OMU: Doombots

As a coda to my Doctor Doom chronology, I’ve provided an overview of the arch-villain’s robotic doppelgängers, or “Doombots,” broken down into the three “generations” I’ve devised. With one significant exception, this history is restricted to the robots Doctor Doom constructed in his own image and does not concern itself with the various impostors he has produced over the years, such as the Thing, the Hulk, Bucky Barnes, and the Yellow Claw. Also, Doctor Doom experimented extensively with a wide variety of other robots, as well as androids, cyborgs, and clones, but those projects are also beyond the scope of this essay. However, I do include the version of Doctor Doom created out of the brainwashed boy Kristoff and an armored exoskeleton, as I believe he may be more similar to many of the Doombots than was previously suspected.

This overview also limits itself to the Doombots of the Original Marvel Universe, which include only those that appeared between Fantastic Four #5 and #350.

Doombot Prototype

The first known Doombot was built to stand in for the young Victor von Doom when he was to be executed by firing squad for his crimes against Latveria’s wealthy, landed elite (some of whom were also high-ranking members of the military establishment). This robot was destroyed by the hail of bullets that tore through it as the soldiers opened fire. Naturally, they were astonished to find their victim had been replaced by a mechanical impostor. Though this robot appeared to speak, it is more likely that Doom was broadcasting his own voice through a speaker hidden in the robot’s head. [Fantastic Four Annual #2]

Rudolfo Robot

The next robotic doppelgänger employed by Victor von Doom was not in his own likeness but that of Crown Prince Rudolfo. During Doctor Doom’s coronation ceremony following his successful murder of Rudolfo’s father, King Vladimir, Doom had this robot participate in the coronation to lend a veneer of legitimacy to his coup. Interestingly, this robot did not speak, suggesting that, up to this point at least, Doom had not perfected a speech-synthesizer system. While the real Rudolfo, who was imprisoned in the dungeon, could have been allowed to broadcast his voice through the robot’s speaker, he could not be trusted to cooperate with Doom’s plans. Therefore, the robot had to remain silent. [Astonishing Tales #2]

First-Generation Doombots

The first of the purely robotic first-generation Doombots is seen when Doctor Doom brings the Fantastic Four back from their time-machine trip to find the legendary pirate treasure of Blackbeard. Expecting his pawns to betray him, Doom has the robot stand in for him at the time machine’s controls while he remains safely in his master control room with his hostage, the Invisible Girl. When the robot opens the treasure chest and reveals the worthless chains the FF used to replace the Merlin Stones, the Thing attacks the robot and smashes it to pieces. [Fantastic Four #5]

The second of the first-generation Doombots is used to meet with Spider-Man when Doom wants to propose a team-up against the Fantastic Four. However, Spider-Man rejects the offer and webs up the Doombot, immobilizing it. The real Doom then attacks Spider-Man, but the web-slinger manages to escape. This Doombot is probably destroyed when Doctor Doom causes his hideout to self-destruct moments later. The next day, Doom uses a third Doombot to attack Spider-Man while they are fighting at another of Doom’s lairs. Spider-Man overcomes this robot as well, forcing Doom to attack him directly. Doom breaks off the fight and flees when he detects the approach of the Fantastic Four. Most likely this hideout (and the third Doombot) is also blown to smithereens immediately following the story. [Amazing Spider-Man #5]

The next time a Doombot appears is when Rudolfo and his Latverian Underground storm Doctor Doom’s castle in a bid to reclaim the throne. From the safety of his master control room, Doom sends a Doombot out to confront Rudolfo and his men, but they overcome the robot’s defenses and blow it to pieces. [Astonishing Tales #1]

When the Fantastic Four break out of his dungeons after being kidnapped by the Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom sends a Doombot along with a group of obsolete androids to delay them until his new Doomsman android is ready for combat. The Thing fights his way through the melee and destroys the Doombot with one punch. [Fantastic Four #156]

A Doombot is next seen confronting Shang-Chi at the Twickenham Estate in England, next to a mock-up of the Prime Mover robot in which Shang-Chi’s friend Clive Reston is imprisoned. After Shang-Chi overcomes robotic doppelgängers of many of his old foes, the Doombot attacks him and is likewise smashed to pieces by Shang-Chi’s unbeatable kung fu. [Master of Kung Fu #60]

