Hey, this is my first post on the 'vine'. I have not ever read comics, and instead I have gained my comic knowledge through countless videos, marvel/dc wikis, and this site. I was wondering why Dr. Doom has not taken over Earth yet. In fact, how is the FF a problem for him? With his magic, tech, and prep he is said to be unstoppable. He has even taken over the Beyonder's powers before.
Why Has Dr. Doom Not Taken Over Earth Yet?
Dr. Doom is a Promethean character, a lot like Victor Frankenstein. Both narcissistically isolated themselves, obsessively seeking knowledge and trying to gain the power of God (in Frankenstein's case, power over life and death, and in Doom's case, whatever Marvel sci fi power source he can get his hands on). Both are motivated by the deaths of their mothers; Frankenstein wanted to prevent people from dying as his mother had from scarlet fever, and the experiment that caused Doom's expulsion from Empire State University was an effort to communicate with his mother in the afterlife (Mephisto's realm?).
One big divergence is that, while he does often suffer negative consequences as Frankenstein did for his reckless research (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance spoilers), his main enemy is Reed Richards, another scientist. Reed is the hero of the story, which means he has certain qualities that should make the reader want to succeed against Doom. One quality that I associate with Reed more than any other is curiosity. He treats knowledge as an end, itself a valuable thing worthy of pursuit. He "comes in peace" and never acts selfishly. On the other hand, to Doom, knowledge is a means to an end, a tool to increase his control over his surroundings. This is shown in his dictatorial dominance in Latveria and his exploitation of his discoveries to achieve personal goals (bring back his mother, get revenge on Reed, rule the world) at the expense of others and his own relationships with them. The battle between the two is that between unrestrained, narrow, single-minded obsession and the healthy mind. Besides the usual Marvel admonishment against selfishness, here is argued that ego and attachment to the past (visually evident in Doom's costume, which covers his scarred face and shows ties with Latverian royal tradition) shouldn't prevent us from enjoying the present (such as Reed's family) or hoping for a better tomorrow.
Oh, and Doom isn't going to take over the world.
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