The Son of Doctor Doom!

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FANTASTIC FOUR — Issue no. 199, July 1978

Book: Fantastic Four

Issue No.: 199

Published: July 25, 1978

Title: “The Son of Doctor Doom!”

Cover Price: 35¢

Format: Original paper copy

I started reading all of these Marvel comic books with their January 1978 issues, and that happened to be a particularly fun jumping-on point for Fantastic Four. The book was approaching its 200th issue in early 1978. That’d be a big deal for any comic book, but it’s an especially big deal for the comic book that is ground zero for the modern Marvel universe.

This final issue before big no. 200 hits the ground running. Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four’s greatest foe, has captured the team, and he’s about to steal all of their super powers and transfer them to his recently-revealed adult son. Doom has also captured Alicia, friend of the Four (and girlfriend of the Four’s Thing). Alicia is a sculptor, and Doom is forcing her to create a statue of him.

But everything isn’t going great for Doctor Doom. He is the dictator of the (fictional) country Latveria, and the citizens are on the verge of revolt, led by Zorba, the brother of Latveria’s former king.

The Fantastic Four’s leader, the super-stretchy Mr. Fantastic, manages to bust out of Doom’s power-stealing contraption. After that, Mr. Fantastic quickly frees the rest of the team — the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing.

But it isn’t long before the team gets recaptured by Doctor Doom. Until, in another reversal, Zorba frees the Fantastic Four, and they all go to confront Doom.

A panel from this issue showing the Fantastic Four striking a dramatic pose. Mr. Fantastic says, “You’re right, Ben — the Fantastic Four lives again!” The Thing says, “An’ we ain’t just whistlin’ dixie!” The Human Torch says, “You better believe it! Flame on!” The Invisible Woman says, “With the four of us together again — nothing can stop us!”

There’s a big fight at the end of the issue, but it’s not the one you might expect. While Zorba and the Fantastic Four are busy fighting Doctor Doom’s robots, Doom himself is fighting his son. Turns out that Doom Jr. is actually a clone of the original Doom. (Which, in hindsight, I should have guessed. Given Doom’s ego, him cloning himself seems inevitable.) Though he is a clone, Doom Jr. is nevertheless his own man. And he sees the original Doom for the evil tyrant that he is.

Doom Jr. managed to absorb some of the Fantastic Four’s super powers before they escaped earlier in the story. Doom Jr. has some super powers, and Doom Sr. has his high-tech armor, so it’s a fairly even fight.

Doctor Doom finally manages to win the fight with his clone/son, killing Doom Jr. in the process. Doom immediately regrets what he’s done, even as he blames Doom Jr. for his murderous rampage. “Why — why did you make me kill you? Why did you torment me? Why? Why? Why?”

It’s a dramatic ending, and it sets up what I can only assume will be an epic battle between Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four in issue no. 200.

Next time — John Carter fights winged foes on Mars!

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