On May 10 in AVENGERS #7 from Mark Waid and Phil Noto, the Infamous Iron Man seeks to join the Avengers and help defeat a new mystical menace, but does he have what it takes? You decide! 

Name: Victor Von Doom

Aliases: Doctor Doom, Infamous Iron Man, etc.

Headquarters: Undisclosed

Position applied for: Team leader

Powers and abilities: Command of the mystic arts, mind transference, hypnosis, master martial artist, master swordsman, super-genius intellect.

Have you ever committed a crime? Many. However, as I am fighting for justice, picking up where Tony Stark left off as Iron Man, I do not see this as particularly relevant at this time.

Reason for seeking to join the Avengers: I have decided to focus my efforts on pursuing justice and leading the Avengers to achieve their fullest potential.

Education and Training: Given my track record I do not believe it necessary to elaborate on my capabilities.

Avengers #7 cover by Alex Ross

Qualifications: To better understand how to show the team I will be an invaluable asset I sought out chronicler Mark Waid, in an attempt to quell the team’s uncertainties. Waid has informed me that you’re, “never going to have a roll call vote where the team says, ‘Yay, we should let him in. Here’s an ID card, here’s the headquarters, make yourself at home.’” That is perfectly acceptable to me. I already posses a home and I do not wish to become friends; I only wish to better the team’s fighting abilities to ensure our world’s safety. Waid also believes my arrogance will be my downfall, saying that I view the team as chess pieces, moving them around at my will with no regard for their individual needs. To this I say, why is that problematic if I am an incredibly efficient and successful chess player? Remember that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Waid does admit that I posses a skillset the team needs, saying, “Nobody else has the mystical, magical connection that he does and that’s a big part of it; the strength, the flying, the armor, there are people on the team that can serve those functions, but Doom’s big skills are his command of magic and his scientific prowess.” Something the Avenger’s no longer have without The Scarlet Witch, and logically, I am the most qualified individual to fill that void. However, some believe I am, “a grenade that the Avengers have to leap on; his immediate instinct and solution to any problem is to blast it out of the way.” But when thought about logically, this is also a positive. It shows quick thinking, decisiveness and efficiency, all things needed to successfully lead a team in a combat situation.

Waid also told me what he believes is my only way to win some semblance of acceptance from the team: “I think they would have to hear genuine regret and compassion over past deeds, over a sustained period of time.” To this I will simply say that I am remorseful for past indiscretions, but my wallowing in regret does nothing to make up for these acts and so I will not waste more time explaining how I have changed. Instead, I will leave you with Waid’s opinion: “He genuinely believes he’s turned over a new leaf, he genuinely believes he’s a different person.”

References:

Mephisto, extra-dimensional demon – “Gives him a big thumbs up for his persistence, for his ingenuity and for his ability to act correctly under pressure.”

Magneto, mutant super villain – “One of his strengths is that he has the long game in mind, he’s always taking into consideration a world view, an idea of how things that he does affect the planet around him.”

Loki, Asgardian God – “Would definitely laud Doom’s cleverness and how he is a good problem solver.”

Will the Avengers come around to the idea of adding Victor Von Doom to their roster of heroes? Find out May 10 with AVENGERS #7, and June 7 in AVENGERS #8, both written by Mark Waid with art by Phil Noto.

BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — An SUV being shown to prospective buyers at a crowded indoor auto auction suddenly accelerated with a screech of its tires and crashed through a wall on Wednesday, killing three people, including a woman working her first day there, and injuring nine.

Despite years of therapy, including with this writer, Norman Osborn maintains he has no formal diagnoses. He rejects the diagnosis given to him by me during the last time he saw me regularly and insists any and all mental health issues were owed to his exposure to the so-called Goblin Serum and not to any kind of organic mental disorder. Additionally, since his brain’s ability to interact with the Serum has been inhibited, he no longer demonstrates any of his previous symptoms.

Some of this is accurate—the hallucinations no longer seem present, he no longer exhibits an almost compulsive laugh reflect that is set off by mentions of Spider-Man, his family, or the Daily Bugle. He no longer uses the wide range of medications to manage his mental health either, suggesting that, indeed, the Serum had a deleterious effect on his mental health.

However, all his symptoms are not eliminated. He is still prone to anger and violence when his will is questioned or his plans derailed. He still harbors an intense hatred for those he views as having opposed him. The obsessive zeal to succeed or “win” also seems intact at this time. Given the opportunity, it is not hard to see Osborn developing and exposing himself to some experimental chemical cocktail in the quest to defeat Spider-Man or to best a business rival. This supports the notion that the client almost certainly has an Axis II diagnosis—Antisocial Personality Disorder—and likely an Axis I one as well—bipolar disorder seeming most likely.

As prior, the client presents as though he has a strong educational background and privileged life. He continues to be combative and resistant in session, rejecting nearly every observation, no matter how slight, offered to him. He enjoys talking about himself but resents any attempt to steer the stories or question his viewpoint on the matter.

What is most distressing, however, is not the client’s seeming lack of progress. It is the manner of his arrival and subsequent attitude towards therapy. Despite coming on his own without anyone or anything compelling him to do so, he seems to actively resent his time in session. He also rejects goal setting, be they specific—give up criminal activities—or general—reduce overall level of stress. And yet, week in and week out, the client arrives promptly in the office.

