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The Doom Patrol is a superhero team that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The Doom Patrol was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, and first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). Advertised as "The World's Strangest Heroes", the Doom Patrol is a group of super-powered misfits whose powers, gained through freak accidents, cause them alienation and trauma. The Doom Patrol protects the world from threats such as the Brotherhood of Evil, Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, and Mr. Nobody. There have been numerous Doom Patrol rosters in the DC Universe, with the original consisting of the Chief, Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Beast Boy, and Mento. Members of later rosters include Crazy Jane, Danny the Street, Dorothy Spinner, Elongated Man, and Ambush Bug; Robotman is the only character who has appeared in every Doom Patrol incarnation.

When DC decided to convert My Greatest Adventure, an adventure anthology in danger of cancellation, to a superhero format, it assigned Drake to create a team that could fit both genres. The series was retitled The Doom Patrol and continued for five more years, until its cancellation in 1968. Paul Kupperberg revived the Doom Patrol for Showcase in 1977 and relaunched Doom Patrol in 1987. In response to poor sales, Kupperberg was replaced by Grant Morrison in hopes of salvaging the comic. Morrison's Doom Patrol run garnered widespread acclaim for its surreal take on the superhero genre, featuring outlandish villains, dark humor, and frequent parody. In 1993, Doom Patrol became one of the inaugural comics of Vertigo, DC's imprint for mature readers; Rachel Pollack continued the series in a similar vein to Morrison until its cancellation in 1995.

Various attempts to resurrect the Doom Patrol were made following the conclusion of the 1987 comic. The team returned to the main DC imprint in 2001 with a new series written by John Arcudi, which lasted for 22 issues. A 2004 reboot by John Byrne proved controversial and was reversed by DC's Infinite Crisis (2005–2006) crossover event, while Keith Giffen wrote another series from 2009 to 2011. In 2016, My Chemical Romance co-founder and singer Gerard Way revived Doom Patrol as the flagship comic of DC's Young Animal, an imprint focusing on relaunching characters and settings from the DC Universe in stories for mature readers.

The Doom Patrol has appeared in various DC Comics adaptations, making their first appearance outside comics in the fifth season of the animated series Teen Titans in 2005. A live-action Doom Patrol series premiered on the DC Universe streaming service in 2019, before moving to HBO Max in 2020; the series received critical acclaim and won several accolades.

Publication history

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Concept and original appearances (1963–1968)

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The Doom Patrol was created in 1963, during the Silver Age of Comic Books, as DC Comics' My Greatest Adventure was being converted from an adventure anthology to a superhero comic. The series was at risk of cancellation and DC wanted a new feature that could save it, so editor Murray Boltinoff asked writer Arnold Drake to create a feature that could fit both the adventure and superhero formats.[1] With fellow writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, Drake conceived a team of super-powered misfits who were regarded as freaks by the world at large.[2] Boltinoff was enthusiastic about Drake's initial pitch with Elasti-Girl and Automaton, but Drake wanted a third character and enlisted Haney's help in coming up with Negative Man.[1]

The team was announced as the "Legion of the Strange" in My Greatest Adventure #79 (May 1963), before making their debut as the Doom Patrol in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963). Boltinoff conceived the team's epithet, "The World's Strangest Heroes".[1] Drake and Haney devised the plot for the issue together, and then scripted half the issue independently (Drake the first half, Haney the second).[1] Two issues after the Doom Patrol's debut, Automaton was renamed Robotman, because Drake found the name "Automaton" stupid. Drake was unaware that DC had a previous character named Robotman, published between 1942 and 1953 during the Golden Age of Comic Books.[1]

Drake scripted every initial Doom Patrol story, from the team's introduction through My Greatest Adventure being retitled The Doom Patrol with issue #86 (March 1964); Premiani illustrated nearly every story. Drake and Premiani introduced Mento in The Doom Patrol #91 (November 1964), while Drake and artist Bob Brown introduced Beast Boy in issue #99 (November 1965). Drake conceived Beast Boy, who frequently talked back to the older members, so children could have a character they could relate to.[3] The members of the Doom Patrol often quarreled and suffered personal problems. This was already common in DC rival Marvel Comics' superhero comics, but was novel in the DC lineup.[4] The Doom Patrol's rogues gallery matched the strange, weird tone of the series,[1] with villains such as the shape-shifting Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and the intelligent gorilla Monsieur Mallah.[5]

While the Doom Patrol was initially popular, the team did not catch on like other DC teams, such as the Justice League.[6] Due to declining sales, DC canceled The Doom Patrol in 1968. In the final issue, The Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968), Drake killed off the entire Doom Patrol by having them sacrifice their lives to Madame Rouge and General Zahl to save the small fishing village of Codsville, Maine—marking the first time in comic book history that a canceled comic concluded with the death of its cast. Premiani and Boltinoff appeared at the beginning and end of the story, asking fans to write to DC to resurrect the Doom Patrol. Boltinoff was supposed to be Drake himself; Drake said that he was replaced because he had just resigned over a pay dispute and moved to Marvel Comics. He finished the script only out of friendship for Boltinoff.[1]

