FANTASTIC FOUR #246

"TOO MANY DOOMS"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Colorist: Glynis Wein | Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: At the Baxter Building, Reed analyzes the Thing while Alicia Masters observes. Soon, the Latverian ambassador calls Reed to discuss arrangements for the transportation of Doctor Doom’s body to the embassy. Meanwhile, at Doom’s castle upstate, within Liddleville, the miniature robot containing his brain argues with the Puppet Master. Another full-size Doom arrives and crushes the Puppet Master robot, then departs with mini-Doom.

The FF arrive at the Latverian embassy with Doom’s body but are immediately pulled into four separate traps where they each find themselves fighting Doctor Doom. The four Dooms are defeated, but at the same time, the four-segmented trap holding the FF is pulled aboard a skyship which then leaves New York. Aboard the craft, four more Dooms oversee the restoration of mini-Doom’s mind into his full-size body.

The Fantastic Four are reunited and Doctor Doom soon joins them in their cell. He reveals that the craft has arrived in Latveria, and he needs the quartet’s help to reclaim the country from its current ruler, King Zorba. The FF refuse, but Doom then shows them Latveria’s capital, Doomstadt, which has fallen into ruin since Doom was deposed.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Reed recaps Ben’s recent transformations. He is studying the Thing’s condition only to keep up appearances, now that he knows Ben’s subconscious will not allow him to return to normal as long as he is with Alicia.

We're reminded that the FF have had possession of Doctor Doom’s body since issue 236. The team uses their new Fantasticar, provided by Tony Stark to replace the one destroyed in Terrax's attack, to travel to the embassy.

When the scene shifts to Liddleville, we see a tiny ship carrying the Micronauts away from Doom’s castle and an adventure they had there in MICRONAUTS #41.

When Latverian ambassador Leopold questions whether Doom’s plan might fail, the Doombot to whom he's speaking angrily kills him for the suggestion. In one of his few moments of praise for his former partner Chris Claremont, Byrne has expressed his admiration for Claremont’s ability to make a reader care about even the most insignificant characters before killing them off. Byrne tries his own hand at that here, letting us know Leopold’s final thoughts are of his wife and daughter.

As he battles his Doombot, Johnny realizes he's become too dependent on his flame powers, and is of little effectiveness without them.

The Thing recalls that the last time Doom was a physical match for him was when he stole the Silver Surfer’s powers, though we receive no footnote to the classic Lee/Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR 57 – 60.

Doom recalls that the Fantastic Four once sought his aid in issue 116.

Is It Clobberin' Time? Nope.

The Quotable Doom: “When Victor von Doom ruled here, Latveria was the richest, most prosperous nation in all Europe. No man or woman was without employment . No child went to bed hungry. Until Zorba’s followers stirred up discontent in factions of the populace, there was no crime, no civil strife. Look upon my native country now, outlanders! Look, and tell me what you see!”

My Thoughts: I think I said it before, but it bears repeating (and I'll probably repeat it a few more times before all is said and done): pretty much nobody writes Doctor Doom as well as John Byrne. Byrne may well have a better grasp of Doom than of any of the FF members. It's not just his speech and mannerisms, though -- it's also his tactical mind; the way he comes up with a separate trap for each member of the team, but is well aware they will escape those traps. He wants them to escape because he needs their help, but he also wants them to fear for their lives before he reveals that fact.

And of course he has a plan for every contingency. When his Doombots restore him to normal, he wants to know which plan got the job done. (It's good old Plan Epsilon, by the way.) And Byrne, perhaps more than anyone else, is quick to remind us, as quoted above, that Doom is a benevolent tyrant. A tyrant, yes, but one who cares for his people and is pained to see them suffer. He's an amazingly complex character, and -- of the various Doom appearances I've read over the years -- few have done more to delve into that complexity than Byrne.

(Or perhaps I should rephrase, since I'm sure plenty of writers think they've explored Doom’s complexity: Few have done more to delve into that complexity correctly than Byrne.)