Given his history, it seems foolish not to treat the client. On the other hand, he is, in many ways, not really in therapy at all right now. If I did not think the client’s threat to others was so inherent to his character, I do confess I would have discharged him already. However, if there exists a potential that his desire for therapy is authentic and he is just engaging in some rather intense self-sabotage, I cannot, in good conscience, not at least attempt give Osborn the help he obviously needs.

Still, ethically, I cannot let therapy continue to progress in this manner. Therefore, Osborn is being referred to Doctors Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen for a further evaluation and the hope that perhaps different therapists may yield different results. Session will take place on May 10 and the progress note will be available for review in file AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #27.

Psy D. Candidate Tim Stevens is a Staff Therapist who wishes he had done the patented Osborn hair before he shaved his head.

Groot might be striking out on his own in his upcoming solo offering, I AM GROOT, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the same giant tree we’ve all come to know and love. Instead, thanks to some cosmic mishaps, he’s tiny and stranded on a brand new world!

These fresh adventures come from the fertile minds of writer Christopher Hastings and artist Flaviano starting May 24, when the new ongoing series kicks off. The creative team will put Groot through his paces, but also leave him plenty of room to explore and make new friends.

We talked with Flaviano about working with Hastings, designing entire planets, and drawing a more diminutive version of the beloved character.

Marvel.com: Like the readers, I’m sure you’re used to seeing Groot as a huge, walking tree. How was it getting used to this smaller version?

Flaviano: Yeah, when my editor Darren [Shan] first asked me to work on Groot he didn’t mention that it would be “Baby” Groot. Well, I should have imagined it, because of [“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”]. So, when I found out I was twice thrilled. When you have to draw a very small and funny character, the realistic approach isn’t the best choice, in my opinion. I tried to make him look a little bit like a character from a comic strip, something like Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes or Frank Cho’s Liberty Meadows. I remember Bill Watterson saying that he used to draw Calvin’s feet like small bread loaves. I took that as an inspiration to draw our Baby Groot like a little running and lovely bread loaf.

Marvel.com: Would you say that Groot’s smaller stature changes how he carries himself on his adventures?

Flaviano: Of course! Everything is huge around him, so he is scared and lost but at the same time cheerful and, in his naive way, interested in everyone and everything. It’s always hard, from a shooting standpoint, to have such a small character, because if you draw a very wide shot, you’ll lose him. If you stay close to him, you have all the other, much bigger characters out of the shot. But I took that as a challenge and it has been very fun to play with panels and character’s point of view.

Marvel.com: It sounds like Groot finds himself on a wild new place. How was it designing an entire planet?

Flaviano: It’s every artist’s dream come true! You don’t have to deal with given environment sets and models, you can create everything from scratch and it’s the most exciting part. Of course Chris Hastings had a very clear idea of how the planet should be. But he challenged me to contribute and design odd places and even more grotesque new characters. And the other cool part of creating a new environment is that even if you only draw part of it, you have the whole planet map in your mind and you can browse through it in order to make the character’s journey more coherent throughout the series.

Marvel.com: Were there any alien elements, creatures or characters that took longer to nail down in the design process?

Flaviano: I made several attempts for Buddy, Groot’s, well, “buddy” in this journey. Chris’ description was very clear and I tried to add more oddness but at the same time, more compassion for him. Groot and Buddy are both kind of naive characters, but their naiveté is the one thing that makes you ignore the danger and act brave, even if everything around you is big and scary. I also had a lot of fun in designing the main opposing character, a very strange looking guy who we’ll see in several different eccentric outfits.

Marvel.com: Does Groot’s inability to communicate with the new beings he finds himself around change how you approach him from a drawing standpoint?

Flaviano: Yeah, without Rocket Raccoon providing answers and translations for him, I had to emphasize his gestures and that was very fun for me since I did animation for like 12 years. Gestures and expressiveness are the core of animation, so I drew fully from that experience in order to make Groot more clear in his intentions but also in his feelings. And of course, he is a baby and his issues with communication make him look so sweet, so I tried to ride this weakness and draw him in the tender, softy way as possible. I expect some cuteness addiction from the web!

Marvel.com: How has it been working with Christopher so far on this series?

Flaviano: As smooth as honey! Chris is very clear in his writing and full of ideas and I’m having a lot of fun translating them into images. Sometimes when you have a lot of new characters to introduce, it’s easy to lose track of the story, but this is not the case since Chris planned everything in the strongest way. He provides very detailed descriptions of actions and characters, but he also left a lot of space for the artist to add his personal view and this is one of the best things in working in team.

The final look of the series is everyone’s contribution and, in this case, everyone did his best, delivering a very strong new world and an amazing story, including our very talented colorist Marcio Menyz, who provided some gorgeous and energetic colors and last but not least, our editor Darren who is always there, smoothing things over and merging all our different personalities into one whole, perfect-as-possible, product.

Join the exploration with Christopher Hastings, Flaviano, and company when I AM GROOT #1 sprouts on May 24!