no.8: Doctor Doom - Marvel Comics

From Eastern to Western comics we shift our attention to the tyrannical ruler of Latveria himself, Victor von Doom! Now, when it comes to American comics, there really is no shortage of great mad scientist characters; Dr. Octopus, Dr. Hugo Strange, Mr. Freeze, all of which get honorable mentions in their own right. Truth be told, Mr. Freeze almost got in but I figured if I had to make a shout out to an American-made mad scientist, it had to be Doom. Not that Freeze isn't a good character, hell he's a fantastic one but the sheer fact that he openly denies his doctorate for his lame, supervillain alias just gave him a failing grade. I mean, just look at Doom! He's the ruler of his own country and has mastery over the black arts. He could very well go by Lord Doom or something like that but no, he chooses to make sure his title as 'doctor' is front and center, before all his other accomplishments. That's the kind of 'mad doctor' I appreciate!

Of course, Doctor Doom is a fantastic character in his own right. One of the best villains to grace comic books, if I do say so myself. Some of the best villains, in my opinion, are the ones that are all too often proven right. The ones that really make you question things. I mean, isn't that what a villain should do? Make you question your morals and ideals? It's a shame that Doom has been given so little justice in recent years... a trend that I suppose I'm keeping up since, were it not for my just being a mild fan of Marvel at best, I'd have placed Doom at the top of the list this year! Oh well. Doom toots as he pleases, and so he always shall~