NORMAN McARTHUR

Real Name: Norman McArthur (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Sporting goods salesman

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters), Sarah, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)

Enemies: Dr. Doom (Victor von Doom)

Known Relatives: Margaret "Peggy" McArthur (wife), unidentified son

Aliases: Norm; the Invincible Man (while possessed by Dr. Doom)

Base of Operations: Queens, New York

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#260 (November, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Norman McArthur possessed no unusual talents.

Height: Unrevealed (6'2"; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (225 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Strawberry-blond

History:
(Fantastic Four I#260 (fb) - BTS) - A life-long resident of Queens, Norman McArthur worked as a sporting goods salesman; he was married to Peggy, and they had a son.

(Fantastic Four I#260) - McArthur was purchasing groceries from the Shop-Rite supermarket when a battle between Terrax, Dr. Doom, the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer broke out. After Dr. Doom's armor was fused in battle with Terrax, he became desperate to escape his immobility, and transferred his mind into Norman McArthur's body (see comments). Doom's original body--now inhabited by McArthur's mind--was then destroyed and reduced to sub-atomic dust during the clash between the Silver Surfer and Terrax.

(Fantastic Four I#287 (fb)) - Doom returned to McArthur's home and placed Peggy under house arrest, forbidding her to leave or to use the telephone. In the weeks that followed, he designed a replica of the Invincible Man costume for himself, then set out to assault the Latverian Embassy, so he could get past the embassy's security systems.

(Fantastic Four I#287) - As the Invincible Man, Doom convinced the Wasp, She-Hulk and Invisible Woman to assist him in attacking the Latverian Embassy, claiming to be a scientist whose family was being held hostage inside. After the Invisible Woman destroyed the Doombot at the embassy, Doom attacked her. The Invisible Woman counter-attacked and nearly had him defeated, but then Peggy McArthur arrived and struck the Invisible Woman down, thinking she was aiding her husband. Doom revealed his true identity to Peggy and took her hostage.

(Fantastic Four I#288) - Now garbed in his standard armor, Doom defeated the rest of the Fantastic Four and the Wasp; he held them prisoner in the deepest cellar of the Latverian Embassy, where he prepared to use the forces of black magic to recreate his original body, because he felt it was beneath the dignity of the rightful monarch of Latveria to allow his spirit to long reside in the body of a commoner. But when his spell began to falter, Doom called upon "the greatest power in the universe," which proved to be the Beyonder.

   The Beyonder did not at first recognize Doom's physical form because he was in McArthur's body; but when he finally recognized Doom's aura, he was prepared to kill him. Then Mr. Fantastic intervened and pointed out that because when Dr. Doom participated in the Secret Wars, he was supposed to have been in Norman McArthur's body, yet the Beyonder brought forth a Doom from the future who was in his original body. Therefore, if the Beyonder slew Doom now, it would generate a time-loop paradox which might destroy even the Beyonder himself. To prevent this, the Beyonder recreated Doom's original body and transferred his mind into it, and also restored Norman McArthur back to his own body. He then sent Doom back in time to participate in the Secret Wars while the Fantastic Four, Wasp, and the McArthurs departed before Doom could return.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

A few panels in #287 have Norman and Margaret's last name misspelled as "MacArthur".

In Fantastic Four I#10 (January, 1963), Dr. Doom learned that body-swap trick when he encountered members of the extraterrestrial Ovoid race, and first used it to exchange bodies with Mr. Fantastic.

But years later in Daredevil I#37-38 (February-March, 1968), Doom exchanged bodies with Daredevil, and that time he used a "transformatron"/"body-transferral ray" rather than the unassisted Ovoid method.--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Prime Eternal. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.








CLARIFICATIONS:
Norman and Margaret McArthur should not be confused with:

Sarah has no known connections to:

Margaret "Peggy" McArthur

She was the wife of Norman McArthur, and the mother of their unidentified son; they lived in Queens, New York.

