dub@pur-phy.UUCP (Dwight) (11/21/84)
Readers of the network, This article might be one-sided, but bear in mind that I have done extensive research on the subject. Of course, this article is about your friend and mine...Dr. Victor von Doom. He has plagued and influenced millions of people in the Marvel Universe and raised questions to some people on the Net. To get the best understanding on how Doom's life has been torn down, we must look to FF Annual #8. This will give a clear account of how Doom was tortured in life before his accident. The annual tells about his mother and father, and how they were killed because some bigwig wanted some kind of cure with herbs (a cure that failed.) Then, how he began to trick people with parlor (sp?) tricks just to stay alive. And we also see how he was hunted down and brought attention to himself. In this way a western university noticed him and gave him a full scholarship. After his university accident which left him badly scarred (due to an experiment to try to talk to his mother in the great beyond), we see Doom's strong will-power that leads him to become the ruler of an entire country. In the beginning of his rule over Latveria, he had to be harsh. The country was totally surrounded by hostile forces. He built weapon systems to stem off any attack. His country would prosper because of Doom's strong will and determination. He definitely had hatred for Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four. Reed was a rival, someone to battle on an intelligence level far beyond brute force. But they had equal respect for each other, which was only natural. Later in his life, after his boorish manners were replaced with love, Doom found that his people were most important. Even going to the extent of adapting a son who will eventually rule. When he was overthrown by a resistance force, not everything was peaches and cream. Eventually, after returning to the throne, he crushed all resistance. Doom has really mellowed out in the last couple of years. He has become concerned with people and treats Reed as a scientific equal. Who knows, Doom might someday come to conduct himself just like Reed. I am not saying that he will ever give up his ideas of total world control or his vestiage of conquest, but he shows real possibilities of change. You could find this to be true if you look at Secret Wars 1 & 10. Doom has changed for the better. I wonder what will happen in Secret Wars #12? -Paul- (via one hellava bird society) "Welcome to the land of Doom!"