As usual for big crossovers, Doom has a bunch of cameos that are not worthy of a full review. Technically speaking some of these are not related to Dark Reign, but I’m including them anywy.
Uncanny X-Men Annual V.2 #2 (2009)
written by Matt Fraction
pencils by Mitch Breitweiser & Daniel Acuna
cover by Yanick Paquette
Out of the various members of the Cabal, Emma Frost is the one who deals with Doctor Doom the least.
In fact, she spends the entire issue with Namor. I don’t think you’re surprised.
I actually recommend this issue, as it fleshes out Emma and gives a lot of depth to Namor… but we have a lot of Doom cameos to cover where he actually does something.
Captain Britain and MI13 #10 (2009)
by Paul Cornell & Leonard Kirk
cover by Stuart Immonen
This one has absolutely nothing to do with Dark Reign…
…but it’s one of the very best Doctor Doom cameos EVER: he meets with Dracula on the Moon!!!
Yep! Dracula is the big bad of the series, and he meets with Doom to propose a non-aggression pact with Latveria.
The second best part of the cameo? Doom is absolutely brutal in his dismissal of Dracula’s racism!
The best part? Doom has vampire-proofed his armor. Nothing surprising there, but the method is the most awesome idea ever: splinters of the “true cross”!
That’s right. DOCTOR DOOM HAS PIECES OF JESUS CHRIST’S CROSS IN HIS ARMOR.
Dracula is targeting the United Kingdom in this series because it’s apparently “the home of magic”, and he plans to become the vampire king of the UK.
Doom being unimpressed with Dracula is hilarious.
Dracula is equally unimpressed, in particular by the fact that Doom’s royal titles are not very impressive.
This is a fun series. If a storyline that includes Dracula launching mutant vampires from the Moon is your thing, I highly recommend it!
Captain Britain and MI13 #14 (2009)
written by Paul Cornell
pencils by Leonard Kirk & Ardian Syaf
After a particularly brutal battle, Doom contacts Dracula in his space-traveling magic galleon (!!!) to delivery a gift: a new hostage…
…who turns out to be Meggan, a.k.a. Captain Britain’s wife who was supposed to be dead at the time.
Captain Britain and MI13 Annual #1 (2009)
by Paul Cornell & Mike Collins
This issue is Meggan’s journey through Hell, and it ends with Doom getting her out of there.
Because at this point he’s gone to Hell and back so many times he can act as a taxi.
Unfortunately Doom’s involvement with the series ends there. I’m not entirely sure why he helped Dracula, although considering Meggan’s return helped his defeat… I guess he just doesn’t like vampires.
Next!
Dark Reign Files #1 (2009)
by way too many people
This is not a story: it’s basically a mini-Handbook. But it is interesting because all entries are supposedly written by Quasimodo, the Mad Thinker’s super-computer.
Quasimodo’s entry on Doom is basically “I know he’s useful, but are you insane allying yourself with this guy!?”.
There are 13 credited writers and no credited penciler for this issue; I’m not going to attempt figuring out who did Doom’s entry.
Next!
Mighty Avengers #24 (2009)
by Dan Slott & Rafa Sandoval
This issue has a telepathic meeting between members of the Cabal, with Doom making it a point to open his mind to Emma Frost’s powers.
Either there was some miscommunication between writers or this is an act that Doom and Loki are putting up for Norman Osborn, because in the Thor books Doom didn’t complain about having Asgardians in Latveria.
Dark Reign: The Hood #2 (2009)
by Jeff Parker & Kyle Hotz
cover by Marko Djurdjevic
Whenever Hood is not written by Bendis, he tends to be FAR more interesting.
Also, every time Osborn is not present the Cabal seems to work far better as an alliance.
It is also interesting that, throughout the entire crossover, the Cabal has FAR less respect for Hood than the leaders of Acts of Vengeance had for Kingpin, who held a similar position.
It’s probably because Kingpin didn’t need to rely on anyone else to win arguments.
Dark Avengers #6 (2009)
by Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Deodato Jr.
This is where Osborn starts to lose control of the Cabal (shocking I know), because Namor launched an unauthorized attack on the surface world.
You just have to love Doom’s “this could have been an email” approach to the Cabal meetings.
But the problem is Namor, who does not respect Osborn’s position AT ALL. In fact, his utter failure to control Namor will be one of the most significant factors for Osborn’s demise.
Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Utopia (2009)
by Matt Fraction & Mark Silvestri
A warning: by this point I had stopped reading X-Men regularly, so I don’t get WTF is happening 90% of the time here.
