Two Dooms to Destroy Me!

Doctor Doom has stolen Mjolnir, causing Thor to be trapped within the body of his mortal host, Eric Masterson.[1] Needing to get to Latveria as quickly as possible, Eric and Hercules borrow a Quinjet from the Avengers, taking the She-Hulk along with them as back-up.

Meanwhile, their approach is detected by the minoring systems in Latveria and the commanding officer takes this to his master, Kristoff Vernard, who thinks himself to be the real Doctor Doom.[2]

Meanwhile, the real Doctor Doom has arrived in the country in the hopes of using Mjolnir to help him retake control of his homeland. Setting up a device to channel the hammer’s mystical energies, Doom has his time-bot return the enchanted hammer to the present day with its chest mounted time beam. The device channels the power in order to freeze everyone in Latveria except for Kristoff, in the hopes Doom can win his victory without harming his people.

Not far away, the Avengers Quinjet has touched down and its occupants begin sneaking into Latveria. Along the way they run into some of Doctor Doom’s Doombots. In the ensuing battle, Hercules begins to feel the grip of fear for the first time in long life and wants to end the battle before he is consumed by the panic.[3] Meanwhile, Eric Masterson has spotted the device channeling the power of Mjolnir and makes his way to it. However, before he can reach the enchanted hammer is knocked off his feet from an energy blast.

As Eric finds himself face-to-face with Doom’s timebot, the deposed monarch faces off against his success. Although Kristoff has access to Castle Doom’s various automated defenses, the real Doom has built in weapons in his armor to counteract every contingency. Although he manages to overpower Kristoff, the youth questions Doom’s superiority, pointing out that if Doom’s intellect is so perfect then the creation of his successor was in itself perfection and to try and undo this would be an admission that Doom is imperfect.

Back at the scene of the battle, Eric uses his walking stick to vault himself over the robot and into the machine, causing it to overload and explode. Luckily, Eric was able to grasp Mjolnir just in time, transforming into Thor and becoming impervious to the blast. With the machine destroyed, everyone frozen in place in Latveria is freed and when faced with his own troops, Doctor Doom decides that a retreat is in order. Seeing his own men look away in shame, Kristoff decides to kill them so his defeat remains a secret. However, Vernard cannot understand why his attacker spared his life.

Watching Doctor Doom fleeing, Thor decides to leave him be as they have accomplished their mission. Hercules and She-Hulk reluctantly agree and Thor is relieved as he needs to resume his life as Eric Masterson.

Meanwhile, Doctor Doom has returned to his hideout where he is visited by a strange man who offers him the chance to get revenge against Thor and the other super-heroes of Earth in a scheme he is calling the Acts of Vengeance![4]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Doctor Doom, She-Hulk, Hercules, Kristoff Vernard, Loki, Eric Masterson

Continuity Notes

1. Masterson and Thor were merged together in order to save Eric’s life in Thor #408. This union will remain in play until they are separated again in Thor #457.

2. The whole Kristoff Vernard thing is deeply complicated. See, Doctor Doom as seemingly killed in Fantastic Four #260. This activated a protocol where his heir, Kristoff, was mentally conditioned into thinking he was the real Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #278. The real Doom was later revived in Fantastic Four #288. Doom has been trying to reclaim his kingdom since Fantastic Four Annual #20.

3. Hercules has been through a lot recently. He had the shit kicked out of him by the Masters of Evil in Avengers #274 and suffered serious injury that put him out of commission for a time. Soon after he was hyper-evolved to a disembodied form in Avengers Annual #17 and was trapped in the Black Galaxy until Thor rescued him in Thor #407. He hasn’t had a lot of time to process everything just yet. He will eventually overcome his fears in Thor #418.

4. This mystery man is Loki, as we’ll learn in Avengers West Coast #55.

Volstagg - Lion of Asgard

After a night of drinking, Volstagg decides it is time to head home. However, he is so drunk he has trouble mounting his horse. This is witnessed by a thief lurking in a nearby alley, making him an ideal mark.

On the path home, the thief and his friends attack Volstagg, knocking him off his horse. Despite the fact that he is drunk, Volstagg is not the easy mark they made him out to be and he single handedly takes them all down.

With the battle over, Volstagg returns home where his wife Gudrun scolds him for being out drinking so late. When she sees the state of his clothing he tells her that he fought some thieves, something that she isn’t ready to believe due to Volstagg’s long history of making up stories.

Recurring Characters

Warriors Three (Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun), Gudrun