World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #9-12

Continuing the celebration of the Fantastic Four’s 40th anniversary.

ISSUE 9
Writers: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson, Tom DeFalco
Pencilers: Ron Frenz, Frank Fosco, Bill Wray, Paul Ryan
Cover by Erik Larsen & Bruce Timm

 Another strong contender for best cover of the maxiseries.

Last time Doctor Doom stole the Cosmic Cube. Now Rick Jones informs us that he’s invaded the Negative Zone.

He’s after, what else, the Cosmic Control Rod of Annihilus.

The FF (plus Crystal) leave for the Negative Zone, leaving behind Susan because this is still set in the era where she was always left behind. It fits the era, but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it!
At least Reed gives us a reason that isn’t sexist.

Since this plot isn’t enough of a convoluted mess, the Frightful Four and Blastaar attack her.

How is Sandman the one with the weirdest face when he’s in the same panel of Blastaar!?
Blame penciler Bill Wray.

If you’re wondering how Rick Jones knew about Doom: this is set in the period where he regularly switched places with Captain Marvel, who was stuck in the Negative Zone.

Okay this is now beyond ridiculous.

In addition to the FF we had the Avengers, Captain America, the Hulk, Nick Fury and Silver Surfer… bloated to the extreme, but at least they’re all Jack Kirby characters.
Captain Marvel isn’t a Kirby character so he has no reason to be in this thing!!!!

Obviously we also must have the rest of the FF against Annihilus. Otherwise how are we going to stretch this thing to 12 issues?

Guess what this means: TWO big dumb fights!

And of course Susan is helpless because Trapster dumped some glue on her, because we just HAD to use all the worst parts of the Lee&Kirby era.


ISSUE 10
Writers: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson, Bruce Timm
Pencilers: Ron Frenz, Dave Ross, Erik Larsen
Cover by Bruce Timm & Joe Sinnott

 You know, I think the plot is moving a little too fast. Why don’t we stop by Asgard for an issue or two?

Last issue’s cliffhanger is resolved by Susan suddenly remembering that she’s not useless.

With the FF busy with a useless plot, Doctor Doom reaches the final phase of his plan: Galactus.

All the McGuffins he has stolen allow Doom to go toe-to-toe with the big G himself.

And if you know Doctor Doom, you know what he’s REALLY after.

Yep. This would’ve been IMMENSELY epic in 1970, even if by now it’s old hat for Doom.

Reed SOMEHOW deduces that Doom is after Galactus. And since Thor is the only other hero who had run into Galactus during this period, they ask him to take them to Asgard to compare notes.

And this leads to a big dumb fight with the Asgardians because this comic JUST CAN’T SIT STILL FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!

All of this for Odin to confirm to the FF that Doom just stole the power of Galactus… something the reader already knows.

I swear that if you cut out the unnecessary parts this maxiseries would only need 2 issues.


ISSUE 11
Writers: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Pencilers: Ron Frenz, Frank Fosco, Al Milgrom
Cover by Ron Frenz & Joe Sinnott

 I know I keep complaining about the story, but at least the covers are getting better and better.
We even have veteran Joe Sinnott working here!!!

We finally get an explanation on why Doom stole all those power sources in order to steal the power of Galactus.

Plus the Cosmic Control Rod gave him enhanced control over all of those.

It’s not a BAD plan, even if the Discount Mother Box Sacred Helix of Randac is a bit redundant.
It kind of diminishes the wow factor of Doom stealing the power of Galactus using only Klaw, during Secret Wars. I can excuse the shallow use of the Cosmic Cube since the lore is not consistent whether that’s more powerful than Galactus.
I CAN’T excuse the time we lost stealing the horn from Atlantis, though. And the Cosmic Control Rod didn’t really bring anything interesting to the table!

Even less forgivable: Doom has captured Silver Surfer OFF-SCREEN.
Why couldn’t we see THAT instead of a pointless Frightful Four story!?

And yet another less forgivable first: Reed Richards saving the now powerless Galactus.

Reed saving Galactus during the John Byrne run was one of the most important moments in the character’s history. Retroactively making it the SECOND time he saves his life is a terrible idea!

He also warns all the heroes of Earth that Doom is coming back to Earth with the power of Galactus.

Even the armed forces are brought in. WHAT THE F##K ARE THEY GOING TO DO!?!?