When Norman went to purchase groceries at the Shop-Rite, Peggy was worried after learning that the supermarket was the scene of a battle involving the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom. With her husband missing for hours, Peggy was relieved when Norm finally returned home, but she found that his demeanor had drastically changed--his personality was strangely cold, and the life-long Queens resident was now speaking with "some strange German accent" (Peggy: "Now all of a sudden, he sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger!") -- she was unaware that Dr. Doom had transferred his mind into Norman's body when his actual body was destroyed and reduced to sub-atomic dust.

Margaret was held a virtual prisoner for weeks, and her Doom-possessed husband kept her alive because he felt she was of use to him. She was finally released from confinement when Doom set out as the Invincible Man to assault the Latverian Embassy.

Fearing her husband had gone crazy, the distressed Peggy took her son and went to her next-door neighbor Sarah's home and told her about "Norm's" erratic behavior. After seeing a television news-bulletin about the Invincible Man attacking the Latverian Embassy, she and Sarah went there to help "Norman," but Peggy instead unwittingly helped Doom by knocking the Invisible Woman unconscious.

Peggy was again held hostage by Doom, but she was eventually reunited with her real husband when the Beyonder recreated Doom's original body, then restored Doom's and Norman's minds to their proper bodies -- Doom was subsequently sent back in time to participate in the Secret Wars.

--Fantastic Four I#287 (287 (fb), 287, 288

Sarah

The elderly Sarah (last name unrevealed) was the next-door neighbor of Norm and Peggy McArthur.

One day, while she was watching a movie on television, Sarah had to answer the incessant ringing of her doorbell. After opening the door, she found Peggy--whom she hadn't seen in weeks--pleading for her help. Peggy told Sarah a harrowing story of how she had been held prisoner by Norm, and she feared that her husband had gone crazy because his entire personality had changed (Peggy was unaware that Dr. Doom had transferred his mind into Norm's body). Moments later, they saw a television news-bulletin about the Invincible Man attacking the Latverian Embassy--Peggy immediately recognized her costumed husband, so she and Sarah headed there.

Once they entered the embassy building, Peggy unwittingly went to assist her husband by knocking the Invisible Woman unconscious with a vase, but she was again taken hostage by him when he revealed himself to be Dr. Doom; meanwhile, the frightened Sarah stayed hidden in the background.

Shortly afterward, the Human Torch arrived in response to his sister's emergency call, and after clearing a path through some of the embassy's Servo-Guards, he encountered Sarah. Sarah gave him a quick recap of the events of the previous two hours--including how "Norm" revealed himself to be Dr. Doom--so the Torch let her leave, and she presumably returned to her home in Queens.

--Fantastic Four I#287 (287, 288

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#287, p19, pan3 (main image - in flashback, Dr. Doom (foreground) transferring his mind into Norman McArthur)
Fantastic Four I#288, p8, pan5 (headshot - Norman McArthur [with Dr. Doom's mind])
Fantastic Four I#288, p21, pan3 (Beyonder transfers the minds of Norman McArthur and Dr. Doom back to their respective bodies)
Fantastic Four I#288, p21, pan5 (Norman McArthur's mind back in his body; Margaret McArthur (background))
Fantastic Four I#287, p10, pan9 (Margaret McArthur, unidentified son)
Fantastic Four I#287, p11, pan2 (in flashback, Margaret McArthur with Norman McArthur [possessed by Dr. Doom])
Fantastic Four I#287, p10, pan4 (Sarah opens door and finds Margaret McArthur)
Fantastic Four I#287, p10, pan8 (Sarah, with Margaret McArthur and her unidentified son)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#260 (November, 1983) - John Byrne (writer/artist), Glynis Wein (colors), Jim Novak (letters), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Fantastic Four I#287 (February, 1986) - John Byrne (writer/pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Glynis Oliver (colors), Jim Novak (letters), Michael Carlin (editor)
Fantastic Four I#288 (March, 1986) - John Byrne (writer/pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Glynis Oliver (colors), John Workman (letters), Michael Carlin (editor)

First posted: 03/21/2004
Last updated: 09/15/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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