** General **
1. Why is Doctor Doom so powerful?
2. In what comics has Doctor Doom appeared?
3. Why does Doom hate Reed Richards so intensely?
4. Why does Doom hate the Thing?
5. What kind of person is Doom?
6. How badly scarred is Doom's face? 
7. What do we know about Doom's armor?
8. What is Doctor Doom a Doctor of?
** Latveria and Personal Facts **
9. Why does Doom rule Latveria?
10. When has Doom not ruled Latveria?
11. Who was/is Kristoff?
12. Who is Boris?
13. Who is Valeria?
14. What happened to Cynthia Von Doom (Doctor Doom's mother)?
15. Does Doom have any living relatives? 
** Doom in Time **
16. Why do the Fantastic Four claim to have Doom's
time machine?
17. What is the relationship between Doctor Doom and Kang?
18. Is anything known about Doom's future?
19. What's the time loop involved in the Marvel Secret Wars?
** Doom's Foes **
20. What super-villains has Doom used?
21. What super-villains has Doom created?
22. How many times has Doom possessed "the power cosmic"?
23. What was "Acts of Vengeance"?
** Doom's Own Titles **
24. What was Super-Villain Team-up about?
25. What was Doom 2099 about?
26. How did Doom end up in 2099?
27. What do we know about Doom's 2099 armor?
28. Has Doom starred in any other titles?
** Those Pesky Doombots **
29. How do Doombots work?
30. How can I distinguish a Doombot from the real Doctor Doom?
31. Which appearances of Doctor Doom are not Doombots?
DOCTOR DOOM: Victor Von Doom was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics and first appeared in Fantastic Four #5. Possessed of incredible scientific and magical skills, Doom hides his scarred face under a metal mask and wears a super-powered suit of armor. His primary motivations are (1): the utter defeat of his arch-rival Reed Richards, (2) the rescue of his mother from the clutches of Mephisto [completed in the graphic novel "Triumph and Torment"], and (3) the conquest of the entire Earth, which he believes would be better off under his rule.
REED RICHARDS: The leader of the Fantastic Four, and the only mind in the Marvel Universe capable of equaling or surpassing that of Doom. Doom and Reed are two sides of a coin, different but alike in many ways. Reed was granted a super pliable body when his space craft was bombarded by cosmic rays (see Fantastic Four #1).
CYNTHIA ELENA VON DOOM: The mother of Victor Von Doom, who sold her soul to Mephisto in order to use her witchcraft to protect their gypsy tribe from persecution, she died when Victor was still a baby. Mephisto cheated her and held her soul captive in his realm for many years.
WERNER JOSEF VON DOOM: The father of Victor Von Doom, a gypsy healer of some renown in the Zefiro tribe, whose talents were called upon by peasants and nobles alike. He lost his life while protecting his young son from the persecution of the Baron Draasen, after being unable to save the life of the Baron's ailing wife.
LATVERIA: The tiny Balkan nation, located between Hungary and Transylvania in a mountainous region physically separated from the rest of Eastern Europe. It has been ruled by Doctor Doom for many years, although others have temporarily usurped his reign. It is a simple yet prosperous nation, guided by Doom's firm hand and benefited by his advanced technology. The natives of Latveria treat Doctor Doom with a mixture of love, respect, and fear, and call him "Master". Doom asks only that they be happy.
DOOMBOTS: To suit his own purposes, Doctor Doom has developed an entire legion of robotic facsimiles of himself. These Doombots are often mistaken for the true Doctor Doom as they even believe themselves to be Doctor Doom except in the presence of another Doombot, or the real Doctor Doom.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR (also called the "FF"): A four-member rocket crew that was exposed to cosmic rays and gained extraordinary powers as a result. Reed Richards became the elastic Mr. Fantastic, his best friend and pilot Ben Grimm became the rocky Thing, Reed's girlfriend and later wife Sue Storm became the Invisible Woman, and Sue's younger brother Johnny Storm became the fiery Human Torch. They banded together as a team and vowed to use their powers for the benefit of mankind.
** General **
1. Why is Doctor Doom so powerful?
Doctor Doom is very possibly the most brilliant human being in the Marvel Universe. He was created as the arch for Reed Richards, who has been hailed as the smartest man on Earth, yet Doom is more aggressively active with his genius than is Reed. He has fashioned exotic devices that can do just about everything, from time travel to space travel to instantaneous spatial displacement (like beaming oneself from one place to another). His other great talent is the ability to apparently plan for every conceivable contingency.
