One Perfect Moment: Mephisto

[sherkahn]

Marvel Masterworks.
Dr. Strange.
Dr. Doom.
Triumph & Torment



After a fantastic set up, Dr. Strange has secured his role as Sorcerer Supreme by the Vishanti, and now he owes the only other person had not fallen to the trial by magicks a boon.
The Lord of Latveria: Victor Von Doom.
And what would Doom claim? A simple snatch and grab job, from no less than Mephisto himself.
The soul of Cynthia Von Doom.

Once in hell, their combined might proves formidable and worthy of Mephisto's notice. So Mephisto divides and conquers, and is able to tempt Doom with the one thing Doom cannot resist having.






Without lifting a finger to defend himself, and by being "generous", Mephisto achieves what a show of force and deception could not. Through Doom's betrayal, Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom and Cynthia are trapped within Hell for all time with him.



suggested tags:

character: Mephisto
character: Dr. Strange
character: Dr. Doom/Victor Von Doom.

creator: Roger Stern
creator: Mike Mignola
creator: Mark Badger

Comments

[dr_archeville]

But that was all part of Doom's plan...

A moment later -- and to Mephisto's surprise -- Doctor Strange escaped his prison thanks to a small item under his cloak; Doom hadn't betrayed his partner. They resumed their attack on Mephisto but soon had to retreat, with Doom's mother as well, into a protective globe that was battered by the raw power of Mephisto.

When all magics seemed to fail against Mephisto's power, Doom fired a concentrated pellet of antimatter at him, but even that couldn't stop Mephisto. Finally, Dr. Strange opened their protective sphere and tapped some of Mephisto's power to break the shell around Doom's mother. Incredible light poured out of it, causing Mephisto to scream and writhe in agony. Cynthia Von Doom had redeemed herself by refusing to leave at the expense of another and the light of her cleansed life force was an anathema to Mephisto. He quickly cast the mortals out of his plane, and sent them back to Latveria.

Once back in Castle Doom, Victor refused any help from Doctor Strange, sending him quickly on his way. He had accomplished what he had set out to do and needed the Sorcerer Supreme no longer. Victor, after long and tortured years of trying, finally freed his mother's soul, but at the harsh cost of losing his mother's love.

[ian_karkull]

I was about to say. This is really much more of a One Perfect Moment for Doom than anything else.
Unless you count the classical fairytale trope of "The Devil Thinks He's So Smart Yet He Gets Tricked All The Time" as injtegral to Mephisto's character.

Either way, Triumph & Torment is a great and seriously underrated book.

[proteus_lives]

"Triumph & Torment is a great and seriously underrated book"

Much motto. It is a perfect character piece.

[icon_uk]

This is really much more of a One Perfect Moment for Doom than anything else.

Agreed

[filkertom]

Damn skippy. Love that book so hard.

[shadowpsykie]

if only the same could be said for the BND

[psychopathicus_rex]

There's a possible caveat to this, however. The fact that Doom gave Strange a method to escape does not necessarily mean that he had planned the whole thing - it's possible that his intention was indeed simply to free his mother and bring her back to Earth, and when she didn't cooperate, he had to think fast. After all, this is Doom we're talking about here, one of the greatest villains of the MU - he doesn't THINK in terms of redemption or damnation, he thinks in terms of getting what he wants, and what he wanted was his mother back, damned or not (after all, she always could have secured her soul's redemption AFTER she'd left). If this IS the case, and if things had all gone as he'd planned, he would truly have gotten his mother back, Strange would have been set free and probably would have followed him back out of Hell, and all would have been fine and dandy. Mind you, it still counts as a CMOA for Doom, it just doesn't necessarily translate to ultimate victory.

[zechs80]

Why can't Marvel re-release this? The people behind this (characters and creative team is just perfect).

[proteus_lives]

Doom fucks him in the end.

Another perfect moment for Doom. He outwits the Devil.

[sherkahn]

But at a great price.

[icon_uk]

But a price he knew and was prepared to pay from the outset, because freeing his mother was more important to him than anything.

[proteus_lives]

Ah, but there's the rub.

It was a price Doom chose to price, he knew from the beginning what he was going to do.

Doom showed true devotion and love for his mother by sacrificing her love for him.

Doom was never dancing with Mephisto, the Devil was dancing with Doom.

[ian_karkull]

As has been pointed out, Doom understood the consequences of his actions and was prepared to pay the price. Having to live with the memory of his Mother's eternal scorn is the Torment part of his Triumph here.

One could also be snide and argue that anything that furthers Doom's delusions of actually being the noble, misunderstood hero is a win in his warped book.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

So, yes, apparently making a deal with Mephisto to save the life of another is looked down upon in the Marvel Universe.

I've faith that one day, May Parker will learn of her own part in such a deal and not be happy.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"