Several robotic Doombots are employed to keep the Fantastic Four busy while the second-generation Doombots restore the real Doctor Doom to his true body after his lengthy imprisonment in the Puppet Master’s scale-model town “Liddleville.” The older-model Doombots are quickly defeated, but their diversionary mission is accomplished. [Fantastic Four #246]

During the “Acts of Vengeance” scheme, first-generation Doombots are used for an ambush of the Punisher, to bait a trap for the Fantastic Four, and to attend the final meeting of the villain consortium. All of these Doombots are blown up when they have outlived their usefulness. [Punisher #28, Fantastic Four #336, Avengers #313]

Three fully robotic Doombots are used to infiltrate the Avengers’ Headquarters Building during its grand-opening gala, but their nature is deduced by the Avengers and they are quickly destroyed. [Avengers #332–333]

Second-Generation Doombots

The first of the second-generation Doombots, designated Doombot A-76, is first seen when the X-Men storm Doom’s castle in the Adirondack Mountains in an attempt to rescue the assassin Arcade. Doombot A-76 is next seen trying to reclaim the one Merlin Stone that Doom has managed to find from an exhibit of the crown jewels of Latveria on loan to the United Nations. Though Doombot A-76 hopes the UNICEF charity concert going on at the time will serve as a distraction, it brings him into conflict with Dazzler, who is one of the performers. Doombot A-76 kidnaps Dazzler, forcing her to search Nightmare’s Dream Dimension for a second Merlin Stone. Unexpectedly, she succeeds in bringing back the magical gem but then destroys both Merlin Stones with a laser beam from her fingertips. Doombot A-76 knocks Dazzler out again but abandons the fight and flees when he detects the approach of the Human Torch. Doombot A-76 is doubtless among the many Doombots who finally rescue Doctor Doom from Liddleville and return him to his true body. However, when Doctor Doom discovers that Doombot A-76 failed to kill Arcade for daring to strike a match on his armor, Doom forces Doombot A-76 to self-destruct. [Uncanny X-Men #145–147, Dazzler #3–4, Fantastic Four #246 & 258]

When King Zorba converts Doctor Doom’s robotic Servo-Guards into a ruthless mechanical secret police, numerous second-generation Doombots initiate a plan to rescue the real Doctor Doom from Liddleville and restore him to his true body. One Doombot collects the tiny “synthe-clone” containing Doom’s mind from Liddleville, which is inside the castle in the Adirondack Mountains, while others take over the Latverian embassy in New York City and force Zorba’s Ambassador Leopold to arrange for all four of the Fantastic Four to deliver Doom’s body, which they have been keeping in stasis at their Baxter Building headquarters. While first-generation Doombots keep the FF busy, the second-generation Doombots reunite Doom’s mind and body. They then apprise their master of the current state of affairs in Latveria, which has fallen into crisis under Zorba’s incompetent rule. [Fantastic Four #246]

For the benefit of his young ward, Kristoff, Doctor Doom orders the numerous Doombots in his castle in Latveria to line up for inspection. When he discovers that Doombot A-76 failed to kill Arcade for daring to strike a match on his armor, Doctor Doom forces Doombot A-76 to self-destruct. This is meant as a lesson to both Kristoff and the other Doombots. [Fantastic Four #258]

After imbuing the alien Tyros with an unstable form of the power cosmic, Doctor Doom monitors Tyros’s battle with the Thing and the Human Torch from within a massive airship concealed in an artificial cloudbank. When his sensors detect the Invisible Girl approaching, Doom intercepts her and draws the Fantasti-Car into his aircraft. Doom then sends a second-generation Doombot to confront her. Unlike the real Doctor Doom or Doombot A-76, this Doombot is violently misogynistic. Deducing the Doombot’s artificial nature, the Invisible Girl destroys it with her force field. [Fantastic Four #259]

After the apparent death of the real Doctor Doom during Tyros’s battle with the Silver Surfer, one of the second-generation Doombots sends a robot to spy on Alexander Flynn, who claims to be the son of Victor von Doom. [Beauty and the Beast #1–4]

Following a pre-established contingency plan, Doombot B-57 collects Kristoff from his private tutor and escorts him to a laboratory in Castle Doom. There, several other second-generation Doombots reprogram Kristoff’s mind so he believes himself to be the true Victor von Doom. After Kristoff-Doom blows up the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four come to Latveria, destroy at least seven Doombots, and unmask Kristoff. The FF take the brainwashed boy back to America to see if he can be restored to his right mind. [Fantastic Four #278–279]