Doom is also a skilled sorcerer. Although he does not flaunt his mystic skills very often (as he believes that science is of equal or greater importance), and does not appear to be able to perform major rituals, he has been acknowledged as powerful and quick. He learned everything known by a secret order of monks in remote Tibet, to the point that he became their master, and he also studied for a short time under Dr. Strange. Before those events however, Doom had access to the possessions of his mother, who was herself a sorceress, and learned many of her secrets when he was still a young boy.
Doom also has a singular will, as strong and determined as any mortal known. He could not be broken by the likes of the Purple Man, Mephisto, or the Beyonder, and he also possesses the ability to hide his thoughts from even the most skilled telepaths.
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2. In what comics has Doctor Doom appeared?
Doom has appeared in many Marvel Comics over the past thirty plus years. Around the time of the Acts of Vengeance in fact, Doom or his doubles the Doombots were sighted in just about every major Marvel Comic published at the time. Check out the Apperances page and see for yourself.
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3. Why does Doom hate Reed Richards so intensely?
Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards first met back in their college days, at Empire State University (ESU), located on 14th Street in New York City, although back then it was just called "State" University. Doom was involved in a project to create a machine that would allow his astral self to travel to Mephisto's realm in order to locate his mother's spirit, trapped there since he was a baby. Reed was snooping around and stumbled onto the equations Doom was using, and he thought he saw an error. Doom caught him shuffling through his private work, and refused to listen to him, kicking him out of the room. Doom went ahead with his experiment and his machine exploded, scarring his face. Doom was expelled for performing forbidden experiments.
Doom has a particular weakness, which is his tremendous ego and vanity. He partially blames Reed for the destruction of his face. He was also in close competition with Reed throughout their time in school together, each pushing the other to new scholastic heights. Since that time, in order to prove himself better than Reed, he has tried to defeat the Fantastic Four many times, yet those battles often end in a stalemate. While Doom feels the need to overcome Reed Richards, he has also acknowledged that Reed may be the only other man who could understand or appreciate his genius. Plus Reed is a jerk.
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4. Why does Doom hate the Thing?
In Fantastic Four #40, Doom invaded the Baxter Building, then headquarters to the Fantastic Four. Confident that he had prepared for all of the FF's powers, he confronted Ben Grimm, the Thing. Grimm not only withstood Doom's assaults (albeit with great difficulty), he actually dared to physically assault him, and wounded Doom. Doom has never faced a personal attack so severe, and he has sworn to destroy Grimm for that affront to his person.
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5. What kind of person is Doom?
One thing that you will quickly notice is that Doom can be both the protagonist and the antagonist in the stories. This is because that while he has battled the Fantastic Four and often seeks ways to increase his own power, he always conducts himself with honor and grace. Never will Doom exploit or attack a weakened or beaten foe, that kind of villainy is beneath him. Doom will not tolerate insults or assaults made to his person or those under the protection of his person. Doom honors his word fervently. Doom is fiercely independent to the point of not asking for or accepting help in almost every instance. Doom is usually of the philosophy that "The ends justifies the means."
Any appearance of Doom acting strangely out of character is, in all probability, actually an appearance of a Doombot. See questions 29, 30, and 31 for more on Doombots.
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6. How badly scarred is Doom's face?
When Doom's college experiment to contact his mother's spirit failed, his face suffered a relatively minor scar along one side. Doom felt that the scar was completely disfiguring to the degree that he could not stand the sight of his own face. After he traveled for some time and became the leader of the Tibetan monks, they fashioned for him a suit of armor. Feeling that his face was already scarred beyond repair, and in his impatience to begin his new crusade, Doom placed the still-hot metal mask to his face. Whether or not that mask was red-hot or just really really hot, remains a matter of debate (and revision in the comics). Nevertheless, from that time forward his face has remained hidden.
Those who have seen Doom's face have all gasped, supposedly in horror at what they have seen, yet Doom's face has never been revealed in a comic. All that we see is the scarred tissue around his eyes through the eye slits of his metal mask. There is wide speculation on whether Doom's face remains scarred, since considering Doom's own advances in science he should have long ago been capable of repairing his shattered countenance. However, it is quite likely that in his obsessions, Doom no longer considers his face to be among his top priorities. Indeed, it may be that the face of Doom, is literally and figuratively the mask that we see!
In the Autumn/Winter 1998 edition of the Jack Kirby Quarterly (#11), a magazine devoted to the art and talent of Jack Kirby, Mr. Chris Harper profiled the character of Doctor Doom. In the article, he states, "(Doom) apparently cannot bear to look at his scarred face (after the lab explosion). Stan Lee's scripts almost always play this dead straight, but Kirby - arguably the creator of Doom - says otherwise. Doom's scarring, Jack claimed, was a small scratch on his cheek, hardly noticeable and easily disguised . . . yet to Doom it's an intolerable, unbearable defect on his otherwise handsome face." And in an accompanying Jack Kirby drawing, Doom is shown removing his mask, and there is only a small scar, barely noticeable, on Doom's right cheek.
