Today makes Day Nine of the second annual Jack Kirby Tribute Month, created by Howard Simpson to honor the creative genius of Jack Kirby during his birth month. We’re in the first full week of the month, and the theme for this week is the Fantastic Four. Today’s prompt is Dr. Doom.
Victor Von Doom views himself as being above other men. And yet (though he’d deny it), he’s clearly threatened by Reed Richards’ genius. He’s a bit more complex of a character than your average supervillain. Kirby has been quoted as saying he was inspired in part by The Man in the Iron Mask, and was trying to make him “the classic conception of Death,” without a hint of mercy, by masking him in cold, unmerciful steel. He viewed Doom as being paranoid, and Doom’s perfectionism was what ultimately tripped him up and bent his mind.
Dr. Doom’s mask is kind of tricky to draw! It sort of morphs a bit between panels and appearances, so hopefully I’ve done it justice here.
Tune in tomorrow for the finale of Fantastic Four week!
Not sure how to phrase this? Great Doom? Excellent interpretation of Vic. He was the nightmare of my childhood. Once again, your eyes capture him. You use the word paranoia, and you got it. Those eyes could change in heartbeat and do serious damage. Eyes on edge and ready to be as cruel and self-serving as any human could be, So the compliment should be not “great” but psychotechnically accurate. Reading has it that Stan came up with the name. The concept design was clearly all Jack. Doom’s appearance accentuated his depth of evil. You totally capture the costuming and therefore the character. Thanks.
Glad you liked my shot at Doom.
Stan clearly liked alliteration, so it’s very possible he came up with the name. There was an earlier character, Dr. Droom (later renamed Dr. Druid), who pre-dated the FF and Dr. Doom. Kind of the last gasp of the monster stories. I can’t remember just where I read this now, but I seem to recall some suggestions that Dr. Droom might have first been named Doom, and then renamed Droom before publication. Perhaps they liked the Doom name too much to just use it for what was intended as basically a one-off character? the “real” Doom appeared about a year later.