One of the second-generation Doombots remains on duty at the Latverian embassy in New York City and is present when the Invincible Man leads the Invisible Woman, the Wasp, and the She-Hulk on an all-out assault on the embassy. While the Wasp and the She-Hulk battle a contingent of Servo-Guards, the Invisible Woman is able to destroy the Doombot in charge. The Invincible Man then reveals himself to be the true Doctor Doom, having escaped death by inhabiting the body of a bystander, Norman MacArthur, via the mind-swap technique he learned from the alien Ovoids. [Fantastic Four #287]

Later, after the Latverian embassy has been repaired, another second-generation Doombot is placed on permanent duty there. When Kristoff-Doom and the third-generation Doombot become bitter rivals, the embassy Doombot remains loyal to Kristoff and hostile to the other one. This Doombot then deals with the situation when two representatives of the construction firm Damage Control come seeking payment of an overdue invoice. The inquiry exposes a member of Doom’s embassy staff as an embezzler. When the Fantastic Four arrive on the scene to “rescue” the Damage Control people, the Thing is forced to wonder if they’re facing just another Doombot. [Damage Control #2]

A second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff hosts an international symposium on robotics in Latveria, which is attended by Iron Man and his friends Ant-Man and James Rhodes. The symposium convinces the Doombot that no other nation has robotics technology as advanced as Latveria’s, and he amuses himself by infecting Iron Man with a genetically engineered virus that causes electronic systems to go haywire. Unfortunately, the virus mutates and overcomes the Doombot’s defenses, making his own armor go out of control. Iron Man saves the day after obtaining the antidote from Doom’s underlings, and in gratitude, the Doombot allows the Americans to leave with their lives. [Marvel Fanfare #44]

A second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff encounters X-Men member Storm while attacking a foreign factory that is polluting Latveria with acid rain. Together they overcome the military force defending the installation and destroy the factory. [Marvel Comics Presents #48]

A second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff is posted at the Twickenham Estate in England. Due to his presence in the British Isles, he is contacted by a future incarnation of the wizard Merlin and drawn into a confrontation with Iron Man in California. The armored adversaries are then magically transported to the year A.D. 2093 to help the reincarnation of King Arthur protect Great Britain from the combined threat of that era’s evil Iron Man and Doctor Doom. When they return to the present, though, neither the Doombot nor Iron Man has any memory of their trip to the future. Unlike the real Doctor Doom or the other doppelgängers, this Doombot has a penchant for making smart-ass remarks. [Iron Man #249–250]

A second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff is posted at Doctor Doom’s summer residence and one day gets drenched by a strange green liquid that falls from the sky. Thinking a passing jet has emptied its water tanks on him, the Doombot goes inside to shoot it down. However, he discovers that the liquid is actually the shape-changing offspring of the Impossible Man, a notorious alien troublemaker. Rather than try to fight the horde of obnoxious aliens, the Doombot convinces them that they will find Iron Man to be much more entertaining. [Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular #1]

A second-generation Doombot loyal to Kristoff tracks down the Black Fox after the venerable jewel thief steals one of Doctor Doom’s mystic gems from a museum in Monaco, where it was mistakenly included with an exhibit of Latveria’s crown jewels. Spider-Man tries to defend the elderly thief, but the Doombot beats the crap out of the web-slinger, repeatedly displaying superhuman strength in the process. Spider-Man convinces the Doombot to give him 24 hours to retrieve the stolen gem, which the Black Fox has already fenced. The next day, the Doombot follows Spider-Man and the Black Fox to the estate of millionaire recluse Andrew Carpathian, who is attempting to use the gem to open a portal to an alien dimension. The Doombot drives off Carpathian and his men and reclaims the jewel. He rewards Spider-Man and the Black Fox for their help by letting them live. [Amazing Spider-Man #349–350]

When the renegade third-generation Doombot storms Castle Doom in Latveria to attack Kristoff-Doom, the numerous Doombots present join the battle. When the real Doctor Doom then returns, he is so changed the Doombots do not recognize him. They attack him as well, but Doom deactivates them all with the touch of a button, causing their memory cores to self-destruct. [Fantastic Four #350]

