Doom Patrol
Encyclopedia
The Doom Patrol is a superhero
team appearing in publications from DC Comics
. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). Writers Arnold Drake
(who was the feature's regular scripter) and Bob Haney
, artist Bruno Premiani
, and editor Murray Boltinoff are generally credited as the team's creators; however, Drake insisted that Haney did no more than answer Drake's call for help to meet the short deadline he had been given for the first story. The Doom Patrol has since appeared in multiple incarnations.
The first Doom Patrol consisted of super-powered misfits, whose "gifts" caused them alienation and trauma. The series was canceled in 1968, and Drake killed the team off in the final issue, Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968).
In the years after this story several subsequent Doom Patrol series were launched. Each series tried to capture the spirit of the original team, but the only character constant to all was Robotman
.
The Doom Patrol first appeared in 1963, when the DC title My Greatest Adventure
, an adventure anthology title, was being converted to a superhero format. The task assigned writer Arnold Drake was to create a team that fit both formats. With fellow writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, he created the Doom Patrol, a team of super-powered misfits regarded as freaks by the world at large. It first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80, June 1963. Doctor Niles Caulder
motivated the original Doom Patrol, bitter from being isolated from the world, to use their powers for the greater good. The series was such a success that My Greatest Adventure was officially retitled The Doom Patrol beginning with issue #86.
The Doom Patrol's rogues gallery matched the strange, weird tone of the series. Villains included the immortality-seeking General Immortus
, the shapeshifting Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
, and the Brotherhood of Evil
led by the Brain
, an actual brain kept alive by technology. The Brotherhood of Evil also included the intelligent gorilla
Monsieur Mallah
and Madame Rouge
, who was given powers similar to those of Elongated Man
, with the extra attribute of a malleable face, allowing her to impersonate various people.
The Doom Patrol had two crossovers: one with the Challengers of the Unknown
, teaming up to fight Multi-Man and Multi-Woman; and second with the Flash in Brave and Bold #65.
When the popularity of the book waned and the publisher canceled it, Drake ended the series in a dramatic manner: he killed off the entire Doom Patrol. In Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968), the Doom Patrol sacrificed their lives to save the small fishing village of Codsville, Maine
. This marked the first time in comic book history that a canceled book ended by having most of its cast of main characters die. Artist Bruno Premiani and editor Murray Boltinoff appeared at the beginning and the end of the story, asking fans to write to DC to resurrect the Doom Patrol, although the latter was supposed to have been Drake. According to the writer, he was replaced with the editor because he had just resigned over a pay dispute and moved to Marvel Comics
. He finished the script only out of friendship for Boltinoff. A few years later, three more issues appeared in DC's short-lived attempt to copy Marvel's line of series reprint titles (as opposed to DC's anthology reprint titles). A Doom Patrol revival did not occur until nine years after the original's demise.
Some similarities exist between the original Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics' original X-Men
. Both include misfit superheroes shunned by society and both are led by men of preternatural intelligence confined to wheelchairs. These similarities ultimately led series writer Arnold Drake to argue that the concept of the X-Men must have been based on the Doom Patrol.
Drake stated:
(X-Men #1 debuted three months after MGA #80; due to publication lag times, Lee could not have known of the Doom Patrol when he scripted the first X-Men story unless he had been told about it in advance of its publication.)
However, others have noted that the Doom Patrol shares fundamental similarities with Stan Lee's earlier title, Fantastic Four
. The original lineup of both teams included four members, who did not have secret/double identities; each had a headquarters that was a public building in the middle of a major city; each team had one member with stretching powers (Rita Farr of the Doom Patrol, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four), one member with flame or flame-like powers (Larry Trainor of the DP and Johnny Storm of the FF), a member with brute strength and a freakish body, with bitterness at being trapped in it (Cliff Steele and Ben Grimm) and a member who was invisible or stayed out of the public view (Niles Caulder and Sue Storm). Both teams quarreled amongst themselves, unlike most other teams published by DC/National. This has led to assertions that the Doom Patrol were created with the Fantastic Four in mind. One commentator has stated that “it is considered common knowledge that the Doom Patrol was inspired by The Fantastic Four”.
, a longtime Doom Patrol fan, and artist Joe Staton
introduced a new team in Showcase
#94 (August–September 1977). An Indian-born woman named Arani Desai, called herself Celsius
because of her ability to stimulate her inner core temperature and project powerful thermal blasts of heat and cold in balance with her formidable martial artist skills, as taught to her by monks high in the Himalayas
. Niles had hidden her there, for her own protection. Arani had married Niles in India and when she found out he was murdered she laid claim to his estate in the USA; she recreated the Doom Patrol to protect herself from General Immortus who wanted to rejuvenate himself with the immortality Arani possessed as a wedding gift from Niles. This run also revealed the whereabouts of the Negative Spirit, which now possessed Russian cosmonaut Valentina Vostok
, making her Negative Woman (although its presence did not render her radioactive), and she was able to transform her own body into its form rather than sending it out under control. It also revealed Robotman as the only survivor of the explosion that killed his teammates, his head, upper torso, and one arm being left in one piece that could keep his brain alive and allow him to drag himself to shore. A man standing on that beach (appearing and later conceded to be Dr. Will Magnus
of Metal Men
fame) built him a new, futuristic robot body. The final member of this team was Tempest aka Joshua Clay
, a Vietnam veteran/deserter. Tempest's power was energy blasts from his hands. In addition to a typical comic book blast effect, Tempest would use the blast to propel himself through the air. This new version of the team followed its three-issue tryout with a series of guest appearances in various DC titles, such as Superman Family
(in a three part arc in the Supergirl
feature that was intended for the recently canceled Super-Team Family
), DC Comics Presents
(teaming up with Superman
in a story which revealed that Vostok's powers had changed to match Larry Trainor's exactly), and Supergirl
. Robotman also appeared as an occasional supporting character in the Marv Wolfman
and George Pérez
era of Teen Titans, where it was revealed that Changeling, formerly DP associate Beast Boy
, had arranged for Dayton Industries technicians to recreate the Caulder body design for Cliff. His first storyline here had him, the Titans and a new Brotherhood of Evil
battle Madame Rouge
and General Zahl
, the murderers of the original Doom Patrol, who die in the battle.
also printed a two-issue index
(with covers drawn by John Byrne) to the Doom Patrol in 1984, which included all of their appearances from their first to their final appearance before their early 1980s return. Byrne also illustrated Secret Origins Annual #1, published in 1986, which recapped the origins of the two iterations of the Doom Patrol that had existed thus far, as a prelude to the relaunch of their self-titled book.
. The relaunch, also written by Kupperberg but illustrated by artist Steve Lightle
, later replaced by a young Erik Larsen
after issue #5, showed a more superheroic version of the Doom Patrol. It included new members who were hired to the team: the magnetically-empowered strong-girl Lodestone
; Karma (Wayne Hawking), whose psychic power made sure that anyone trying to attack him would wind up falling over themselves; and Scott Fischer, whose body generated phenomenal quantities of heat focused through his hands, requiring him to wear protective gloves at all times. Most were not particularly interested in a heroic life. Lodestone stayed for the sense of security; Karma stayed there because it helped him hide from the law. Only Scott Fischer wanted to be a superhero in the traditional sense, and he was rather naive about the real world. After issue 18 and the events of the Invasion miniseries, Kupperberg left the series. DC Comics gave Grant Morrison
the task of writing the book.
After the first 18 issues (and various crossovers and annuals), Kupperberg was replaced by Grant Morrison
, starting with issue #19. Kupperberg agreed to help Morrison by writing out characters Morrison did not want to use: Celsius and Scott Fischer died before issue #18—Celsius was killed in an explosion in DC Comics' "Invasion!
