FF #34 / Bride of Doom, Final Chapter: The Sacred vow of Victor von Doom

[Iron Maiden]

If this was her plan, could be a good plot twist

I suppose it could be possible but Zora never knew who her real parents were. They were both Symkarian spies embedded in Latveria. She only found out when Doom assigned her to kill her mother since she was one of the ringleaders of the plot against Doom. Apparently her father died before all this but that part was a bit vague and he was killed during an earlier rebellion while the mother survived. (Doctor Doom #8)

[Triniking1234]

Still ridiculous that they dragged out the identity of the bride. Like was he gonna marry Lyja cuz her skin matches his suit? Who comes up with this crap?

[Marvell2100]

I'm hoping it's an Iceman situation where he's living flame, so he doesn't need sustenance like a normal human. I wonder what his highest temperature is now and whether he is more akin to a star than fire. If the former then he may be able to stay aflame in space.

I think at some point Johnny would evolve to that stage. When he started out all he could do is flame on and shoot fire balls.

Of all the FF(including the kids), Johnny has been the most underdeveloped and most writers tend to fall back onto old tropes.

That's why I loved Hickman's FF so much. He took Johnny seriously and made him a more mature character than he's been probably since Byrne's run. Slott just regressed Johnny back to the impetuous hothead that seems to be the go to personae.

[cmore]

I think at some point Johnny would evolve to that stage. When he started out all he could do is flame on and shoot fire balls.

Of all the FF(including the kids), Johnny has been the most underdeveloped and most writers tend to fall back onto old tropes.

That's why I loved Hickman's FF so much. He took Johnny seriously and made him a more mature character than he's been probably since Byrne's run. Slott just regressed Johnny back to the impetuous hothead that seems to be the go to personae.

Johnny's powers were much weaker when he first started out, but he did a lot more than just throw fireballs. He made flame lassos, flame cages, and could create multiple images of himself to throw off his enemies. He even defeated Namor in their first battle by creating a tornado.

It's just sad that writers like Slott have taken a character who started out so creative and competent and turned him into the idiot that he is now.

[lefthanded]

I feel much the same way regarding this arc - characters acting with plot driven stupidity and nothing really changes.

Now that we are 30+ issues into Slott's run, it's pretty safe to say nothing interesting has come out of his run. I thought it would be impossible to do worse than Robinson's Quiet Man driving everything, but Slott has managed to do even worse.
He's essentially reverting F4 to their 90's state and turning the characters all one note (Invisible Woman = woman; Human Torch = rash; Mister Fantastic = Mister (he's no longer fantastic, as their origin is no longer his fault); The Thing = married). Even Doom has returned to his same old villain routine. Victorious was a potentially interesting addition to the F4 canon, but she has merely become just a plot device.

[Iron Maiden]

I feel much the same way regarding this arc - characters acting with plot driven stupidity and nothing really changes.

Now that we are 30+ issues into Slott's run, it's pretty safe to say nothing interesting has come out of his run. I thought it would be impossible to do worse than Robinson's Quiet Man driving everything, but Slott has managed to do even worse.
He's essentially reverting F4 to their 90's state and turning the characters all one note (Invisible Woman = woman; Human Torch = rash; Mister Fantastic = Mister (he's no longer fantastic, as their origin is no longer his fault); The Thing = married). Even Doom has returned to his same old villain routine. Victorious was a potentially interesting addition to the F4 canon, but she has merely become just a plot device.

I mostly agree with you. I thought is was such a radical jump from Slott's Doom going back to creating death traps for the Fantastic Four. Eespecially when it was not that long ago when Doom as Infamous Iron Man was a semi-regular cast member in The Thing and Human Torch maxi series Marvel Two in One. He was helping them in their search to find Reed and Sue. Even going back to the Infamous Iron Man series, Doom was trying to be less combative with the Thing



I thought Robinson's run was going in a good direction with the story where the Thing finally meets up with Sharon Ventura when they both end up in prison. I don't even think is was clear how she ended up there. She's had such random appearances over the years. There was a recent one not long ago where she was back in her human form and appearing with a wrestling league again. But the Quiet Man arc was mostly just boring to me.

[CaptCleghorn]

I feel much the same way regarding this arc - characters acting with plot driven stupidity and nothing really changes.

