Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1990-03-01 00:10:40 |
| Previous: She-Hulk #14-17 | Up: Main | Next: Punisher annual #3 |
She-Hulk #18
Issue(s): She-Hulk #18
Cover Date: Aug 90
Title: "The dentist in the iron mask!"
Credits:
Steve Gerber - Writer
Tom Artis - Penciler
Jim Sanders III - Inker
Gary Barnum - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor
Review/plot:
The entire joke is that Dr. Doom has a cousin, Bob Doom, who is a dentist.
He's doing something like installing mind controlling devices in people's molars. She-Hulk stops him. To add injury to insult, this dentist Doom has access to adamantium - adamantium drill tips, adamantium dentures - so not only is he a dumb character but he's contributing to the dilution of adamantium's specialness, too.
This issue also has a callback to She-Hulk's dreams about Hercules from the Byrne issues...
...but, in the dream, when She-Hulk gets up to deal with a scolding robot...
...she returns to find that Brent Wilcox has replaced Hercules.
Wilcox continues to appear as a potential love interest during She-Hulk's waking hours as well.
Bryan Hitch is not on art for this issue, which is a shame because he's really the only draw at this point. The guest artist, Tom Artis, has weird ideas about abs.
Quality Rating: D
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: She-Hulk has slept for 14 hours straight after the end of last issue. A month and a week pass take place during this story.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
| Previous: She-Hulk #14-17 | Up: Main | Next: Punisher annual #3 |
Comments
I'm fairly certain that the "Doom's Cousin is a Dentist" thing came from the first issue of Not Brand Echh.
Bob Doom has (at least) one additional appearance:
http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/doombobd.htm
I think the concept of Bob Doom may have been inspired by the real-life relatives of Adolf Hitler, most of whom obviously were not to happy to be associated with their family name after WWII. Most notably, there was Adolf's English nephew William Patrick Hitler, who emigrated to America, served in the US army in WWII, and later changed his surname to Stuart-Houston. He also worked in medical technology, so I think he might've been an inspiration for Bob Doom here.
@Cullen - i've added Bob Doom as a character (even though his only other appearance is an off-panel phone call). Thanks.
In fact, Gerber has used his exact gag before in connection with the "hitler's relatives" idea; Doctor Reich, from the old Howard the Duck stories, was initially implied to be Hitler now disguised as a therapist. Later, Bill Mantlo retconned him into being Hitler's delusional dentist.
Seeing Hercules and She-Hulk on the beach, one can't help but think of the iconic scene of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr plus sands and tides in the classic "From Here To Eternity".