Case in point:

Doom also punches the Helicarrier…

…thrashes the X-Men…

…Namor and the entire Atlantis army…

…Thor and the entire Asgardian army…

…and ODIN…

…until he finally takes over the planet!


ISSUE 12
Writers: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson, Stan Lee
Pencilers: Ron Frenz, John Romita Jr, Dan Jurgens, Steve Rude, Jorge Lucas
Cover by  Erik Larsen & Joe Sinnott

 It took forever to get here, but we are at the final showdown between Cosmic Doom and the Fantastic Four.

I have a feeling Doom didn’t really need the power of Galactus for this.

At least we are FINALLY done forcing into the story Jack Kirby characters that have nothing to do with the plot. It’s not like we can shoehorn here the monsters from the pre-FF era, right?

ಠ_ಠ

WHY IN THE NAME OF #$@&% IS THIS HAPPENING!?!??

The Fantastic Four are piloting the monsters (WTF?) with the same tech that Doom used to control Namor (double WTF?).
Not only the monsters are actually artificial creations using Doom’s Ionic Inanimate Matter Converter ™ (triple WTF?), but Doom actually stole that tech from Reed (#$@&%!!?).

Though I admit “The Emperor of Earth will not be stopped by witless comicbook monstrosities” is a supremely Doom quote.

Tied with “You may seek to imitate my regal manner of speech”.

Doom defeats the monsters, as well as the Inhumans who show up.

Doom has used so much energy that he starts to feel the hunger of Galactus… so he decides to eat the planet!

I HATE THIS #$@&%*.

This is the “generic bad guy Doom”. There is NO WAY that he would give up Earth just to satisfy his hunger! He should AT LEAST try to eat another planet!
Heck, it would’ve been the chance to use the Skrulls! Have Doom threaten to eat one of their planets! #$@&%*!!!

At this point just go read Fantastic Four #50. We’re just copying now.

This should’ve been an epic moment. But it’s just embarrassing at this point.

After 12 issue of buildup, Reed defeats Doom… because he lacks “the nobility of Galactus”.

And because Doom was so distracted by the monsters that he dropped the Cosmic Cube.

_

The good news is that Reed uses the Cosmic Cube to wipe out everything that happened from history.

Only Reed, the Watcher and Galactus will remember any of this.

I wish I was mind-wiped too.


Doom significance
If this was a real 1970 comic: 10/10
This would’ve been the first time Doom conquers Earth, the first time he defeats Galactus, the first time he fights a bunch of heroes, plus the first time Reed saves Galactus.
As a 2001 comic: 0/10
Everything is erased, so…

 Silver Age-ness: 12/10
“The Emperor of Earth will not be stopped by witless comicbook monstrosities”

Does it stand the test of time?
If this was a real 1970 comic: 8/10
Is this dumb? Yes. In 1970 this would’ve been THE MOST AWESOMELY EPIC DUMB STORY OF ALL TIME.
As a 2001 comic: 0/10
This sucked. The entire maxiseries has a huge padding problem… out of 12 issues, perhaps 4 are needed for Doom’s story. The rest is filled with big dumb battles and meaningless side quests that add nothing to the story except more pages. The finale is underwhelming and dumb, Doom’s characterization is atrocious, and despite the admittedly good intentions it gives the entire maxiseries a sour taste.

It was a Doombot all along
It was already doubtful with the Cosmic Cube, but there’s no way a Doombot could steal the power fo Galactus.

Take over the world & Destroy the FF!
I’m only counting #12 for the “Destroy the FF!” count, and #11 for “Take over the world”.

Crazy tech
The Ionic Inanimate Matter Converter ™ can create giant comic book monsters. SOMEHOW.

Times Doctor Doom has taken over the world: 2
This would’ve been the first time if this was a 1970 comic!

Times Doctor Doom has gained ultimate power: 3
Doom will actually steal the power of Galactus in Secret Wars. Interestingly, in that story it’ll be the first step in stealing the power of the Beyonder, while this time Galactus was the real objective for stealing the Cosmic Cube.

 Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 36
They forget about it, but we have to add some.
Issue #11 adds several  X-Men: Cyclops, Wonder Girl, Havok, Polaris and Professor X. Iceman and Angel have already been counted as Champions and Beast as an Avenger.
Issue #12 adds all the Inhumans: Black Bolt, Karnak, Gorgon and Triton. Medusa and Crystal were already counted.