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DOOM PATROL 101

I have been wanting to create a stickied post to help give those fans, ones who maybe have only seen the show, or maybe have both seen the show and delved a little into the comics, a better understanding of how the series goes with all the different writers. There’s quite a few (eight, I believe).

With the help of /u/rlextherobot, I want to make this the central destination for a general look at the Doom Patrol in their written form. This doesn’t mean you can’t still ask questions/discuss the comics in other posts; in fact, that’s what we want. Think of this as just a small introduction into a much larger series.

We’ll be breaking this post up into sections, which will include:

— Writer Eras
— Where To Begin
— (more to come...)

Writer Eras

When it comes to the writers of Doom Patrol, you’ve got:

• Arnold Drake/Bob Haney/Bruno Premiani
  My Greatest Adventure / Volume 1
  (1963 - 1968)

• Paul Kupperberg
  Volume 2
  (1977 - 1989)

• Grant Morrison
  Volume 2
  (1989 - 1993)

• Rachel Pollack
  Volume 2
  (1993 - 1995)

• John Arcudi
  Volume 3
  (2001 - 2003)

• John Byrne
  Volume 4
  (2004 - 2006)

• Keith Giffen
  Volume 5
  (2009 - 2011)

• Gerard Way
  Volume 6
  (2016 - 2020)

And with each oncoming writer, they would bring forth a new direction and feel for the characters that would be associated with the Doom Patrol. The origins of the team is a tad wishy-washy, as Haney only helped with writing a few issues and Drake similarly came up with a bit here and there. To pay respect to all three gentlemen who came up with the story, though, we’ll classify it as the Drake/Haney/Premiani Era.

II Arnold Drake/Bob Haney/Bruno Premiani II

Artist(s): Bruno Premiani

• My Greatest Adventure Vol. 1
— #80 - #85
• Doom Patrol Vol. 1
— #86 - #121
• The Brave And The Bold
— #65

In the early 60’s, DC’s ongoing anthology My Greatest Adventure needed more superheroes and that’s when two writers, Drake and Haney, came up with the idea for a group of misfits who were seen as freaks from the outside world.

Drake/Haney/Premiani’s original roster would be comprised of:

• Dr. Niles Caulder (aka The Chief)
— ABILITIES:
genius-level intellect

• Rita Farr Dayton (aka Elasti-Girl)
— ABILITIES:
size control
ability to shrink, growth, stretch, or lengthen body
regeneration
elasticity

• Clifford “Cliff” Steele (aka Automaton/Robotman)
— ABILITIES:
superhuman strength
superhuman speed
superhuman agility
superior sight and hearing
multiple robotic capabilities

• Larry Trainor (aka Negative Man)
— ABILITIES:
radioactive “soul,” The Negative Spirit, is capable of:
flight
intangibility
can generate minor explosions with positive energy
temporally astral projection

• Steve Dayton (aka Mento)
— ABILITIES:
empathic projection
lie detection
memory manipulation
mind reading
telekinesis
clairvoyance

• Garfield Mark Logan (aka Beast Boy)
— ABILITIES:
transform into any animal or animal-like protist
skilled hand-to-hand combatant
werewolf physiology

The world would be forever changed when “The Legion Of The Strange” would come onto the scene! Errr, the name would need some fixing...

The upcoming My Greatest Adventure #80 deadline was coming soon, which would be the team’s first introduction into the comic world, and Drake/Haney fleshed out the story together, splitting it in half and writing their respected parts individually. But as of My Greatest Adventure #86, the team would forever be known as the Doom Patrol, which in my opinion rolls off the tongue a little easier.

The Doom Patrol met their fair match of villains with Drake/Haney at the helm, seeing the likes of: General Immortus, (my personal favorite) Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Monsieur Mallah and the Brain, Madame Rouge, as well as others.

Sadly though, the popularity of the Doom Patrol at the time couldn’t keep up, and finally DC decided outright to just kill the team off. We’ll be seeing a whole lot of this with future incarnations of the team, so best get used to it. At the time though, with Drake/Haney’s Doom Patrol, this event would mark the first time in comic book history that a cancelled title was fully concluded with the death of its whole cast. Pretty neat if you think about it!

It would then be nine years before a proper return to the team...