" event, and Scott Fischer (already suffering from a recurrence of childhood leukemia) was the only known active superhero casualty of the Dominators
' gene-bomb (also in "Invasion!"); Karma had left the team as he was still on the run from the law (he would eventually become a member of the Suicide Squad
and die on his first mission with them in the "War of the Gods
" crossover event); the Negative Spirit left Negative Woman's body; and Lodestone plunged into a coma, where she would remain for the first half of Morrison's run on the book. Tempest
gave up fieldwork to become the team's physician. Conversely, Morrison picked up a throw-away character from DP #14, who was slipped into the art on the last page of #18 to set up Morrison's use: Dorothy Spinner
was an ape-faced girl with powerful "imaginary friends." The new writer introduced some new characters to the team, including the multiple personality-afflicted Crazy Jane
; and sentient roadway Danny the Street
.
Morrison used DC's Invasion crossover to restart the book. He took the Doom Patrol, and superhero comic books in general, to places they had rarely been, incorporating bizarre secret societies
, elements of Dada
, surrealism
, and the cut-up technique
pioneered by William S. Burroughs
and Brion Gysin
. He also borrowed the ideas of Jorge Luis Borges
and Heinrich Hoffmann
. Morrison and artist Richard Case
turned the title around, and the series quickly gained a cult following, but some derided it as incomprehensible. The original creator Arnold Drake, disagreed, maintaining that Morrison's was the only subsequent run to reflect the intent of the original series.
Over the course of the series, Morrison dedicated some issues to parody and homage. Willoughby Kipling
led the Doom Patrol on a parody of the Bujería story arc of Swamp Thing
: A Murder of Crows in issues #31-32. Issue #42, featured the origin of Flex Mentallo
, who was supposed to be the character in the Charles Atlas
ad. A belated lawsuit from the Charles Atlas Company showed that DC was protected under pastiche and parody law in addition to an expired statute of limitations
. Issue #53 featured a dream sequence that mimicked the Stan Lee
/Jack Kirby
Fantastic Four, specifically the Galactus
storyline. Another special called Doom Force was released as a one-shot and was meant to mimic and parody the X-Force
book by Rob Liefeld
. Issue #45 parodied Marvel's Punisher
in a satire called the Beard Hunter.
Morrison's approach to the book was also notable in that his villains were extremely unusual and strange, even by Doom Patrol's eccentric standards. For example:
In Morrison's final storyline, it is revealed that the Chief had caused the "accidents" which turned Cliff, Larry Trainor, and Rita Farr into freaks with the express intention of creating the Doom Patrol. He then murders Josh and unleashes nanobots
into the world, hoping to create a catastrophe
that will make the world a stranger and more wonderful place. However, Caulder does not anticipate being decapitated by one of Dorothy's "imaginary" beings, a malign entity called the Candlemaker.
took over writing the book the next issue. Pollack's first issue was also the first under the new Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (although the trade paperback editions of Morrison's work do bear the imprint, the original issues did not). Returning characters for Rachel Pollack's run included Cliff Steele, Niles Caulder (kept alive by the nanobots, but reduced to a disembodied head, usually kept on a tray filled with ice), and Dorothy Spinner. Pollack's run had Dorothy as a primary member of the Patrol; she brought her imaginary friends to her aid in combat. Overall, Pollack's run dealt with issues such as the generation gap
, humanity
, identity, transgenderism
, bisexuality
, and borrowed elements from Judaism
and Kabbalah
in the last few issues. The angel Akatriel is used as a major character in the last four issues.
The first story arc of her run was called Sliding In The Wreckage. Cliff's computer brain started to malfunction, and he regressed into flashbacks from previous storylines. Dorothy was haunted by African spirits while dealing with living alone in the real world. The Chief was given a new body by Will Magnus, but to atone for his sins, Caulder ripped his head off the body and was kept in cryogenic storage. Meanwhile, the entire Earth had been suffering from random outbreaks of weirdness, contributed by the arrival of something called "The Book of Ice." A government agency known as the Builders, similar to the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E., were trying to stop the outbreak, which was apparently linked to a race of shapeshifters known as the Teiresias. As the Chief was kept in a cryogenic state, he appeared in the land of the Teiresias as a face carved in a mountain. They warned him that his arrival in this world was causing the craziness in the real world. Throughout the storyline, little people with backwards letters for heads had been seen altering people. These people were apparently older version of nanomachines, referred to as "nannos." At the DP HQ Builder agents attacked and in the craziness, two of the Teiresias approached Dorothy with a new brain for Cliff, but to insert it she needed the Chief's expertise. In the Teiresias world, nannos "repaired" the Chief so he could live as a severed head. After his awakening, the craziness seemed to stop, and Dorothy, Cliff, and the Chief each realized that they needed to be together.
The team relocated to Violet Valley's Rainbow Estates, a house haunted by ghosts of those who died in sexual accidents. There, three new members joined. The Bandage People, George and Marion, who were once two workers for the Builders but managed to escape; and the Inner Child, a manifestation of the ghosts' purity and innocence. Another later newcomer of the team was Kate Godwin, aka Coagula
, one of the first transsexual superheroes. A one-time ally of the team called the Identity Addict, who could become different superheroes by shedding her skin like a lizard, integrated herself back into the team while using the False Memory identity to change the team's memories, until she was kicked out by Dorothy.
Villains that the team fought, besides the Builders, included the Fox and the Crow, two animal spirits whose feud Dorothy and Cliff were subsequently pulled into; the Master Cleaner, a being with a human fetus inside a bubble for a head who began "cleaning" the world by stripping it down to nothing and replacing the stolen items, including people, with a paper ticket; and a group of Hassidic healers who called themselves the False Healers and their leader, the Rabbi of Darkness.
Toward the end of the series, Cliff Steele's brain became entirely robotic, until Dorothy Spinner used her imaginary friends to "repair" it. The Chief would later die after trying to enter the Sephirot or Tree of Life.
A new artist, Ted McKeever
, took over the artwork for the final 13 issues. Pollack continued writing the title until its cancellation with issue #87, in February 1995.
and artist Tan Eng Huat launched a new Doom Patrol series. The launch of this series also saw the return of the publication of the title from the Vertigo imprint back to DC Comics. The series lasted for 22 issues.
Arcudi's storylines revealed what happened to the previous team. Dorothy Spinner
had had a mental breakdown and accidentally killed most of the members still with the team at the end of the Pollack run. She fell into a coma, but subconsciously created a new Robotman, who became a part of a new Doom Patrol. This Doom Patrol was a company-owned team, owned and operated by Thayer Jost and Jost Enterprises for a while before working independently.
Apart from Robotman, the team consists of Fast Forward, Kid Slick, Fever
, and Freak.
The Robotman that Dorothy created faded away when it realized what it actually was, but the other teammates searched for Cliff Steele, who became a member of the Doom Patrol yet again. They found his brain in a desolate area of the Smoky Mountains
, buried under the rubble of the campsite where Dorothy's breakdown occurred. A prosthetics expert who had defected from Russia rebuilt Cliff's body.
Jost, meanwhile, learned that he could not own the rights to the Doom Patrol, since the man who signed the rights over to him was not actually Cliff Steele. Instead, he tried to obtain guardianship of the brain-dead Dorothy. At the end of the series, Cliff pulled her life support.
A separate Doom Patrol operated for some time, working apart and with the team. This secondary group consists of Elongated Man
, Metamorpho
, Doctor Light
, and Beast Boy.
Fever later appears in the six issue limited series Infinite Crisis
, in a service held for numerous missing and dead heroes. Among the attendees are some of John Byrne's Doom Patrol members.
. John Byrne wrote and illustrated this series, with inks by Doug Hazlewood
. Touted as "Together again for the first time!", Byrne rebooted the series, eliminating all previous Doom Patrol continuity.
This series also retroactively eliminated Beast Boy's origins and numerous Doom Patrol appearances in other titles, including the reunions of Beast Boy
(then called Changeling) and Robotman in the 1980s New Teen Titans and the team's important role in JLA: Year One. Three new characters — Nudge, Grunt (Henry Bucher), and Vortex — were introduced and utilized throughout the series run.
