Comments on: Top 50 Marvel Characters #4

By: Mary Warner

Mary Warner — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:36:00 +0000

Doom speaks in the third person much of the time because he is being recorded. You'll notice he speaks that way most often when he is alone, and thus, speaking solely for posterity. It wasn't only in the Spider-Man/Superman crossover (which wouldn't be canon)-- The original Secret Wars series also stated that Doom recorded everything he said, and it was mentioned in a back-up story in one of the DeFalco issues of Fantastic Four, as well . (I think it was #358.)

By: Bill K

Bill K — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:41:05 +0000

My favourite Dr Doom story is the one Priest wrote in Marvel Double-Shot #2 . Just... perfection.

By: GrifterZed

GrifterZed — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:58:52 +0000

Dr. Doom is great. As one of my friends in college once put it, "EVERYBODY eventually has to tangle with Doom." I'm shocked that, from what I've seen here, NO ONE has even MENTIONED Doom's habit of talking about himself in the third person. Some people have quoted him doing so, but not actually brought it up as a point of interest. I always thought that was a huge allusion to his massive ego that HAS been talked about at length here... Oh, and if history has taught us anything, it's that George Lucas is a gargantuan jackass. And it would definately be Lucas who would rip off such an original character as Doom (for which you'd have to be a serious dimwit to miss the obvious parallels).

By: Roderick T. Long

Roderick T. Long — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:01:04 +0000

Beyond the "scarred evil guy in mask and helmet" there are some more Doom/Vader parallels: a) Doom is tragically/ambiguously/semi-honourably evil rather than purely evil (thus he's more like both Vader and Magneto than like Darkseid); b) his powers are a mix of science and magic; c) he's obsessed with his failure to rescue his mother from death; d) his archenemy is a former friend whom he blames for his scarring and accuses of jealousy.

By: Lothor

Lothor — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 07:07:36 +0000

There was the "Emporor Doom" graphic novel where he took over the world. They reset-buttoned at the end, don't remember how off the top of my head.

By: Joe Gualtieri

Joe Gualtieri — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:31:35 +0000

Chris Coke, clearly you dropped out of Latvaria High and need to go back to complete your education in the glory of Doom.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:02:02 +0000

My favorite Doom story is FF#258 which is kind of a day "Day in the Life." We get to see what Doom does when he is not masterminding a takeover of the world or a dismantling of the Fantastic Four.
Ultimate Doom has to be the worst villain makeover in the Ultimate Universe and when the awful Ultimate Spider-man rogue's gallery is out there, that is a powerful proclamation.

By: Rohan Williams

Rohan Williams — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:16:44 +0000

Yeah, I get the Fourth World/Star Wars comparisons- it's pretty difficult not to- but I don't think anyone has really explained the Doom/Vader connection beyond 'he's got a helmet, he's scarred and he's evil', which seems pretty broad. Sure, it was probably an influence, and they're both great, tragic villains, but it seems like Doom was just one small part of the inspiration that would have been behind Vader. Which is Lucas' whole deal, of course- it's a classic example of avoiding accusations of plagiarism simply by the sheer weight of your influences, and rightly so.

By: taylor

taylor — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:59:56 +0000

Doom should take solace in that he finally beat Reed Richards at something (overwhelmingly.)

By: taylor

taylor — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:57:25 +0000

Not only is Doom the top Marvel villain (sorry Magneto), but he ended up being the top villain overall, beating out even the Joker!

By: fourthworlder

fourthworlder — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:31:10 +0000

Good summaries of the parallels between Star Wars and Kirby. Two other minor points - a handsome young lead character named Mark Moonrider instead of Luke Skywalker, and a kindly/crafty old mentor in a cloak teaching the young warrior how to fight and use the Source/Force (Obi-wan and Himon)
I've never read Kirby describing it as a rip-off, just that he would have appreciated at least some sort of recognition.
Of course, the minute George Lucas ever actually acknowledged New Gods or Doom as his inspirations, lawyers from DC and Marvel would probably have gone after the Star Wars millions. And most likely Jack still wouldn't have seen a dime (because after all, these are DC/Marvel creations, not Kirby Kreations).
So it goes...

