Title - Beauty and the Beast

Issue - 1 - 4

Writer - Ann Nocenti

Art - Don Perlin / Kim Demulder

Summary:

Beast and Dazzler's plight against an underground mutant fight club attracts Doom's attention when the ring leader, Alexander Flynn, claims to be his illegitimate son. The gladiatorial games turn out to be a weeding process for Flynn to amass an army to conquer Latveria. Doom arrives on the scene to defeat him but finds that his army has turned on him. He abandons him there in disgrace.

Notes:

• Doom's appearances in issues 1 - 3 are only cameos.

• Collected in X-Men: Beauty and the Beast

Comments:

Rather than go into a long essay about why I think Alexander Flynn isn't Doom's son, I will just point anyone who is curious to just read the ending of issue #4. Doom settles the matter pretty clearly when he says that Flynn isn't his son and he's not even worth killing. When you read the issue, its pretty clear that Doom only had Flynn under surveillance because he thought Flynn could be a threat. Spying on him proved to be a good idea since Flynn was plotting to attack Latveria. To those who would argue that the mysterious mother is Valeria, I just say that if they had wanted the woman to be Valeria, they would have said so. Bottom Line: * * out of 5