This reboot was both controversial and short-lived; DC canceled Byrne's series with issue #18. The events in DC's Infinite Crisis
crossover saw the restoration of the Doom Patrol's full continuity, with inclusion of all previous incarnations.
DC editorial used the events of the Infinite Crisis crossover to restore the Doom Patrol's continuity. In escaping from the paradise dimension they had inhabited since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths
, Superboy-Prime
and Alexander Luthor
created temporal ripples, which spread throughout reality, altering certain events, such as restoring Jason Todd
to life.
In the reprinted edition of Infinite Crisis, additional scenes added to the collection showed Fever, Kid Slick, Ava, Nudge, Grunt, and Vortex among a two-page spread of heroes.
While assisting the Teen Titans in battling Superboy-Prime, members of the Doom Patrol had flashbacks to their original history. Robotman and Niles Caulder regained memories of the previous Doom Patrol teams with which they had worked. This battle apparently undid some of Superboy-Prime's timeline changes, and resulted in a timeline incorporating all previous incarnations of the Doom Patrol, but with Rita Farr and Larry Trainor still alive. The Chief confirmed that Rita was indeed killed by Zahl's explosion. The Chief claimed that he later found her skull and treated it with synthetic proteins until her malleable body was regrown from it.
Steve Dayton is again using the Mento helmet and he is mentally unstable; however, he remembers his time as the Crimelord. The Chief appears to be manipulating the Doom Patrol members once again; he claims to wish to return them to normal, so "maybe one day [they] won't be freaks anymore." After the Doom Patrol encounters the Titans, the Chief tells them that Kid Devil
should be a member of the Doom Patrol instead of the Titans, since his unique appearance and nature will always separate him from others. However, Beast Boy, Elasti-Girl, and Mento all stood up to the Chief and forced him to step down as the Doom Patrol's leader, with Mento taking over that role.
Recently, while fighting the Titans and the Doom Patrol, the Brain claimed that he had been the Chief's lab assistant, that his body had been destroyed in an explosion Caulder caused, and that he was to have been the original Robotman.
Two former members of the Teen Titans were dramatically altered during the course of the Infinite Crisis. Mal Duncan
, now code named Vox, and his wife (Bumblebee
) now reside in the Doom Patrol's castle headquarters.
The Doom Patrol later appeared in The Four Horsemen series (2007), with Caulder back in charge. However, according to Titans (vol. 2) #1, Beast Boy has recently become the team leader. Whether he will remain so now that the Titans have reformed has not been revealed.
In DC Universe: Decisions, Robotman has a supporting role while Mento appears in Issue #4.
would be spearheading a revival of Doom Patrol, a title which he has long said he wanted to write. He is joined by artist Matt Clark, who has also long expressed a desire to work on the team. The new series will focus on the core members Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robotman, and the Chief, while other members such as Mento, Bumblebee, and Vox will be seen later. The title will launch with a 10-page ongoing Metal Men
co-feature written by J. M. DeMatteis
.
In the first issue Rita takes on the alias "Elasti-Woman" and according to the team shrink she's "mothering" Bumblebee, who's now eight inches tall after being shrunk - rather conveniently for her codename - to the size of a bee in Infinite Crisis.
Nudge, Byrne's addition to the team, was killed in the line of duty & Grunt took off with her corpse.
The current team is working out of Oolong Island (from 52), which has been turned into a resort town, while still maintaining a large super-science background. The Challengers of the Unknown
's Rocky Davis is also working closely with the team for spiritual support.
Former member Crazy Jane appears in issue #7. Danny the Street, in a reduced aspect, appears in issue 8.
series of books, built on the premise of a world that diverged from the mainstream following the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis
. The series featured characters with the same names as mainstream DC characters but who were otherwise unrelated to them. The series included a one-shot Doom Patrol title. This Doom Patrol consisted of four heroes: Doomsday
, Star Sapphire
, Firehawk, and Rampage
. The heroes traveled back in time from 2030 to 1997 to prevent Earth's destruction. The Tangent books were later integrated into the DC Multiverse
(as Earth-97) as part of the events of Infinite Crisis
.
Drake and Premiani's run is also available in black and white as Showcase Presents: The Doom Patrol:
Morrison's run has been compiled into six Vertigo trade paperback
editions:
Keith Giffen's and Matthew Clark's run:
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
team appearing in publications from DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). Writers Arnold Drake
Arnold Drake
Arnold Drake was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, among others....
(who was the feature's regular scripter) and Bob Haney
Bob Haney
Robert G. "Bob" Haney was a US comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and the Super-Sons.- Early life and career :...
, artist Bruno Premiani
Bruno Premiani
Giordano Bruno Premiani , whose work is credited as Bruno Premiani, was an Italian illustrator known for his work for several American comic book publishers, particularly DC Comics...
, and editor Murray Boltinoff are generally credited as the team's creators; however, Drake insisted that Haney did no more than answer Drake's call for help to meet the short deadline he had been given for the first story. The Doom Patrol has since appeared in multiple incarnations.
The first Doom Patrol consisted of super-powered misfits, whose "gifts" caused them alienation and trauma. The series was canceled in 1968, and Drake killed the team off in the final issue, Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968).
In the years after this story several subsequent Doom Patrol series were launched. Each series tried to capture the spirit of the original team, but the only character constant to all was Robotman
Robotman (Cliff Steele)
Robotman is a fictional character, a cyborg superhero in the . Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 and was created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani.-Fictional character biography:...
.
The original Doom Patrol (vol. 1)
My Greatest Adventure
My Greatest Adventure was a DC Comics comic book that began in 1955 and is best known as the original title for the superhero team, the Doom Patrol.-Publication history:...
, an adventure anthology title, was being converted to a superhero format. The task assigned writer Arnold Drake was to create a team that fit both formats. With fellow writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, he created the Doom Patrol, a team of super-powered misfits regarded as freaks by the world at large. It first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80, June 1963. Doctor Niles Caulder
Chief (comics)
The Chief is a fictional character from DC Comics and the leader of the Doom Patrol. He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
motivated the original Doom Patrol, bitter from being isolated from the world, to use their powers for the greater good. The series was such a success that My Greatest Adventure was officially retitled The Doom Patrol beginning with issue #86.
The Doom Patrol's rogues gallery matched the strange, weird tone of the series. Villains included the immortality-seeking General Immortus
General Immortus
General Immortus is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain. He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80, the first story in the Doom Patrol series, though they all can be seen in artwork used in a "Next Issue" ad in #79...
, the shapeshifting Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is a fictional supervillain from the DC Universe and a foe of the original Doom Patrol. He first appeared in Doom Patrol #89 . The story was written by Arnold Drake, with art by Bruno Premiani....
, and the Brotherhood of Evil
Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans.-Origins:The Brotherhood of Evil was founded by the engimatic villain the Brain. In the beginning, the group's motivation was world domination...
led by the Brain
Brain (comics)
The Brain is a fictional character, a supervillain in the and frequent enemy of the Doom Patrol. He is a French mastermind and criminal genius...
, an actual brain kept alive by technology. The Brotherhood of Evil also included the intelligent gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
Monsieur Mallah
Monsieur Mallah
Monsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and romantic partner of the Brain. Monsieur Mallah first appeared in Doom Patrol Monsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and...
and Madame Rouge
Madame Rouge
Madame Rouge is a fictional DC Comics supervillainess. She first appeared in Doom Patrol v.1 #86.-Fictional character biography:Laura De Mille was originally a French stage actress. After an automobile accident, she developed a dual good/evil split personality. At this point, she attracted the...
, who was given powers similar to those of Elongated Man
Elongated Man
The Elongated Man is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is a reserve member of the Justice League. His first appearance was in The Flash vol. 1, #112...
, with the extra attribute of a malleable face, allowing her to impersonate various people.