Similarities exist between the Doom Patrol and Marvel's X-Men, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Both teams comprise misfit superheroes shunned by society and are led by men of preternatural intelligence who use wheelchairs (the Doom Patrol's Chief and the X-Men's Professor X).[6] Drake commented in 2005 that he had "become more and more convinced that [Lee] knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol... Over the years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between [Marvel and DC]", which would have made it easy for Lee to catch wind of Drake's ideas months in advance. However, before his death in 2007, Drake moderated this stance, acknowledging that while it was possible Lee based the X-Men on the Doom Patrol, he could also have arrived at a similar concept independently, given that they were "working in the same vineyards". ComicsAlliance suggested that the similarities between the Doom Patrol and the X-Men were due to the fact that both Drake and Lee were working during the civil rights movement.

Kupperberg's Doom Patrol (1977–1989)

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Writer Paul Kupperberg, a longtime Doom Patrol fan, and artist Joe Staton introduced a new Doom Patrol in Showcase #94 (August–September 1977).[7]: 175  DC was then lining up features for the Showcase revival—the series was initially an anthology that would debut new characters who could springboard into their own series if they proved sufficiently popular, and Showcase #94 was the first new Doom Patrol issue in almost seven years. Editor Paul Levitz instructed Kupperberg and Staton to do a Doom Patrol feature.[8] The Showcase Doom Patrol consisted of Robotman (the only returning member), the Chief's wife Celsius, Negative Woman, and Tempest. Kupperberg opted to create a new lineup because he wanted to respect the story in which the Doom Patrol met their deaths, and was inspired by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum's then-recent "all-new, all-different X-Men".[9]

The new Doom Patrol did not feature in a new series after the three-issue Showcase story. Kupperberg said this was most likely due to poor sales, as even in the months prior to the DC Implosion he heard no word of a new series.[8] Kupperberg expressed dissatisfaction with his Showcase Doom Patrol, stating "[I was] missing the point of the Doom Patrol. The original group were outsiders and freaks, while my new guys were just comic-book superheroes. I was young and inexperienced and new to writing, with about two years under my belt before getting the gig."[8] However, Kupperberg's enthusiasm for the team remained. He eventually wrote a proposal for a new Doom Patrol series, which DC green-lit as the company began to relaunch their characters following the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) crossover event, which rebooted the DC Universe. The first issue of Doom Patrol was released in October 1987.[8]

Steve Lightle was the series' initial illustrator. Lightle took on the assignment with reluctance, having read and disliked Kupperberg's Showcase stories. Lightle soon quit due to several grievances, such as that he was not involved in plotting the comic despite the editor repeatedly promising that he would be.[10] He was replaced by Erik Larsen after five issues. Kupperberg later commented, "I like Erik's work, but I don't think he was exactly right for the Doom Patrol. To tell the truth, I don't think either Erik or myself were happy with the arrangement, but we did our best to make it work."[8] For his part, Larsen said he was perfectly happy on the series, in part because on the few occasions where he disliked an aspect of Kupperberg's plots, he would simply revise the plot when he drew the issue. In retrospect Larsen felt that this practice was overstepping his bounds, but said the editor never objected to it.[11]

Kupperberg's run on Doom Patrol lasted 18 issues. In a July 2013 interview with Back Issue!, Kupperberg recalled sales were initially "okay", but soon began to decline. The poor sales resulted in Kupperberg being removed as the series' writer.[8][5] In retrospect, Kupperberg called Doom Patrol "one of my biggest creative regrets" and felt that he had ruined what Drake created; he apologized to Drake before his death.[12]

Morrison and Pollack (1989–1995)

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Grant Morrison in 2006

Rather than canceling Doom Patrol, DC decided to let Grant Morrison, an industry newcomer whose series Animal Man had been critically acclaimed, write the series in hopes they would be able to salvage it.[8][5] Editor Robert Greenberger asked Morrison to write the series in 1988, after seeing Morrison's script for the Batman graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989). Greenberger wanted Morrison to depict the Doom Patrol in a similar manner to the way they depicted Batman and his rogues gallery in Arkham Asylum. Morrison was initially unsure if they wanted to take over Doom Patrol, but "[t]he more I thought about it, the more attractive the idea of revamping the Doom Patrol began to look."[13] As a child, Morrison had been frightened by Drake's Doom Patrol but was nonetheless drawn to the characters because of their dark, twisted nature, which influenced their decision to accept the offer.[13]

Kupperberg had generally treated the Doom Patrol as a conventional superhero team,[8] but Morrison wanted to restore the team to their roots as "a team composed of handicapped people".[12] Morrison noted that the Doom Patrol stood out when they were introduced in the Silver Age, a time when superheroes "sported right-angled jawlines and Boy Scout principles".[13] Morrison felt that the team had become "too normal" and "decided straight away that I would attempt to restore the sense of the bizarre that made the original Doom Patrol so memorable. I wanted to reconnect with the fundamental, radical concept of the book."[13][12] Morrison wanted to move beyond the influence that Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run on Uncanny X-Men had on the superhero genre in preparation for the 1990s, and within a week had developed enough material to make it to issue #60.[13]

