Leading Comics #3 (1942)
written by unknown
pencils by Hal Sherman, Mort Meskin, George Papp, Creig Flessel, John Lehti
cover by Mort Meskin
We already discovered that before he ever met the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom had already fought Batman. But even more impressively, he visited DC Comics during the Golden Age.
We begin with various historical figures being kidnapped from history…
…and brought into 1942 by a certain doctor.
We’ve always known that Doom’s face was horrifically scarred underneath the mask, but honestly I didn’t think it was THIS bad.
Doom has recruited these people (we’ll meet them properly soon) for his plan for world domination…
…as soon as he has the money for it. Hey, conquering the world isn’t cheap!
I kind of wonder if Doom is using some form of mind control on them, because once we learn who these people are… if you know anything about history, it’s absolutely ridiculous they would follow anyone this easily.
The first thing Alexander The Great and Napoleon do is rob a bank.
This is happening while Green Arrow and Speedy are testing a new crazy invention: a two-way radio!
Which gets him attacked by Attila the Hun.
And this single robbery was worth half a million dollars for Doctor Doom.
Which is nothing to sneeze at, because in 2025 dollars that’s about 9.7 millions.
The reason for involving the two-way radio is to have Green Arrow on the case.
Which means our heroes know about this case at all just out of sheer coincidence.
Green Arrow realizes he’s just a little out of his comfort zone dealing with time travel, so he calls a meeting of the Seven Soldiers Of Victory.
As it’s already tradition in the Golden Age, the team will split up to deal with the individual time travelers, which Doctor Doom has dispatched to steal various valuable materials.
Got to love Shining Knight not knowing where Alaska is, since he’s from the Middle Ages.
I would have loved to see this meeting from the point of view of the time travelers, because how could they possibly know what Doctor Doom is talking about? I mean, does Nero even know what uranium is???
And that was the framing device to involve the Seven Soldiers.
First we have Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy dealing with Napoleon.
You know, out of all the kidnapped historical figures, he’s the one I find the most credible in this situation. Napoleon WOULD lead a ragtag team of loyalists and regain power against all odds (and then lose it a hundred days later).
He’s also the only one who knew at the very least SOME English.
I find this detail particularly funny because Napoleon’s scenes are on the Canadian border, so he WOULD have an excuse to be speaking French.
Napoleon is no match for a superhero, but he’s not playing fair and this IS the Golden Age… so of course he manages to kidnap the protagonist.
Come on Doom, you went through the trouble of bringing Napoleon into the 20th century and you didn’t even give him new guns!?
Are ALL Golden Age superheroes outside of Superman and Batman contractually obligated to be tied up at SOME point?
And then SSK and Stripesy… who I remind you are both humans without any powers…survive sinking at the bottom of a river, tied to a stone, because the current slowly pushes them back to the surface.
Sounds legit.
They then meet a couple of homeless bums, who decide to help them because it’s the 1940s and even hobos fight for democracy.
How weird is it that we have a comic featuring Doctor Doom and they’re NOT talking about him when mentioning a foreign dictator?
With SSK and Stripesy dealing with Napoleon’s henchmen, he stumbles into the woods looking for a horse…
…which he finds in a carousel. Which of course is a staple of all Canadian resort villages next to forests.
I’m pretty sure the concept of carousels wouldn’t be alien to Napoleon, but he doesn’t realize this is not a real horse.
To punish him for his failures, Doctor Doom sends Napoleon back in the past…
…to the battle of Gettysburg.
Based on later scenes though, I’m guessing Napoleon is actually being sent back to HIS own time automatically and Doom just notices him flying by.
That concludes Star Spangled Kid’s adventure. No idea why Doctor Doom didn’t simply send HIM into another time.
Next is Green Arrow, who will be dealing with both Alexander the Great and an inventor who created an army of robots.
How weird is it that we have a comic featuring Doctor Doom and they’re NOT talking about him when mentioning someone creating an army of robots?
Robots so advanced they might even be mistaken for humans, even!
Dumb humans, but still!
If you’re wondering how exactly would Alexander The Great be able to command an army of robots… well he WAS taught by Aristotle, so he’s a fast learner.
You know I’m getting the feeling that this comic is not particularly serious.
I mean this is a comic that thought that one of the greatest military masterminds in human history would not be enough of a challenge for a couple of archers and decided to add a sassy robot.
Also, Alexander should have sworn by Zeus rather than Jupiter.
I must remind you again that THIS GUY is getting more attention than Alexander The Freaking Great.
However Alexander manages to… oh come on, AGAIN???
Okay this is a trend now.
Times a hero is captured and tied up: 4
Alexander The Should Have Been Great has the upper hand, but since the sassy robot is immune from his inventor’s controls he fumbles it.
Alexander The I Can’t Believe He’s In This then flees into the swamps of Florida…
…but he’s tricked by the heroes into revealing the location of the radium he was supposed to steal.
And then he’s sent back in time to die from getting wasted.
After dropping by Columbus.
This concludes the Green Arrow part, with Doctor Doom watching from his castle.