Challengers of the Unknown
The Challengers of the Unknown is a group of fictional characters in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, or co-created with Dave Wood , this quartet of adventurers explored science fictional and apparent paranormal occurrences and faced fantastic menaces.Scripts for the first...
, teaming up to fight Multi-Man and Multi-Woman; and second with the Flash in Brave and Bold #65.
When the popularity of the book waned and the publisher canceled it, Drake ended the series in a dramatic manner: he killed off the entire Doom Patrol. In Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968), the Doom Patrol sacrificed their lives to save the small fishing village of Codsville, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. This marked the first time in comic book history that a canceled book ended by having most of its cast of main characters die. Artist Bruno Premiani and editor Murray Boltinoff appeared at the beginning and the end of the story, asking fans to write to DC to resurrect the Doom Patrol, although the latter was supposed to have been Drake. According to the writer, he was replaced with the editor because he had just resigned over a pay dispute and moved to Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. He finished the script only out of friendship for Boltinoff. A few years later, three more issues appeared in DC's short-lived attempt to copy Marvel's line of series reprint titles (as opposed to DC's anthology reprint titles). A Doom Patrol revival did not occur until nine years after the original's demise.
Some similarities exist between the original Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics' original X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
. Both include misfit superheroes shunned by society and both are led by men of preternatural intelligence confined to wheelchairs. These similarities ultimately led series writer Arnold Drake to argue that the concept of the X-Men must have been based on the Doom Patrol.
Drake stated:
(X-Men #1 debuted three months after MGA #80; due to publication lag times, Lee could not have known of the Doom Patrol when he scripted the first X-Men story unless he had been told about it in advance of its publication.)
However, others have noted that the Doom Patrol shares fundamental similarities with Stan Lee's earlier title, Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
. The original lineup of both teams included four members, who did not have secret/double identities; each had a headquarters that was a public building in the middle of a major city; each team had one member with stretching powers (Rita Farr of the Doom Patrol, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four), one member with flame or flame-like powers (Larry Trainor of the DP and Johnny Storm of the FF), a member with brute strength and a freakish body, with bitterness at being trapped in it (Cliff Steele and Ben Grimm) and a member who was invisible or stayed out of the public view (Niles Caulder and Sue Storm). Both teams quarreled amongst themselves, unlike most other teams published by DC/National. This has led to assertions that the Doom Patrol were created with the Fantastic Four in mind. One commentator has stated that “it is considered common knowledge that the Doom Patrol was inspired by The Fantastic Four”.
Testing the waters
Writer Paul KupperbergPaul Kupperberg
Paul Kupperberg is a former editor for DC Comics, and a prolific writer of comic books and newspaper strips.-Biography:Kupperberg entered the comics field from comics fandom, as had his brother, writer/artist Alan Kupperberg...
, a longtime Doom Patrol fan, and artist Joe Staton
Joe Staton
Joe Staton is an American illustrator and writer of comic books.-Career:Staton started his work with Charlton Comics in 1971 and gained notability as the artist of the super-hero book E-Man...
introduced a new team in Showcase
Showcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
#94 (August–September 1977). An Indian-born woman named Arani Desai, called herself Celsius
Celsius (comics)
Celsius is the superhero alias of Arani Desai, a fictional character in the DC Comics series, Doom Patrol. She first appeared in Showcase #94 , and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton...
because of her ability to stimulate her inner core temperature and project powerful thermal blasts of heat and cold in balance with her formidable martial artist skills, as taught to her by monks high in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. Niles had hidden her there, for her own protection. Arani had married Niles in India and when she found out he was murdered she laid claim to his estate in the USA; she recreated the Doom Patrol to protect herself from General Immortus who wanted to rejuvenate himself with the immortality Arani possessed as a wedding gift from Niles. This run also revealed the whereabouts of the Negative Spirit, which now possessed Russian cosmonaut Valentina Vostok
Valentina Vostok
Valentina Vostok is a fictional character by DC Comics. She first appeared in Showcase #94, , and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Jim Aparo.-Fictional character biography:...
, making her Negative Woman (although its presence did not render her radioactive), and she was able to transform her own body into its form rather than sending it out under control. It also revealed Robotman as the only survivor of the explosion that killed his teammates, his head, upper torso, and one arm being left in one piece that could keep his brain alive and allow him to drag himself to shore. A man standing on that beach (appearing and later conceded to be Dr. Will Magnus
Will Magnus
Doctor Will Magnus is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Showcase #37 alongside his creations, the Metal Men; he was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru.-Fictional character biography:...
of Metal Men
Metal Men
The Metal Men are fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The characters first appeared in Showcase #37 and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciller Ross Andru...
fame) built him a new, futuristic robot body. The final member of this team was Tempest aka Joshua Clay
Joshua Clay
Joshua Clay is a fictional character, a member of the superhero team Doom Patrol in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton, he first appears as the hero Tempest in Showcase #94 ....
, a Vietnam veteran/deserter. Tempest's power was energy blasts from his hands. In addition to a typical comic book blast effect, Tempest would use the blast to propel himself through the air. This new version of the team followed its three-issue tryout with a series of guest appearances in various DC titles, such as Superman Family
Superman Family
Superman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1974 to 1982 featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Superman comics...
(in a three part arc in the Supergirl
Supergirl
Supergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
feature that was intended for the recently canceled Super-Team Family
Super-Team Family
Super-Team Family is an comic book anthology series published by DC Comics in the 1970s that lasted for fifteen issues. The series published a mix of original and reprinted stories.- Publication history :...
), DC Comics Presents
DC Comics Presents
DC Comics Presents was a comic book published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 featuring team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters of the DC Universe...
(teaming up with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
in a story which revealed that Vostok's powers had changed to match Larry Trainor's exactly), and Supergirl
Supergirl
Supergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
. Robotman also appeared as an occasional supporting character in the Marv Wolfman
Marv Wolfman
Marvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.-1960s:...
and George Pérez
George Pérez
George Pérez is a Puerto Rican-American writer and illustrator of comic books, known for his work on various titles, including Avengers, Teen Titans and Wonder Woman.-Biography:...
era of Teen Titans, where it was revealed that Changeling, formerly DP associate Beast Boy
Beast Boy
Garfield Mark "Gar" Logan, known as Beast Boy or Changeling, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics...
, had arranged for Dayton Industries technicians to recreate the Caulder body design for Cliff. His first storyline here had him, the Titans and a new Brotherhood of Evil
Brotherhood of Evil
The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans.-Origins:The Brotherhood of Evil was founded by the engimatic villain the Brain. In the beginning, the group's motivation was world domination...
battle Madame Rouge
Madame Rouge
Madame Rouge is a fictional DC Comics supervillainess. She first appeared in Doom Patrol v.1 #86.-Fictional character biography:Laura De Mille was originally a French stage actress. After an automobile accident, she developed a dual good/evil split personality. At this point, she attracted the...
and General Zahl
General Zahl
General Zahl is a DC Comics villain. He first appeared in Doom Patrol vol. 1 #121.-Biography:General Zahl is a former Nazi U-boat captain who tangled from time to time with the Doom Patrol, originally as "Captain Zahl."...
, the murderers of the original Doom Patrol, who die in the battle.
Prelude to the relaunch
Eclipse ComicsEclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
also printed a two-issue index
Official DC Index
The Official DC Index is a series of comic books released by Independent Comics Group from 1985–1988, which featured synopses of several DC Comics series...
(with covers drawn by John Byrne) to the Doom Patrol in 1984, which included all of their appearances from their first to their final appearance before their early 1980s return. Byrne also illustrated Secret Origins Annual #1, published in 1986, which recapped the origins of the two iterations of the Doom Patrol that had existed thus far, as a prelude to the relaunch of their self-titled book.
The relaunch (vol. 2)
DC relaunched Doom Patrol in its own title, cover-dated October 19871987 in comics
- Year overall :* Independent publishers continue to enter the comics arena, including Amazing, CFW Enterprises, Imperial Comics, Matrix Graphic Series, New Comics Group, and Rebel Studios...
