FANTASTIC FOUR #247

"THIS LAND IS MINE!"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Letterer: Jim Novak | Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: In Latveria, Doctor Doom describes to the Fantastic Four how his homeland has fallen since King Zorba assumed the throne. The group is approached by a child named Kristoff, and then by his mother, who is elated to see Doom. She fills the FF in on the tyrannical rule of Zorba, but is subsequently killed by Zorba’s robotic secret police.

The FF and Doom defeat the robots and go into hiding with some Latverian citizens, where Doom continues to assert that he is a more benevolent leader than Zorba. Meanwhile, Zorba, mad with power, releases Doom’s killer robots to wipe out the populace. Once again, the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom join forces to defeat these new foes. Two hours later the final robot is vanquished, but Doom has vanished from the battlefield.

Inside his castle, Doom releases his right hand man, Boris, from captivity, and then confronts Zorba. Zorba swears Doom will never rule while he is alive, so Doom rectifies the problem. He then returns to the Fantastic Four and gives them leave to depart Latveria. Mister Fantastic accepts the offer under the condition that Doom will devote himself to the peaceful restoration of his land.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Zorba, brother of the late King Rudolpho and therefore the rightful heir to the Latverian throne, assumed the crown in FANTASTIC FOUR #200, following a storyline in which the FF aided the Latverian resistance to install him.

Kristoff’s mother describes Zorba’s rule:

I don’t know what a burgermeister is, but Doctor Doom has one named Josef.

Is It Clobberin' Time? You bet it is!

The Quotable Doom: “…mark you well my words – the ultimate destruction of the Fantastic Four is ever my most cherished goal. When next we meet it shall be achieved!”

My Thoughts: When John Byrne took over FANTASTIC FOUR with issue 232, he inherited a situation for Doctor Doom which had been in place for over two years at that point: Doom was deposed as ruler of Latveria, instead operating out of his castle in upstate New York. Byrne seemed to be in no special hurry to rectify the situation, giving us one Doom story using that same set-up, “Terror in a Tiny Town” from FF 236.

But now, one month shy of four years since the overthrow of Doom in issue 200, Byrne returns him to his most recognizable status quo, in a very good story.

It can’t be questioned that Doom is a dictator, but Byrne goes to great pains here to show us that unlike most such personalities in the real world, Doom legitimately cares for his people, and they adore him. We get these words from the mouth of Doom himself, but also from Kristoff’s mother, who drops to her knees with joy when she sees him. In the castle, the head of Zorba’s secret police states that Doom very seldom punished his people for anything; the simple threat of punishment was enough to keep them in line. Doom elaborates on this, admitting that he deprived his people of one simple freedom: the freedom to commit evil. (And the hypocrisy of this statement is a nice touch by Byrne.)

It’s really a fascinating look at the character. Byrne goes to great lengths to show us that Latveria really was better off when Doom was in charge. Of course, he accomplishes this in part by turning Zorba — a genuinely charismatic and noble character in his earlier appearances — into a raving lunatic, but still. We may never know what would’ve happened had a legitimately benevolent character seized the throne; maybe Latveria would have prospered. But for the purpose of this story, at least, we find ourselves rooting for Doctor Doom to win and reclaim the throne.

Like I said last time, Doom really brings out the best in Byrne.