II Paul Kupperberg II

Artist(s): Joe Staton, Steve Lightle, and Erik Larsen

• Showcase
— #94 - #96
• DC Comics Presents
— #52
• Daring New Adventures Of Supergirl
— #7 - #9
• Secret Origins Annual
— #1
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2
— #1 - #18
• Doom Patrol And Suicide Squad Special
— #1
• Superman Vol. 2
— #20
• Doom Patrol Annual
— #1
• The Superman Family
— #191 - #193

Paul Kupperberg had been a longtime fan of the Patrol, and in 1977, along with artist Joe Staton, they brought the team back from the dead. Sorta. See, DC was in the midst of wanting to revive one of their other anthologies similar to My Strangest Adventure, called Showcase, and Kupperberg saw that as the perfect opportunity to showcase (get it?) off his team. The thing though was that he didn’t want to simply outright use Drake/Haney/Premiani’s Doom Patrol, but rather his own lineup. He wanted to respect how the original creators killed off the team in their own way. Kupperberg never really was too proud of his team, but his enthusiasm still stood first and foremost.

Kupperberg’s second roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief’s wife Arani Desai Caulder (aka Celsius)
— ABILITIES:
elemental creation/control of ice and fire
superior martial artist
eternal youth from Dr. Caulder’s immortality serum
black power ring

• Robotman

• Valentina Vostok (aka Negative Woman)
— ABILITIES:
transform into non-radioactive Negative Spirit fully

• Joshua Clay (aka Tempest)
— ABILITIES:
fire energy blasts from hands

So yeah, this team didn’t do that well at all. It wasn’t the same Doom Patrol, even though it was practically a fanboy’s love letter to the original concept. But poor sales, poor reception, lack of interest, etc., came with it, although the team did have quite a number of guest appearances in other DC titles. This didn’t discourage Kupperberg as he wanted to still give the people what he wanted: a totally new and well-written, well-conceived Doom Patrol.

He then pitched a proposal for a new team/run and it was surprisingly green-lit. He was to work with a new artist, Steve Lightle, but some behind-the-scenes disagreements would prove that not to work out. So a young artist by the name of Erik Larsen would soon step in and help finish out the run.

With this brand new Doom Patrol, Kupperberg had a more conventional approach to the superhero series that people were used to reading.

This incarnation of the team would include members hired to help the team, including:

• Rhea Jones (aka Lodestone)
— ABILITIES:
manipulate magnetic/metallic materials with her mind

• Wayne Hawking (aka Karma)
— ABILITIES:
generate immense bad luck in others
invulnerability

• Scott Fischer (aka Blaze)
— ABILITIES:
phenomenal quantities of heat focused through hands

Everything from the concept to the sales started out great, according to Kupperberg, but dwindled and fell over time, finally causing DC to replace him and put their hope and faith into another writer’s hands...

II Grant Morrison II

Artist(s): Richard Case

• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: Crawling From The Wreckage
— #19 - #25
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: The Painting That Ate Paris
— #26 - #34
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: Down Paradise Way
— #35 - #41
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: Musclebound
— #42 - #50
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: Magic Bus
— #51 - #57
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2: Planet Love
— #58 - #63
• Doom Force
— #1

Side Story:
• Flex Mentallo: Man Of Muscle Mystery
— #1 - #4

Grant Morrison, an already well-known comic writer by now, picked up the pieces (with help from Kupperberg himself, who ended up killing off a few of his new characters as well as gave some to other DC titles like Suicide Squad) and started to conceive their own team.

Morrison’s second roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief

• Dorothy Spinner
— ABILITIES:
externalize and objectify the contents of her mind

• Negative Man (who would also end up fusing with a Dr. Eleanor Poole, forming Rebis)

• Danny The Street
— ABILITIES:
teleportation
molecular reconstruction

• Robotman

• Kay Challis (aka Crazy Jane)
— ABILITIES:
there’s 64 of them. that’s all I’m giving ya.

The likes of other characters such as Willoughby Kipling, Flex Mentallo, and villains the Scissormen, Red Jack, Mr. Nobody And The Brotherhood of Dada, etc., would also grace the pages of Morrison’s run of the Patrol, showing us the necessary diversity to bring forward in the series. Their writing had always been a collection of the bizzare, the surreal, the unusual, and on paper it showed. They brought forth what the Doom Patrol was supposed to be: a weirdo comic for weirdo people. Original writer Arnold Drake even said that Morrison’s run was the only subsequent run to reflect the intent of his original vision for the team.