Another supporting argument to this view was also seen in Doom 2099 # 25, where Doom's nemesis, Margaretta Von Geisterstadt, makes a duplicate Doom from an unwilling pawn, one Erik Czerny. In completing her programming of Czerny to believe he is Doom, she cuts him along his cheek, declaring, "There. Just like the original."
Of course, there are any equal number of comic books which seem to point to Doom's face being hideously scarred. So, again, it's up to the reader to decide.
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7. What do we know about Doom's armor?
Doom's armor is packed with weaponry and defenses, most notably the energy blasters in his gauntlets and his impenetrable force field, which has withstood attacks from the likes of Thor. Unlike many armored villains, Doom could survive perfectly well without his armor, even though he is almost never seen without it. Besides his energy beams, Doom has incorporated various other weapons into his armor over the years, some of which have been used a few times, and some of which make only one appearance. The armor is also equipped with extraordinary sensory equipment that allows Doom to analyze and study everything. Doom;s armor is said to be able to lift approximately two tons. It is powered by a nuclear energy pack.
Doom's first armor was forged by the monks in Tibet, although he has surely remade it himself over the years. Doom has made several appearances in Promethium armor, that he gained in Magik's realm of Limbo. There have been minor improvements to the design and style of his armor over the years.
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8. What is Doctor Doom a Doctor of?
Well, I’ll be truthful. Doctor Doom is not really a Doctor. But, don’t get out your malpractice forms yet. He was thrown out / quit college before he could get his degree. Doctor Doom is easily smart enough to be called Doctor. As we have seen in many cases, he is far superior in intellect than Dr. Reed Richards. He helped Sue give birth to Valeria, and he has performed many other things that only a true genius could perform. So I ask you, what’s in a name. Would a maniacal genius by any other name be as cool? I don’t think so. Doctor Doom is not a doctor in the literal sense, but if anyone deserves the title, it is Doom.
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** Latveria and Personal Facts **
9. Why does Doom rule Latveria?
Doom is of gypsy lineage, whose home has always been in the region of Latveria. Doom intended to reclaim Latveria, which was usurped from one of his ancestors long ago, and use it as his base of operations once he returned from Tibet. Once he was certain that he was indeed the rightful ruler of Latveria through his blood lineage, he confronted the then ruler Prince Rudolfo and demanded that he abdicate. Rudolfo refused and was then killed in the ensuing battle he ordered against Doom.
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10. When has Doom not ruled Latveria?
There have been two primary instances when Doom has not been the ruler of Latveria. In Fantastic Four #200, after a long battle, the FF and a man named Zorba deposed him. (Actually, Reed did in a battle that rendered Doom catatonic). Zorba, who claimed lineage through Prince Rudolfo, became ruler of Latveria and the FF left thinking that they had made everything wonderful. However, Doom returns in FF #246 to reveal to them that Zorba has become a despot and has been unable to sustain the country's prosperity under his rule. While the FF run some interference for him, Doom returns to his castle and eliminates Zorba, retaking Latveria.
Also, in Fantastic Four Annual #20, Doom's rule is apparently usurped by Kristoff (this occurs after FF #305). Kristoff appeared to rule Latveria until FF#350, when it is revealed that he had merely usurped an errant Doombot and had done nothing to affect the true Doom in any way. For more on Kristoff, see below.
It is also noteworthy that in the year 2099, Latveria was ruled by Tiger Wylde, a cybernetic tiger-man, until Doom returned to Latveria (from places unknown), and reclaimed his country once more.
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11. Who was/is Kristoff?
Originally, Kristoff was a young boy that Doom took into his custody upon his return to Latveria in FF # 247. Doom took the boy because his mother was killed by Zorba's forces while she was under his protection. Kristoff was not much older than Franklin, and he was schooled in Castle Doom under Doom's remarkably gentle supervision.
However, in FF # 278, Doombots enacted a contingency plan after Doom's apparent death in FF # 260. They brainwash Kristoff to believe that he was Doom to the extent that not even Reed Richards could later cure him. Kristoff, always proclaiming himself to be the true Doom although everyone else knew he was not, was held in the custody of the Fantastic Four for a short time until he freed himself in FF Annual #20. Kristoff then "took" Latveria from a Doombot and everyone assumed that he actually ruled it until the true Doom's return to Latveria in FF # 350.