Morrison did not want to use any members of Kupperberg's Doom Patrol aside from Robotman and the Chief, so Kupperberg agreed to use his final Doom Patrol story, part of the Invasion! (1988—1989) crossover event, to kill off much of the team's roster.[13] Morrison and artist Richard Case began their run with issue #19 (February 1989), "Crawling from the Wreckage",[12] which sees Robotman commit himself to an asylum following the events of Invasion!. Morrison used "Crawling from the Wreckage" to introduce Crazy Jane, a woman who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, who Morrison conceived after reading Truddi Chase's book When Rabbit Howls (1987). Morrison also decided to take Dorothy Spinner, a one-off character Kupperberg had included in Doom Patrol #14 (November 1988), and develop her into a character who could bring her imaginary friends to life. Morrison retooled Negative Man into the hermaphroditic Rebis and the Chief into a condescending "jerk",[14] and introduced Danny the Street, a sentient street described as a transvestite male.

When writing Doom Patrol, Morrison was heavily influenced by the works of Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, whose films "present a disturbing vision of a world free from all logical constraint", as well as other surrealist films like Kenneth Anger's Eaux d'Artifice (1953) and Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon (1943).[13] Morrison also cited Douglas Hofstadter's book Gödel, Escher, Bach (1979), for its "immensely readable voyage into the twilight world of logic and abstract mathematics", as well as their dreams and books on alchemy.[13] Morrison wanted to take the Doom Patrol's "World's Strangest Heroes" epithet seriously, so they incorporated elements of Dada, surrealism, and the cut-up technique pioneered by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. They also borrowed the ideas of Jorge Luis Borges and Heinrich Hoffmann. Morrison's villains were extremely unusual and strange, even by Doom Patrol's eccentric standards. For example, "The Painting That Ate Paris" (1989) sees the nihilistic Mr. Nobody and his Brotherhood of Dada attempt to take over the world using a painting that consumes entire cities.[1]

Morrison also used Doom Patrol to homage and parody other comics. A new member of Morrison's Doom Patrol, Flex Mentallo, is a parody of Italian-American bodybuilder Charles Atlas, who was known for appearing in comic book advertisements. Mentallo was the subject of a lawsuit by the Charles Atlas Company, which was dismissed as fair use laws in the US protect parody. The villainous Beard Hunter—a character who kills people with facial hair—parodies Marvel's Punisher, while Willoughby Kipling, an analogue of John Constantine, was created after Morrison was denied permission to use Constantine himself. Doom Patrol #53 (March 1992) features DC's magic-based characters, such as Constantine and the Phantom Stranger, reimagined as Marvel Comics-style superheroes. In July 1992, Morrison collaborated with Keith Giffen, Mike Mignola, and Walt Simonson to produce Doom Force Special #1, which ComicsAlliance summarized as "a vicious parody of Rob Liefeld's X-Force ... barely disguised as a spin-off".

Under Morrison, Doom Patrol was added to DC's "Suggested for Mature Readers" line, which comprised adult comics such as Swamp Thing (1982–1996), Hellblazer (1988–2013), and The Sandman (1989–1996). Case, alongside occasional fill-in artists, provided the interior art, while most of the cover art was done by Simon Bisley. In issue #57 (July 1992), Morrison—nearing the end of their run—revealed the Chief as the mastermind behind the accidents that gave the original Doom Patrol members their powers, as a method of studying the catastrophe theory.[14]

Post-Vertigo (2001–2015)

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DC's Young Animal (2016–present)

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Roster

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Further information: List of Doom Patrol members and List of Doom Patrol enemies

Literary analysis

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Reception and legacy

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In other media

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Collected editions

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Arnold Drake". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 38–41.
  2. ^ Beatty, Scott (2008). "Doom Patrol". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 109. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5. OCLC 213309017.
  3. ^ Mougin, Lou (October 1984). "Interview: Arnold Drake". Comics Interview (16): 5–17.
  4. ^ Eury, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Editor's Note". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 37.
  5. ^ a b c McMillan, Graeme (April 8, 2016). "'Doom Patrol': The Secret History of DC's "Strangest Heroes"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ^ a b Diaz, Eric (June 1, 2020). "DOOM PATROL's Weird Parallel History with the X-MEN". Nerdist.
  7. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Paul Kupperberg". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 42–45.
  9. ^ Johnson, Dan (April 2014). "Showcase Presents... Again". Back Issue! (71). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 50–51.
  10. ^ Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Steve Lightle". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 46–51.
  11. ^ Browning, Michael (July 2013). "The Doom Patrol Interviews: Erik Larsen". Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 52–54.
  12. ^ a b c d White, Desmond (March 21, 2014). "Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, A Companion Reader". Sequart Organization. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Morrison, Grant (March 1989). Greenberger, Robert (ed.). "And Now, a Word from the Author...". Doom Patrol. 2 (20). DC Comics.
  14. ^ a b David, Ari (August 26, 2020). "Doom Patrol: The TV Version of Niles Caulder Is Way Nicer (And That's Probably for the Best)". CBR.com.
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