A lawyer in Latveria

[arbre_rieur]

Previously in DAREDEVIL, Matt Murdock ruined the mega-crime organizations' (AIM, HYDRA, the Secret Empire, etc.) deal to filter their money through Latveria's banks. (It's analogous to how modern merchant ships will fly flags of convenience.) Someone is not happy about that...

Daredevil's been placed in a glass cage. Of course, to someone using radar sense, they might as well be completely opaque walls.



But he's wrong. Doctor Doom, in fact, does not appear in so much as a single panel this issue. Instead, we get the minister of the Bank of Latveria.



He's dosed with a gas. Its effects aren't obvious at first, but it slowly becomes clear that it's slowly eliminating his senses, one by one.

By the time Daredevil's made it to the Latverian border with Hungary -- and all he needs to do is get to the other side for his Avengers communicard to start working -- all but one of sense have gone.

Comments

[righthondude]

What a cruel but excellent cliffhanger. I audibly gasped.

[leoboiko]

Eh, so Latveria has its own language? And it’s Finno-Ugric? That’s awesome! someone should make a conlang 8)

[icon_uk]

We know it has a language from Mrs Livitz, the Latverian emigree who is the downstairs neighbour of the New Mutants. It's clear English is her second (and a rather distant second) language.

[leoboiko]

Well, it could just be any other language (other than English), say Romanian or something. What I didn’t know was that Latveria had its own (non-real-world) language (though the Marvel wikia says it’s just a dialect of Hungarian).

Speaking of which, Latveria is right next to Romania, right? Does Dr Doom have any sort of history with Marvel Dracula?

[darkblade]

They talked to each other on the moon once.

[leoboiko]

I suppose in this reality that’s like "they passed by each other in that cafe downtown once”.

[darkblade]

Well it was pretty awesome http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1295606.html#cutid1

[cypherfdp]

It was right next to Dracula's Moon Base. http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p17/

[dr_archeville]

The Lands of Doom boxed set (for TSR's Marvel Super Heroes RPG) was, I believe, the first to state that Latverian was a dialect of Hungarian . Their map also shows it shares borders with Hungary, Romania (and Transylvania, listed as a separate country), and Yugoslavia (birthplace of Emil Blonsky), and Symkaria (home of Silver Sable). (And according to this map, Transia & Mt. Wundagore do not share a border with Latveria, but I do not know if that's still the case; the map is on the page for Latveria on the Marvel Database Project wiki, but I don't know how 'official' they are.)

Oddly, the history of the country given in the boxed set says Latveria was named for the Latvian homeland/roots of its founder, the Haasen family, so I'd think the Latverian language would be a derivative/dialect of Latvian. But, the history section says the Haasens "came from the north," which per the map would be Hungary. No idea if this is something from the comics (or made up by the RPG writers), of if it's something that later showed in the comics.

[leoboiko]

Thanks for the info, sir. Perhaps the Haasens spoke Livonian, which is also Finno-Ugric (though more “finno” than “ugric”… /grasping at straws)

[freezer]

So explain to me how Latveria isn't the epicenter of World War III, considering all the shit Doom's pulled on a global scale?

[mrstatham]

Would you really want to try starting a war with a guy who has basically managed to survive pretty much everything, even trips to Hell or surviving through sheer force of will to basically become the master to himself when he as an apprentice? I think most people just tend to look at Latveria and thank God that Doom usually seems content with what he's got.

[freezer]

Yes, because of all the stuff you said. One of these days, he'll get it right and then the world is *really* screwed.

[randyripoff]

Not to mention that for the most part, the Latverian people feel that Doom is a good leader and they support him. Yes, he's tyrannical, but people are clothed, fed and healthy, and outside of the occasional invasion by American superheroes there's no war and little crime. For many people, that's more than enough.

[dr_archeville]

That really differs from writer to writer. Some have shown that the people do genuinely love him, and he loves them. Others have shown the people living in abject fear of him, smiling and praising him b/c they know if they don't they get thrown into ovens by his robo-guards (or by the non-robot thugs in fancy officer's uniforms).

(I prefer the former take, as it makes for a more complex character, though that seems to be something Marvel's determined to strip away in order to make Doom OMG TEH EVULZ).

[randyripoff]

If I had to rationalize it, I'm sure that there are many subjects that are quite content with his rule, and many who are in fear of him. That wouldn't necessarily change Doom's character, but rather show how he's reflected differently depending on which person you're talking to.

There's absolutely no question that the rest of the world views him as a fascist dictator and a bully, and we all know that he is that person sometimes. That doesn't mean he cannot show compassion, or that he's incapable of ruling Latveria well.

Furthermore, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to find out that all of what's happened to Matt in Latveria was done without Doom's knowledge, and that someone's going to be looking for a new job, assuming Doom spares his life.

[icon_uk]

International money laundering is hardly unique to Latveria.

His mostly unused arsenal of high tech weapons are more dangerous than any other three countries you care to name. A war with him would end badly... VERY badly for all concerned.

[stolisomancer]

He doesn't invade other countries except Wakanda that one time, and that "invasion" was him and no more than a couple of hundred robots. His people are taken care of, although he doesn't feel bad about handing out life imprisonment like it's candy. Doom's technology may show up on the black market or repurposed from time to time, but he's not the one who did it, because why would he?

Unless your name is Reed Richards, you actually have very little to worry about from Doom.

[crabby_lioness]

Now that's a well-thought-out revenge.

[icon_uk]

I like the subtlety of the rivets on Dooms mask under Matt's fingers on the cover, spelling DOOM in Braille.

[darkblade]

Even the blind must recognize the face of DOOM.

[leoboiko]

Nice, I had missed that! And I was so annoyed at the use of random runes in Fear Itself…

[dr_archeville]

... that's brilliant.

[blackruzsa]

That's....
that's beautiful.

[thanekos]

Minister Beltane might just be the first Latverian functionary who's neither cringingly " OH GOD IS THE MASTER BEHIND ME " or overly smug.

The guy's surprisingly almost a menace in his own right (though that might just be because his ruler's not on the throne right now).

[starwolf_oakley]

The cover of the issue makes me think DD is in front of a Latverian billboard. It just has a 3-d representation of Doom's mask and the words "DOOM IS WATCHING."

[blackruzsa]

Ouch, right in the dignity.
But honestly, that's one heck of a cliffie.

[riddler13]

Heck, I'm a huge DC fan and don't follow much Marvel at all, and even I fear Doom.

[mullon]

Is "smartass" Spider-man?

[donnblake]

Hmm. Has Doom ever attempted to commit genocide? Mass murder, sure, I'd buy (although even that isn't generally his style), but I don't recall him ever targeting a specific group for extermination (besides the Fantastic Four).

[nomadicwriter]

Nope; Doom's never been one to slaughter people for enjoyment or idealogical reasons - when he kills it's either for personal revenge or because it accomplishes some greater goal. But then this is written by Mark Waid, who wrote the notorious "Unthinkable" (aka: "Established characterisation? Ha! Doom has no characterisation except eeeeeevil, and any suggestion of moral lines he wouldn't cross before must be ripped up and stomped on just to show just how eeeevil he is").

So I'm actually rather relieved this Daredevil story seems to be set during the current era where Doom's presumed dead, since I really don't trust Waid not to burn down all the excellent character work Hickman's been doing with him lately. (I particularly dread certain writers getting hold of the awesome "Uncle Doom" relationship set up between him and Valeria and immediately retconning all of it away.)