Dr. Doom had returned. Several months ago, he'd disappeared and the world thought that they had seen the last of this growing threat to world peace. No new attacks or schemes had come from the small Balkan country of Latveria in the days since. But now Doom was back, and he lost no time in returning to form.
He made an announcement over Latveria TV, which was picked up by satellite dishes all over the world. "My loyal subjects. Your loving ruler has returned to you. After an unavoidable absence, I am ready to once again push Latveria to the forefront of the global village. Very soon, the world will be ours. Before I left, I discovered the existence of a beast, which is unstoppable, unkillable and indestructible. It is a savage force of nature that not even the most powerful of the United States super-heroes can stand against. Soon, I will summon this beast and it will do my bidding. It will trample the armies of the world under it's massive feet. It will pave the path for Latveria's inevitable destiny . . . to rule the world! I have returned, and soon I shall conquer the world!"
All over the planet, people with satellite TV heard this message. The United Nations called a meeting. Victor Von Doom had been enough of a menace in the past. If he really did have a giant indestructible monster under his control, he could do unspeakable damage. They had to know if he was telling the truth or if this was only propaganda.
Wanda Mason was called into the office of the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the next morning, having heard about Doom's speech, she suspected why she was here.
"You probably know why I sent for you, Wanda," the deputy director said.
She nodded. Wanda was the granddaughter of the WWII heroine the Blonde Phantom, and daughter of Hollis Mason, the Knight-Owl. Whenever a case involved an X-level threat - which meant super-human - she was usually called in. Although Doom was a world leader and world leaders usually fell out of her area of expertise, Doom could also be considered a super-villain, and that was right up her alley. And a giant monster certainly didn't fit into the usually government purview.
"If Doom really does have a giant capable of destroying the world, we need to know," he said.
"Any good leads I can start with," Wanda asked.
"Yes," the deputy answered, "Doom said that he discovered this monster before he disappeared six months ago. We want you to talk to the last people to see Von Doom before his absence."
"Who's that?"
"Ever hear of the Doom Patrol?"
"The Doom Patrol?" Wanda began, dragging the obscure information from the back of her mind. "Wasn't that a team started by Dr. Clark Savage last year?"
"Yep. They were very short lived," the deputy director said. "No sooner had we heard about their existence, then they captured five wanted X-level criminals. However, immediately after that, we got a message from Savage saying 'Forget it. We broke up.' He mentioned that Dr. Doom was involved. We didn't think too much of this cryptic bit of information until we realized that Von Doom really was missing-in-action. We tried to pump them for information but they all played dumb. They clearly knew something but for some reason, they all kept mum. All except for Mr. Terrific. He dropped out of sight, too."
"So should I go see Dr. Savage first?"
"No. He's a hundred years old this month. He still seems to have all his marbles, but before we rely on the memory of a hundred year old man, let's start with the others. I'd suggest Larry Trainer, the Negative Man. He was the only one of the Doom Patrol to ever give an interview. He seemed to like to talk. He may have been the leader, or only a front man. Anyway, here's his address. Give him a try."
Wanda arrived outside the small house in New Jersey where Larry Trainer had lived for years, even before he became the Negative Man. He bought it with the money he made as a test pilot. He lived a solitary life since then.
She knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" a male voice asked.
"My name is Agent Mason of the F.B.I., can I speak to you?"
"Leave me alone," the voice said.
"It's important, Mr. Trainer," she insisted. "Please open the door."
After a long pause, she heard the door unlock. "Come in," he offered.
He didn't open the door. She pushed it open. Larry Trainer was not on the other side. The room was dark. She noticed some movement in the next room. She walked in. It was dark in that room as well. The shades were down. She noticed some movement in a chair in the corner. "Have a seat," he said.
"Where?" she asked. "I can't see the other chair."
He pulled open the shade and she finally got a good look at him. His skin was covered in bandages. She sat down. "Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Trainer."
"What's this about, Agent Mason?"
"Dr. Doom," she said.
"I see," he answered. "What do you need from me?"
"The Doom Patrol were the last ones to see Doom before he vanished. We need to know what happened that last day," she explained. "We thought you'd be the one to ask."
"Why me?"
"Weren't you the leader?"
Larry Trainer chuckled. "People still believe that, huh. You're all lucky that isn't true."
