Well...
chess.jpg
I'd say BM would have a better chance in a straight fight than in chess.
Bringing back the old, killing the young: that's the Marvel way
Intelligence stalemate, okay I'm cool with that. Strength??? Since when has Doom ever been Thor, Sentry class in strength like Adam. The only edge I give Doom is his ruthlessness, and magic use.
What issue is this from?
H.E.R.B.I.E. was probably still in the process of downloading information from the "cloud", so he may not have the full book on Adam. Earlier in that issue he referred to Victor as "Mister" Doom, instead of "Doctor" and had to be corrected by Stephen Strange.
That said, by "strength" perhaps Richards meant sheer power? Doom supposedly has Sorcerer Supreme level magical potential, if not actual feats. I guess we'll hear about more of that in upcoming issues. He's facing Mephisto after all.
Either way, glad to see that Blue Marvel is in action, although I do note that it took most of the heroes being off-world before Reed decided to enlist Adam's aid. Being the "top available" is the backhanded compliment that it appears.
Chess skill isn't really a proper measure of true intellect. That people have that perception speaks more to the mythos behind the game than anything else. What we can take from that, though, is that Reed views Adam and Victor of a kind in terms of their analytical grasp of theoretical concepts and outcomes. The question you have to ask yourself is who made Reed the authority on such things? Reed should be careful not to insult both Adam and Victor. Not unless he really wants to test the effects of dark magic and antimatter on elasticity up close.
Make no mistake, that entire conversation with H.E.R.B.I.E. bothered Adam. It was condescending and Adam was being sarcastic in response.
Adam is human. He has his dignity and pride as any man blessed with great achievements would. But it's more than that. Even a proud man who has endured countless microaggressions for 80+ years occasionally claps back.
As for Adam's penchant for violence, never forget that he fired full force antimatter blasts at MAC during a tiff, instead of using one of the other esoteric and less ... deleterious ... energy forms at his command. I think we'll soon come to find that the difference between Adam and someone like Doom isn't the trigger, but the temperature of the flashpoint.
Doom and Adam could be an interesting contrast, if done right.
Both of their 'careers' (for lack of a better word) have been defined by the racism of others. But whereas Adam was able to endure, and not let it change him into something he's not, Doom's response to persecution was to return it a hundred fold, and in many ways adopt the traits of those who persecuted his people (Doom ain't royalty by any measure)
I definately like the potential between them, so I'm glad Adam in being used in Dooms book. I hope this has some lasting effects, and they continue to have interaction down the line. I don't need or expect them to become BFF's or anything like that... but it would be fun to see more of them together down the line. Or at least in theory.