Kristoff clashed with the Doombot many times in several titles during his false reign over Latveria. he believed the Doombot to be an imposter who had somehow usurped his adult body and trapped him in the body of a child. Kristoff was apparently killed by Justice Peace in FF # 352 when the real Doom sneakily put Kristoff in his place after Doom's battle with Reed through the time stream in that issue.
Kristoff later appeared in regular issues of the FF, acting as a regular member of that team, seemingly cured of his belief that he was the true Doom, but still possessed of Doom's intellect and a powerful suit of armor that made his childlike body appear more adult sized. Kristoff also appeared acting like Doom in the ruins of Castle Doom in the MC2 future in A-Next # 5.
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12. Who is Boris?
Boris is the faithful servant of Doom. He has been by Doom's side since Victor was a young boy, and was a friend of his family before Victor's parents died. He may be the only person living for whom Doom cares, as demonstrated in FF # 247, when he releases Boris from Zorba's dungeon. Boris generally does not do anything but make arrangements for Doom and keep him company. In Doom 2099 # 1, Doom refers to Boris as "the one man I called friend." Fortune, the gypsy administrator that Doom employs in 2099, is the great- great- granddaughter of Boris, although her parents are not known. Boris may be the grandfather (or father, depending on who you ask) of Valeria.
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13. Who is Valeria?
There are two Valeria's. The first Valeria is significant because Doom as a young man, was said to be in love with her. They grew up together in the gypsy camps, but they grew apart over the course of Doom's quest for power. She serves as the standard "past love" of Doom's tortured life. In the "Unthinkable" storyline, Doom uses his love for Valeria as a bargining chip to gain dark demonic supernatural powers. He then turns her skin into his new armor....which has got to stink.
The second Valeria is, Valeria Von Doom. Valeria is Reed and Sue's second child. Sue had trouble with the pregnancy, and Reed was away and could not help her. Enter the good Doctor. Doom comes and saves the day. He delivers the baby without complication, and does it much better then Reed ever could have. The only favor he asked was that he be able to name the child.
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14. What happened to Cynthia Von Doom (Doctor Doom's mother)?
Cynthia Von Doom, mother of Victor, was a sorceress of
some degree of power. In order to become more powerful, she made a pact with the demon Mephisto. Mephisto tempted her with promises of a homeland for her gypsy people. Upon making her pact, however, her powers ran rampant, as Mephisto had not granted her any control over them. She was soon killed by soldiers. Mephisto claimed her soul after cheating her and kept her in his realm.
Every midsummer's night's eve, Doom would conduct a ritual in which he would battle the minions of Mephisto's realm for the soul of his mother, and every year he would fail. Finally, in a contest against Dr. Strange conducted by the Vishanti (in the Triumph and Torment graphic novel), Doom was able to ask a boon of Strange, whereupon Doom told him of his mother's trapped soul. Strange agreed to help and returned to Latveria with Doom. They spent some weeks in training before launching themselves into Mephisto's realm. Through a string of feints and attacks, they were able to give Cynthia Von Doom's soul the chance to redeem herself and pass beyond Mephisto's realm, although Doom did so with the apparent loss of her love. A hurt, but successful Doom returned with Strange to Latveria, where they amicably parted company.
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15. Does Doom have any living relatives?
Both of Doom's parents are dead. Werner Von Doom, Doom's father, died while fleeing from a noble. As a physician, Werner Von Doom was called upon to heal the noble's ailing wife. Von Doom realized she would die, but did everything he could to save her. The noble threatened to kill Von Doom if he did not heal her. Knowing his treatment would fail, Von Doom fled with the young Doom into the freezing, snow-covered mountains nearby. He died by freezing and exhaustion, and young Doom was left in the care of his father's long time friend Boris.
Doom had no other relatives, thus he was the last Von Doom. In the limited series Beauty and the Beast, there is a man named Alexander Flynn who claimed to be Doom's son, but that claim has gone unproven. Doom's daughter Valeria is a re-appearing character in Fantastic Four, but has not made an appearance as of late.
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** Doom in Time **
16. Why do the Fantastic Four claim to have Doom's time machine?
The reason they claim to have is they do have it. In the Fantastic Four's first encounter with Doom, he held Sue hostage while he sent the other three back in time to recover the Merlin Stones from Blackbeard the Pirate. The FF cheated Doom and caused him to retreat. After that encounter, however, Reed Richards revealed that he constructed a duplicate of Doom's time machine (because he was too stupid to make one himself). Reed's time machine looks much like Doom's machine, and has been referred to many times as "Dr. Doom's time machine." The FF may have used Reed's time machine for the first time in FF # 152, although they use Doom's time machine again in FF # 19. Reed's time machine remains one of the most prominent pieces of equipment in his labs.