Doom-II

As part of a pre-established contingency plan following the apparent death of the real Doctor Doom, Kristoff is placed in a “remembrancer” device, which overwrites his memories and personality with Victor von Doom’s own. However, Kristoff orders the process to be ended prematurely, leaving him without the benefit of most of Doom’s experience. Nevertheless, he believes himself to be the real Doctor Doom, and the Doombots all recognize him as their master. Donning an armored exoskeleton that makes him appear to be an adult, Kristoff-Doom or Doom-II sets out to destroy the Fantastic Four. For several months, he sneaks probes into the Baxter Building to make subtle and selective adjustments to the Fantastic Four’s equipment. Finally, he is ready to make his move and hauls the entire Baxter Building into orbit and blows it up. The Fantastic Four survive, however, and confront him at his castle in Latveria. After destroying several Doombots, the FF unmask Doom-II and are shocked to find Kristoff. They decide to take the brainwashed boy back to America to see if his mental programming can be reversed. [Fantastic Four #278–279]

Though they are unable to return Kristoff to his right mind, the Fantastic Four eventually allow him to escape from their headquarters so they can follow him back to Castle Doom, hoping to thus bypass the castle’s defenses. However, Doom-II immediately dons his armored exoskeleton and reasserts control over the Doombots. Finding a renegade Doombot (Doom-III) in the castle, Doom-II attacks him. The Doombots are initially incapable of determining which “Doctor Doom” they should obey, but they soon settle on Doom-II. Finding himself vastly outnumbered, Doom-III flees the castle, declaring war on Doom-II. [Fantastic Four Annual #20]

When Doom-III surfaces near the Latverian embassy in New York City, Doom-II sends an army of mercenaries after him. However, the mercenaries are driven off by the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther, and X-Factor, so Doom-III escapes. [Fantastic Four #312]

Doom-II decides that he must have been trapped in Kristoff’s body by the Ovoid mind-swap technique, and the impostor Doom-III must therefore be inhabiting his real body. He captures the West Coast Avengers and attempts to enlist them in his war against the impostor, but he is forced to release them by the Egyptian god Khonshu. [West Coast Avengers #35]

Sometime later, Doom-III activates a time-displacement bubble around Castle Doom, but Doom-II overcomes its effects, having anticipated such a tactic. During their ensuing fight, Doom-II manages to shake Doom-III’s conviction that he is the true Doctor Doom, thus postponing their final confrontation. [Thor #410]

Doom-II begins selling chemical weapons to small-time dictators across the globe. He then captures the Punisher when the infamous vigilante breaks into Castle Doom. Doom-II tries to recruit him to assassinate Doom-III, but the Punisher starts a fire in the castle’s art gallery and uses it to cover his escape. Doom-II vows to destroy the Punisher for his effrontery. [Punisher #28–29]

When Doom-III finally storms Castle Doom in Latveria, Doom-II fights him until the real Doctor Doom suddenly appears. After destroying Doom-III, Doctor Doom says the code word that breaks Kristoff’s mental programming, ending his belief that he is Victor von Doom. [Fantastic Four #350]

Doom-III

When Doctor Doom learns that the Beyonder has come to Earth, he creates a new “third-generation” Doombot to stand in for him while he flees into the past via his time machine. However, unknown to Doom, an error in this Doombot’s mental programming will cause him to believe himself to be the true Doctor Doom even in the presence of his master or the other Doombots. This is the most “pure” Doombot yet constructed and is, in essence, a perfect copy of Victor von Doom. Thus, I refer to him as Doom-III.

Doom-III is first seen when Cloak and Dagger come to Latveria on the trail of some drug smugglers. Doom-III is attempting to neutralize the nuclear weapons of all other nations so that Latveria will be the sole remaining nuclear power, but Cloak and Dagger trick him into destroying his particle-beam projector during their battle. [Cloak and Dagger v.2 #10]

Doom-III then invites the X-Men to come to Latveria where he can use his molecular reintegrator to save the life of their teammate Shadowcat, whose phasing power has gone haywire. The Fantastic Four intervene, though, and Mister Fantastic is instrumental in making the process work after Magneto compromises the delicate systems. Afterwards, Doom-III magnanimously hosts a banquet for his guests to celebrate their success and is satisfied that the X-Men are in his debt. [Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men #1–4]

