Iron Man: Demon in an Armor (2011)
written by David Michelinie & Bob Layton
pencils by Graham Nolan
cover by Bob Layton
This one asks the question: what if Doctor Doom was Iron Man and Iron Man was Doctor Doom?
I guess it was too long for the title.
In this timeline, Tony Stark ends up being Victor Von Doom’s roommate in college.
I’ve always been under the impression that both Doom and Reed were older than Tony, but since they’re all prodigies their age isn’t really a factor on when they college.
We’ve always known that Doom is big fan of classical music, but that’s the extent of our knowledge of his tastes.
Apparently he hates rock & roll.
Easily the best part of this story is the examination of difference in social status between Doom and Tony. I find this very interesting because it’s the same dynamic he should have with Reed (who might not be as rich as Tony but he does come from wealth), but for whatever reason this is basically never addressed in relation with Reed.
It’s also a nice contrast between how Doom and Tony work.
Days after Tony corrected Doom’s mistake in his calculations, Doom is already impressed enough to ask him to help with a personal project.
You might expect this to be Doom’s experiment to contact his mother in Hell, but nope!
This Doom is a little more approachable than the regular one…
…but Doom’s gotta Doom.
Naturally Tony volunteers to be the one with powers.
Except it’s a trap!
This is, in fact, a device to swap minds!!!
So now Doom is in Tony’s body and vice versa.
Without a way to prove his identity, Tony ends up back in Latveria with no money.
Despite what the cover and the title may lead you to believe, he doesn’t get through another addiction.
And Doom is now Lex Luthor with hair.
One point that I don’t buy is the suggestion that Doom orchestrated the death of Tony’s father.
I’d believe Doom ruining his life or throwing him into a mental institution, but I really don’t buy Doom killing him.
Tony ends up turning his life around… he still has the mind of Tony Stark after all… and even gets himself a doctorate.
That’s right: the only Doctor Doom that is ACTUALLY a doctor is not really Victor Von Doom!
Ironically, it seems that Tony is doing a better job than Doom at making Latveria a better place.
“Stark International” isn’t enough for Doom.
This results in direct competition between the two companies.
In order to sabotage his rival, Doom has built his own armor that BY SHEER COINCIDENCE has the same design of the Iron Man armor with a different color scheme.
At least there’s SOME explanation for why Stark has built a Doctor Doom armor, refecencing the “traditional Latverian design”.
The two mind-swapped former friends eventually meet.
Even if Stark keeps thinking that he’s no warrior, he holds his own. Then again, this version of Doom (which I remind you is in the Iron Man armor) has never had to fight either.
Tony eventually manages to sabotage Doom’s armor by messing with its cybernetic controls.
I’m guessing the regular Iron Man never tries this with Doom because his armor is better protected, but has he ever tried this trick with a lesser foe?
This causes Doom’s armor to explode its missiles before they launch, and he’s down for the count.
In exchange for amnesty, Doom offers to Stark to give him back his body.
However, in a nice final twist Tony rejects the offer because “Stark” has become synonymous with Doom’s evil deeds.
And so we end up with Doom reminding us the he’s an honorable man.
Plus this one is, you know, an actual doctor.
Did any of this show up in continuity?
Surprisingly no, even when Doom takes Iron Man’s place for an entire series.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
While perfectly in-character, it is a bit Silver Age that Doom just has a mind-swapping device ready to go in college.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Not a masterpiece but it can be done at any time. Its characterization of Doom is perhaps a bit simplistic, but since we’re skipping everything past the original incident I’ll let it slide.
Perhaps it goes a bit too fast… I would’ve liked SOME mention of the impact this has on the superhero community, but no other hero is even mentioned… but it’s nitpicking.
A couple of points impressed me, when the story doesn’t go in the typical direction of tales like this. Doom doesn’t try to kill Tony, Tony doesn’t even try reversing the process, plus the difference in attitude towards their new status quo.
Tony puts himself into getting a new life, even managing to outdo the classic Doom (from getting the doctorate to bettering Latveria).
As for Doom, while admittedly he’s acting more like Luthor, this is yet another example of why all the failures in Doom’s origin story are SO important in making him unstoppable.
For all the talk he does at the beginning of Tony having an unfair advantage, the moment he gets Tony’s identity he stops pushing himself.