Fantastic Four #330
Good Dreams!
From his hideout within the Canadian Rockies, Aron the Rogue Watcher observes the dreams of his captives, the Fantastic Four. As he watches an imaginary battle where the Fantastic Four are battling Psycho-Man, Aron recounts to his minion -- the android Dragon Man -- how he has to hide from view in order to prevent his fellow Watchers from discovering him, thus while he monitors the dreams of his captives, clones of the Fantastic Four are out in the real world. Deciding to see how the heroes would fair in an all out war against super-villains, Aron decides to direct the dreams of Susan Richards to those ends, selecting her after seeing the weak performance of her clone in its battle against the Mole Man, and considering Sue the least among the team. Soon Sue begins to dream...
The dream opens with farmers toiling in the fields of the nation of Latveria. With the harvest going poorly, the farmers have hopes that their leader Doctor Doom will provide for them like he always does. Soon they are greeted by Kristoff Vernard and his army of loyal Servo-Mechs. Believing himself to be the real Doctor Doom, Kristoff promises to help the farmers by eliminating the blackbirds who have been preying on their crops. When one of the mechs asks Kristoff did not slay the farmers, he explains that his "impostor" plans on attacking Latveria at noon that day, and anticipates that the ensuing battle will lead to the death of the farmers and the blackbirds that they complain about.
Elsewhere in the Latverian wilderness, the real Doctor Doom has gathered an army to wage war against the usurper who has taken his throne. His minions include Master Pandemonium, the Hobgoblin, the Atlantean barbarian known as Attuma, Dormammu the ruler of the Dark Dimension, the armored Beetle, the Absorbing Man, the Hulk, and time traveler Kang the Conqueror. Doom explains to those who have gathered that his foe is his former ward who believes himself to be a true Doom and usurped the throne. While Kang and Master Pandemonium have chosen to believe Doom based on their own interest, the Beetle could care less given the amount he is being paid. However, Doom has discovered that the Beetle has been plotting to sell Doom out to Kristoff and has the Hulk kill him. With the traitor dispatched, Doom orders his army to attack. Doom and his army quickly makes short work of the guards put in place outside of Castle Doom. But as they approached the ancient castle, they are forced back by a magical force field placed by Kristoff to fend off invaders. It shorts out Doom's jetpack and slays the Hobgoblin in the process. Recovering from the attack, Doom uses his own magic to take down the barrier and the castle is soon breached. Inside Doom's army faces opposition from the Rhino, Mysterio, Sandman, Electro, Abomination and Annihilus. As the battle rages on, when Doom overhears the villains working for Kristoff refer to Doom as nothing more than a malfunctioning robot, Doom vows to do whatever it takes to wipe out Kristoff completely.
The war between Doom and Kristoff does not go unnoticed as both the United States and Russia's spy networks begin to monitor the ongoing conflict. The United States military contacts the Fantastic Four and asks them to step in and deal with the ongoing war. However, the Fantastic Four are disinterested in battling Doom. On the lookout for the "Skrulls" this version of the Fantastic Four seem uninterested in fighting Doom because it is not "time" yet.
Back in Latveria, the battle between Doom and Kristoff rages on, with Annihilus falling to Doom before he confronts the youth who has usurped his throne and title. After Doom dispatches some of his robots, he engages in physical combat with Kristoff. as they fight, the Hulk tries to intervene by bringing the castle down around them. Not wishing to see his castle destroyed, Doom is forced to incapacitate the Hulk, with Kristoff working with him to stop the brute. However this brief respite does not convince Kristoff that he is dealing with the real Doctor Doom, and he renews his fight. While outside, Doom's armies have disposed of the Rhino, Mysterio and the Abomination. Noticing that his side has won, Doom gloats, but Kristoff is not willing to accept defeat and flees back into the castle. Locking himself in a control room, Kristoff prepares to set off a neutron bomb to destroy Latveria and his foes. Doom revives the Hulk and they try to break open the door. When that fails, they and the rest of Doom's army are forced to protect themselves in a mystical force field in order to protect themselves from the ensuing neutron blast that decimates Latveria, killing everyone in the kingdom. Knowing that Kristoff was made safe in his shelter, Doom vows to destroy Kristoff once and for all.
