Issue - 1

Title - Crisis on Campus

Writer - Christos Gage

Art - Mario Alberti

 

Summary:

Years ago, Empire State University hosts a conference of Eastern European nations. Doom agrees to attend the conference and negotiate treaties with his neighbors on the condition that his security is handled by the FF. While Doom's presence is meant to be a secret, Namor appears with his Atlantean army wishing to punish Doom for his betrayal. Johnny and Spider-Man escort Doom to a safe room below the campus, but Doom switches bodies with Johnny since he is still wounded from a previous encounter with the Thing. In Torch's body, he battles creating chaos on the campus. Eventually Spider-Man and Johnny devise a plan. Since Johnny is in Doom's body, he signs treaties with his neighbors granting concessions Doom would never agree to. When Doom sees this he immediately returns to his body. Namor leaves satisfied that Doom has been humiliated. Unknown to them all, a cloaked intruder bearing an armor similar to Doom's enters the Latverian embassy and scans pages from books in Doom's occult library before departing to future.

Notes:

  • The events of this issue take place after Fantastic Four #39 -40 and likely before Fantastic Four #43. Doom makes reference to his defeat at the hands of the Thing and still recovering from those wounds.

  • Namor seeks to punish Doom for the events of Fantastic Four #6.

  • Doom uses the Ovoid mind trick to swap bodies with Human Torch. See Fantastic Four #10 for the first instance of this power. Doom took the Torch's body over again in Fantastic Four #508.

  • The intruder mentions that Doom's occult library at the Latverian Embassy will be destroyed a few year in the future. Could this be a reference to the fire in Sub-Mariner #20?

  • Collected in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four

 
   

Issue - 2

Title - Symbiosis

Writer - Christos Gage

Art - Mario Alberti

 

 

Summary:

Years ago...Spider-Man helps the FF defeat the escaped symbiote. Later, the cloaked time-traveller retrieves a sample of the symbiote and concludes that with just a sample, he could create a potent biological bomb.

 

Notes:

  • Not an appearance.

  • Collected in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four

 
   

Issue - 3

Title - Bizarre Love Triangle

Writer - Christos Gage

Art - Mario Alberti

 

Summary:

The cloaked time-traveler visits the Fantastic Four and the 'New' Fantastic Four shortly after they have defeated the Skrull De'Lila and frees her. She uses her powers to seduce the male members of both teams with the exception of Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. Spider-Man breaks the spell on Ben, Reed, and Johnny by kissing Sharon [She-Thing] and Sue. Ghost Rider subdues Wolverine with his penance stare while De'Lila frees Hulk willingly when he threatens to destroy her only means of leaving Earth. Meanwhile, the cloaked traveler obtains a skin sample from the indestructible newborn technotroid, a Skrull weapon which De'Lila was after. With that, the traveler believes he has all he needs to subjugate the Fantastic Four.

Notes:

  • Not an appearance

  • Collected in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four
   

Issue - 4

Title - Family Values

Writer - Christos Gage

Art - Mario Alberti

 

Summary:

Spider-Man visit the Baxter Building after he gets a text saying the FF need his help. However when he arrives, no one from the team texted him. The source of the text reveals himself to be Kristoff Vernard. Kristoff reveals that following Doom return to the throne of Latveria, he has been preparing to take Latveria for himself. Empowered with knowledge of sorcery and a new indestructible armor, Kristoff asks the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man to aid him in overthrowing Doom. Having been down that path before, the team decline to help him in his plans and instead offer to help him as his mind has clearly been affected by his occult studies. When they refuse him he decides that he will force them to join him via magic. As the battle ensues, Ben rushes to a nearby room. Kristoff chases him thinking that he was after a weapon, but Spider-Man shows him that Ben was going for the family albums. Spider-Man shows him that they kept photos of Kristoff in their family albums because they consider him family. Together the team try to make Kristoff realize that he's just angry at Doom and angry at the FF because he believes they abandoned him. Once more they offer to help him but he refuses. Kristoff decides he needs no one and leaves.

 

 

Notes:

  • Kristoff reveals that sold the Venom Bomb to Doom through proxies and engineered the accident which led to Doom's incarceration in Mighty Avengers # 9 - 11. 

  • Collected in Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four

 
 

Comments:

Although Doom only appears in the first issue of this series, I've added the series as a whole because it marks the return of Kristoff. Gage does an excellent job of filling the blanks of where he's been all this time. He handles the character excellently and does great service to continuity with mentions of his close relationship with Cassie Lang and referencing the easily overlooked previous appearance in Tales of the Marvel Universe. While giving Kristoff the blame for the Venom Bomb seems unnecessary, it nonetheless adds a new layer to that story. Showing that the FF have photos of Kristoff in their family albums was a real nice emotional touch. As was linking the experiences of Ben and Peter with Kristoff's. Overall, this is an excellent read and highly recommended. Bottom Line: * * * * out of 5

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