DOOMBOT A76

Real Name: Doombot A76

Identity/Class: Terrestrial robot

Occupation: Doctor Doom in absentia

Group Membership: Doctor Doom's Doombot arsenal

Affiliations: Arcade, Mr. Chambers, Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), Ms. Locke, Phil, Tobe, and Vincenzo (underlings), Storm android, Kristoff Vernard

Enemies: X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Colossus/Peter Rasputin, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Robot A 76" (designation used by Doctor Doom);
    "Butcher" (nickname used by Colossus), "my lord Doom" (nickname used by the Storm android), "Doc", "Vic" (nicknames used by Arcade)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly "Toad World", Adirondack Mountains, upstate New York;
    formerly Castle Doom, Doomstadt, Latveria

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#145 (May 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Doombot A76 possessed the standard abilities of a non-combat Doom unit. Designed to act as the one true Doctor Doom in his creator's absence, the Doombot's personality was based on that of Doom himself, including his genius level intellect and gift for invention. His android brain was advanced enough to simulate thought, increasing the robot's credibility to a point even Wolverine's enhanced senses couldn't tell it was an automaton. The Doombot had access to a copy of Victor von Doom's memories and experiences. He wore a visually exact replica of Doom's armor, though its exact specifications remained unrevealed. The Doombot could fire force-blasts powerful enough to hold off Wolverine. His armor also contained a neural disruptor potent enough to paralyze even Colossus in his armored form. His energy reserves were sufficient to generate a force field capable of deflecting at least one of Storm's lightning bolts. Despite being based on Victor von Doom himself, Doombot A76 was far more tolerant of personal affronts. Like all Doombots, A76 was equipped with an almost instantaneous self-destruct sequence controlled by Doom himself.

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 450 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: None

History:
(Marvel Two-In-One I#68 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to Doctor Doom, the murderous mercenary Arcade was hired by Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) to help him get revenge on his old enemies the X-Men. Arcade took over Doom's castle in New York's Adirondack Mountains and converted it to house a number of deadly, toad-inspired traps that to which the Toad subjected both the Angel and the Thing.
    However, when Arcade came to collect his fee, Toynbee apologetically realized he didn't have enough money. Angel then suggested Toad rework the scenic castle into a theme park to raise the money he owed Arcade.
    Weeks later, "Toad World" opened with Toynbee as its overjoyed proprietor.

(Uncanny X-Men I#145 (fb) - BTS) - When Doctor Doom (who at the time had been deposed as ruler of Latveria) became aware of what had happened to his property in the Adirondacks, he sent Doombot A76 and a number of his American underlings (among them Phil, Tobe and Vincenzo) to reclaim the castle. Quietly taking over Toad World, they immediately shut down the successful park. Doombot A76 then had Arcade kidnapped, planning to make the red-headed assassin pay for stealing his castle. Arcade's predicament led his associates Ms. Locke and Mr. Chambers to devise a rescue plan. Not wanting to confront Doom head on, they decided to have the X-Men take him on by kidnapping a number of their friends and relatives, thereby forcing the mutant heroes to go and free Arcade. However, by that time Arcade was already free, as he had convinced Doombot A76 he was more valuable to him as an ally than a prisoner. To prove his point, Arcade correctly predicted that the X-Men would soon arrive. Intrigued by the opportunity to study the mutants up-close, "Doom" agreed to an alliance and started work on several traps designed specifically for the various members of the team.

