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Escape!
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Usually this series has featured both its lead characters on the cover, often with Namor in action and Doctor Doom looming over him, but this one looks a little odd, like it was originally a Namor cover with Doom added at a later date. Interestingly (to me) it's inked by Owen McCarron, more famous for various "Fun Pages" of puzzles and quizes in newspapers, including a series called "Marvelous Fun" which I'm trying to find out more about at the moment.
The story itself carries on from last time, with Doom captured by Namorita. He's immediately thinking of ways to escape, and claims that he's there as an ally of her cousin. The people of Hyrdrobase, quite rightly, point out that he is no such thing, citing Reed Richards as their source, at whcih point Doom replies that Richards was lying.
This strikes me as particularly of its time. In an earlier decade the word of a superhero would always be believed, but here in the 1970s nobody can be trusted, and everything is in doubt. We only saw in the last issue that the United States government is happy to work alongside Doom, so who's to say he's not the good guy, or that the previously purely heroic leader of The Fantastic Four could be the baddy?
Doom increases their confusion by offering to cure the people of Hydrobase and turn them human once more. Namorita and co can't be sure if he's telling the truth or not, so take him back to his castle where we once again meet Doom's lackey Bela. Bela seems to have been invented by Steve Engelheart to be abused by Doom, and there's a lovely character moment where Doom claims to be "like unto his father, and he my errant son" before, of course, screamimg at him for being the bearer of bad news.
His captors smell something "fishy", but Doom calms down and smooths things over, convincing them again that he just might be telling the truth, while leading them deeper into his castle. I must admit I rather like this version of Doom - he's not the tortured, damaged figure we've seen from a few years ago, but neither is he the ranting, purely evil, deluded demagogue from more recent times. He's a complicated character who can't always control his temper, but is most dangerous when forced to rely solely on his wits.
Meanwhile Namor and The Shroud are heading back to the latter's plane which, they are horrified to discover,is being destoyed by loyal Latverians. Here we also find Doom's surrogate father Boris, who hasn't been seen for some time.
After Doom's defeat by a wolf in the last issue it's now Namor's turn to be overwhelmed by furry friends, as a dog scents him and leaps to attack. This alerts the Latverians, who (thinking Doom has been murdered) follow the dog into action, leading the Boris, who has always been shown to be his own man, at least somewhat, to wonder at their loyalty.
It's interesting here that Steve Engelheart is giving a fairly common (during the Cold War), if rather patronising, explanation for the people's loyalty to Doom - they simply don't know any better.
Our heroes just about manage to escape, with The Shroud seeing a mysterious "something" along the way which we're expected to ponder for later. The scene then switches to Hydrobase, where Doom is inspecting their laboratory and, secretly, communicating with the loyal Boris. We then head back to Latveria, where Namor and The Shroud stumble upon a village where the circus is in town - not just any circus though, this is The Circus Of Crime!
The Shroud recognises them and asks for their help. The Ringmaster is clearly down in the dumps about his current run of luck and refuses, as there's no way he can go against Doctor Doom. While probably a fair assessment this enrages Namor, who launches into a big fight which ends with him thumping an elephant.
This persuades the Ringmaster to help them escape, and we next find Namor and The Shroud disguised as circus crew, walking through Latveria as part of a parade. Things are going fine until Namor spots Doom on a balcony. He'd thought that Doom was dead, but seeing him makes Namor realise that he's still under an (idiotic) oath of obedience. He tries to struggle free, only for The Shroud to try and stop him, and the issue ends with Doom demanding to know what's going on.
Or is it Doom? As the "Next Time" box says, "Isn't Doom really on Hydrobase?"
What's going on? We'll find out... next time!
link to information about this issue
posted 21/8/2019 by Mark Hibbett
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