Doom’s very first appearance in 1962’s “Fantastic Four” #5 (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) dispensed quickly with his origin. He was introduced as an old schoolmate of Reed Richards’ who was seduced by the dark arts, but how he became Doctor Doom was left unsaid. He owned a castle, too, but there was no mention of him being a true monarch.
Lee & Kirby’s full origin for Doom only came in 1964’s “Fantastic Four Annual” #2. Victor von Doom was born to a poor Romani tribe in Latveria, which was then ruled by a cruel Baron. Doom’s father Werner failed to save the Baron’s terminally ill wife and froze to death trying to flee the Baron’s troops. Victor later left to be educated in America, but we know how that turned out. After becoming Doctor Doom, Victor returned to Latveria and led the people in revolt against the Baron. (Lee/Kirby skipped over this, but Ed Brubaker and Pablo Raimondi’s expanded 2005 origin “Books of Doom” turned the Latverian revolution into its climax.)
What is consistent is that Doom elevated Latveria from a backwater nation into a superpower. (He also renamed the nation’s capital city Doomstadt.) Many Marvel writers have different opinions on who Doom truly is behind his mask, though, so how Doom treats his subjects and how they feel about him can vary. Lee & Kirby suggested that Doom’s people respected him, but feared his tempestuous wrath too.
In “Fantastic Four” #57, a Latverian citizen bumps into Doom; Doom is ready to eviscerate the clumsy “clod,” but cools his anger because he’s trying to deceive the Silver Surfer into trusting him.
John Byrne’s “Fantastic Four” offered the modern take on Doom as, in the words of Marvel.com, a “somewhat benevolent dictator.” In an earlier story, “Fantastic Four” #200, the F4 helped depose Doom and put Zorba Fortunov — last surviving heir to the Latverian royal family — on the throne. When the F4 next visit Latveria in “Fantastic Four” #246-247, our heroes are stunned that Latveria has fallen into ruin under Zorba’s ruthless but incompetent leadership, and the people want Doom back. The Doctor obliges them.
Doom may be an autocrat who restricts personal liberties, but he keeps his people safe and well-fed. He’s like a stern father, while all of Latveria are his beloved children (almost literally with Kristoff Vernard, a Latverian orphan whom Doom takes as his ward). Many of the best Doctor Doom stories explore his leadership of Latveria — I hope that “Avengers: Doomsday,” which looks to be a packed movie, doesn’t leave this out.
“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is playing in theaters.
