Warning: SPOILERS for Amazing Spider-Man #34, Doctor Doom #3, Savage Avengers #8

Remember when Doctor Doom became Iron Man and served the world as a superhero? Yeah, neither does Marvel. At least judging by his speedy return to being seen as the villain everyone loves to hate. That includes the storytellers at Marvel Comics, too.

It briefly seemed that with Doctor Doom giving the villain his very own comic book series, his days of being a punching bag for the Fantastic Four were finally over. But after Doom was framed for murder in just the first issue, it was clear Marvel had other plans. Plans that involved killing the Latverian monarch in not one, not two, but three different comic series. Well, killed two times plus a Doombot everyone thought was Dr. Doom. But the ramifications of all three are the same.

First up is in The Amazing Spider-Man #34, where the country of Symkaria’s deposed despot Countess Karkov is working with the Chameleon, to get a super-powered rifle to the assassin Hitman. Symkaria is at odds with Victor Von Doom’s homeland of Latveria. Von Doom has been looking for weaknesses in Symkaria’s defenses, looking for an opportunity to invade the country. This even caused the Silver Sable, Symkaria’s mercenary and protector to use a LMD amidst her health troubles to keep up appearances.

The Hitman was tasked with using the rifle to take out the metal-mugged monarch while he was in New York. The aptly named Hitman’s aim is true, and shoots Doom square in the chest. Spider-Man arrives, and quickly discovers that the person shot was actually a Doombot and not the true Dr. Doom. Spider-Man is then whisked away to set up the coming 2099 event. Even though it was a Doombot, Dr. Doom takes this as a personal assault, and Spider-Man returns just as Doom is demanding justice – with hundreds of Doombots descending on New York.

Then, in Doctor Doom #2 Victor is working with Morgan Le Fay, who is trying to help him make sense of Doom’s recent visions of a peaceful future with a loving family. The taunt of this future came to a high point when Kang the Conqueror appeared, and told him of a future where Dr. Doom is the magnanimous leader of an eternally peaceful Earth. Kang, of course wants this future to come to fruition because it would be the most preferable earth for him to conquer. This drove Doom to seek out The Witness, whose abilities allow him to look into someone’s eyes and they will see how they die. The Witness describes Dr. Doom’s death as “the saddest day on Earth… and its beautiful,” and moments later Dr. Doom is shot through the head by The Taskmaster.

Victor awakes to find himself in hell, confronted by Mephisto himself. Determined to see his future realized, Doom does not take being dead lying down and fights Mephisto, until Lady Death shows up to bring Victor back to the land of the living to be her greatest servant of all. He awakes, only to be informed by Kang that the future in which he is assassinated results in civilization completely collapsing in thirteen years of Doom’s death. Fans of Dr. Doom know that The Taskmaster won’t be let off so easily now the Victor is back among the living.

Finally, in Savage Avengers #8 Dr. Doom is after the Third Eye of Agamotto. The amulet is currently in Conan the Barbarian’s possession, so Doom simply decides to kidnap Conan and bring him to Latveria. Conan’s anger towards this forceful act is quickly subdued when offered to a feast. As Conan begins to dig into a hefty drumstick, he notices that Doom is not eating with him – which is insulting to the barbarian. After claiming the Lord of Latveria is vain for not removing his mask to dine with him, Doctor Doom removing his mask to eat with Conan.

Pleasantries fall aside as Doom tries to bargain for the amulet. Before they could settle on terms, Doctor Strange shows up, says the amulet is evil and a trap, they put it on a goat as a test – standard magical testing stuff. Eventually Doom well, acts like Doom and takes the amulet from Conan. His patience had run out, and nothing would keep the amulet from being around his neck. Unfortunately for Doom, Doctor Strange was right, and the amulet is evil. The chain around his neck tightened, and continued to tighten, until it decapitated Doctor Doom. Thus killing Victor yet again in recent issues.

In all three cases, one thing is for sure. Doctor Doom is too stubborn to stay dead, and he will definitely make everyone who killed him suffer their own brutal fate.

The Amazing Spider-Man #34, Doctor Doom #3, and Savage Avengers #8 are all available now at your local comic book store.

Next: The Origin of Marvel’s Earth is Absolutely Disgusting