It is worth noting that in Fantastic Four # 271, Reed discovers that his father, Nathaniel Richards, may have invented a time platform long before Doom did, but we don't believe that crap. (This machine is the same kind of device as we learn in Marvel Two-In-One #100 that travelling into the past always deposits one into an alternate reality).
In the wake of Onslaught, while the FF were supposedly dead, the government under the auspices of the evil Bastion, confiscated all of the advanced technical equipment in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, prior to it being occupied (and later blown up) by the Thunderbolts. Supposedly, Doom's time platform was also among that equipment. Nevertheless, Doom has made very sparse use of his time machine himself.
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17. What is the relationship between Doctor Doom and Kang?
In a very early meeting between Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror, the two speculated that they may in some way be related. This has led to wide spread speculation that Kang might be a time-divergent Doom, or one of Doom's descendents. However, it has later been shown that there is NO relationship between the two. Kang is a descendent of Nathaniel Richards through one of Reed's brothers in an alternate timeline that Nathaniel brought from war to peace. Bored with that peaceful existence, Kang used Nathaniel's time machine to become Rama-Tut and do all of the other villainous things he has done over the years.
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18. Is anything known about Doom's future?
There are several alternate future timelines that have been told of Victor Von Doom. The first, in Iron Man # 249 and # 250, Doom encounters a future version of himself that has become more metal than man, and is weak and pathetic. Doom destroys his future self, vowing never to become such a disgrace. It seems unlikely that this future will even remotely come to pass.
In the year 2099, Doom appears as he is today. In the history of that book, Doom mysteriously vanished at some point 50 to 100 years prior, and no one knows how or why. In 2099, he retakes Latveria and rules it again, as well as other nations of the 2099 universe including the United States!
Also, for reference sake, Doom's fate in the convoluted "Days of Future Past" timeline is unknown (see past issues of the X- books). It has been revealed, however, that the Sentinels controlling North America and viciously slaughtering all mutants were developed by the technology of Reed Richards. Doom does appear also in the alternate time future of the X-books "Age of Apocalypse". In AOA, Victor Von Doom is seen with a scarred face, but no armor or mask, and uses his technology to defend the European nations from Apocalypse.
In the MC2 title previously mentioned, A-Next, which is also an alternate Earth, it is revealed that there was some war between Atlantis and Latveria, and in his rage over some loss to his kingdom, Prince Namor and Doctor Doom fought an horrific battle, that resulted in the destruction of Castle Doom. In the aftermath of that war, Doctor Doom disappeared, and Namor sulked off to years of self-imposed exile.
In Universe X Doom is in the land of dead super-heroes, but Universe X is yet to be an accepted future.
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19. What's the time loop involved in the Marvel Secret Wars?
In Secret Wars I, the very powerful Beyonder gathered heroes and villains and put them on a planet he created called Battleworld, to fight it out, supposedly so he could see which would prevail, good or evil. This occurs around the time of FF # 265, while Doom was presumed dead just five issues earlier, and in fact, his body was seen destroyed. Doom had used the Ovoid mind transfer technique to transfer his mind into the body of one Norman McArthur, innocent bystander to the battle between the Silver Surfer and Terrax the Terrible. Therefore, the Beyonder was unable to locate Doom and so pulled him into the Secret War from some point in the future, since he wanted Doom to participate in the Secret War.
During the Secret War, Doom fought and seemingly defeated The Beyonder, stealing his godlike powers by using power stolen from Galactus and his own indomitable will. The heroes and villains were returned to the Earth following the conclusion of the Secret War, and The Beyonder later followed, curious about these being. However when The Beyonder encountered Doom in the body of Norman McArthur, he remembered his treatment at Doom's hands (even though Doom himself did not remember the incident). The Beyonder threatened to destroy Doom until Reed explained that in his time, Doom had not yet participated in the Beyonder's "Secret War". Tricked into believing that he could not survive the destruction of history, the Beyonder instead sent Doom on his way to the Secret War in FF # 288(which is a good thing for the Beyonder, bacause Doom would have punked him down a second time). The FF and the Beyonder both departed before Doom returned from the Secret War, in his own body, moments later.
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** Doom's Foes **
20. What super-villains has Doom used?
Doom likes to triumph over others who arrogantly proclaim their power, especially others who have battled the Fantastic Four. Over the years, and particularly in Super-Villain Team-Up, Doctor Doom has used a number of other villains to suit his own purposes. They include: The Fantastic Four, Namor, the Red Skull, Magneto, the Purple Man, the Puppet Master, Dormammu, Ultron, the Wrecker and the Wrecking Crew, the Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, the Molecule Man, the Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Terrax, Kang, Mr. Jip, and any others who mess with Doom.