Learning that the Human Torch and Alicia Masters are getting married, Doom-III calls a temporary truce and has a crate of flowers delivered to the chapel in time for the ceremony. Sometime later, he invites Magneto to Castle Doom for a meeting of the minds. [Fantastic Four #300, X-Factor Annual #4]

On Midsummer’s Eve, Doom-III kidnaps Franklin Richards, conjures up Mephisto, and offers to exchange Franklin for the soul of Cynthia von Doom. However, Kristoff-Doom (Doom-II) attacks him before the deal can be struck, and while they are fighting, Mister Fantastic rescues Franklin from Mephisto’s realm. Since all the second-generation Doombots are loyal to Kristoff, Doom-III realizes he is vastly outnumbered and abandons the fight, declaring war on Kristoff. He takes refuge in Wakanda as a guest of the Black Panther, providing him with his robotics expertise in return. However, the Black Panther decides not to get involved in Doom-III’s rivalry with Kristoff, agreeing only to grant him safe passage to the United States. The Fantastic Four accompany them, and upon their arrival in New York City, the FF, the Black Panther, and X-Factor protect Doom-III from a gang of mercenaries sent by Kristoff. Doom-III tries to force the heroes to attack the Latverian embassy, but they foil his plan. With nowhere to turn, Doom-III goes into hiding, establishing a secret base of operations on the city’s waterfront. [Fantastic Four #305, Fantastic Four Annual #20, Fantastic Four #311–312]

Doom-III soon receives a tip from Quicksilver, who has his own grudge against Kristoff, that the Fantastic Four are planning a trip into the Negative Zone to search for either the Beyonder or a race of Beyonders. Thus, Doom-III plots to accompany them and attempt to steal the Beyonder’s power. Knowing the Molecule Man is the primary threat to his scheme, Doom-III tracks him down and tries to kill him. He then goes to Four Freedoms Plaza to convince the Fantastic Four to let him join their mission to the Negative Zone. Though they reject his offer, Doom-III manages to make his own way into the Negative Zone, where he waits until Blastaar has nearly defeated the FF. Doom-III comes to their rescue, so the FF reluctantly agree to an alliance. Doom-III then leads the FF into the dimension where the Beyonder has taken up residence. Doom-III’s plans are upset by the intervention of the Molecule Man, the Shaper of Worlds, and Kubik, though he does manage to regain Victor von Doom’s missing memories when the Beyonder and the Molecule Man merge into a brand-new Cosmic Cube. [Fantastic Four Annual #21, Fantastic Four #318–319]

Believing the Molecule Man would not surrender his life without allotting some share of his cosmic power to his girlfriend, Volcana, Doom-III places her under surveillance. He then goes to Las Vegas to recruit the Hulk for his war against Kristoff, goading the Hulk into a grudge match with the Thing. [Fantastic Four Annual #23, Fantastic Four #320, Hulk #349–350]

Doom-III manages to capture Thor’s enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, and uses it to power a time-distortion device that creates a bubble of frozen time around Castle Doom. Upon entering the castle, however, Doom-III discovers that Kristoff has anticipated such a tactic and has devised a means to counteract it. Doom-III and Kristoff renew their battle, but when Doom-III gets the upper hand, Kristoff is able to talk his way out of it. The time-bubble collapses suddenly and Doom-III is forced to flee Latveria once again. A few days later, a mysterious man meets with Doom-III at his waterfront hideout in New York and proposes an enemy-swapping scheme code named “Acts of Vengeance.” [Thor #409–410]

Believing the scheme lacks merit, Doom-III attempts to prove this to his co-conspirators, Magneto and the Wizard, by recruiting various third-rate villains to attack the Avengers, Power Pack, and the Hulk. Later, as the Kingpin is recruited to join the villain consortium, they are informed that the Trapster has failed to destroy Spider-Man. However, Doom-III is intrigued by reports of Spider-Man’s new cosmic powers, so he sends Titania to battle the wall-crawler. During their fight, Doom-III analyzes the strange energies Spider-Man is wielding. He continues his analysis when the Wizard subsequently calls in the Brothers Grimm. Doom-III decides that he must find a way to harness Spider-Man’s new powers for himself. [Cloak and Dagger v.3 #9, Power Pack #53, Hulk #363, Spectacular Spider-Man #158­–159, Web of Spider-Man #59, Amazing Spider-Man #327]

