Doom Patrol V1 (1964) The world's most hapless superhero team got its start in the sci-fi anthology My Greatest Adventure with #83.
The wheelchair-bound genius, Niles Caulder, gathered together two deformed misfists – bodiless brain, Cliff Steele, and radioactive mummy, Larry Trainor, and one hot movie star who could grow to enormous heights – Rita Farr – to form a self-help group/superhero team. Reflective of the camp popular in the sixties – Batman, the Avengers, Dr. Who – the Doom Patrol combined the outlandish with the weird, anchored by a core of colorful superstars. Unable to survive beyond the death of camp, Arnold Drake’s and Bruno Premiani’s unusual creation was cancelled in 1968 with issue #121, with a short revival (reprint issues #122-124) in the early 70’s.
Doom Patrol V2 (1987)
After an impressive initial five issues illustrated by the masterful Steve Lightle (almost exclusively a cover artist throughout his career), the copper age revival of the Doom Patrol lost its footing. Despite the dynamic art of Eric Larsen, one of independent comics’ most steadfast creators, the book’s sales and direction lagged. A popular criticism is that the comic became an X-Men-like team of beautiful freaks. I think that the main problem was a mismatch between artist and writer. The disgruntled punk, Wayne, and Scott, the pretty boy with death-touch hands, held much potential. However, Larsen’s art was suited to the high-octane superhero team comics prevalent in the day, to which the Doom Patrol has always strived to be the antithesis. The team was blown up – again – to make way for a new approach.
(1989). Grant Morrison’s approach to the book was a combination of back-to-the-basics and new frontiers. Reducing the team to Crazy Jane, a woman with a superpower to match each of her 64 personalities, Rebus, the contemplative Negative Man/Woman, and the omnipresent Cliff Steele (now denying the Robotman moniker), Morrison thrust the new line-up into weird worlds inspired by Borges short stories, weird childhood poetry, and twisted wordplay (anagrams and acronyms abound). Cliff Steele, perhaps the least human of the original batch of misfits, became the readers’ eye into an incomprehensible world. One of the best comic series of its day, this run of Doom Patrol combined the old and the new with a dynamic flair, presented at least a dozen unprecedented scenarios (Scissormen cutting people out of reality, the Doom Patrol trapped with the city of Paris in a multi-layered magical painting, a sub-Pentagon culture based on ads from 1960’s comic books, and a Charles Atlas clone with the power to change reality with his muscles). Though later stories drifted towards parody, the wrap-up was chilling and left the next writer hopelessly doomed.
(1993) Rachel Pollack’s respectful run on the Doom Patrol began with the previous artist, Richard Case, and again centered on Cliff Steele, along with junior patroller Dorothy Spinner (actually a Kupperberg creation rescued and further explored by Morrison). Pollack continued to push the team into the unknown, with a strong focus on sexuality. The book was finally cancelled with #87.
Doom Patrol V3 (2001)
This new version of the Doom Patrol, one of my personal favorites, introduced four new young characters: Fast Forward, Fever, Freak, and Kid Slick. Masterfully depicted by Tan Eng Huat, and scripted by the sometimes brilliant John Arcudi, the run had a very modern flavor and was almost anime in appearance. DC stalwarts Beast Boy (a silver age DP junior member), Metamorpho, Dr. Light, and Elongated Man were all at least briefly featured in the line-up. A mystery involving Robotman (formerly, stubbornly, Cliff Steele) was a central storyline which is best left for the reader to discover.
Doom Patrol V4 (2004)
While I didn’t enjoy having six issues of my favorite comic (JLA) being eaten up with a lead-in to this series (which featured the vampiric villainy of one such Count Suckula, or something like that…), I have to admit it was fun to see the DP illustrated by Byrne. While not nearly on par with his great Alpha Flight run (remember when it was okay to kill off boring characters – like the Guardian – rather than to bring them back (read, Elasti-Girl), the characters are solid, the action is steady, and there is that vibrant Byrne element to the book’s appearance. A few new members – Nudge, Grunt, and Vortex – kept the team from being stuck to the camp 60’s line-up. Most thankfully, Another character was inducted into the team, freeing the JLA of one its all-time most inexplicably useless members; Faith – an (apparently) Hispanic female with a mysterious connection to the Batman, she was not only as pale as any WASP, but was about as Hispanic as Bruce Wayne himself.
Doom Patrol V5 (2010)
I’m still holding judgment on this most recent volume of the Doom Patrol. Honestly, I was terrified to even look at it, but the amazing Metal Men back-up feature drew me in. Add to that the return of Morrison’s hereto untouched (and unquestionably untouchable) cast – Danny the Street, Crazy Jane, and even the Toy – and you have a pretty tempting package. Giffen is sometimes incomprehensible, and sometimes astonishing in my eyes. I’ll need a few days alone with this entire run before I can decide which Giffen wrote these.