lots and lots of subplots (this IS a DeFalco series after all), Susan eventually awakens and starts wondering if it’s possible to save Reed without also waking up Doom.
Aaaand it’s completely pointless…
…because the stasis pod doesn’t hold Doom and Reed, but Kristoff and Boris (of all people!).
The idea that Nathaniel is Kristoff’s father is completely dropped and never referenced again by any character. And since it all hinges on Nathaniel Richards telling the truth… if you believe him, you might be interested in building a nice bridge in Latveria.
From this issue forward, Kristoff basically joins the Fantastic Four. What’s interesting is that this is pretty much the first time we actually see the real Kristoff since he was brainwashed by Doombots aaaaall the way back in Fantastic Four #278.
Kristoff needing to be healed after his defeat in Fantastic Four #352 makes sense, but nobody questions the fact that Boris was in the stasis pod.
It will eventually be explained in a very stupid way.
For what it’s worth, I actually rather enjoyed the way DeFalco wrote Kristoff… he’s not really a villain and plays the hero only out of convenience. Plus his interactions with Scott Lang and his constant Doom-speak boasts were comedy gold, and one of the few redeeming qualities of this period.
But covering all of Kristoff’s appearances would go beyond the scope of this retrospective, so I’ll just stick to the points having to do with Doctor Doom.
Speaking of which…
Fantastic Four #401 (1995)
by Tom DeFalco & Paul Ryan
Boris sticks around Kristoff for the following issues, but we slowly discover that not only he’s planning something: that’s not Boris at all.
Nathaniel is still squatting at Castle Doom, where he reacts to the major point of the Atlantis Rising crossover that is currently involving the Fantastic Four.
Which is about Attilan being transported back to Earth and Atlantis, well, Rising.
Not content to ripping off Doctor Doom, Nathaniel also does his Brainiac impression by stealing a shrunken Attilan. He didn’t shrink it himself (it’s a loooooong story), but still, that’s Brainiac’s thing!
This goes nowhere. On the upside though, Doctor Doom is finally ready to return with his next appearance!
After we deal with the most 90s intermission yet, returning to the What If? of the 90s with Doom’s role in Age of Apocalypse.
Historical significance: 6/10
It’s basically important only to the Fantastic Four, but Kristoff sticks around for a while.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
DeFalco is still going for the old-time charm. It doesn’t work, but the effort is visible.
90-ness: DON’T WATCH THAT!!!/10 