(Uncanny X-Men I#145) - Doombot A76 greeted Storm as she arrived at his Adirondacks abode, graciously welcoming the X-Men's leader in spite of the fact she immediately demanded Arcade's release. He offered to discuss the matter in a civilized manner and proposed dinner, an invitation the somewhat surprised Storm accepted. At the same time, the other X-Men infiltrated the castle to look for Arcade. They found his cell to be empty however, and were greeted by four heavily armored guards wearing combat gear designed to beat the Fantastic Four. As he entertained Storm during a lavish dinner and became truly fascinated with her, Doombot A76 secretly monitored the battle. "Doom" was intrigued by Storm's demeanor, noting she wasn't scared of him, and thinking to himself he would soon make her rue that decision. Moments after the other X-Men defeated all but one of his guards (who fled), Doom introduced Storm to his other guest, Arcade. Shocked to see him out and about and realizing it was a trap, Storm instinctively struck Doombot A76 with a lightning bolt that didn't faze him in the slightest. Instead, he hit Ororo with a metabolic transmuter that turned her body into organic chrome. As Storm's form shifted into living metal, the remaining X-Men barged in. Doombot A76 took everyone but Colossus out with energy weapons hidden inside the dining room. The Doombot was then confronted by Colossus, who threatened to tear the "butcher" apart, but was felled by the neural disruptor inside his armor.

(Uncanny X-Men I#146 (fb) - BTS) - Doombot A76 had the X-Men dragged to their cells. With Storm trapped as a living statue, A76 decided to create a robotic android facsimile of Ororo that was completely subservient to his wishes. The real Storm, however, struggled against her confinement, which worsened her innate claustrophobia. Her extreme distress was reflected by the increasingly violent weather patterns that soon covered most of the United States of America.

(Uncanny X-Men I#146) - While watching the X-Men try to figure a way out of their individualized cells, A76 also observed the brutal storm raging outside. All the while his android Storm was subserviently waiting for his next order. As he entered the room, Arcade was surprised to see Doom had apparently succeeded at bending the headstrong X-Man to his will, which led the amused A76 to force the Storm android to remove her faceplate, revealing her true identity. The startled Arcade quickly regained his cocksure composure, catching A76 off guard when he used his armor to strike a match and light one of Doom's cigars. While the statue formerly known as Storm began to glow unseen in the background, Arcade gleefully noted Nightcrawler had just teleported out of his cell.

(Uncanny X-Men I#147) - Somewhat concerned with Nightcrawler's apparent escape, A76 ordered all his forces to look for and capture the X-Man while Arcade sat around grinning.

(Uncanny X-Men I#147 - BTS) - Nightcrawler, having memorized Angel's descriptions of the size of the castle, managed to safely teleport himself out of his prison by teleporting straight up. Reappearing several dozen yards over the structure, he managed to safely land in the waters surrounding the castle. Braving the increasingly horrible weather conditions, he sneaked inside the castle, teleporting in on Doom's guards Tobe and Phil, taking them out with little effort. As Kurt continued to move through the castle looking for Doom, both Colossus and Wolverine managed to free themselves as well.

(Uncanny X-Men I#147) - A76 was most annoyed when Wolverine shattered the door to his private study, yelling "on your toes, creeps... the cavalry just arrived." The Doombot sent the android Storm to defend him from Logan, whom he called a "diminutive upstart". Wolverine's enhanced senses immediately realized the android Ororo was not the real deal, leading Logan to hack into her. Complimenting the Canadian killer on his ruthlessness, A76 stunned the charging Wolverine with a force-blast. While he prepared to deal with Logan, explaining that the android Storm was merely a toy, Nightcrawler teleported in over the Doombot. Kurt proceeded to literally pull the wool over his enemy's eyes by covering him with a curtain. This momentary distraction allowed Wolverine to get the drop on A76, threatening to stab his claws through the holes of his armor's faceplate. A76 realized Wolverine wasn't bluffing and decided to give the two X-Men the orb that would free Storm from her existence as a living statue. However, as soon as she returned to her normal form it became apparent the experience had turned Storm temporarily insane, thinking herself to be an actual weather goddess. Although A76 offered his scientific expertise to help the X-Men deal with their crazed leader, the mutants eventually calmed Ororo down by themselves. In the aftermath, Storm forced a reluctant Arcade to apologize to A76, hoping to resolve whatever enmity remained between them. After A76 accepted Arcade's anything-but-heartfelt excuses, he expressed an interest in remaining friendly with Ororo, which led to "Doom" and the X-Men parting on neutral grounds.

