Cart 0

Doctor Doom Comics to Read Before Avengers: Doomsday

Doctor Doom comics to read before Avengers: Doomsday (Dec. 18, 2026), in reading order: his first appearance, origin, Secret Wars and Time Runs Out.

Updated

Avengers: Doomsday opens in cinemas on December 18, 2026, with Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom, and the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Wakanda alongside the Avengers. This guide covers the comics the film draws on and the Doctor Doom stories readers return to most, in reading order, with the copies we have in stock. Looking for a copy now? See all Doctor Doom comics in stock.

Is Avengers: Doomsday based on a comic?

Partly. Kevin Feige, who runs Marvel Studios, has said the film is inspired by a famous comic run in which universes collide, and has named Jonathan Hickman’s Time Runs Out and Secret Wars (2015). Neither is adapted page for page, but they are the place to start: Time Runs Out ends with the multiverse collapsing, and in Secret Wars Doom rules what’s left of it.

Where Doom begins

Fantastic Four #5 (1962) is Doctor Doom’s first appearance, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Doom holds Sue Storm hostage and sends the other three back in time to steal Blackbeard’s treasure for him. Everything starts here.

Fantastic Four Annual #2 (1964) tells his origin: Victor von Doom’s childhood in Latveria, his mother’s fate, and the experiment that scarred him. Both are major keys. Most readers meet them in reprints: Marvel published a Fantastic Four #5 Facsimile Edition in 2025, and the annual itself reprints FF #5’s story.

Astonishing Tales #1–8 (1970–1971) is Doom’s own solo feature, sharing the book with Ka-Zar. Issue #8 first shows Doom’s mother, Cynthia, and his yearly fight with Mephisto for her soul, which sets up Triumph and Torment.

The Doom stories readers return to

Emperor Doom (1987) is a graphic novel by David Michelinie and Bob Hall in which Doom takes control of the whole world, and the heroes have to decide whether to stop him.

Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (1989). Roger Stern and Mike Mignola send Doctor Strange and Doom into Mephisto’s realm to free the soul of Doom’s mother. It’s the story to read to see why he is more than a tyrant.

Books of Doom (2005–2006). Ed Brubaker and Pablo Raimondi tell his life in six issues, from a Roma camp to the throne of Latveria.

Secret Wars, twice

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984–1985) is Jim Shooter’s twelve-issue event, drawn by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton, in which Doom steals the Beyonder’s godlike power on Battleworld. The next film, Avengers: Secret Wars, takes its title from it and is dated for December 17, 2027, though Marvel Studios has named Hickman’s 2015 version as its inspiration.

Time Runs Out (2014–2015) is the build-up: Avengers #35–44 and New Avengers #24–33, the end of Hickman’s Avengers (2012) and New Avengers (2013) runs, in which the heroes run out of ways to stop universes from colliding.

Secret Wars (2015), by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić, is the run Kevin Feige has named as the film’s inspiration: the multiverse has ended, and God Emperor Doom rules what’s left.

Doom today

Infamous Iron Man (2016–2017). Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev give Doom a turn as a hero, wearing Tony Stark’s armour.

One World Under Doom (2025). Ryan North and R.B. Silva’s nine-issue event, with Doom as Sorcerer Supreme ruling the world, and the Avengers and the Fantastic Four facing him again.

Doctor Doom comics in stock

See all in stock

The rest of the cast

The Fantastic Four are Doom’s oldest enemies and the heart of his best stories, and the X-Men and Wakanda are part of the film too. Our Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Black Panther pages list everything in stock.

Fantastic Four comics in stock

See all in stock

FF #1 (2011)

1st appearance of the Future Foundation

Condition in photos $28.89

Collecting rather than reading?

For Doom, the big two are his first appearance and his origin, above. After those, collectors look for his firsts in other titles and for the event issues. Key issues are marked on every listing, and every copy is photographed as it is. We ship tracked from York, Ontario, to Canada and the USA.

Sources

Your cart

Loading your cart…