I’m not implying Doom would cry at the human tragedy; at the children orphaned and the absent faces. Rather, on an abstract level, he would recall his complaint of man’s capacity for brutality and senseless slaughter. That’s why Dr. Doom exists, at least in his own mind. Doom is not an American, but he is “connected” with the events, the people and the grand trends of history in each corner of the world. How could he ever conquer the Earth,if he felt himself detached from any segment?

The incident of 9/11, or the wreckage of a genocide, or the deaths of millions in famine would probably move him to the pettiness and needless suffering of humanity; to shed a Shakespearean or philosophical tear at man’s self-hatred. And as pompous as that sentiment sounds – he is an egomaniacal villain, after all – I can imagine Doom feeling that with at least some genuine sincerity and dismay

Anyway, having Doom there is also a stupid choice… What the f*** is he doing in the crime scene? How no one suspect of him having something to do with it? It’s right on his ballpark….

And Magneto was a mass murderer before 9/11. In Fatal Attractions, he generated that electromagnetic pulse that shut down every electronic device on earth… Imagine how many died in minutes…

Joseph, I would like to ask you a question: If someone created a comic about the events of the 9/11 which depicted the Joker or Hitler crying because of the loss of life, would you complain about it?

If your answer is yes, then you’re a total hypocrite.

If your answer is no, then you’re really hopeless.

Dark Phoenix destroys a planet with billions of people (that’s with a “B”), it gets mentioned for a few panels, Jean Grey is put on trial, the X-Men fight, the end. Where’s the mourning for these billions of people? Sure, they’re aliens, but still.

And like some other people have mentioned, mass-scale destruction (and presumably, loss of civilian life) happens all the time in the Marvel Universe, especially when super-villains attack.
Where was the mourning for all the people who died when Galactus attacked? What about mourning all the people who died during Secret Wars, Atlantic Attacks, and the endless Infinity cross-overs? Oh, right, that doesn’t make very good story-telling when the comic book has to move on to the next adventures of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc.

Okay, I get that the Marvel staff needed to do something to express their feelings, but why do it in an in-continuity comic book? Why not have a stand-alone book, where we could sort-of (maybe) believe that 9/11 would cause Dr Doom to cry?

Here’s a short list of other real-life tragedies and the fantasy characters that have trivialized it:

The Vietnam War – Col. Kurtz
Auschwitz – The mice in “Maus”
World War II – Private Ryan
The Brutal Dictatorship of Idi Amin – That doctor guy from “Last King of Scotland”

Has the character of Doom changed so much since I stopped buying everything and cut back to 5-10 books per month? Because back when I was really into comics (80s-90s) Doom was human. He cared about his people. He cared about his family. He feuded with Mephisto over his mother’s lost soul.

I did not see a problem with Doom’s tears and actually thought that all of the vilians were upset.

Magneto cares about people (he just doesn’t consider non-mutants as “people”).
Kingpin cares about people. He considers New York City his personal property.
Doc Oc and Juggernaut have demonstrated weak spots for the elderly, women and children.

I think that it was well done. That the choices made sense. (I agree that Red Skull, for example, would have been inappropriate.) It was obviously out of continuity (not from the story, itself, but from the “Interruption” anouncement that begun it.) And, that the book was enjoyable. I’m only upset that the creators feel such a need to defend themselves for it.

And, for those of you who think that referencing a tragedy “trivializes” it:, I have just this to say: GOOD. Trivialize the heck out of it. Show that we are not terrorized by the terrorist attack. Especially in the trivia-obsessed American culture where this is really the only way to ensure that we Never Forget.

Theno

Eric Nolen-Weathington
Editor, Modern Masters

It would have been better, I think, if the authors had tried to make a different point (or make the same point in a different manner). Instead of four big villains appearing and brooding, have Electro, Dr. Octopus, the Wizard, Batroc, etc. appear and realize how insignificant they are even as evil. These are characters who exist to fight our heroes, have put innocents in harm’s way on occasion but never behaved as though the lives of others were offensive. It would have drawn the starkness — the specialness — of the crime in a clearer light by differentiating the quotidian bad from the monumental evil. Kingpin and Juggernaut’s appearances would make sense in this context.

That said, I like the issue. I don’t agree that it trivialized the issue or betrayed some “inherent” funness of comic books. Even if superheroes are wish fulfilling fantasies of power, why shouldn’t they confront the real horrors that inspire them? The issue helped underscore how mind-bogglingly awful that day was, when even the idols we create to solve the insolvable don’t know what to do. And Spiderman — the heroic Everyman — is the perfect hero with which to examine these themes. The image that has remained with me from the issue is not Doom’s questionable tears but the shot of Spiderman holding his head in grief and anguish as he sees the wreckage for the first time. It’s a poignant reminder that no matter how good we are, no matter how well we manage to rise above our own weaknesses and strive to make the world a better place, sometimes we won’t be able to stop those who revel in pain and suffering from succeeding.