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In the Midst of Life...!
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In many ways Super-Villain Team-Up is like a glimpse into the (then) future of comics, to the "grim'n'gritty" 90s when the superheroes of the time would happily kill anyone who got in their way without a second thought. In this issue, for instance, Doom and Namor are meant to be forging an alliance, based on Doom's slightly creepy plan to demonstrate to Namor how much he needs him by saving him from his enemies, and along the way they behave in ways which would have been unthinkable for heroes of the time. However, they also get to demonstrate some of the soul-searching that had always been part of the Marvel Universe, leading to questioning of boundaries between "good" and "evil".
It starts with Namor defeated, and Doom watching proceedings, as he tends to, from a distance via his viewing screen. He does this via a robot fish which he'd sent to follow Namor around, which unfortunately is discovered by Tiger Shark, one of the Submarinor's captors.
This is followed by almost two full pages of silent captions as Doom hops into a rocket ship like a romantic hero, off to save his beloved.
He arrives on Hydro Base, the island where Namor has been trapped, and is greeted first by an electric tripwire (which he defeats easily thanks to a rather neat callback to he and Namor's very first meeting) and then by Octo-Meks. These are eight-limbed defensive vehicles, which Doom forces to fight each other using his "instant hypnotism optimiser."
Doom then meets Betty Dean Prentiss, Namor's former girlfriend from the war years who is also living on Hydro Base. He reveals that he knows all about her - almost as if he's been looking up his crush's exes on Facebook.
Doom tells her he's a friend of Namor, which she finds hard to believe at first as he's a well known villain, but then again "Namor's gotten some awfully bad press though, so I guess the same thing could have happened to you." It's an interesting way to cast Doom as a possible hero again, as if everything we've learnt previously about him could have been Fake News.
Doom does act like a hero here, calmly setting off to save his friend with Betty in tow, using his gadgets to steadily make his way into their enemies' lair. When they arrive the other villains greet him as an equal, but then demonstrate that they are actually more evil than Doom by hitting Betty.
This is in marked contrast to Doom's gentlemanly behaviour, and leads to tragedy as Namor tries to escape to help her, only for Betty to get caught up in the crossfire of a super-villain battle, and end up dead.
The issue ends with a furious Namor, with murder in his eyes, ready to take vengeance for the death of someone he loves. If this were a superhero led comic we'd expect a friend to step in and stop him, but Namor's friend is Doctor Doom, so who knows what'll happen? See you next time to find out!
link to information about this issue
posted 17/6/2019 by Mark Hibbett
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