Subject: Doctor Doom
Culture: American comics fandom
Setting: Marvel Comics
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Misiroglu/Eury 2006 p96
"Brilliant heroes tend to cast intensely dark shadows, a literary fact illustrated amply by Victor von Doom, the superscience- and magic-wielding nemesis of Marvel's Fantastic Four (FF). Arguably as essential to the success of Stan Lee's and Jack Kirby's quintessential superteam as any of the Fantastic Four's members, Dr. Doom represents the polar opposite of the sunny optimism embodied by the team's leader, Mr. Fantastic. From his first appearance in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #5 (1962), Doom's armored visage became a symbol of the horrific side of science and influenced later armored villains, including the Micronauts' Baron Karza and the Star Wars franchise's Darth Vader."
* Hatfield/Heer/Worcester eds. 2013 p141 (Charles Hatfield, "Jack Kirby and the Marvel aesthetic" p136-154)
"[T]he Fantastic Four's resident scientist, Mr. Fantastic, nearly met his match in Dr. Doom, a mad genius whom he had met and tried to befriend years before when both were in college. Doom often seemed to be motivated as much by fraternal rivalry with Mr. Fantastic as by innate evil: a popular villain, he became a near-constant presence of the Fantastic Four and a pillar of the Marvel Universe (he has starred in several series of his own.)"
Costume
* Misiroglu/Eury 2006 p96-97
"... Doom's only permanent injury from his accident is one long, thin facial scar. Believing himself to be horribly disfigured, the vain Doom's post-collegiate wanderings take him to Tibet, where an order of monks crafts a special suit of iron armor in which he can hide from his pain. Succumbing to youthful impatience and hubris, Doom permanently sears his entire face when he dons the armor's face-mask while it is still red-hot from the forge. Doom subsequently outfitted his armor with numerous offensive and defensive weapons, including strength-enhancing motors, protective force fields, a jet pack, and projectile and beam weapons ...." [references omitted]