Meanwhile, the explosion in Latveria draws the attention of the world who send delegates to try and contain the global crisis. The Russians send their Super-Soldiers, Namor comes from Atlantis, Thor elects himself to represent the gods, while the Mole Man comes up from below. They all confront Doom in the ruins of his own kingdom and tell him to cease his hostilities as they will have an impact on the entire world. Unwilling to listen, Doom unleashes his full fury on his foes, slaying them all, save for Thor. Thor is soon joined by both the Eternals and Deviants who warn Doom to stand down but he still refuses. As NATO sends in fighter planes, Kristoff -- from the safety of his shelter -- activates more bombs leading to full out nuclear war that wipes out all life on Earth. On the moon the Watcher witnesses as the world that he has come to love get wiped out in nuclear fire and sheds a single tear....
... this is the end of Sue's dream, which has already been put aside by Aron who has moved onto the next dream of his captors.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Ms. Marvel, Ben Grimm), Wizard, Aron the Rogue Watcher, Dragon Man
Continuity Notes
Aron the Rogue Watcher captured the Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four at the end of Fantastic Four #328, replacing the Fantastic Four with Clones of the real Fantastic Four to take their place.
Aron refers to Sue as the Invisible Girl, which was the codename she took to using in Fantastic Four #1, but had changed her name to the Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four #284. He mocks the dialogue Sue most commonly used during the first 100 issues of the series that depicted her as a doting wife.
Although most of this story is strictly a dream, it is grounded in reality. Here are some facts:
In the real world, Kristoff Vernard had usurped Doctor Doom as ruler of Latveria. When Doom was believed killed in Fantastic Four #260, Kristoff was reprogrammed with the mind and personality of Doom in Fantastic Four #278. Doom was later restored to normal in Fantastic Four #288. Later the two fought over control of Latveria in Fantastic Four Annual #20 which ended in Kristoff's favor when Doom's robots were convinced he was an impostor after he admitted to making a mistake.
Kang states he and Doom are "related" this is a somewhat complicated notion. In his previous incarnation of Rama-Tut, Kang suggested that they were the same man, as seen in Fantastic Four Annual #2. But Fantastic Four #273 states that Kang is an ancestor of Nathaniel Richards, father of Mister Fantastic. What If? (Vol. 2) #39 places some ambiguity, stating that Kang is a descendant of either the Richards family or Doctor Doom.
The "debt" the Hulk mentions is arranging a battle between himself and the Thing in Fantastic Four #320/Incredible Hulk #350.
The Hulk is more interested in fighting the Rhino and Abomination as they are old rivals. The Hulk first battled the Abomination in Tales to Astonish #90 while he first fought the Rhino in Incredible Hulk #104.
The Fantastic Four featured in the dream sequence act very much like their evil clones created by Aron in Fantastic Four #328, who are trying to recreate the early adventures of the Fantastic Four. Regardless of this, these are not the clones but characters in Sue's dreams. This is clearly a writing error, likely due to the editorial interference that Steve Engleheart faced during his tenure as writer.
The dream Fantastic Four are looking out for Skrulls, as they are trying to reenact the early battles of the Fantastic Four, this is a reference to Fantastic Four #2 when the FF first battled the Skrulls.
Their refusal to get involved in the war of the two Doctor Dooms is because they don't face Doctor Doom until "issue #5" is a reference to Fantastic Four #5 where the Fantastic Four battled Doctor Doom for the first time.
Reed mentions that the Skrulls are currently in space fighting the Kree. This a reference to the renewed Kree-Skrull War which, at the time of this story, was being chronicled in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #1-31.
Doom's mother is referred to as "Magda", this is incorrect her real name is Cynthia von Doom as first stated in Fantastic Four Annual #2 and many other sources prior to this story.
The Eternals state that nuclear weapons have not been used in hostility in over 40 years. This is in reference to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II in August of 1945. At the time this story was published (1989) that bombing happened 44 years earlier. The number of years should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
