So I was flipping through the local comic trades at Barnes and Noble yesterday. I was reading a Spiderman trade called: Revelations. The first third or so was the Marvel Universe’s response to 9/11. A little cheesy but over all well done. Spiderman is based in New York so it works. All the heros show up to help with the aftermath. Fascinating to see what happens when heros fail. They’re all flabbergasted that they couldn’t stop it, didn’t see it coming. And lot’s of people died because of it. You don’t see that often, at least in Marvel.
They note that the magnitude of the event had even made former enemies give respect and even some help. They show a shot of Magneto and Dr. Doom. Then they show a close up of Victor Von Doom SHEDDING A TEAR!!! Now don’t get me wrong, 9/11 was a horrible tragedy that should reduce most of us to tears. But this is Dr. Doom!! Note the last name. The man that I understand has conquered the world multiple times. One of the smartest and most devious men in the MU. Dr. Doom does not cry! Somehow I don’t think he has a problem with innocent bystanders kicking the bucket so I don’t think 9/11 is going to choke him up.
But I could be wrong. Maybe he’s just a big softy under that hard exterior?
I take that issue out of continuity, save for an explanation of the change of the New York skyline. Doom, Juggs, Mags, Kingpin, all standing the the rubble as pretty as you please…crying or not, that ain’t gonna happen. Especially in the Marvel U where one of them if not all of them would automatically be blamed for the destruction being at the scene of the devastation.
However, I don’t have any problem thinking Doom would cry if the situation warranted it. Maybe dealing with his mother, or his country. He loves them both very deeply and if something were to happen to either (yes I know his mom is doomed in Hell…that’s pretty bad too) I bet he’d shed a tear. But no one would see it, and if they did, they wouldn’t live long enough to tell anyone.
I can see Doom shedding a tear in the proper circumstances. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a big softy, but he has always struck me as a character who actually cared a lot for others. He views himself as the victim (lost his mother, others don’t recognize his genius over Mr. Fantastic, has a horribly scarred face). He is egotistical, and he does want to rule the world, but that’s because he thinks that he’s the best for the job. But he doesn’t want to kill a lot of people to rule the world, he just thinks the occasional life taking is necessary to acheive his goals and they’re for the greater good; he’d be quite happy if everyone would just acknowledge his superiorty and elect him ruler.
The thing that gets me is…if the Marvel villains were really so shook up about 9/11, why wouldn’t one or more of them just head over to Afganistan, kill bin laden and the rest of the taliban leadership, and bring back the corpses as trophies?
I mean, can you imagine how that would help Dr. Doom, or even Kingpin’s standing in the public eye?
Were they maybe just crocodile tears? It might be good fodder for the propaganda machine, after all, and it might be to his benefit if people think he has a sensitive streak, regardless of whether he actually does.
Makes sense, kinda. Magneto and Doom both lost their parents and suffered greatly because of their ethnicity (Jewish and Roma, respectively) so it’s possible that seeing an enormous tragedy based on senseless hatred could bring to mind childhood traumas. Both have shown they’re capable of some degree of empathy, neither is a complete psychopath.
In a world in which any given city, in particular NEW YORK city, is populated with and watched over by superheroes:
While I can imagine a single plane crashing into a building, how is it possible to have not two, or three, but FOUR plane crashes in a row? Was Superman too busy watching CNN to actually STOP one of them? Fantastic Four off fighting some other evil? Spiderman crushed under the tower?
If they’re all so sad about the towers, why didn’t any of them do anything about it?
Yes, I know it’s fictional. Still kinda weird to think about.
Phnord-Agreed. At the very least, why wouldn’t any of them go to try and bring the people who planned the attacks to justice? I could see how, say, Spider-Man might prefer to stay “on the home front,” but…The Punisher? Or Batman?
And now, a word from the good Doctor his own bad self…
Doom does NOT cry! Tears are for lesser men… men whose weak minds and wills leave them at the mercy of the wills of others, or the whims of fate!
But Doom stands at the mercy of NO ONE!
ALL is proceeding according to Doom’s plan!
Were it not for the meddling of the accursed Richards and his compatriots, Doom would ALREADY be master of humanity, and no such incidents, wasteful of the lives of Doom’s subjects, would be needful!
A clever propaganda move, you say? BAH! Doom has no NEED of such mundane strategems! Doom’s machinations possess subtlety beyond the comprehension of ordinary men… subtley of such refined degree that Doom NEED NOT debase himself in public with lacrimose sentimentality!
Nor does Doom CARE what opinions the world holds of him! NONE, save Doom alone, stand worthy to pass judgement on the actions of Doom! The opinions of men, whether laudatory or otherwise, mean NOTHING to Doom!
Thus, for the benefit of the historical record, Doom shall reiterate… DOOM DOES NOT CRY! EVER!
How could superheroes be completely unaware four jets being hijacked and flown into landmarks and fields?
I’d consider them to live in a different kind of world from the rest of humanity. It’s a situation like the muggles and the wizards in the Harry Potter books. Superheroes are aware of normal people but generally are only interested in them on a personal level, maintaining their secret ids, or when their arch-nemesis is about to turn the entire population of Megalopolis into a thin red paste with her latest invention.
I’d say it was just comics trying to cash in on the post 11th of Septmeber (yes that’s the correct English phrase thank you none of this 911 crap) hysteria. Nothing more, everyone wants to make money and try and fit in with the public mood to some degree.
Triumph & Torment-
This graphic novel stars Doctors Doom and Strange. It deals with the soul of Doom’s mother. I haven’t read it in quite a while, but IIRC Doom does shed a single tear in one panel.
Raisinbread-
Idunno. OTOMH, I don’t know how many New Yorkers are left at Marvel. IIRC, Stan Lee has moved after living in NYC for a few decades. The late, great Kirby was born and raised there. I’m willing to bet the 9-11 specials weren’t motivated entirely by greed.
Er,DocCathode, what is “OTOMH”? And I hope your statement regarding the 9/11 specials and greed weren’t directed at me because my post had no bearing upon that theme.
Yeah, I thought that part of the issue was utter garbage. Obviously the heroes are going to be upset by everything, but Dr. Frickin’ Doom? Whatever. Why would he have even been in America the day that it happened?
Kingpin, too. At most he should have been like “shit, I’m totally going to lose money because of this.” I can see Magneto being there if only because he was probably thinking, “see, that’s what these humans do to each other. Now if mutants were in charge…”
That’s why I think that things like this are better left out of comic books. Especially the Marvel Universe where about 99% of the superhero population is located in New York. It makes no sense, and while I’m sure the issue had genuine emotion put into it by those involved, it really reads like something made to cash in on the whole thing, like one of those magazines about it you see in supermarket checkout lanes.
