Doctor Doom Fact — October 26, 2026

Today's Fact

Verified against three independent sources. Issues cited below.

DOOM WAS BEATEN BY SQUIRRELS — IN SQUIRREL GIRL'S VERY FIRST APPEARANCE!

The Featured Fact

Victor von Doom has traded blows with gods, heralds and entire teams. None of that prepared him for Doreen Green. In Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #8 (1992), in the story “The Coming of… Squirrel Girl” by writer Will Murray and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, a teenage Doreen tries to audition as Iron Man's sidekick — and Doom captures them both aboard his flying Doomship.

Doom left his prisoners in a death trap and badly misjudged the small vent Doreen found. Flying low over woodland, she called down an army of squirrels. Their added weight threw off the ship's navigation while squirrel after squirrel slipped inside, chewing through the delicate wiring and wrecking the power supply until Iron Man could break free.

By the time the heroes reached the bridge, Latveria's monarch was buried under a solid mass of rodents, tearing at his armor and his dignity alike. Doom fled his own ship and dove into nearby water to shake them off. Iron Man congratulated the newcomer on giving Doom one of the most ignominious defeats of his career — then still refused to hire her as a sidekick.

Why It's Obscure

Doom has survived the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Mephisto. A debuting teenager and several hundred squirrels remain an entry his official histories prefer to whisper.

1992

Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #8 — Murray and Ditko debut Squirrel Girl in a deliberately old-fashioned story dropped into the grim-and-gritty nineties, and Doom is her first-ever villain.

Ditko

The co-creator's return — Steve Ditko drawing a brand-new hero humiliating Marvel's most imperious villain gave the one-off an oddball pedigree no fill-in story should have had.

Monkey Joe

The first recruit — Doreen's squirrel partner Monkey Joe helped sabotage the Doomship from inside, beginning a partnership later honored in the Great Lakes Avengers.

The vent

The fatal oversight — Doom restrained a hero who talks to squirrels, aboard an aircraft flying at treetop height, next to an opening to the forest. Latverian engineering regrets the oversight.

Aftermath

A running reputation — later retellings and handbooks kept the loss on Doom's record, and Squirrel Girl's string of impossible wins started right here, against him.

Gallery

Comic panel and cover art of Doctor Doom, with Daredevil — no AI imagery, nothing mislabeled.

Doctor Doom comic art on his throne — **The monarch, unbitten**Doom in full Latverian regalia — the poise and menace that made what happened aboard the Doomship so difficult for him to live down.

Squirrel Girl comic art — **The debutante — Squirrel Girl**Doreen Green, the hero whose very first published adventure ended with Doctor Doom fleeing his own aircraft. Mentioned-character image, as billed.

Doctor Doom comic art portrait — **Armor intact, pride not**A portrait of Doom at his most imperious. Somewhere beneath that mask is a man who has never once explained the squirrel incident voluntarily.

Sources

Every claim above is verified against at least two of these independent sources.

Bullpen Bulletins

Doctor Doom: How Squirrel Girl Became the Marvel Icon's REAL Nemesis — CBRRecounts Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #8: Doom captures Iron Man and Squirrel Girl, her squirrels infiltrate and sabotage the ship, and Doom is forced to flee.
Squirrel Girl profile — Mighty Avengers / uncannyxmen.net appendixIndependent summary of the same issue: the vent escape, the squirrel army boarding the low-flying Doomship, the wrecked power supply, and Doom diving into water to escape them.