FANTASTIC FOUR 58 (1967)
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Continuing from the issue where Doctor Doom stole the powers of Silver Surfer. Will the Fantastic Four triumph against him?
The cover isn’t very optimistic.
Now that he has the Power Cosmic, Doom decides to prank the Fantastic Four by making his image appear inside a lightning strike.
Twice!
Reed decides to gaslight both the Invisible Girl and the Thing into believing they are just seeing things. I’m sure that is far better than warning them that you suspect your worst enemy is planning an attack.
Doom takes some time to gloat…
…but after Reed and Sue leave the Baxter Building for their summer home, leaving the Thing behind, he goes on the offensive.
“You insufferable, unspeakable blot on the escutcheon of humanity”. Nobody writes Doom’s dialogues like Stan Lee.
It’s round two between the Thing and Doom!
Instead of resorting to brute force to fight back, Doom opts to immobilize the Thing.
Meanwhile, the Richards are having some time off… in costume, for some reason…
Until Doom interrupts their sitcom antics.
The Invisible Girl is taken out of the fight immediately…
…but Reed takes a little more effort.
The Human Torch returns from his subplot to fight Doom, but he doesn’t have more success.
While this is going on, supporting character Wyatt Wingfoot helps to free the Thing with one of Reed’s gadgets.
If that sounds a little too convenient, a caption reassures the “molecule buffs” that this is scientifically accurate.
Score one point for the good guys. How’s the Human Torch doing?
Uhm… not too great.
The rest of the team regroups, with Wyatt joining. His plan is to SHOOT DOOM IN THE HEAD with one of Reed’s super-guns!
Specifically, the gun is an Anti-Grav Disrupter ™ that… I’ll let Stan Lee explain how THAT works.
The caption informs us that the gun affects a hundred-foot radius, but Doom is floating a FAR smaller crater.
Doom could kill the Fantastic Four here and now, but he decides that ignoring them is a far worse punishment.
I’m sure he won’t bother them ever again.
Doom significance: 10/10
Like the previous issue, this entira saga codifies all the tropes of the “Doom gains ultimate power” story that will be done several times.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
Even by Marvel standard, this is pretty low on silliness.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Reed’s insistence on keeping his wife in the dark about the very likely return of Doctor Doom is the only dark spot, but he’s not as obnoxious about as he’s been in the past.
Doom himself is as theatrical and over the top as ever, but considering he’s on a literal power trip it’s even more in character than usual.
And overall, the dark tone is carried rather well, with each fight highlighting just how utterly screwed the Fantastic Four are.
It was a Doombot all along
We are 100% sure that the Doctor Doom of every issue of this saga is the real deal.
Take over the world
Doom puts this goal on hold because he has to…
Destroy the FF!
And he could’ve succeeded quite easily.
Crazy tech
The first Doom story where he doesn’t use any crazy gadget! By default, the winner is Reed’s Anti-Grav Disrupter ™.