My Favorite Marvel Villain of all time is Victor Von Doom, and as a kid, I tried to grab every issue I could with him on the cover. Living in Hawaii, there weren’t a whole lot of places to buy back-issue comics, but there was a shoppe in Waikiki that sold Hawaiian stuff (koa bowls, carved statues, etc) and in the back of the store, the little old lady that ran the place sold used comics!
Me and my friend would bicycle down there every weekend to see what new comics she had, and when I saw this Super-Villain Team-Up in one of the comic boxes, I couldn’t WAIT to check it out!
Getting home, I was treated to one of the finest Doctor Doom stories ever! I was used to seeing Doc Doom as drawn by artists like Jack Kirby, John Buscema and Keith Pollard, but George Tuska’s take on him was SO different…very robotic and archaic looking that made me feel like I was reading a ancient tale of Doom.
Even as a kid I could tell that this story of Doc Doom VS Red Skull was made up of two parts- there was a very distinctive split in the middle of the story, and sure enough, the first page said “Originally presented in Tales to Astonish 4-5” and when I was a teenager and seriously collecting, these were issues I just HAD to have!
Still one of my all time favorite Doctor Dooms stories, with one my FAVORITE Doom quotes ever (when a thief tries to rob him in his sleep): “ What’s THIS?A common thief who dares disturb my royal repose? Such audacity borders on madness, and towards the mad, I am nothing if not merciful! Hence the merest TASTE of my weaponry! (electrocutes the robber to hell)!
