Doctor Doom is the Fantastic Four's greatest enemy, tormenting them on many occasions. While Doom has reluctantly partnered with Marvel's First Family before, he's never fully been part of the team. House of M, however, made Doom the leader of his own version of the Fantastic Four.

Doom's new life was spotlighted in Fantastic Four: House of M #1-3, by John Layman and Scot Eaton. In this altered universe, the original Fantastic Four went on the same interstellar voyage that originally gave them their powers. This time, however, nearly everyone on the expedition died. Only Ben Grimm survived the bombardment of cosmic rays, which mutated him even more than his Marvel Universe counterpart. Johnny Storm didn't even go on this expedition, instead appearing in Iron Man: House of M #1-3, by Greg Pak and Pat Lee.

Johnny was a contestant in the Sapien Death Match, where he fought competitively with Tony and Howard Stark. Johnny had no natural powers, only wearing a suit of armor with a "flame on" feature. Eventually, Johnny went on to fight alongside Tony as part of a resistance movement against mutants. In his place, John Jameson went on Reed Richards' journey into space.

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Doctor Doom found the wreckage of Reed's space shuttle and saw an opportunity. Doom had no powers of his own. This didn't stop Doom, who wanted to move up in the world. As a natural opportunist, Doom experimented with the cosmic rays from Reed's shuttle, bestowing powers on himself and his family.

Doom's wife, Valeria, became the Invincible Woman with the power of telekinesis. Kristoff, Doom's adoptive son, became the Inhuman Torch, with powers similar to Earth-616's Human Torch. Doom himself created a liquid metal which he could use to form armor and weapons. Ben Grimm was also kept to "amuse" Doom, who called him the It instead of the Thing.

As the new Fearsome Four, this team was a strike force that Magneto sent after rebellious superhumans. Still, Doom desired more power, as he could only go so far as a human. Doom and his family attempted to stage a coup against Magneto, luring The Master of Magnetism and his family into a dimension where mutant powers didn't work.

Initially, Doom's plan succeeded and Magneto was trapped. Soon afterward, however, the It got Polaris to free Magneto and Quicksilver from the other dimension. Valeria and Kristoff were killed, while Doom was spared to live out the rest of his inconsequential days as ruler of Latveria. The It, meanwhile, was found by the human resistance and met Alicia Masters for the first time.

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It's striking just how similar Doom's "House of M" life was to Reed Richards' life on Earth-616. Both men gained superpowers and fought extraordinary beings alongside their families. Valeria and Kristoff practically stood in for Sue and Johnny, and Ben Grimm was present in both scenarios.

The key distinction here is the ambitions and personalities of both Reed and Doom. Reed gained his powers by accident, only seeking to explore new frontiers alongside his family. Doom, by comparison, gave his family and himself more power so they could become the next rulers of the world. Reed also leads his team as more of a warm father figure, while Doom led the Fearsome Four as a monarchical ruler.

These differing qualities can be seen in both men's treatment of Ben Grimm. In "House of M," Doom treated Ben as an animal who he kept caged and viewed as a form of amusement. Reed, by contrast, is Ben's best friend, and the two of them are like family. When Franklin Richards was born, in Fantastic Four Annual #6, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Reed even gave his son the middle name of Benjamin, in the Thing's honor.

Despite Ben's treatment in "House of M," he remained the heart of the Fearsome Four, just like he's the heart of the Fantastic Four. Ben was the one to thwart Doom's plans at the end of the mini-series after being denied respect and a voice on the team. In Earth-616, Ben gets a prominent voice in the group, becoming the Fantastic Four's emotional anchor.

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