Fantastic Four v6 #7 (2018)
written by Dan Slott
pencils by Aaron Kuder & John Lucas
cover by Esad Ribić
Doctor Doom has just returned to his villainous ways kicking off a fight with Galactus.
Talk about starting with a bang.
We begin with a flashback to Doom’s origin story. Interesting to see how he makes it a point that his father was a doctor in anything but name; Doom’s relationship with his father is barely ever discussed, but this comment makes me wonder… did Doom insist on calling himself Doctor to honor his father?
Doom brings this up because his last memory of his father is him protecting his son on the Latverian mountains…
…which he brings up in relationship with his fight with Galactus.
A bit of a stretch there, Doom.
The reason why Galactus is in Latveria is that Doom gave cosmic powers to Victorious (Doom’s new “herald”) in order to lure him to Earth, after giving Galactus the munchies.
As for how, Doom has filled the mountains with Big Bang Cannons™.
That’s not a joke, that’s how they’re actually called!
These things are so awesome they’re currently HOLDING OFF GALACTUS.
Something’s off when Doom is on a first name basis with anyone except Susan.
And speaking of Susan, her role is quite important…
…ensuring Doom gets views!
Counterintuitive for the Invisible Woman, I know.
Life in the Marvel Universe must be WEIRD for civilians. You might die at any second from something happening on the other side of the planet, but on the plus side, free entertainment!
Too bad the kids are missing this.
Back in Latveria, things are going as Doom planned.
Specifically, Doom is using the Big Bang Cannons™ to unleash his true ultimate weapon…
…continuity!!!
Because in the Ultimates series… not the one from the Ultimate publishing line, the one written by Al Ewig that was actually GOOD… Galactus was rebooted for a while into a good guy.
Come on Reed, this is not even in the top 50 weirdest things you’ve seen.
Doom’s perspective on the entire Infamous Iron Man journey.
While this is going on, the Human Torch manages to free Victorious.
He accomplishes this by giving Galactus something else to eat, and he survives only thanks to Victorious. She’ll remember this.
Unfortunately this only makes Galactus mad.
DOOM DEMANDS THE SPOTLIGHT!!!
Reed’s way to get Galactus to listen to him is to bring up the Ultimate Nullified™, which is… A BIT of an overreaction.
If you’re not familiar with it, that thing is capable of DESTROYING THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE.
Galactus is so startled by this insanity that he gets knocked out.
Well being nearly starved to death helped.
And this concludes part one of Doom’s latest plan… TURN GALACTUS INTO A POWER SUPPLY.
All thanks to the Fantastic Four…
…who get captured as a result.
Did I mention that this was part one of the plan?
Doom significance: 6/10
Not particularly significant for Doctor Doom, but it will play a role for Victorious.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
BIG BANG CANNONS!!!
Does it stand the test of time: 9/10
The storyline is in the typical “Everything is going according to Doom’s plan” phase, which is always enjoyable provided that the heroes are not acting like idiots.
Most of how the FF react makes sense… they know Doom is playing them but dealing with Galactus takes priority… but Reed just waving around the Ultimate Nullifier is silly.
The fact that Reed has it is is a bit confusing. The Fantastic Four DID have the Ultimate Nullifier for a while (it’s even brought up at their trial at the end of the previous volume), but it’s surprisingly hard to keep track of that thing’s apperances… characters suddenly have it and then it disappears.
You would think that keeping an eye on a thing that can CASUALLY DESTROY THE UNIVERSE would be a higher priority.
I wouldn’t normally complaint too much about this, but:
1) it’s less excusable at the beginning of a new series
2) why would Reed bring it to the field in the first place?
3) especially IN LATVERIA???
Crazy tech
The Big Bang Cannons™, devices that can somehow reprogram Galactus.
To give you an idea of how insane this is… when the Ultimates previously reprogrammed Galactus, they did this by using the gestation chamber that Galactus built for himself at the beginning of the universe. Something that Doom BUILT BY HIMSELF.
Times Doom has saved the world: 24
Not increasing the counter because while Doom DID save Earth from Galactus… the only reason he was there is that Doom called him.
That’s cheating, Doom!