. The relaunch, also written by Kupperberg but illustrated by artist Steve Lightle
Steve Lightle
Steve Lightle is an American comic book artist, working primarily as a penciller.-Biography:Lightle was interested in comic book art at a young age....
, later replaced by a young Erik Larsen
Erik Larsen
Erik J. Larsen is an American comic book writer, artist and publisher. He is best known for his work on Savage Dragon, as one of the founders of Image Comics, and for his work on Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.-Early life:...
after issue #5, showed a more superheroic version of the Doom Patrol. It included new members who were hired to the team: the magnetically-empowered strong-girl Lodestone
Rhea Jones
Rhea Jones is the name of a female comic book superhero created by Paul Kupperberg and owned by DC Comics. She at times went by the alias Lodestone. Her first appearance was in Doom Patrol v2, #3.-Fictional character biography:...
; Karma (Wayne Hawking), whose psychic power made sure that anyone trying to attack him would wind up falling over themselves; and Scott Fischer, whose body generated phenomenal quantities of heat focused through his hands, requiring him to wear protective gloves at all times. Most were not particularly interested in a heroic life. Lodestone stayed for the sense of security; Karma stayed there because it helped him hide from the law. Only Scott Fischer wanted to be a superhero in the traditional sense, and he was rather naive about the real world. After issue 18 and the events of the Invasion miniseries, Kupperberg left the series. DC Comics gave Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
the task of writing the book.
Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
, starting with issue #19. Kupperberg agreed to help Morrison by writing out characters Morrison did not want to use: Celsius and Scott Fischer died before issue #18—Celsius was killed in an explosion in DC Comics' "Invasion!
Invasion! (DC Comics)
Invasion! was a three issue comic book limited series and crossover event published in late 1988-early 1989 by DC Comics. It was plotted by Keith Giffen, and ties up a great many plotlines from various Giffen-created DC series, including Omega Men, Justice League International, and Legion of...
" event, and Scott Fischer (already suffering from a recurrence of childhood leukemia) was the only known active superhero casualty of the Dominators
Dominators
The Dominators, collectively known as the Dominion, are a fictional alien race from the outer cosmos of the DC Universe. They are highly technologically advanced, and live in a rigid hierarchical society, in which one's caste is determined by the size of a red circle on one's forehead...
' gene-bomb (also in "Invasion!"); Karma had left the team as he was still on the run from the law (he would eventually become a member of the Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X , is a name for two fictional organizations in the DC Comics Universe. The first version debuted in The Brave and the Bold #25 , and the second in Legends #3...
and die on his first mission with them in the "War of the Gods
War of the Gods (comics)
War of the Gods was an American four-issue comic book mini-series published by DC Comics in 1991.Primarily centered on the character Wonder Woman, this storyline was intended to celebrate the character's 50th anniversary. It was written and drawn by George Pérez, who would leave the Wonder Woman...
" crossover event); the Negative Spirit left Negative Woman's body; and Lodestone plunged into a coma, where she would remain for the first half of Morrison's run on the book. Tempest
Joshua Clay
Joshua Clay is a fictional character, a member of the superhero team Doom Patrol in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton, he first appears as the hero Tempest in Showcase #94 ....
gave up fieldwork to become the team's physician. Conversely, Morrison picked up a throw-away character from DP #14, who was slipped into the art on the last page of #18 to set up Morrison's use: Dorothy Spinner
Dorothy Spinner
Dorothy Spinner is a fictional character created by Paul Kupperberg and owned by DC Comics. She was a former member of the Doom Patrol with the ability to bring imaginary beings to life. She first appeared in Doom Patrol vol...
was an ape-faced girl with powerful "imaginary friends." The new writer introduced some new characters to the team, including the multiple personality-afflicted Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane
Crazy Jane is a fictional character created by Grant Morrison and Richard Case for their work on the Vertigo Comics version of the Doom Patrol...
; and sentient roadway Danny the Street
Danny the Street
Danny the Street is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He was created by Grant Morrison and Brendan McCarthy and first appeared in Doom Patrol. His name is a pun on female impersonator Danny La Rue, as "La Rue" is French for "The Street"...
.
Morrison used DC's Invasion crossover to restart the book. He took the Doom Patrol, and superhero comic books in general, to places they had rarely been, incorporating bizarre secret societies
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
, elements of Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
, surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, and the cut-up technique
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....
pioneered by William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
and Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
. He also borrowed the ideas of Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
and Heinrich Hoffmann
Heinrich Hoffmann (author)
Heinrich Hoffmann was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter, an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving.- Early life and education:...
. Morrison and artist Richard Case
Richard Case
Richard Case is an American comics artist, most often seen published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. His credits include pencilling the majority of issues of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, as well as drawing Jamie Delano's limited series Ghostdancing, the final story arc of Peter...
turned the title around, and the series quickly gained a cult following, but some derided it as incomprehensible. The original creator Arnold Drake, disagreed, maintaining that Morrison's was the only subsequent run to reflect the intent of the original series.
Over the course of the series, Morrison dedicated some issues to parody and homage. Willoughby Kipling
Willoughby Kipling
Willoughby Kipling is a fictional character in the DC Comics and Vertigo Comics universe, created by Grant Morrison.-Publication history:Kipling appeared mostly in Doom Patrol, helping the team against various threats, such as the Cult of the Unwritten Book and the Candlemaker...
led the Doom Patrol on a parody of the Bujería story arc of Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
: A Murder of Crows in issues #31-32. Issue #42, featured the origin of Flex Mentallo
Flex Mentallo
Flex Mentallo is a comic book character created by Grant Morrison for his run on Doom Patrol. Flex is in part a parody of Charles Atlas' long-running "The Insult that made a Man out of Mac" advertisements seen in American comics from the past....
, who was supposed to be the character in the Charles Atlas
Charles Atlas
Charles Atlas, born Angelo Siciliano , was the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise program that was best known for a landmark advertising campaign featuring Atlas's name and likeness; it has been described as one of the longest-lasting and most memorable ad campaigns of all...
ad. A belated lawsuit from the Charles Atlas Company showed that DC was protected under pastiche and parody law in addition to an expired statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
. Issue #53 featured a dream sequence that mimicked the Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
/Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
Fantastic Four, specifically the Galactus
Galactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
storyline. Another special called Doom Force was released as a one-shot and was meant to mimic and parody the X-Force
X-Force
X-Force is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team, one of several spin-offs of the popular X-Men franchise. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team was formed in New Mutants, vol. 1 #100 and soon afterwards was featured in its own series.The group was a new incarnation of the 1980s...
book by Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
. Issue #45 parodied Marvel's Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
in a satire called the Beard Hunter.
Morrison's approach to the book was also notable in that his villains were extremely unusual and strange, even by Doom Patrol's eccentric standards. For example:
- Red Jack is a near-omnipotent being who thinks he is both Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
and GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. He lives in a house without windows, torturing butterflies to create the pain he needs to survive. - The Brotherhood of DadaBrotherhood of DadaThe Brotherhood of Dada is a group of supervillains in the DC universe. Enemies of the Doom Patrol, the Brotherhood is devoted to all things absurd and bizarre, taking their name from the Dada art movement...
are an anarchistic group who fight against reality and reason. It features members such as Sleepwalk, who can only use her tremendous powers when asleep (she takes sleeping pills and listens to Barry ManilowBarry ManilowBarry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
before battles), and The Quiz, who literally has "every superpower you hadn't thought of" and a pathological fear of dirt. - The ScissormenScissormenIn the DC comic book Doom Patrol, the Scissormen are a fictional race of beings that come from the metafictional city of Orqwith.The authors of the book of Orqwith based the Scissormen on The Tailor from The Tale of Little Suck-a-Thumb in the children's picture book Struwwelpeter...
, a race of beings that attack non-fictional beings in the "real world" (i.e., the world the Doom Patrol live in) with their large scissor-like hands and literally cut people out of reality.