Next is Shining Knight, which is an interesting case: he’s from Arthurian times, arriving in the 20th century after being frozen… so he SHOULD at least wonder if Doctor Doom can send him back in time!
But he won’t, being busy trying to stop Genghis Khan from robbing a dock in Alaska.
Why does HE get to bring his own troops while both Napoleon and Alexander had to rely on finding henchmen?
Shining Knight fights Khan’s soldiers inside a glacier. Should be easy for him, since he’s the only member of the team with superpowers.
OH COME ON!!!!
Well at least he’s not tied up, skipping the count. For now at least.
But Shining Knight is back into the fight RIDING A WHALE, because a flying horse wasn’t enough.
Doctor Doom is starting to feel a bit anxious.
Moving to the Vigilante section, it seems that Attila was ALSO allowed to bring his own soldiers.
So at this point I think Doctor Doom was just pranking Napoleon and Alexander.
I’m skipping a lot of Vigilante’s story because it’s mostly a straight up Western with little interaction with the Huns.
I do like the point when they mistake Mount Rushmore for idols.
Also Vigilante does motorcycle stunts over George Washington.
This time it’s the hero to tie up the villains.
Are we sure these are images from a time machine and not just Doctor Doom enjoying a movie?
Crimson Avenger is the last hero, so of course his story begins with a completely unrelated kid finding a job.
Confirming my theory that Doctor Doom hated Napoleon and Alexander, Nero got to keep both his boat and his crew.
Far from me to criticize the genius of Doctor Doom, but wouldn’t hire actual 20th century actors be easier? Doesn’t seem like taking over the boat is THAT hard!
Is this comic convinced that Nero ACTUALLY played the violin?
In case you don’t know, the violin was invented waaaaaaay later… Nero actually played the cithara, a kind of lyre, he wasn’t LITERALLY “playing the fiddle”.
Crimson Avenger and Wing show up at PAGE FOUR of their own 9-page story.
And yes, Wing does talk like that the entire time.
The heroes lose to the Romans, and I guess we need a different counter.
Times a hero is captured and tied up: 4
Times a hero is knocked out: 7
(Vigilante is the only one who doesn’t end up in either category)
Because nobody except Shining Knight uses a sword like a sword in this story, Nero decides to murder Crimson Avenger and Wing by burning the ship.
You made Wing angly. You would not like him when he’s angly.
Only for the duo to be captured AGAIN.
Times a hero is captured: 6
Times a hero is captured and tied up: 4
Times a hero is knocked out: 7
Crimson Avenger pre-dates Batman, so sometimes I wonder why he didn’t become a household name.
Not TODAY, but sometimes.
Nero is sent back to his time, and it’s time to gather the Seven Soldiers of… uhm, no, apparently we need some sort of Legion.
It’s not as far-fetched as you might think, considering Doctor Doom’s plan is to eventually get to the future!
But no, it’s the Seven Soldiers Of Victory who now face Surprisingly Short Doctor Doom.
With ALL OF HISTORY to choose from, Doctor Doom decided to send his enemies to the Trojan War…
…to fight Ulysses.
I have absolutely no trouble believing Ulysses would be the only person in history smart enough to see through Doctor Doom’s treachery, even if he wasn’t acting like a raving lunatic.
Before we can re-enact the Trojan Horse… or really see it live… Doctor Doom just leaves.
Which is a bit of a problem for the heroes, since now they’re stranded in the past.
Going back home is going to be tough for a team like this.
Seriously, there is no explanation for HOW they catch up to Doctor Doom… they just do.
And can’t stop him from leaving for the future.
And that’s the end, because surprisingly for the Golden Age the heroes don’t capture the villain.
Doom significance: 0/10
The story will be adapted in a more modern style in 1984 on the pages of All-Star Squadron #29 by, of course, Roy Thomas.
We can assume that when Doctor Doom enters the time machine at the end of this story, he resurfaces in 1950 to fight Batman.
Silver Age-ness: 1942 / 10
Even for the Golden Age, that is A LOT of Silver Age.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Ironic given the theme, I guess. It’s a pretty standard Golden Age story, but not among the best and definitely with too many tropes of the time.
The Seven Soldiers lack the charisma of the Justice Society, the historical figures are wasted, and why even involve Doctor Doom at all?
They might as well have used a completely different mad scientist that has nothing to do with him.
Times a hero is captured: 6
Times a hero is captured and tied up: 4
Times a hero is knocked out: 7
It was a Doombot all along
It’s possible that the Doombots are based on the design of the sassy robot, but it’s never been directly confirmed.
Number of superheroes who have fought Dr. Doom: 8
Doctor Doom loves fighting superheroes SO much that he’s already met so many twenty years before his first appearance!
Number of supervillains created by Dr. Doom: 5
Well he IS their leader and they try conquering the world for him, so they count: Nero, Attila the Hun, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Alexander the Great.
Crazy tech
This time machine doesn’t seem as complex as Doctor Doom’s classic Time Platform©, but it is still impressive as it can apparently teach you English as well as…
Wait a minute. I’ve just been reminded of something.
Oh, that was Doctor DOOME all along, not Doctor Doom.
Nevermind then.