After the Mandarin is recruited into the villain consortium, Doom-III sends an army of robots to destroy the Avengers’ current headquarters, the floating artificial island Hydrobase. He also plants a device on the roof of Four Freedoms Plaza to induce more third-rate villains to stage futile attacks on the Fantastic Four. When the Red Skull is recruited to join their scheme, Doom-III begins to realize that his co-conspirators spend more time arguing than planning effective strategies. However, he continues to associate with them only to further his plot to steal Spider-Man’s cosmic powers. [Avengers #311–312, Fantastic Four #334, Captain America #365–366, Wolverine #19, Web of Spider-Man #60]

Doom-III makes a bet with the Kingpin that he will be able to kill the Kingpin’s most persistent nemesis, the Punisher, in one week. However, the Punisher proves to be surprisingly resourceful and forces Doom-III to back off by stealing a treasured portrait of Werner and Cynthia von Doom from Castle Doom itself. To prove that he could have the Punisher killed anytime he wanted to, the Kingpin then hires the mutant-hunting vigilante Bushwacker to take the Punisher out. Doom-III is amused when the Punisher kills Bushwacker instead. Doom-III also finds the time to create Ultron-13, a synthesis of all the previous models, which he sends to kill Daredevil. He also receives a false report from the deranged Typhoid Mary about how she destroyed Power Pack. [Punisher #28–29, Punisher War Journal #12–13, Daredevil #275, Power Pack #53]

After setting a trap for the Fantastic Four using the Super-Adaptoid, Doom-III modifies the TESS-One robot to be able to absorb some of Spider-Man’s cosmic energies and sends it to battle the web-slinger. Spider-Man blows the robot to smithereens with relative ease, but Doom-III is able to retrieve the robot’s head to use in a device to allow him to tap into the source of Spider-Man’s new powers. However, the device fails unaccountably, and Doom-III realizes it must have been sabotaged by one of his co-conspirators. Fed up with the villain consortium, Doom-III sends a robotic first-generation Doombot to take his place at their meetings. When he decides to terminate his association with the splintering group, Doom-III causes his robot doppelgänger to self-destruct. He soon learns that the mysterious organizer of the group was none other than Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief. [Fantastic Four #336, Spectacular Spider-Man #160, Web of Spider-Man #61, Avengers #313, West Coast Avengers #55]

Doom-III strikes a bargain with the ancient sorcerer known as Mister Jip to hand over a grimoire in Doom-III’s possession in exchange for a helpless Dagger, whom Doom-III thinks will make a perfect power source for the latest weapon he has created for his war against Kristoff. Although Doom-III makes all the arrangements, Mister Jip fails to fulfill his part of the bargain. Doom-III then monitors Volcana when she finally manifests her cosmic legacy from the Molecule Man. Having made a thorough analysis, Doom-III begins to plan how to take advantage of this opportunity without alerting the Shaper of Worlds or Kubik. [Cloak and Dagger v.3 #12–13, Fantastic Four Annual #23]

After seeing Thor and Sersi discussing interdimensional travel on a TV news broadcast, Doom-III hatches a plan to infiltrate the Avengers’ new headquarters building. He constructs three modular Doombots, which are able to pass through small gaps in the building’s security perimeter and reassemble themselves once inside. Thus, Doom-III is able to crash the gala reception being held to mark the building’s grand opening. Through his Doombots, Doom-III offers to reveal how he compromised the team’s security in exchange for the secret of interdimensional travel, which he intends to use to rescue his mother. However, the Avengers figure it out on their own, so they are not interested in making any deals with Doctor Doom. [Avengers #331–333]

Doom-III stages a final all-out assault on Castle Doom in Latveria, but his battle with Kristoff is interrupted by a third Doctor Doom wearing shiny promethium armor. Doom-III attacks this interloper as another impostor but is easily destroyed by his foe’s superior force. [Fantastic Four #350]

When destroying Doom-III, the real Doctor Doom is careful to preserve the head for further study, for he is curious what made this Doombot so different from the others. It is likely Doom was able to subsequently retrieve all the unique memories from this Doombot’s brain and gain the benefit of his experience.

Previous Issue: Doctor Doom -- Part Two

Next Issue: Captain America -- Year Three