In Morrison's final storyline, it is revealed that the Chief had caused the "accidents" which turned Cliff, Larry Trainor, and Rita Farr into freaks with the express intention of creating the Doom Patrol. He then murders Josh and unleashes nanobots
Nanorobotics
Nanorobotics is the emerging technology field of creating machines or robots whose components are at or close to the scale of a nanometer . More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots, with devices ranging in size from...
into the world, hoping to create a catastrophe
Catastrophe theory
In mathematics, catastrophe theory is a branch of bifurcation theory in the study of dynamical systems; it is also a particular special case of more general singularity theory in geometry....
that will make the world a stranger and more wonderful place. However, Caulder does not anticipate being decapitated by one of Dorothy's "imaginary" beings, a malign entity called the Candlemaker.
Rachel Pollack's Doom Patrol
Morrison left the book with issue #63, and Rachel PollackRachel Pollack
Rachel Pollack is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot...
took over writing the book the next issue. Pollack's first issue was also the first under the new Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (although the trade paperback editions of Morrison's work do bear the imprint, the original issues did not). Returning characters for Rachel Pollack's run included Cliff Steele, Niles Caulder (kept alive by the nanobots, but reduced to a disembodied head, usually kept on a tray filled with ice), and Dorothy Spinner. Pollack's run had Dorothy as a primary member of the Patrol; she brought her imaginary friends to her aid in combat. Overall, Pollack's run dealt with issues such as the generation gap
Generation gap
The generational gap is and was a term popularized in Western countries during the 1960s referring to differences between people of a younger generation and their elders, especially between children and parents....
, humanity
Human condition
The human condition encompasses the experiences of being human in a social, cultural, and personal context. It can be described as the irreducible part of humanity that is inherent and not connected to gender, race, class, etc. — a search for purpose, sense of curiosity, the inevitability of...
, identity, transgenderism
Transgenderism
Transgenderism is a social movement seeking transgender rights and affirming transgender pride.-History:In her 1995 book Apartheid of Sex, biopolitical lawyer and writer Martine Rothblatt describes "transgenderism" as a grassroots social movement seeking transgender rights and affirming transgender...
, bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
, and borrowed elements from Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
in the last few issues. The angel Akatriel is used as a major character in the last four issues.
The first story arc of her run was called Sliding In The Wreckage. Cliff's computer brain started to malfunction, and he regressed into flashbacks from previous storylines. Dorothy was haunted by African spirits while dealing with living alone in the real world. The Chief was given a new body by Will Magnus, but to atone for his sins, Caulder ripped his head off the body and was kept in cryogenic storage. Meanwhile, the entire Earth had been suffering from random outbreaks of weirdness, contributed by the arrival of something called "The Book of Ice." A government agency known as the Builders, similar to the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E., were trying to stop the outbreak, which was apparently linked to a race of shapeshifters known as the Teiresias. As the Chief was kept in a cryogenic state, he appeared in the land of the Teiresias as a face carved in a mountain. They warned him that his arrival in this world was causing the craziness in the real world. Throughout the storyline, little people with backwards letters for heads had been seen altering people. These people were apparently older version of nanomachines, referred to as "nannos." At the DP HQ Builder agents attacked and in the craziness, two of the Teiresias approached Dorothy with a new brain for Cliff, but to insert it she needed the Chief's expertise. In the Teiresias world, nannos "repaired" the Chief so he could live as a severed head. After his awakening, the craziness seemed to stop, and Dorothy, Cliff, and the Chief each realized that they needed to be together.
The team relocated to Violet Valley's Rainbow Estates, a house haunted by ghosts of those who died in sexual accidents. There, three new members joined. The Bandage People, George and Marion, who were once two workers for the Builders but managed to escape; and the Inner Child, a manifestation of the ghosts' purity and innocence. Another later newcomer of the team was Kate Godwin, aka Coagula
Coagula
This article is about the fictional comic book character. For the art magazine, see Coagula Art Journal Coagula is a fictional character and former member of DC Comic's Doom Patrol. Kate is a male-to-female transsexual, one of the first transsexual characters in comics, and remains one of the...
, one of the first transsexual superheroes. A one-time ally of the team called the Identity Addict, who could become different superheroes by shedding her skin like a lizard, integrated herself back into the team while using the False Memory identity to change the team's memories, until she was kicked out by Dorothy.
Villains that the team fought, besides the Builders, included the Fox and the Crow, two animal spirits whose feud Dorothy and Cliff were subsequently pulled into; the Master Cleaner, a being with a human fetus inside a bubble for a head who began "cleaning" the world by stripping it down to nothing and replacing the stolen items, including people, with a paper ticket; and a group of Hassidic healers who called themselves the False Healers and their leader, the Rabbi of Darkness.
Toward the end of the series, Cliff Steele's brain became entirely robotic, until Dorothy Spinner used her imaginary friends to "repair" it. The Chief would later die after trying to enter the Sephirot or Tree of Life.
A new artist, Ted McKeever
Ted McKeever
-Career:McKeever first professional work appeared in 1987, when he published the first five parts of his unfinished series Transit , establishing his trademark style. This was followed in 1987-1988 by his 12-part series Eddy Current. This "12-hour book" centers on an escapee from an asylum...
, took over the artwork for the final 13 issues. Pollack continued writing the title until its cancellation with issue #87, in February 1995.
John Arcudi's Doom Patrol (vol. 3)
In December 2001, writer John ArcudiJohn Arcudi
John Arcudi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on The Mask and B.P.R.D., and his series Major Bummer.-Career:Arcudi worked for Malibu Comics upon its founding in 1986, working on its Eternity line...
and artist Tan Eng Huat launched a new Doom Patrol series. The launch of this series also saw the return of the publication of the title from the Vertigo imprint back to DC Comics. The series lasted for 22 issues.
Arcudi's storylines revealed what happened to the previous team. Dorothy Spinner
Dorothy Spinner
Dorothy Spinner is a fictional character created by Paul Kupperberg and owned by DC Comics. She was a former member of the Doom Patrol with the ability to bring imaginary beings to life. She first appeared in Doom Patrol vol...
had had a mental breakdown and accidentally killed most of the members still with the team at the end of the Pollack run. She fell into a coma, but subconsciously created a new Robotman, who became a part of a new Doom Patrol. This Doom Patrol was a company-owned team, owned and operated by Thayer Jost and Jost Enterprises for a while before working independently.
Apart from Robotman, the team consists of Fast Forward, Kid Slick, Fever
Fever (DC Comics)
Fever is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine and Doom Patrol member. She first appeared in Doom Patrol vol. 3 #1 , and was created by John Arcudi and Tan Eng Huat.-Doom Patrol:...
, and Freak.
The Robotman that Dorothy created faded away when it realized what it actually was, but the other teammates searched for Cliff Steele, who became a member of the Doom Patrol yet again. They found his brain in a desolate area of the Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...
, buried under the rubble of the campsite where Dorothy's breakdown occurred. A prosthetics expert who had defected from Russia rebuilt Cliff's body.
Jost, meanwhile, learned that he could not own the rights to the Doom Patrol, since the man who signed the rights over to him was not actually Cliff Steele. Instead, he tried to obtain guardianship of the brain-dead Dorothy. At the end of the series, Cliff pulled her life support.
A separate Doom Patrol operated for some time, working apart and with the team. This secondary group consists of Elongated Man
Elongated Man
The Elongated Man is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is a reserve member of the Justice League. His first appearance was in The Flash vol. 1, #112...
, Metamorpho
Metamorpho
Metamorpho is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He is a founding member of the Outsiders, and has also joined multiple incarnations of the Justice League.-Publication history:...
, Doctor Light
Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)
Doctor Light is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe.Kimiyo Hoshi is a distinct character from the DC villain of the same name...
, and Beast Boy.
