Every week, we will be examining comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

Today we look at the time that Doctor Doom did some work as a young man for, of all people, Adolf Hitler!

Typically, I do not address retcons that involve sliding timescales, because they generally are far too mundane. It really doesn't seem like you're abandoning and forsaking much by noting that yes, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm obviously no longer fought in World War II. However, today's story seemed a bit more outlandish, so I figured I'd address how Roger Stern dealt with Invaders #32-33.

In Invaders #32, written by Roy Thomas with art by Alan Kupperberg and Frank Springer, Hitler hires a scientist who says that he can bring the actual Thor from the past into the present. The scientist (Dr. Olsen) has an assistant named Hans who wears bandages on his face....

They succeed in their plan and Hitler soon tricks Thor into trying to kill Joseph Stalin (as this was during the time in the war where Germany was invading the USSR)...

We see more of Hitler's mad plan in #33 (what Thor actually does in the past is a whole other story)...

So yes, Victor Von Doom is working for the Nazis.

However, now that he is in charge, Von Doom doesn't let Hitler go through with the plan...

And they have an interesting conversation...

Okay, so obviously the timeline stuff needed to be addressed, but also, the idea of Von Doom willingly working with the Nazis seems odd, as well.

In 1998's Marvel Universe #2, Roger Stern deals with it all. In the issue (drawn by Steve Epting and Al Williamson), we see that a young Baron Von Strucker witnessed the events of Invaders #33, but saw something different...

Von Strucker then ended up in the future (well, HIS future)...

and eventually encounters Doom, who explains that of course he went back in time to STUDY the Nazis, not to actually work for them...

Him leaving Hitler alive makes a WHOLE lot more sense when you keep in mind that he knows Hitler was going to die soon anyways.

Thanks to Senhor Suíno for the suggestion! If YOU have a suggestion for a future Abandoned an' Forsaked, let me know by e-mailing me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com