And, oh, favorite Doom story? For me it will always be FF# 39 and 40, "The Battle of the Baxter Building," where he gets a little hands-on education from a furious Ben Grimm. Incredibly good stuff.

By: stinkbrown

stinkbrown — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:05:03 +0000

I would have to think that it will now be DD, Cap and Spidey, but truly in what order. I think, and this may just be personal preference, but DD may just scoop past Cap, but I assume Spidey will have #1 wrapped up...his fan base just seems overly global.

I assume that Cap will probably still get #2, especially as his latest issues seem to be going so well, and he gets the sympathy card for having just passed on and all. BUt I sure would love to see DD get in up and in their faces!

By: DeeSnider

DeeSnider — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:33:09 +0000

"My favourite Doom vs. Mephisto story is the Dr. Strange/Dr. Doom graphic novel."

Oh man, that is such a great book. Mignola's art is beutiful, and Stern writes such a great, multi-dimensional Doom. It really is one of the great underappreciated classics in Marvel history. I re-read that book every few years and it's always just as entertaining as the first time.

Can you tell it's also my favorite Doom story?

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:46:41 +0000

Orion, son of Dark Side, er, Darkseid, fights against his father with the (Astro) Force. Darkseid's base is a big ol' planet that looks somewhat mechanical and has big holes in it that shoot out energy... like a _star_ of _death_, or something.

Oh, and imagine Dr. Doom speaking with James Earl Jones' voice.

I'll second the Warren Ellis Doom 2099 stories, as well as Triumph & Torment. Good reading. Additionally, John Byrne's Dr. Doom stories gave the character greater depth, and made me a bigger fan of the character.

By: Freeform2

Freeform2 — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:49:58 +0000

I voted for Doom.

By: Chris Coke

Chris Coke — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:22:07 +0000

I'd be careful not considering Doom a villain. He's provided the people of Latveria everything they could want- everything except freedom. He thinks he's best qualified to make the whole world "better" just like he made Latveria "better". Heck, I think the textbook definition of megalomaniac is "somebody like Dr. Doom".

By: Chris Coke

Chris Coke — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:18:48 +0000

My favourite Doom vs. Mephisto story is the Dr. Strange/Dr. Doom graphic novel.

To me, Doom 2099 is the same Dr. Doom, so if you're a Doom 2099 fan, be happy.

By: Joe Gualtieri

Joe Gualtieri — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:17:40 +0000

Fourth place is far too low for one as great as Doom. Clearly, this is a Doombot and the real Doom will take his rightful place at #1 (John gets it, Doombots rule).

I'm disturbed by the number of people both in the article and in the htread calling Doom a villain. Doom's actually the greatest superhero in the Marvel universe, the only one who's made difference for people and improved their lives. Compare that to, say, Reed Richards, who invents all this fantastic tech and then keeps it too himself!

By: Chris Coke

Chris Coke — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:15:49 +0000

So everybody's clear, this is the best villain in comics (though I'm willing to concede Joker supporters have a good case)

He's everything you associate with a supervillain and perfect at it.

I'm actually shocked he's so low on the list.

Figured him a shoe-in for #2 or #3.

Ah well

By: suedenim

suedenim — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:07:00 +0000

Does anyone think Daredevil might be an upset exclusion? Or maybe that's just my personal opinion coloring things. Daredevil would win my award for "Most great stories about a lead character who's not really all that interesting." As for Doom/Vader, you can't (or at least I can't) say Vader is the same character as Doom or a legally-actionable copy or anything, but I think the inspiration is certainly plausible. George Lucas did read comic books, and was in the right generational cohort to have read Silver Age Marvel, so it's highly likely he read Doctor Doom stories. And there are a lot of parallels between the two characters - stuck in armor/mask because of a disfiguring accident, former friend of one of the heroes turned to evil, builds robots.... I've read that Kirby himself thought Star Wars ripped off a lot of his stuff. I'm not sure I ever read anything about him comparing Doom to Vader, but things like "The Source" vs. "The Force," and others.