Thursday, December 29, 2011

Nobody Does Drama Like DOOM

FF #13 (Click to Enlarge)




Dr. Doom is probably my favorite character in all of comic fiction. This two page ending to FF #13 tells you all you need to know about the complexities of the man.

At once tender, reassuring only to fall back on the arrogance that has forever been his undoing. His relationship with Valeria, the youngest child of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman is really rewarding to follow. She was named for Doom's dead love. It was a condition of him working to save the child when she was being born.

She's smarter than him but instead of trying to kill her, he is humbled by her intelligence, resourcefulness and compassion - which is all Doom REALLY wants from the world. Just some compassion for his pain. Sure he has no idea how to get that from people and devises insanely complex schemes to FORCE everyone to sympathize with his point of view.

I love how wonderfully myopic his perspective is. He is often his own worst enemy but is actually TRYING now to find a better way. That gives an old villain new nobility. FF is a great comic series because this time the Future Foundation has made Doom 'part of the club' - something Valeria negotiated and insisted upon.

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