"Why?"
"Because if I had been the leader of the Doom Patrol, the world would now probably be under the thumb of Dr. Doom," Trainer said. "Fortunately for everyone, we had a good leader. A great leader. He saved the world. I never could have done it as well."
"Who are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Mr. Terrific," he said. "A better man than I."
"No one has seen him since then," Wanda said.
Trainer nodded sadly. "You don't have to remind me of that."
"Is he alive?" she asked.
Trainer got up and paced. "I can't talk about that day."
"Why not?"
"If I could tell you that, I could tell you everything," he said. "I can't help you."
"Mr. Trainer, the fate of the world could depend on the information you give us."
"The information I give you could lead to the end of the world," he said.
Wanda thought for a minute. "Maybe there's something you could tell me that could be helpful but not directly related to any information that could be dangerous. Anything at all?"
"Such as?"
"Tell me about the Doom Patrol," she said. "They weren't around very long. Tell me anything you can about the team, and as much as you can about the events leading up to that final mission."
Trainer sat back down. "Funny you should put it that way. Actually, our whole history led us to that day. But let me see what I can tell you . . .
"My first meeting with Doc Savage and Mr. Terrific came just a few years before the Doom Patrol formed. I was a test pilot. A good one. So good that I was given the chance to pilot the Mars shuttle. I was so excited. I was making history. I loved the attention. Who knew how it would end up?
"The radiation shielding failed and I was exposed to some unknown type of radioactivity. Days after I returned, I was on death's door. My skin was rotting away. The pain was excruciating. I thought I was a goner. That was when Savage and Terrific showed up. I wasn't too confident to see this ancient man standing over me, but then I found that his friend in the funny costume would be doing the actual work. Savage was just advising. I found out later that Savage was once considered the greatest doctor in the world and that he'd taught Mr. Terrific everything he knew. Terrific was the heir apparent to the title. So I was in good hands.
"Their treatment took several weeks but by the time they were done, the pain was gone and my strength came back. They told me I wasn't dying. However, they couldn't save my skin. It was ruined permanently. I know I should have been grateful to them, but for some reason I blamed Mr. Terrific for my deformity. I know it's stupid but at the time I had to blame someone. So I blamed him. When he warned me that there could be unforeseen side effects to the radiation I didn't listen to him.
"A few months later, I realized he was right. There was a burning inside of me. I wished it would go away . . . and it did. It left my body and flew around outside of me. It was some sort of radiation man. It looked like a photo negative of me. I got weak when it left me, like my life force was gone. I dropped to the floor and felt like I was dying again. It turned around and came back into me. I felt fine once it was back. I soon realized that I could send it out at will, and it would always return. It seemed to have a mind of it's own, but it did what I wanted. Later, Savage and Terrific figured that when the duplicate body formed, it created a near-replica of my mind which was encoded in it's being. It obeyed me because it always agreed with me. It was almost the same mind, after all. It had the power to alter it's shape, move at nearly light speed and absorb energy. I named it Negative Man.
"As time went on I started to enjoy my new ‘friend'. I became a hero for hire and made a good living for myself. I was even getting over my resentment of Mr. Terrific when Doc Savage contacted me. He wanted me to join some sort of super team. He said he'd pay me well. I owed him my life, and the money he offered was more than generous. So I went to the first meeting of his new team . . . "
Eight months earlier . . .
Larry Trainer entered the sitting room of the grand house owned by Dr. Clark Savage Jr., the legendary Man of Bronze. He was there reluctantly but he gave his word he'd be there and so here he was. He looked around the room to see who the other members of this team were. If he was supposed to work with them, he hoped they were competent. The first one he saw was a beautiful teenage girl in a bathing suit with long blonde hair. This might not be so bad, he mused. The only strange thing about her was that she had pointed ears. He looked around and saw what appeared to be a robot. And then that he saw Rita Farr. He knew her immediately. She was one of his favorite movie stars. He used to fantasize about her. He always hoped he could meet her. She hadn't made a movie in a while. Was she a super-hero too? Finally, he saw the tall, muscular African-American man with the 'T' painted across his face . . . Mr. Terrific! Despite himself, he felt a wave of hostility when he spotted Terrific. Terrific gave him a polite nod but Trainer just turned away.