Fever later appears in the six issue limited series Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
, in a service held for numerous missing and dead heroes. Among the attendees are some of John Byrne's Doom Patrol members.
John Byrne's Doom Patrol (vol. 4)
In August 2004, DC launched a new Doom Patrol series after the new team debuted in JLAJustice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
. John Byrne wrote and illustrated this series, with inks by Doug Hazlewood
Doug Hazlewood
Doug Hazlewood is an American comic book artist, known primarily for inking.Hazlewood has primarily worked for DC Comics during his career, often partnering with pencilers Tom Grummett and Nicola Scott, and he occupies a particular niche as Superman's "event-book" inker, working on such titles and...
. Touted as "Together again for the first time!", Byrne rebooted the series, eliminating all previous Doom Patrol continuity.
This series also retroactively eliminated Beast Boy's origins and numerous Doom Patrol appearances in other titles, including the reunions of Beast Boy
Beast Boy
Garfield Mark "Gar" Logan, known as Beast Boy or Changeling, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics...
(then called Changeling) and Robotman in the 1980s New Teen Titans and the team's important role in JLA: Year One. Three new characters — Nudge, Grunt (Henry Bucher), and Vortex — were introduced and utilized throughout the series run.
This reboot was both controversial and short-lived; DC canceled Byrne's series with issue #18. The events in DC's Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
crossover saw the restoration of the Doom Patrol's full continuity, with inclusion of all previous incarnations.
Infinite Crisis and One Year Later
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
, Superboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime
Superboy-Prime, also known as Superman-Prime, or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain, and one of several alternate Supermen. The character first appeared in DC Comics Presents #87 , and was created by Elliot S...
and Alexander Luthor
Alexander Luthor, Jr.
Alexander Luthor Jr. is a DC Comics character who turned from a hero to a villain. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, Alexander has a prominent role in the DC Universe storylines Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis....
created temporal ripples, which spread throughout reality, altering certain events, such as restoring Jason Todd
Jason Todd
Jason Peter Todd is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Jason first appeared in Batman #357 and became the second Robin, sidekick to the superhero Batman, when the previous Robin went on to star in The New Teen Titans under the moniker of Nightwing.Though...
to life.
In the reprinted edition of Infinite Crisis, additional scenes added to the collection showed Fever, Kid Slick, Ava, Nudge, Grunt, and Vortex among a two-page spread of heroes.
While assisting the Teen Titans in battling Superboy-Prime, members of the Doom Patrol had flashbacks to their original history. Robotman and Niles Caulder regained memories of the previous Doom Patrol teams with which they had worked. This battle apparently undid some of Superboy-Prime's timeline changes, and resulted in a timeline incorporating all previous incarnations of the Doom Patrol, but with Rita Farr and Larry Trainor still alive. The Chief confirmed that Rita was indeed killed by Zahl's explosion. The Chief claimed that he later found her skull and treated it with synthetic proteins until her malleable body was regrown from it.
Steve Dayton is again using the Mento helmet and he is mentally unstable; however, he remembers his time as the Crimelord. The Chief appears to be manipulating the Doom Patrol members once again; he claims to wish to return them to normal, so "maybe one day [they] won't be freaks anymore." After the Doom Patrol encounters the Titans, the Chief tells them that Kid Devil
Kid Devil
Red Devil , formerly known as Kid Devil, was a superhero in the DC Comics universe. Created by Alan Kupperberg, Dan Mishkin, and Gary Cohn, he first appeared in Blue Devil #14.-Origin and early heroics:...
should be a member of the Doom Patrol instead of the Titans, since his unique appearance and nature will always separate him from others. However, Beast Boy, Elasti-Girl, and Mento all stood up to the Chief and forced him to step down as the Doom Patrol's leader, with Mento taking over that role.
Recently, while fighting the Titans and the Doom Patrol, the Brain claimed that he had been the Chief's lab assistant, that his body had been destroyed in an explosion Caulder caused, and that he was to have been the original Robotman.
Two former members of the Teen Titans were dramatically altered during the course of the Infinite Crisis. Mal Duncan
Mal Duncan
Malcolm "Mal" Arnold Duncan, currently known as Vox , is a fictional character, existing in DC Comics' main shared universe...
, now code named Vox, and his wife (Bumblebee
Bumblebee (comics)
Bumblebee is a fictional character, existing in DC Comics' main shared universe. She is a former member of the Teen Titans and a current member of the Doom Patrol...
) now reside in the Doom Patrol's castle headquarters.
The Doom Patrol later appeared in The Four Horsemen series (2007), with Caulder back in charge. However, according to Titans (vol. 2) #1, Beast Boy has recently become the team leader. Whether he will remain so now that the Titans have reformed has not been revealed.
In DC Universe: Decisions, Robotman has a supporting role while Mento appears in Issue #4.
Keith Giffen's Doom Patrol (vol. 5)
On February 7, 2009, it was announced at the New York Comic Con that Keith GiffenKeith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
would be spearheading a revival of Doom Patrol, a title which he has long said he wanted to write. He is joined by artist Matt Clark, who has also long expressed a desire to work on the team. The new series will focus on the core members Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robotman, and the Chief, while other members such as Mento, Bumblebee, and Vox will be seen later. The title will launch with a 10-page ongoing Metal Men
Metal Men
The Metal Men are fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The characters first appeared in Showcase #37 and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciller Ross Andru...
co-feature written by J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
.
In the first issue Rita takes on the alias "Elasti-Woman" and according to the team shrink she's "mothering" Bumblebee, who's now eight inches tall after being shrunk - rather conveniently for her codename - to the size of a bee in Infinite Crisis.
Nudge, Byrne's addition to the team, was killed in the line of duty & Grunt took off with her corpse.
The current team is working out of Oolong Island (from 52), which has been turned into a resort town, while still maintaining a large super-science background. The Challengers of the Unknown
Challengers of the Unknown
The Challengers of the Unknown is a group of fictional characters in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, or co-created with Dave Wood , this quartet of adventurers explored science fictional and apparent paranormal occurrences and faced fantastic menaces.Scripts for the first...
's Rocky Davis is also working closely with the team for spiritual support.
Former member Crazy Jane appears in issue #7. Danny the Street, in a reduced aspect, appears in issue 8.
Tangent Comics
In 1997, DC released the Tangent ComicsTangent Comics
Tangent Comics was a DC Comics imprint created in 1997–1998, developed from ideas created by Dan Jurgens. The line, formed from various one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash...
series of books, built on the premise of a world that diverged from the mainstream following the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. The series featured characters with the same names as mainstream DC characters but who were otherwise unrelated to them. The series included a one-shot Doom Patrol title. This Doom Patrol consisted of four heroes: Doomsday
Doomsday (comics)
Doomsday is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 , and was created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doomsday as #46...
, Star Sapphire
Star Sapphire (comics)
Star Sapphire is the name of several supervillains in DC Comics, all connected in origin. Within DC continuity, an immortal race of warrior women were depicted as having the ancient tradition of choosing physically identical mortals from across the cosmos to serve as the host body for their queen....
, Firehawk, and Rampage
Rampage (DC Comics)
Rampage is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. The character first appeared in Superman comic books, and was later utilized in Starman. Rampage has a distinct appearance, with orange skin, a towering, muscular build, and a fiery red mohawk...
. The heroes traveled back in time from 2030 to 1997 to prevent Earth's destruction. The Tangent books were later integrated into the DC Multiverse
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
(as Earth-97) as part of the events of Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
.
Television
- In the Teen TitansTeen Titans (TV series)Teen Titans is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics characters of the same name. The show was created by Glen Murakami, developed by David Slack, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003, and the final episode "Things Change"...
animated series, the Doom Patrol played a significant role in the two-part episode "Homecoming", the fifth season premiere. The lineup consisted of MentoMento (comics)Mento is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Doom Patrol #91 , and was created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.-Fictional character biography:...