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21. What super-villains has Doom created?
Besides the various other villains in encounters with them, Doom has also created a few super-villains. Hundreds of robots and androids have come out of his lab, and some have gone berserk, most notably the Doomsman. Doom was also responsible for the creation of Darkoth (from Ben Grimm's old friend Desmond Pitt), and Volcana and Titania (during the Secret War). At one point, Doom healed and revitalized Terrax the Tamer to use against the Fantastic Four. Doom's schemes were also responsible for Kristoff, who battled many heroes before becoming a good guy later on. Most recently he created Lancer, but she is not really a villain.
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22. How many times has Doom possessed "the power cosmic"?
There have been several times when Doom has usurped the power of a cosmic being and absorbed in into himself. The first time was in Fantastic Four # 57, when he stole the power of the Silver Surfer. He was defeated only when he flew into the barrier that kept the Surfer trapped on Earth, allowing the Surfer to regain his power when Doom was repelled.
In Secret Wars # 10, Doom absorbs some of the power of Galactus, and then the Beyonder, perhaps becoming more powerful than he has ever been at any other time. He used the technology of Galactus' worldship to achieve that goal. However, Doom lost his grip on reality and was finally defeated by Captain America and the Beyonder.
Finally, in Fantastic Four # 375, Doom absorbs the power of the rogue Watcher, Aron, which he uses to battle the Fantastic Four. Doom loses his power through a device that Reed creates to defeat him(lucky shot).
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23. What was "Acts of Vengeance"?
Doom participated slightly in a crossover series of Marvel Comics call "Acts of Vengeance", which, if nothing else, caused a lot of Doombots to appear in a lot of Marvel titles. The basic premise was that the evil Norse God, Loki, had developed a scheme to eliminate the do-gooders of Earth by having them fight foes that they had never encountered before. Doom was supposedly one of the six core villains recruited by Loki to serve this scheme. "Doom" appeared regularly in the Avengers, Punisher, and Spectacular Spider-Man at this time, with cameos in several other titles. However, the other core villains discovered that the Doom with whom they had been dealing was merely a Doombot, and not Doctor Doom at all. In the Fantastic Four, Doom uses a Doombot and an army of inept villains to demonstrate the foolishness of the entire Acts of Vengeance.
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** Doom's Own Titles **
24. What was Super-Villain Team-up about?
Super-Villain Team-up, or SVTU, was a comic book series that featured Doctor Doom every month. It showed him as he sought to consolidate his power in Latveria and expand it across the world, usually seeking to use other super-powered individuals as his lackeys. He had a long-running and often contentious alliance with Namor, the Sub-Mariner that began back in FF # 6, and continued throughout the series, during which the two monarchs helped each other achieve certain goals. The series had seventeen issues and two giant-sized specials.
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25. What was Doom 2099 about?
In one future timeline, Doom mysteriously disappeared somewhere between 50 to 100 years prior to 2099. When he returns in 2099, at the ruined remains of Castle Doom, he cannot remember what has happened to him, other than the "time" was later than he had anticipated. His face has also been restored, and he appears to be a younger man than he remembers (during one memory episode, he recalls being old, and sick). A confused Doom, with a severely underpowered armor (as evidenced by his lack of any kind of force field), is easily dispatched by the ruler of Latveria, a merciless cyborg named Tiger Wylde, and left for dead. However, Doom is rescued by the remains of his gypsy people, and gathers a small band of revolutionaries around him to rebuild his armor and retake his country. He continues to broaden his power in the Marvel World of 2099, a kind of dystopian future where the super-heroes of our world are unknown, and the real rulers are the CEO's of the Mega-corporations that control business and congress. Doom eventually overthrows the government of the US, and declares himself President of the USA! However, his reign is short lived as he runs afoul of a super secret sect within the Mega-Corps that uses forbidden technology to attack both the White House and Doom's own Latveria with tragic results. Doom escapes however, and eventually exacts his revenge upon his foes. After that, however, the series takes a turn for the worse, following the untimely firing of Joey Cavalieri as EIC of the 2099 line, the walk-out of a number of regular artists and writers, and the debacle that was 2099:World of Tomorrow. Taken as a whole, this series was one of if not the best of the 2099 books, with beautifully detailed art by Pat Broderick, and solid storytelling and top notch characterization by John Francis Moore and Warren Ellis. Doom 2099 lasted 44 regular issues, and Doom 2099 also appeared in some of the other 2099 titles and specials.
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26. How did Doom end up in the year 2099?
