Doctor Doom’s late mother, Cynthia, was a witch who used her powers to protect her family and community. Cynthia kept all of her magical tools and texts in a chest, which Victor inherited after her death. Although Victor’s magical expertise has far exceeded his mother’s witchcraft, his origins as a sorcerer lie in that ancestral practice.
This design is based on two things: the Latverian flag under Doom’s rulership, which mimics the shape of his mask; and a “w”-shaped emblem that has appeared on Cynthia’s chest, and a number of Victor’s other belongings, in various comics. It’s a bit simple, but I like that it mirrors the “m” shape of the Maximoffcrest.
As always, for witch characters, I created the name-sigils by compositing letters in the Theban alphabet. I’m particularly pleased with the swoopey line on Cynthia’s :)
when i was rereading bits of defalco’s ff run for baby kristoff caps i completely forgot the roster was reed-less bc for like TWO YEARS everyone thought that reed and doom were DEAD?
and that they literally DIED HOLDING HANDS???? holding… hands.
Doom regarding Reed, interview excerpts from Doctor Doom writer Christopher Cantwell
I do believe Reed can psychologically torture Victor in ways that he might not even realize.Reed is Doom’s Achilles heel. Always will be. Reed will always be in his head. And Reed is smart enough to know that, so the question becomes obvious: why isn’t Reed doing more to correct that dynamic? Perhaps he knows he’s a fixture in Victor’s head and is glad to stay there and stir things up.
Doom brings Reed up whenever he can no matter what the topic of conversation is. ’Hey, I’m gonna go to Starbucks, Victor, want anything—’ ‘I would like Reed Richards’ stretchy head on a platter.’ Reed is like, ‘I’m doing these experiments and saving the world.’
I feel like Reed thinks about Victor maybe once a week. I feel like Victor wakes up and Reed’s face is the first thing he sees in his mind. At Victor’s funeral, Reed would probably be stoic and say something like ‘His was a tremendous mind’ and that would be that. At Reed’s funeral, Victor would be sobbing and wrapping himself around the casket. He would be crying louder than Sue for god’s sake.
Just note: Doctor Doom had a lovely private dinner date with Reed Richards on a holiday he created specifically for that purpose (as Reed says at the end, “Same time next year?”) and absolutely no one is doing it like Them.