All I know is that this is yet another example of the X-Men creating a nation for mutants.
I’ve always disliked the X-Men’s attitude of “only mutants can deal with problems caused by mutants”, but on top of that there’s the frankly annoying contradiction of “you can’t expect mutants to be the ones to deal with problems caused by other mutants”.
Which one is it, Cyclops!?
I hate to disagree with Doctor Doom, but whenever we get a “mutant nation” storyline I lose all interest in the X-Men.
Dark Reign: Made Men (2009)
by Frank Tieri & Rafa Sandoval
This is a special that contains various stories about minor supervillains and how they’re impacted by Dark Reign. One of the stories deals with Attuma, one of Namor’s main villains…
…who is resurrected by Doctor Doom.
As for why Doom would resurrect Attuma, it obviously has to do with Namor.
Specifically, Doom already knows that Namor will inevitably betray their alliance… so he’s already prepared to send Attuma against him! He even provides a neat power-up.
I’m not the biggest fan of Frank Tieri’s writing in general, but this is 100% in-character for Doom.
But he also appeals to Attuma’s duties for his people.
Spoiler alert: Attuma will lose his fight with Namor once they meet again.
Thor: Giant-Size Finale (2009)
by Michael Straczynski & Marko Djurdjevic
This is just baffling. Why is there a special with such a weird title right in the middle of a Thor storyline? In fact, it’s an integral part of the story! Why wasn’t this in the regular series!?
It even starts RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE, after the ending of Thor #603!
Fortunately it’s completely inconsequential for Doctor Doom, but… again: why wasn’t this story in the main series?
It’s also one of the (shockingly few) badass moments for Volstagg, who is mostly relegated to comic relief but who’s tough enough to withstand a full-powered assault from Doom’s robots.
Captain America: Reborn #4 (2009)
by Ed Brubaker & Bryan Hitch
And finally let’s close the cameos with Doom’s involvement with Captain America resurrection (he died during Civil War). Which is, bizarrely enough, the reason why Doom has summoned the Red Skull to Latveria.
Considering you conquered the place TWICE, Red Skull, you should consider yourself lucky you get to walk here alive.
In fact, Doom isn’t even all that happy to work with you.
I have to imagine that Doom is absolutely insufferable towards super-scientist supervillains.
You might wonder: why would Doom ever work with Red Skull again? They’re looking for Captain America!
The reasons for this are quite complicated. During Civil War, Cap was shot by his love interest (and badass SHIELD agent) Sharon Carter because she was mind-controlled by one Red Skull’s men.
But apparently that was no ordinary bullet, but some sci-fi nonsense that disconnected Captain America from reality.
Sounds legit.
This is obviously WAY beyond the capabilities of Red Skull or his Nazi mad scientist friends, so of course it’s Doctor Doom technology.
I always get a kick out of Doom complaining he doesn’t like drama, when he specifically doesn’t like OTHER PEOPLE’s dramatics.
So why would the Red Skull involve Doom with this incredibly complicated plot, instead of just shooting Captain America with a regular bullet?
To transfer Red Skull’s mind into Captain America’s body while Steve Rogers’ mind is lost in the time stream, of course.
Kind of impressive for Red Skull, but that’s not even in the top ten most convoluted plans for Doctor Doom.
Spoiler alert: eventually Captain America wins the “battle of the minds” scenarios and kicks Red Skull out of his brain.
Doom significance: 0/10
It’s only a matter of time before Dracula becomes a major player again, at which point this might have SOME significance. Otherwise, not really.
Silver Age-ness
Most cameos: 0/10
With the only exception that you probably saw coming:
Captain Britain and MI13: 13/ 
This storyline includes Dracula on the Moon, mutant vampires shot from said Moon, a magic galleon that flies to space, and A LOT more insanity. Even with the blood and gore you’d expect from a modern vampire storyline, this is pure Silver Age absurdity.
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
This is not a real review so I’m not giving scores. But I highly recommend both “Captain Britain and MI13” and “Captain America: Reborn”, which are fantastic series, and to a lesser extent Uncanny X-Men Annual. I wouldn’t bother checking out anything else.
It was a Doombot all along
Most of these, if not all of them, COULD be Doombots. Except the one freeing Meggan from Hell.
Crazy tech
Doom mostly uses magic to deal with Dracula. But he can also resurrect people, give Attuma the same powers of Namor, and then there’s the rollercoaster of his Captain America plan.
Which include a bullet full of subatomic particles that disconnect you from reality, while also entangling you with a specific person’s blood.