Full details on what exactly happened to Doom were never revealed. He returned to Latveria in 2099 drained and powerless, raggedly standing upon the exact location of the ruins of Castle Doom, in a city now called simply Antikva Vilago, or "old village". His memory of what happened is completely gone, although he does remember other details of his past such as his conflicts with the Fantastic Four. Later on, he remembers the decline of the age of Heroes, and he remembers killing Reed Richards. He also remembers growing old, and a tragedy of some kind of war that isn't explained. It is explained that he had his memory tampered with at some time, but whether or not he is the Doctor Doom is never revealed.
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27. What do we know about Doom's 2099 armor?
Doom changed his armor style from the original old style, to a mostly silver with a blue cape, to the "Presidential Armor" with a red cape and sometimes silver vest, to a blue and gold trim with a green cape, and back to his old style green cape and tunic at the end of his appearances in 2099: WoT! That's more costume changes than he's done in his entire 30 year career in Marvel Comics! However, the original 2099 armor (as appeared in Doom 2099 #1) was given specs in the Marvel Handbook. We are told that he wears an adamantium-lanxide body armor over cybermesh circuitry enabling tactile interface with nanotech (microscopic, self-replicating machines injected into his bloodstream). The nanites provide a bio-mechanical interface between Doom and his armor. The armor and the nanotechnology were constructed at a remote PIXEL research facility he later destroyed, with the help of Dr. Celia Quiñones. The armor has phasing capabilities, gauntlet blasters, flight via an integral rocket pack, and various special and personal weapons as yet unidentified. The armor weighs about 190 lbs., and is presumably as powerful in terms of physical strength augmentation as his original (which provides super human speed, stamina, durability and agility).
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28. Has Doom starred in any other titles?
Yes, Doom was also one of the subjects of the comic Astonishing Tales from issues one through eight, where he shared the title with Ka-Zar. He has also supported issues of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel Fanfare. He was the major antagonist of the series The Fantastic Four Vs The X-men. He is the subject of at least two graphic novels, including "Emperor Doom" and "Triumph and Torment". In Emperor Doom, Doctor Doom takes control of the world by using the power of the Purple Man. In this story, Doom makes the world incredibly prosperous, peaceful, and just, but in the end gives it all up because ruling the world without challenge was boring. In "Triumph and Torment", Dr.'s Strange and Doom team up to seek the release of Doom's mother from the realm of the demon Mephisto.
An interesting side note, is that after the story in Emperor Doom, it is quite possible that Doom is not interested in immediately resuming control of the world anytime soon. His recent pursuits seem to be along the lines of research, exploration, and enhancement of his personal power. Contrary to some speculation, Triumph and Torment has also probably occurred inside of current continuity, as Dr. Strange letters column once said the story takes place "fifteen minutes after Doom regains Latveria". Plus, there have been some drastic changes to the character of Dr. Strange in his own title, making him to be a very different person than he is in this graphic novel. Therefore, one of Doom's primary motivating factors, that is the desire to free his mother's soul from Mephisto's realm, has apparently been resolved. Doom has also just starred in Heroes:Reborn Doomsday among other, and a Doom 3 issue mini-series(which is one of his greatest stories of all time)
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** Doombots **
29. How do Doombots work?
Doctor Doom is a renowned master of robotics, having designed and created hundreds of robots and robot doubles of himself even while still a teen in Latveria. Since becoming Doctor Doom, he has created legions of Doombots who cannot be distinguished from his true self. Some Doombots can pass some of the most sophisticated means of detection, while others seem to serve merely as cannon fodder to keep the heroes at bay while the real Doctor Doom completes his plans in safety. There are some that "think", and whose thoughts can be psionically scanned. These Doombots believe themselves to actually "be" Doctor Doom, except in the presence of other Doombots and the Master himself. Some Doombots even have a face under their masks, and some may even be able to duplicate Doom's aura. In Fantastic Four Annual # 20, a Doombot managed to complete a mystic summoning ritual that brought Mephisto to Castle Doom. There seems to be no limit to the degree to which a Doombot could imitate Doom.
In addition, there are at least two occasions where Doombots have developed an artificial sentience of their own. The Doombot of FF Annual # 20 believed itself to be Doom, even in the presence of other Doombots, and carried on an extensive battle with Kristoff (who also believed himself to be Doom at the time). This robot was eventually destroyed by the true Doctor Doom. Also, in issues # 2 - 5 of the latest Deathlok series, a Doombot becomes sentient, and eventually goes so far as to declare it would attempt to survive in society before it was destroyed by Ultron.
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30. How can I distinguish a Doombot from the real Doctor Doom?
