The reader is introduced to a number of facets of the character that would remain mostly in tact over the decades. The flashbacks tell of a young Victor who grows to become the leader of his small band of Romani. I suspect that also may have been the role his father played as their healer. His upbringing lacks some details like his education but we do know his repuations reaches the U.S where a recruiter/scout comes to find him. He has better luck than the Latverian soldiers that have been trying to track him down. Then we get to the many times retold story of his going to the U.S and attending university. He meets his new classmated and future enemies Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. He spurns their offers of friendship and keeps to himself. He's later expelled when the fateful expirement goes awry and causes an explosion. Over the years this would be an event that gains new aspects as the years go on. IIRC Reed always considered the experiment a failure. Much later in Books of Doom Brubaker's version gives us a more detailed telling of the experiment showing that is was successful and he did contact his mother in the Nether Regions. It is hinted that the demon, who at this point is unnamed, caused the device to fail.
All retellings remain faithful to the impact on Victor. His face is severly damaged, or at least in most versions it is. At this point, Doom leaves to go back to Latveria after being expelled by the university.
Years later Jack Kirby gives us a sketch where Doom only has a small scar. Fortunately for us, Jack Kirby used to host some of his fans in his home and he drew a sketch showing this. One member of the group created a film of it and it has been saved at the online Jack Kirby Museum
the immortal Jack Kirby sketching Doctor Doom and explaining his small scar theory. Video hosted by the Jack Kirby Museum