"NECROPHONE"
Classification: Terrestrial technology
Creator: Victor von Doom
User/Possessors: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards); Victor von Doom
First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#5 (July, 1962) (see comments)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: The original "Necrophone" built by Victor von Doom was intended to be a communication device to contact the spirits of the netherworld, however it exploded during its initial activation.
A later version built by Reed Richards corrected the flaw in von Doom's design; it was capable of transporting the operator and two "passengers" into another plane of existence (Heaven), but it would not work a second time (...according to a GOoD authority on the matter).
History:
(Fantastic Four I#5 (fb) / Fantastic Four Annual#2/1
(fb) / Fantastic Four I#278 (fb)) - After being awarded a scholarship
from the visiting dean of science of Empire State University, Victor von
Doom left his home in his native Latveria to go to America. While
attending the university, Victor began construction of the "Necrophone".
One day, fellow student Reed Richards paid a social call to von Doom's dormitory room and saw Victor's notes on his experiment, which dealt with matter transmutation and dimensional warps. Just then, von Doom entered and angrily confronted Richards, suspecting him of spying. But having noticed that some of Victor's equations were off by a few decimals in some places, Reed advised Victor to double-check his work. Victor angrily snatched his papers from Reed's hand and ordered him to leave his room, then went to the "Necrophone" as his assistant completed the work.
Despite the warnings of his assistant about his forbidden experiment, Victor sat in the machine and ordered him to activate it. The "Necrophone" exploded -- his assistant escaped with minor injuries, but von Doom's face was left hopelessly disfigured (see comments).
(Fantastic Four III#509) - Many years later, after the Thing had been slain during a battle with Dr. Doom, Mr. Fantastic searched for some way to revive his friend. As he delved into researching the afterlife, he was reminded of Doom's device and built a new model, correcting the flaw that existed in Doom's version. Contacting the Invisible Woman and Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic told them that he proposed to use the machine to enter the afterlife, find Ben Grimm's spirit, and return to Earth. The two agreed to his plan and clasped his hands after he activated the machine.
(Fantastic Four III#510) - After arriving in the afterlife, the trio abandoned the machine to begin their search for Ben (...and they encountered Mary & Franklin Storm and Daniel Grimm Jr. along the way).
(Fantastic Four III#511 - BTS) - The reunited Fantastic Four were ultimately returned to Earth via "God", who cautioned Reed that the device would not work a second time.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
I don't believe this device has ever officially been named, but for the purposes of this profile, I'm calling it the "Necrophone" (or as an alternative, it could probably be called the "Necroscope").
Initially, it was stated that Victor's intentions for building the "Necrophone" were just to contact the netherworld -- it was later elaborated that its purpose was to contact the spirit of his deceased mother.
The "Necrophone" was briefly introduced in a one-panel flashback in Fantastic Four I#5, but the story of its creation, along with the involvement of Reed Richards, was fleshed out in Fantastic Four Annual I#2/1 (1964).
The "Necrophone" has been seen in numerous flashbacks regarding the origin of Dr. Doom.
Victor's assistant was not identified in the original
stories, but in Fantastic Four I#278, when Dr. Doom's ward, Kristoff
Vernard, was being subjected to the Remembrancer
and relived Doom's memories, the assistant was finally identified as
"Kurtz".
And in Books of Doom, he was identified as "Daniel
Kurtz".
Further, it was shown in the Remembrancer-induced flashback that Victor's injury resulting from the explosion was only a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face -- this was something that could easily have been repaired with plastic surgery, and a normal man would have been relieved to have escaped with such a minor injury, but the vain von Doom's colossal ego had magnified this relatively minor wound to the point that -- in his eyes -- his once-handsome face was now destroyed; Victor's face was further disfigured when he later encountered an order of monks who fashioned his mask for him, and he ordered them to put the still-glowing red-hot mask upon his face.
There's an urban legend going around that inventor Thomas Edison had worked on a device (Spirit Phone) that could communicate with the dead -- I've heard this on the Coast to Coast AM radio program, so you can take it for what it's worth...
In a flashback in Mephisto vs. Fantastic Four#1, Mephisto
claimed that the "Necorphone" did summon him to Earth. He arrived in
the room but was unnoticed by Doom as he was left unconscious.
However, Reed Richards (who had run into the room to check on Doom
after hearing the explosion) saw Mephisto and made a deal with him.
--Per Degaton
The above comment was revealed as false.
--Snood
In the novel Doomgate by Jeffrey Lang, we discover that a
student at ESU named Frank Forester facilitated von Doom's access to
resources for his "Necrophone". In the present of the novel (which
follows Civil War) a student at ESU named Stanislaw Klemp (the name
homages the author of Solaris) finds one of von Doom's notebooks and
reconstructs the machine. It summons a demon who possesses him. The
demon recruits Hydro-Man, Electro, Vapor and Chemistro
on page 142.
--Per Degaton
New and additional images by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by John Kaminski and Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The "Necrophone" has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p9, pan7 (Victor von Doom enters lab of "Necrophone"; Kurtz (right))
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p10, pan1 (Victor von Doom seated in "Necrophone"; Kurtz (background))
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p10, pan2 ("Necrophone" explodes)
Fantastic Four I#509, p18, pan6 (Mr. Fantastic and his corrected "Necrophone"; Human Torch, Invisible Woman (left))
Fantastic Four I#278, p8, pan5 (mirror's reflection of Victor von Doom's injury from "Necrophone" explosion)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#5 (July, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)
Fantastic Four Annual I#2 (1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Chic Stone (inks)
Fantastic Four I#278 (May, 1985) - John Byrne (writer/pencils), Jerry Ordway (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Fantastic Four III#509-510 (March-April, 2004) - Mark Waid (writer), Mike Wieringo (penciler), Karl Kesel (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four: Doomgate (November, 2008) - Jeffrey Lang (writer)
First Posted: 04/18/2007
Last updated: 07/18/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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