Now that we are 30+ issues into Slott's run, it's pretty safe to say nothing interesting has come out of his run. I thought it would be impossible to do worse than Robinson's Quiet Man driving everything, but Slott has managed to do even worse.
He's essentially reverting F4 to their 90's state and turning the characters all one note (Invisible Woman = woman; Human Torch = rash; Mister Fantastic = Mister (he's no longer fantastic, as their origin is no longer his fault); The Thing = married). Even Doom has returned to his same old villain routine. Victorious was a potentially interesting addition to the F4 canon, but she has merely become just a plot device.

Slott's dealing with Ben and Alicia has easily been the highlight of the run. The marriage, the adoption of the kids, and Alicia's delving into darkness using her father's clay have been pretty good. And I say this even if his other stuff wasn't so weak.

[JackDaw]

Slott's dealing with Ben and Alicia has easily been the highlight of the run. The marriage, the adoption of the kids, and Alicia's delving into darkness using her father's clay have been pretty good. And I say this even if his other stuff wasn't so weak.

Maybe he has a good touch with Ben....I think last time I read anything of his, it was “The Thing, Idol of Millions”, which I really enjoyed.

[CaptCleghorn]

Maybe he has a good touch with Ben....I think last time I read anything of his, it was “The Thing, Idol of Millions”, which I really enjoyed.

His Thing series as well as his She Hulk were pretty good. He has handled some of these characters well.

[JackDaw]

His Thing series as well as his She Hulk were pretty good. He has handled some of these characters well.

Yes…he was riding high back then…there was a reason he was entrusted with Spider-Man. I also seem to remember the early run on Spider-Man was well received by most fans, but that gradually altered as the run progressed.

I actually thought moving to FF might “revive him” and that it might be a run I read eventually. But no chance! (The plot summaries I’ve seen of his FF have left me in no doubt that I would not enjoy the read.)

[lordozone]

The only thing I find cool in this run, is that Doom has now reason to hate all the members of the Fantastic Four, not only Reed. But there is more miss than hit: now, Reed is no longer responsible for their condition, Franklin Richards is no longer a mutant, he is a just a spoiled brat, Johnny Storm is once again a dumb good-looking white boy who cheat his girlfriends and the competent fighter who fought Anihilus is nowhere to be seen... Everything is boring.

[Baron of Faltine]

Yes…he was riding high back then…there was a reason he was entrusted with Spider-Man. I also seem to remember the early run on Spider-Man was well received by most fans, but that gradually altered as the run progressed.

I actually thought moving to FF might “revive him” and that it might be a run I read eventually. But no chance! (The plot summaries I’ve seen of his FF have left me in no doubt that I would not enjoy the read.)

I agree with you, Jackdaw...nothign in this run yell "must read" the low points are much much more than the positives.

[Iron Maiden]

Thinking back to this arc, "Bride of Doom" IMO sets the wrong tone for a time when we should be celebrating the Fantastic Four and their legacy. The ending was such a downer. Slott's plot induced stupidity tossed away a real possibility of a lasting truce with Doom. But we can be real...Slott wasn't going to let that happen. He just dangled that out there and snatched it away. It also puts Johnny in a precarious state but I'd bet that it will be solved before the year is out. So we only have the illusion of any change.

[Oberon]

Johnny Storm is once again a dumb good-looking white boy who cheat his girlfriends and the competent fighter who fought Anihilus is nowhere to be seen... Everything is boring.

Actually Johnny does not have a history of cheating. He way often has been dumped more than he has.

Has he even?

[CaptCleghorn]

Thinking back to this arc, "Bride of Doom" IMO sets the wrong tone for a time when we should be celebrating the Fantastic Four and their legacy. The ending was such a downer. Slott's plot induced stupidity tossed away a real possibility of a lasting truce with Doom. But we can be real...Slott wasn't going to let that happen. He just dangled that out there and snatched it away. It also puts Johnny in a precarious state but I'd bet that it will be solved before the year is out. So we only have the illusion of any change.

Slott threw away any chance of Doom's growth as a character when Doom went all mustache twirling bad guy in the Galactus story. Most writers see Doom as a bad guy who can be a thoroughly evil bastard, but they also recognize Victor can do some good, and often does. An actual truce would have been an interesting idea. What could the FF do if they found Doom had a plot going on? The FF would be torn between actively investigating and possibly stopping Doom, or remain neutral in order to keep the peace until there really was a problem.

As to Johnny's problem, I agree that it ain't going to last that long.