One possible answer to this it that the *true* Doctor Doom is all of those appearances of Doom that you like, or that you feel are in true character, while all those that you dislike or seem out of character, must then be Doombots. Certainly if a Doom is destroyed by the hero of the comic without much effort and far before the end of the book, then it must have been a Doombot, and hold your breath for the real Doom to appear.
However, there are certain appearances that have been revealed to be Doombots much later, some of which are clever explanations and others which appear to be nothing more than blatant manipulations.
In Fantastic Four # 350, the man who presents himself as the true Victor Von Doom implies that a majority of his appearances have been Doombots, while he has been gallivanting about the time stream doing who knows what for the last 30 years!
Here are some general guidelines to help prove that you are dealing with the true Doom and not an imitation, although there are bound to be exceptions to these (see first rule above). You are most likely seeing the real Doom if (a) Doom is using complex magic; (b) Doom is utilizing anything similar to the Ovoid mind transfer process he learned way back in FF #10; (c) Doom undergoes a genetic scan -- although he has cloned himself at least twice --; and lastly (d) Doom is well written, in character, competent, and/or doing something that is connected to his past that is not repetitive of something he's done before. More on this in the next question.
It should also be noted that Doom has used the Ovoids' mind transfer process at least three times that we know of. First, in FF # 10, he swapped bodies with Reed Richards. Then, in FF # 260, he used the same process to escape imminent death and swap bodies with Norman McArthur. The last time was in FF # 407 where Doom switched his mind into that of the Tomorrow Man to escape Hyperstorm's trap. The Ovoids are a race of aliens that have rarely been seen, although they briefly appeared in the Sensational She-Hulk # 47 - 49, where She-Hulk was the victim of the only other time the Ovoids' process had been used in comics. Doom managed to learn of this skill when the Ovoids rescued him from floating in outer space at the end of FF # 6.
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31. Which appearances of Doctor Doom are not Doombots?
There are a number of instances where we can be fairly sure that the appearances we see are the true Doctor Doom, and not a Doombot. Many of Doom's appearances outside of his own titles and the Fantastic Four can be suspected to be a Doombot (mostly because of reason (d) above). Within the Fantastic Four, it is reasonable to assume the following:
All Doom appearances through FF # 60 are indeed the true Doctor Doom. Issue # 5 is the first appearance of Doctor Doom, but we know that he uses a Doombot for the first time in one point in that issue. In Issue # 6, Doom begins his longtime alliance/rivalry with Namor, which has been referred to in other appearances of the true Doctor Doom. In FF #10, Doom uses the Ovoid mind transfer process to swap bodies with Reed, so that is undoubtedly the true Doom. Issue # 16 & 17 involve Doom in the microverse after he was sent there at the end of issue # 10. Doom has a battle of wills with Reed in # 23, which ties into the storylines of #'s 39, 40, and 43, which are proven to be the true Doom based upon what he says upon his return in FF # 350 (which retcons a few things). The storyline of 57 - 60 involves Doom getting his first taste of the power cosmic, and is surely an appearance of the true Doom based upon his later actions.
Fantastic Four Annual # 2, continuing the origin of Doctor Doom, along with Incredible Hulk # 155 and Marvel Super-Heroes # 20, are certainly the true Doctor Doom.
Most likely FF # 196 - 200 and FF Annual # 15 involve the true Doom, considering he cloned himself and was later rendered catatonic, later to be revived when his body is stolen back to Latveria. Therefore, FF 246 and 247 must also be the true Doom, as that involves Doom retaking Latveria from Zorba.
In FF # 258 - 260, Doom's body is destroyed, and in # 287 - 288, it is restored by the Beyonder. These along with Doom in Secret Wars I (where he gained the power of Galactus, was dissected by the Beyonder, and then gained the Beyonder's power in turn) must be the true Doom.
Doom in FF # 350 and # 352 are the real Doom, as that appearance serves to retcon a number of other appearances, and keeps in line with a number of other known true appearances of Doom. In these issues, Doom returns after a long leave of absences, and one might speculate that he was away exploring and seeking to gain power as in cases of his appearances in Excalibur and the Infinity War.
Fantastic Four Volume 3: 25,31,32 and Doom 1-3 are the real Doom. Doom’s armor is taken away, and placed on Reed Richards. Doom is transported to Doomworld where he is naked, so this must be the true Doom.
All other appearances of Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four cannot decisively be proven to be the true Doom. It is worth noting that any Doom trying to reclaim Latveria from Kristoff is probably a Doombot, as well as any appearance where Doom explodes. All appearances of Doctor Doom in his own titles and graphic novels are probably the true Doom as well, for purposes of those stories if nothing else.
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