(voiced by Xander BerkeleyXander BerkeleyAlexander Harper "Xander" Berkeley is an American actor. His roles include George Mason on the television series 24.-Early life:Berkeley was born in Brooklyn, New York, but has lived most of his life in New Jersey...
), Negative ManNegative ManNegative Man is a fictional superhero from DC Comics. He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80.-Larry Trainor:The original Negative Man, Larry Trainor, is a founding member of the Doom Patrol, along with Elasti-Girl, Robotman, and The Chief...
(Judge ReinholdJudge ReinholdJudge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
), RobotmanRobotman (Cliff Steele)Robotman is a fictional character, a cyborg superhero in the . Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 and was created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani.-Fictional character biography:...
(Peter OnoratiPeter Onorati-Biography:He was born and raised in Boonton, New Jersey and attended Boonton High School. He attended Lycoming College, where he received his B.A. degree in Business Administration. He was an NCAA all-conference wide receiver, and signed up to play in the World Football League...
), and Elasti-GirlElasti-GirlElasti-Girl is a fictional character, a superhero of the DC Comics universe and a member of the Doom Patrol.-Fictional character biography:...
(Tara StrongTara StrongTara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
) (the Chief did not appear and Mento was portrayed as the team leader). A flashback reveals Beast BoyBeast BoyGarfield Mark "Gar" Logan, known as Beast Boy or Changeling, is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics...
's Doom Patrol days, where it is clear that Mento and Elasti-Girl are his parental figures (Robin later comments that the team essentially raised Beast Boy). During the flashback, Beast Boy must choose between destroying the Brotherhood of Evil's blackhole weapon or saving his teammates. Doing the latter earns him a reprimand from Mento. In the present, the Doom Patrol is captured by the Brotherhood of Evil, save for a deactivated Robotman (who was hung on a tree as a warning to intruders). A device containing a message from Mento makes its way to Beast Boy, allowing him and the Teen Titans to rescue the Doom Patrol. Beast Boy is faced with a similar choice as in the flashback and again elects to save his friends. This time, however, the Brotherhood of Evil escape, poised to use a new blackhole weapon. Both teams ultimately foil the Brotherhood's plot, with the Doom Patrol expressing pride in their former member. Though the Doom Patrol make no further appearances, the Brotherhood of Evil reoccur throughout the fifth season in a plot to eliminate all of the world's young heroes.
- The Doom Patrol (composed of Elasti-GirlElasti-GirlElasti-Girl is a fictional character, a superhero of the DC Comics universe and a member of the Doom Patrol.-Fictional character biography:...
, Negative ManNegative ManNegative Man is a fictional superhero from DC Comics. He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80.-Larry Trainor:The original Negative Man, Larry Trainor, is a founding member of the Doom Patrol, along with Elasti-Girl, Robotman, and The Chief...
, RobotmanRobotman (Cliff Steele)Robotman is a fictional character, a cyborg superhero in the . Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 and was created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani.-Fictional character biography:...
, and Niles CaulderChief (comics)The Chief is a fictional character from DC Comics and the leader of the Doom Patrol. He first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
) appears in the Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
episode "The Last Patrol!" In this episode, it is revealed that the Doom Patrol had disbanded years earlier after failing to save the life of a young woman who was taken hostage by General ZahlGeneral ZahlGeneral Zahl is a DC Comics villain. He first appeared in Doom Patrol vol. 1 #121.-Biography:General Zahl is a former Nazi U-boat captain who tangled from time to time with the Doom Patrol, originally as "Captain Zahl."...
during his invasion of Paris. The team is forced to come out of retirement after Zahl assembles BrainBrain (comics)The Brain is a fictional character, a supervillain in the and frequent enemy of the Doom Patrol. He is a French mastermind and criminal genius...
, Monsieur MallahMonsieur MallahMonsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and romantic partner of the Brain. Monsieur Mallah first appeared in Doom Patrol Monsieur Mallah is a fictional character, a superintelligent gorilla supervillain in the and the criminal and...
, the Mutant Trio (Ir, Ur, and Ar), Animal-Vegetable-Mineral ManAnimal-Vegetable-Mineral ManAnimal-Vegetable-Mineral Man is a fictional supervillain from the DC Universe and a foe of the original Doom Patrol. He first appeared in Doom Patrol #89 . The story was written by Arnold Drake, with art by Bruno Premiani....
, and Arsenal (who is his bodyguard) to kill them. In an ending mirroring Drake's finale to the original series, the members of the Doom Patrol ultimately sacrifice their lives in order to save the town of Codsville. After this, the people of the world are shown somberly chanting "We're all the Doom Patrol". In memory of the fallen heroes, Codsville's residents renamed the town Four Heroes after them.
- Animated shorts of the Doom Patrol will be part of the DC NationDC Nation ShortsDC Nation Shorts is a upcoming number of shorts that will air on Cartoon Network in 2012. The shorts will be part of the DC Nation block, and will consist of Plastic Man, Super Best Friends Forever, Doom Patrol, Batman, Lego Batman, Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, Teen Titans, Blue Beetle and...
block of programming on Cartoon NetworkCartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
.
Film
- The original Doom Patrol had one cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.
- VarietyVariety (magazine)Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported on July 19, 2006 that Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
has hired Adam Turner to pen a screenplay to bring Doom Patrol to the big screen. However, as of October 2010, no director, cast, or release date has been announced.
Miscellaneous
- The Doom Patrol appears in issue 7 of the Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold (comics)Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American comic book series published by DC Comics. It is based on the TV series of the same name.-UK Title:The UK version is published by Titan Magazines and the first issue was released on 11 March 2010...
comics. They teamed up with Batman when Mad ModMad ModMad Mod is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He was until recently an enemy of the superhero team, the Teen Titans.-Fictional character biography:...
steals some of the Doom Patrol's signature clothes in a plan to integrate them into "suits of doom."
Collected editions
Drake and Premiani's run is available as The Doom Patrol Archives:- (collects My Greatest Adventure/Doom Patrol #80-89, from 1963–1964, 222 pages, 2002, ISBN 1-4012-0150-4)
- (collects Doom Patrol #90-97, from 1964–1965, 213 pages, 2004, ISBN 1-4012-0150-4)
- (collects Doom Patrol #98-105 and Challengers of the Unknown #48, from 1966, 237 pages, 2006, ISBN 1-4012-0766-9)
- (collects Doom Patrol #106-113 from 1966–1967, 207 pages, 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1646-3)
- (collects Doom Patrol #113-121 from 1968, 208 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1720-4)
Drake and Premiani's run is also available in black and white as Showcase Presents: The Doom Patrol:
- (collects My Greatest Adventure/Doom Patrol #80-101, from 1963–1966, 520 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2182-3)
- (collects Doom Patrol #102-121, from 1966–1968, 512 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2770-8)
Morrison's run has been compiled into six Vertigo trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
editions:
- Crawling from the Wreckage (collects Doom Patrol #19-25, 2000, ISBN 1-56389-034-8)
- The Painting That Ate Paris (collects Doom Patrol #26-34, 2004, ISBN 1-4012-0342-6)
- Down Paradise Way (collects Doom Patrol #35-41, 2005, ISBN 1-4012-0726-X)
- Musclebound (collects Doom Patrol #42-50, August 2006 ISBN 1-4012-0999-8)
- Magic Bus (collects Doom Patrol #51-57, January 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1202-6)
- Planet Love (collects Doom Patrol #58-63 and Doom Force #1, January 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1624-2)
Keith Giffen's and Matthew Clark's run:
- We Who Are About to Die (Collects Doom Patrol (Vol.5) #1-6, ISBN 1-4012-2751-1)
- Brotherhood (Collects Doom Patrol (Vol.5) #7-13, January 2011, ISBN 1-4012-2998-0)
External links
- Doom Patrol at the DC Database Project
- Fanzing.com article on the Doom Patrol
- Khouri, Andy. Grant Morrison: The Early Years - Part III: "Doom Patrol", Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
, July 9, 2007