The aged Doc Savage entered. Although he was ninety-nine years old, he looked much younger and walked with surprising briskness. He was still in decent condition for his age. "Thank you all for coming. My name is Dr. Clark Savage. Some of you may have heard of me. Let me introduce everyone else, for those who haven't met. This is Namorita, princess of Atlantis. Next is the Elasti-Girl, as well as Negative Man, RobotMan, and finally my protege, Mr. Terrific. Please sit, we have a lot to talk about."
They all sat. Savage sat on a stool in the middle of the room. "Welcome to the first meeting of the Doom Patrol. Why the Doom Patrol? Well aside from the literal meaning, it refers to the notorious Dr. Doom! If you've been following the news, you all know that he's a despot with delusions of grandeur and a threat to the whole world. I've gotten hold of some information that could foil his latest scheme. He knows this. And now he's after me. I'm too old to fight someone so dangerous. Even in my youth, Dr. Doom may have been more than a match for me. So I've gathered you all here."
"So basically we're a team of super powered bodyguards?" Trainer asked.
"No, not just that," Mr. Terrific said. "By stopping Doom, we're saving the world."
"Me and Terrific have had a couple of dust ups with Doc Doom before," RobotMan said. "And trust me, he's a nasty piece of work."
"Exactly what is he up to this time?" Elasti-Girl asked.
"It's a long story," Savage said, "and I'll fill you in on all the details as we go along. But trust me, it's serious. A . . . A good man died to bring me this information."
Trainer noticed that the Atlantean girl, Namorita, reacted to this comment. Did she know this "good man" who died?
"Starting tomorrow," Savage said, "the Doom Patrol begins training. Training in teamwork and in using your powers to their maximum potential. Mr. Terrific will be your team leader. He'll be giving the orders out in the field."
This caused Trainer's hostility towards Mr. Terrific to grow. He had been starting to think that this Doom Patrol would be a chance for him to shine. But now he would be in Terrific's shadow. Just as Captain America became a legend in the Justice Society and some of the others - like Wildcat and the Black Canary - were buried under his legend. Larry didn't want Negative Man to be buried under the legend of Mr. Terrific!
After the meeting was over, Trainer debating talking to Rita Farr, the Elasti-Girl. This was his chance to meet her, to talk to her. But he was self-conscious about his appearance. Burnt flesh under bandages isn't normally attractive to women. And worse, almost immediately, she warmed up to Mr. Terrific. She stared at Terrific like he was the only man in the world. Trainer couldn't hear what they were talking about and he didn't want to. He stormed out, vowing that he'd outshine Mr. Terrific. He'd show everyone who the real superstar of this team is!
Back in the present, Larry Trainer was staring out the window. Agent Mason looked at him.
"I was all eaten up by jealousy," he said, "My disdain of Mr. Terrific was more of a disease than the radiation was."
"What happened to Mr. Terrific that last day?" she asked.
"I wish I could tell you," Trainer said. "About his sacrifice. The world should know."
"Yes, I think it should," she said, trying to psyche him out. "The whole world should know about his sacrifice."
Larry's guilt was eating away at him. He got up and paced again. "Look. Let me think about it for a little while. Come back in an hour or so, okay?"
She agreed and went for a walk. She walked around the neighborhood for forty-five minutes, hoping that Larry would agree to talk about what happened. She thought about all she had learned today. There was obviously a lot going on with the Doom Patrol than anyone else knew. She wanted to find out more. And this could be the first step. She headed back to Larry's house.
When she got there, the first thing she saw was that the door was open. Some instinct told her to draw her gun. She reached in cautiously and turned on the light. The place had been ransacked. No, worse. It had been destroyed in a battle. She knew quite a lot about super hero battles and this place smelled of one. Someone had attacked Larry Trainer. No, someone had attacked the Negative Man!
"Mr. Trainer!" she yelled. "Are you here? Are you hurt?"
She searched the whole house. He was gone! He'd been kidnaped!
Meanwhile, far, far away, on another world, an alien race was monitoring the planet Earth. Soon they would arrive on that tiny, blue and green planet. And once there, they would take what they wanted, no matter whom tried to stop them!
Next issue: Agent Mason meets the legendary Doc Savage, who reveals more about the mystery regarding the disappearances of Dr. Doom and Mr. Terrific. Plus, the Lethal Legion strikes!