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Return To Reality
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We're back in the world of newspaper strips this time, and it's very clear that Stan Lee and John Romita have been getting into the swing of it since we last saw Doom here, in the very first series. The recaps at the start of each strip are done a lot more smoothly, the Sunday strips now add information to the stories without being unmissable, and the self-aware sarcasm that Stan Lee is known for is starting to make itself known. There's less repetition on a day to day basis, but an awful lot in the story itself, as Doctor Doom tries to persuade Spider-man that he's going mad by, basically, tricking him again and again in the same way. This wouldn't be so bad in a single comic, but it must have been a bit annoying for readers over the course of three months of three panel strips!
We first see Doctor Doom in Latveria, where a group of peasants grovel as he approaches. In this version of the country it seems that the Latverians are outright terrified of him, and so are surprised when he spares the life of a young lad who wishes to look at him, leaving them impressed by his kindness.
We immediately see another side of Doom, howeber, when he sends an unemployed man to prison for begging for help.
This version of Latveria is very similar to the 1960s one drawn by Jack Kirby, with medieval castles and a populace dressed as extras from The Sound Of Music. The only difference so far is that the state guards are dressed as policemen, rather than robots.
Doom returns to his castle, where he watches Spider-man through a video screen - another classic Doom characteristic. Doom will remain in Latveria for the whole storyline, never leaving his castle. It's from here that he sends some robots - here called "Mecho-Men" rather than Doombots - to kidnap a noted psychiatrist and bring him back to Latveria. Meanwhile, he uses a special Robot Pigeon, with a two-way video screen in its chest, to follow Spider-man around New York.
Spidey is amazed to see J Jonah Jameson standing on top of a bridge, threatening to commit suicide in the hope that Spider-man will get the blame. When he jumps off he falls into a cloud of smoke, generated by the robot pigeon, and then disintegrates, revealing himself to be another robot, operated by Doom.
There are, as we'll see, some great sound effects in this story!
Spider-man is horrified, and distraught when he dives into the river and is unable to find a body. He's even more upset when he goes into the Daily Bugle the next day to find Jameson his usual grumpy self.
Back in Latveria Doom interviews the psychiatrist he has kidnapped, Karl Lazlo. When Lazlo refuses to help him destroy Spider-man Doctor Doom remarks that he hates violence... while smashing a wall.
Again, classic Doom action! There's more to come, as he takes off his mask to show the horrified psychiatrist his true face. He does this an awful lot, so when he tells Lazlo "None but you... have ever seen my naked face" it rings somewhat hollow.
Having done that he puts Lazlo into a Scientific Device which drains all the scientific knowledge from his brian and records it in a computer, which Doom can use later on. Meanwhile Spider-man finds himself questioning his sanity when he faces Doctor Octopus - a character he knows for sure is in prison.
Doc Ock is a hologram created by Doctor Doom, unbeknownst to Spider-man, so when the baddy disappears a confused Spidey takes this as evidence that he's going mad. This impression is only added to when he switches on the telly to see a psychiatrist who just so happens to be talking about Spider-man, and how he's likely to lose his mind at any moment.
Things carry on in this vein, with Spider-man facing Kraven and then the actual Mayor of New York, both of whom are actually robots, both of whom are destroyed before Spidey can work out what's going on.
This does feel like Lee and Romita are treading water, so it's a relief when they finally move it all forward, with Spidey going to see the TV psychiatrist. During the session - which he's getting for free because he's so interesting - he sees another hallucination, and leaves even more convinced that he's going bonkers.
Things get even worse when he starts to lose his powers - caused by a tiny disc which Doom has attached via Robot Pigeon to his back. After another terrible session at the psychiatrists he discovers the disc, but when he takes it back to show her he's not paranoid Doom destroys it by remote.
It's all a bit much for poor old Spider-man, so when the psychiatrist tells him the only cure is to abandon his superhero life and reveal his true identity he's ready to go along with it. Just before he pulls the mask off, however, he spots the pigeon and (somehow) recognises it as one of Doom's robots.
With the jig up the psychiatrist reveals that she's a robot too, and the traditional Big Fight ensues, watched as ever by Doctor Doom so that, when the robot looks like it's going to lose the fight, he decides to bring the whole thing to an end by using the same method he's employed throughout.
And that's the end of the story, with the strip very swiftly moving on to a scene where Aunt May gets threatened by muggers ready for the next storyline.
On the whole this has been an enjoyable, if rather repetitive, storyline, which has been especially interesting for the way it's allowed Doctor Doom to be the baddy for three months without ever even being in the same country as Spider-man. He's also displayed a lot of the traits we associate with the 616 Universe version of the character - something that can't be said for the next version of him that we'll encounter, over in Spidey Super Stories!
link to information about this issue
posted 20/9/2019 by Mark Hibbett
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Comments:
Hello Could you tell me what's the name of this story arc and in which Spider Man comic no can I find it ? I would appreciate it a lot. thanks this is my mail : crispburned@gmail.com
posted 10/2/2020 by Crispy