(Fantastic Four I#258 - BTS) - Doombot A76 returned to Latveria after Victor von Doom manipulated the Fantastic Four to help him win back his throne from Zorba. Doom resumed his reign as the country's undisputed monarch (with young orphan boy Kristoff Vernard as his pupil and heir apparent).

(Fantastic Four I#258) - Victor von Doom took young Kristoff Vernard out of class so he could observe the way Doom conducted matters of state, starting with a long overdue inspection of the robots he employed for what he deemed his more menial operations. After reviewing several Doombots, Latveria's monarch spotted the blemish on A76's shoulder caused by Arcade's match. Demanding an explanation, Doctor Doom grew incensed at the Doombot's account and became even more furious when he learned the only reason Arcade had survived this affront was because A76 felt Doom might need the assassin at some point. Activating the unit's remote self-destruct sequence, the real von Doom watched with dispassionate interest as the Doombot destroyed itself. Coldly staring at the smoldering remains, the villain pointed out to young Kristoff that Doom indeed needed no one.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum & Joe Rubinstein.

So, it's come to this... During the early 1980s, the rift between once friendly creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne was obvious by the way they used their respective titles to one-up each other. First, Chris Claremont used Arcade to make Doctor Doom look foolish in the months prior to Byrne taking over Fantastic Four. That was followed by March 1982's Uncanny X-Men#167, in which Claremont had Shi'ar Empress Lilandra berate the FF's leader Reed Richards for saving Galactus' life, even going so far as to actually threaten the FF's leader. Byrne eventually "fired back" with Fantastic Four I#258 in which he revealed Doom didn't consider the X-Men important enough to deal with in person. This planted the seed of a notion Walter Simonson would eventually run with during his run that saw the real Doctor Doom return to Earth after an undisclosed amount of time. This gave other creators carte blanche to retroactively disqualify any appearance of the good Doctor they didn't care for, by claiming it had actually been a Doombot all along.

    After that, Byrne used 1984's Assistant Editor's month to get back at Claremont some more when he told the story of the trial of Reed Richards in Fantastic Four I#262.  A trial that ended with just about every single major cosmic force pointing out that, yes indeed, Mr. Fantastic had done the right thing in aiding the world-devourer.

    After all these cheap shots back and forth, Marvel's editor in chief Jim Shooter decreed his two top creators ought to play nice for the greater good of the company, and both Byrne and Claremont agreed. Still, when you consider the shared universe concept, having two semi-adversarial creators duking it out can lead to fascinating--if not slightly petty--stories. 
    Reminds of the 1990s rivalry between Peter David and Erik Larsen.--Snood.

New images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
This Doombot should not be confused with:

Phil and Tobe

    Phil and Tobe (last names unrevealed) were two of an undisclosed number of America-born underlings hired by Doctor Doom (or possibly his Doombot A76) to serve as guards for his Adirondack base. The two authentic New Yorkers were manning one of the castle's turrets during a heavy weather front caused by the imprisoned X-Man Storm. Slightly worried about the increasingly bad weather conditions, they were having a coffee while on duty. Just as Phil confided to his partner he'd never seen anything quite like this weather since he started working for Doom, they were both surprised by the sudden appearance of Nightcrawler, who showed up right outside the turret's window. In spite of the shock, they immediately pointed their guns and started firing, but proved no match for the mutant teleporter, who took them both out within seconds.

--Uncanny X-Men I#147

images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#145, p15, pan1 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#146, p22, pan3 (Arcade strikes a match on A76's shoulder; Storm "statue" [background])
Uncanny X-Men I#145, p17, pan1 (A76's battle brigade)
Uncanny X-Men I#147, p14, pan2 (A76 blasts Wolverine)
Fantastic Four I#258, p6, pan4567 (A76 gets destroyed by the real Dr. Doom)
Uncanny X-Men I#147, p6, pan5 (Phil & Tobe)

Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#145 (May 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#146 (June 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#147 (July 1981) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
Fantastic Four I#258 (September 1983) - John Byrne (writer, pencils, inks), Carl Potts (editor)

First posted: 02/26/2014
Last updated: 12/12/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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