Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Mad Doctor Doom!
The name of Doctor Doom is infamous to all comic book fans and its a great name indeed. So great that more than one comic book character actually has it. Alongside Marvel's Doctor Doom there was at almost the same moment another "Doctor Doom" over at Archie Comics in the pages of the entertaining Little Archie.
Debuting (though not cover featured) in the pages of Little Archie #24 in 1962, this Doctor Doom hit the comic stands only a month or two after Marvel's Victor Von Doom, though most folks think this was a mere coincidence and not the Archie folk lifting a name. Bob Bolling the writer and artist for Little Archie was a veteran and a reliable talent who created these younger Riverdale characters, and went to produce many an amazing adventure for the Little Archie gang.
When Bolling came up with the verdant and vile looking Doctor Doom and his henchman Chester he found an enemy for the Riverdale mites which was worth repeating. And he did just that.
As you can see Mad Doctor Doom and his convoluted plots crept into the pages of Little Archie off and on for next several years,
These misadvenures and some others were reprinted several years ago by the folks at Archie Comics in a pair of handsome trades which feature some new Bob Bolling covers, and which make for great reading. It was my first time reading about the notorious and weirdly green Doctor Doom, but it was a hoot.
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In 1966 there was a character called 'The Man From B.U.N.G.L.E.' in a British comic called 'Smash!' whose arch-enemy was 'Doctor Doom'. Smash!, along with its sister comics (Wham! Pow!, Fantastic, and Terrific), also reprinted Marvel stories, so there were two Doctor Dooms appearing in comics by the same publisher (Odhams Press.) Couldn't say if Marvel ever objected to this, but I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteJust republished a post about our Doctor Doom, and added a link to this post, Rip. Take a look if you haven't seen it before.
DeleteI doubt Marvel ever knew. Two Dooms are worth checking out. Thanks.
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