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... And Be A Villain!
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This issue is the start of one of the regular "new directions" that this series go in for, as shown by the somewhat excitable text at the start, calling it a "re-affirmation of comics' most awesome legends".
SPOILERS: don't get too excited, it isn't really.
One things that does get re-affirmed is Namor's classic costume (or "swimming trunks") but otherwise it's a somewhat unsatisfying mix of flashbacks, new characters, and Herb Trimpe's underwhelming pencils. One of the great things about doing this blog had been revisiting great artists like Jack Kirby and Gene Colan who I never liked when I originally read these comics aged 10, but love now. Sadly, however, I must say that my original opinion of Herb Trimpe has not changed.
The actual story sees Namor bursting through a window at the Baxter Building demanding help. He gets put in a big bucket of water to recover, and then he fills everyone in with what's happened since the last issue. Doom didn't believe Namor was dead for long, and that morning found him and shot him with a gun that disabled his costume so that he could no longer survive for long outside of water. Doom then took Namor to Atlantis, where he threatened to destroy the ancient city completely unless Namor agreed to be his servant.
Namor was forced to agree, but then Doom allowed him to escape, challenging him to go back to Reed Richards to get his air-breathing suit repaired. When Namor reaches this part of the recap a hologram of Doom appears to say that the whole exercise is designed to prove that he is cleverer than Reed Richards.
This very much Classic Doctor Doom! Reed Richards duly accepts the challenge, swearing to fix Namor's suit. The rivalry between the two men is always set up as a defining factor for Victor von Doom in these stories, but reading them in order it's very noticeable that Mr Fantastic is also really into it. The writers often have him complaining and saying "Oh why can't we work together," but whenever there's a challenge he makes sure that he's the winner!
Elsewhere Doom turns away from his hologram projector, feeling pleased about how it's all going. A text box tells us that "he feels good, does Doctor Doom - better than he's felt in weeks, in fact!" I don't think Doctor Doom's mental health has ever been discussed like this before!
The next panel is something we definitely have seen before, it's Doctor Doom walking through the streets of Latveria.
This is an image that pops up regularly, ever since Jack Kirby's original back in Fantastic Four Annual #2.
The reaction of the people, however, is very different in this instance, demonstrating the way that Doom has changed over the course of the Cold War from a much respected saviour to a feared dictator. It seems like an odd choice by Steve Engleheart to make Doom MORE villainous here, as he's one of the two headline characters and so supposedly some kind of sympathetic lead, but as we'll see, there's another candidate for that role coming up soon.
Back at the Baxter Building, Namor has taken off his costume and reverted to his classic swimming trunks look, which is already attracting some admirers.
Sadly for Torch/Sub-mariner shippers, Johnny Storm is distracted by movement outside the window, and when he goes to investigate he discovers a mysterious character called The Shroud.
All we find out about him at this point is that he's been in training for a long time, may have a connection to Doctor Doom, and wears a cape lined with asbestos.
The Shroud gets away, and when Johnny returns to Reed's lab he finds that things aren't going well. Namor, as is his way, loses patience and breaks out of his water tube, determined to return to Doctor Doom and be his slave, in accordance with their agreement. He's still weakened though, and so when he jumps out of the window he's unable to fly and plummets to the ground. Luckily he's scooped up by Doctor Doom in some sort of ... force field? Or is it a teleporter?
Whatever it is, Namor disappears, and the issue ends with both the Fantastic Four and The Shroud seperately shouting their determination to track him down and/or destroy Doom. The whole story so far has felt much more like an episode of The Fantastic Four, with Doom living up to the story's title "And Be A Villain" - let's see if he stays that way next time!
link to information about this issue
posted 25/7/2019 by Mark Hibbett
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