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The Doom Report
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Last time in the "Spider-man" cartoon we saw Doctor Doom flying away from New York after his latest plan (very similar to his usual plan: take over the world via blackmail of the UN) failed... or did it?
This episode picks up not long after the last one, with the freed revolutionary leader Johann fleeing from a bear. He's saved by a group of people who, going by their clothes and the way they say "Sacre Blue" are meant to be French.
France, a country reknowned for its wild bears!
As we saw last time, it was Doom's faithful manseervant Boris who freed Johann, and for some reason he thinks it's a good idea to confess this to his boss. "I have served you faithfully for 30 years" he says, and Doom agrees that this is the first time he has failed him. "We will speak of it no more," he says. "Leave me now."
Just as we're thinking "Eh? What? Doom being reasomable?" he zaps the floor beneath Boris's feet with his gauntket, sending him down to the dungeons. "If we were not old friends, I would not have missed."
That's more like it! Johann, meanwhile, has made it to New York. He meets with some members of the Latverian undergound, who are a bunch of massive racial stereotypes - they're a group of gypsies, including both a fortune teller and a fiddle player!
Joachim, their leader, asks for the names of the people who Johann would like to contact back home, and then when Johann sets straight off to talk the newspapers Joachim recommends The Daily Bugle because, as he tells the fortune teller, the Daily Bugle is very unlikely to report anything bad about Doom. Oh no! The underground is secretly in Doom's control!
Once again with these stories, the cartoon's titular hero takes a back seat to Doom, and Spidey only appears five minutes in, foiling a bank robbery which - oops - turns out to be a movie set. What are the chances eh?
Then it's straight back to Johann, who is surprised to find J Jonah Jameson refusing to print his story, declaring that "Doctor Doom is the greatest man who ever lived!" Peter Parker hears the story and takes Johann home with him, where he sets up a recorder to record his story. When it's done he pops the tape round to the Bugke for Betty to type up (because that obviously is a woman's job...) and returns home to find Joachim and the fortune teller have entered the house. Once they hear where he's been they go back to the Bugle to kidnap Betty. Peter discovers this and gives chase as Spider-man, rescuing Betty just before the group of racial stereotypes drive their car into the river.
Peter and Betty hand the story on to other newspapers, who happily run it on their front pages, next day. This includes that prestigious periodical, Newspaper News!
"I hear the UN's going to put Doctor Doom on trial" says Peter, demonstrating once again that the UN in this universe works very differently to ours!
Johann rings to tell Peter that he's leaving for Latveria tonight to begin the revolution, so Spidey dashes off to join him, suspecting that the Latverian spies are involved. He's right, of course, and as soon as they take off Doctor Doom takes radio control of "The Doom Special", via comlink.
We haven't visited the United Nations yet, but that's soon rectified when go over to see the vote on Doom's trial (which seems to have happened at high speed) interrupted by Doom himself, appearing on the video screen above them.
I'm forever saying how similar these cartoons are to the comics in their portrayal of Doom, and this use of video appearances is a great example of that. He threatens the UN with "giant Tesla coils" which can "produce rays anywhere on earth" - rays which can provide food or, if he is not obeyed, "rays for death!"
Spidey and Johann are still in their plane on the way to Latveria, and we see the (genuine) Latverian resistance listening in to radio broadcasts about their destination. Most of them are dressed in the traditional peasant gear which never seems to have gone out of fashion in Latveria, all except for one chap in a trenchcoat and big hat, who says that he will go and rescue them alone when the plane lands. Personally, I don't trust him!
"Thank you for flying Doom airlines" says Doom as the plane enters Latverian airspace. Spidey smashes the door and he and Johann jump out, saved by a handily spun web parachute. Doom, watching from afar as usual, is really annoyed.
He sends "every solider" to find them, but by the time the robots arrrive Spidey and Johann have got into the secret Resistance base where they meet the trenchcoat-wearing Stephane, who takes them back to town. Maybe he wasn't dodgy after all? In which case, why was he dressed so differently?
Spider-man suggests that the resistance cause a diversion while he sneaks into the castle. This turns out to be really easy, and Spidey is next seen landing on Doom's very comics-based computer desk.
It all seems a bit too straightforward, so it's no surprise when Doom greets Spider-man with "Welcome to Castle Doom!" He proceeds to zap him with laser blasts and is just about to destroy him when the video screen comes to life, showing the resistance attacking his new satellite tracking station - the diversion discussed earlier.
This gives Spidey time to zap the Tesla coils with his web, causing them to explode. Doctor Doom flees the room just before the castle explodes!
The next morning the resistance clamber over the ruins, looking for Spider-man. They can't find him, but take solace from the fact that at least Doom is dead too. However, just as they're celebrating and planning free elections, Doom himself appears from out of the rubble and strikes his best John Buscema pose.
"Begin rebuilding Castle Doom!" he demnds, in a distinct echo of Astonishing Tales #4.
"Doctor Doom survives! Which is more than can be said for Spider-man!"
Spider-man, it turns out, is not dead, merely cushioned within a web cocoon. We then cut to New York some time later, with an injured Peter Parker being sent on assignment by Jonah. "Looks like everything's back the way it was," says Robbie. "Even in Latveria," says Peter sadly.
This is a remarkably downbeat ending for what is supposed to be a kids cartoon - hasn't Doctor Doom just won here? Let's hope he gets his just deserts when we watch his final episode, next time!
link to information about this issue
posted 18/6/2020 by Mark Hibbett
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