Fantastic Four #258

[iamrman]

Doctor Doom surveys his kingdom in the aftermath of overthrowing the usurper Zorba.

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

Hey, Kristoff, take notes!

[beyondthefringe]

A classic John Byrne retcon. He figured it was beneath his vision of Doom to suffer such affrontery and so turned it into another “that was a Doombot” moment. Thus maintaining a long long tradition of Doombots standing in for the real Doom to the point where you just never know who you’re getting.

[mazway_75]

I remember a "Loki" issue playing with it by having Doom hint it really was him and he wanted folks to think a Doombot as keeps off toes.

And at least one occasion, Iron Man facing what he thinks a Doombot to mock Doom constantly only to realize it really is him. Some writers can have fun playing with it.

[cyberghostface]

Yeah IMO Byrne's being kind of obnoxious there.

[zylly]

Yeah, this feels like Byrne just being petty about it. Though as I recall, there was also quite a bit of Byrne and Claremont sniping at each other over the Reed saves Galactus thing.

[huntleyhaverstock]

Is it me, or is Byrne maybe ... a little TOO into Doom? Not in the classic Scans Daily "context is for the weak" sense, mind you, but in the "I stan this ruthless dictator, he's so cool and dreamy with his absolute power over the lives of others" sense?

[cyberghostface]

That would be kind of funny given how pissy he was over other villains like Sandman getting redemption arcs.

[bravest_spinja]

Interestingly a big reason he is pissy over it is because feels they take away Doom's uniqueness.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Ah, but that would be to suggest that Doom needs redemption!

[zylly]

I also seem to recall his retcon on the Sandman being in part from a misunderstanding that the FBI’s most wanted list was quite different in the 60’s compared to the 00’s. With the more modern version basically being terrible murderers and the older encompassing more general crime sprees like bank robbers.

[mazway_75]

Funny, in his fan created X-Men comic at his own site, he's doing a Doom bit where he's more in line with a ruthless monster than honorable figure.

[huntleyhaverstock]

Interesting! Of course, he could always just say at the end that it was a malfunctioning Doombot.

[bruinsfan]

I hesitate to accuse him of such, given that his take on Doom is the one I consider archetypal.

[obsidianwolf]

I've always found Byrne's Doom a bit frustrating. IIRC Byrne actually wrote some pretty good characters calling out of how deeply petty and pathetic Doom really is deep down but he's also one of the worst for only wanting his preferred view of Doom to be canon so he retcons anything he doesn't like.

I used to joke with friends that I'd love to see a story co-written by Byrne and Starlin staring Doom and Thanos to see who could out retcon the other to make their pet look the best.

[beyondthefringe]

Starting a Doombot and a Thanosclone.

[obsidianwolf]

But each would of course insist that the other was totally real and just claiming that to save face.

[scorntx]

But Doom designs his Doombots and Thanos his Thanosi to be as indistinguishable to the original as is possible, so fighting them is just as good as the original.
That's what Squirrel Girl said, anyway.

[super_fly]

Page 1, commentating on a field goal kick attempt:

[lbd_nytetrayn]

"Use."

The correct word was "use."

That Doombot deserved to be slagged. Allowing the match strike was one thing, but to not have mastered the way in which Doom speaks? That could ruin everything!

[blues32]

My thoughts exactly. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Whoever built that particular model must have messed up.

[zylly]

I do like the idea that Doom might have some genuine affection for Kristoff, in as much as he’s capable of the emotion, but time would eventually show Kristoff as mostly a means to an end.

(And where is Kristoff these days? I’m trying to remember the last time we saw him. Maybe when Scott Lang was looking after the Future Foundation kids?)