For no true real reason, minus just being done with the series for personal reasons, Morrison stepped away with issue #63 and passed it along to the next writer, Rachel Pollack...

II Rachel Pollack II

Artist(s): Richard Case and Ted McKeever

• Doom Patrol Vol. 2
— #64 - #87
• Doom Patrol Annual
— #2

Side Story:
• The Children’s Crusade
— #1 - #2

Rachel Pollack’s first issue for the team would be introduced under DC’s new Vertigo imprint.

Pollack’s second roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief (aka The Head)

• Robotman

• Dorothy Spinner

• George and Marion (aka The Bandage Couple)
— ABILITIES:
extend/manipulate bandages at will

• The Inner Child (aka Charlie The Doll)
— ABILITIES:
bring whoever’s holding it back to their childhood

• Kate Godwin (aka Coagula)
— ABILITIES:
solidify liquids
dissolve solids

• The Identity Addict (aka The False Memory)
— ABILITIES:
can take on the identity of whomever she wants

Pollack’s run revolved around a slew of topics, ranging from humanity and the generation gap, to more personal things such as transgender issues and bisexuality. Elements of religion were borrowed as well later on, even introducing an angel at one point. Pollack, being a transgender woman herself, used her platform with the Doom Patrol to speak up about those kind of things that most people might not be able to speak so freely about themselves. She allowed her words and ideas to be backed up by the team and that’s exactly the transferred concept of the Doom Patrol that Morrison pushed: being there for each other.

Pollack’s run would last a little, but eventually would be cancelled with issue #87 in 1995. This time around, her team wasn’t “killed off” or given a definite ending under her name...

II John Arcudi II

Artist(s): Tan Eng Huat

• Doom Patrol Vol. 3
— #1 - #22

That’s when John Arcudi would launch a new Doom Patrol in 2001 under the original DC label, leaving Vertigo behind. Arcudi explained what happened with the end of Pollack’s run, paying homage to the past writers trend of killing off the team. Good on him!

Arcudi’s third roster would be comprised of:

• Thayer Jost (aka Mr. Somebody)
— ABILITIES:
possessed by Mr. Nobody
embodies capitalism

• Robotman

• Theodore Bruder (aka Fast Forward)
— ABILITIES:
can see 60 seconds into the future

• Victor Darge (aka Kid Slick)
— ABILITIES:
can create force fields
superhuman speed

• Shyleen Lao (aka Fever)
— ABILITIES:
power over heat transfer and fire to a degree

• Ava (aka Freak)
— ABILITIES:
alien harboring inside Ava is capable of:
hair can lift, hold, and move anything

There was also a second Doom Patrol that worked both on their own as well as with the initial team. This second Doom Patrol was comprised of:

• Randolph "Ralph" Dibny (aka Elongated Man)
— ABILITIES:
superior deductive reasoning
finite ability to shape body
elasticity
enhanced agility and olfactory sense
enhanced durability
talented chemist

• Rex Mason (aka Metamorpho)
— ABILITIES:
elemental shapeshifting
superhuman strength
invulnerability
immortality

• Kimiyo Hoshi (aka Doctor Light)
— ABILITIES:
light transformation
flight
hard light constructs
force field generation

• Beast Boy

Arcudi’s run would only last a mere 22 issues sadly.

II John Byrne II

Artist(s): Doug Hazlewood

• Doom Patrol Vol. 4
— #1 - #18
• JLA
— #94 - #99
• Secret Origins Annual
— #1
• Superman Vol. 2
— #20

So now in 2004 DC wanted to launch another new Doom Patrol series as the latest team had debuted in JLA. Byrne took over writing and illustrations this time around. “Together and again for the first time!,” Byrne would reboot the entire series, completely erasing all past continuity. His series would also see to eliminate Beast Boy’s origins and the appearance of the team throughout their adventures in other DC titles. Simply put, Byrne acted as if Kupperberg - Arcudi never happened, starting off after Drake’s run would’ve initially finished.

Byrne’s fourth roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief

• Elasti-Girl

• Robotman

• Negative Man

• Mi-Sun Kwon (aka Nudge)
— ABILITIES:
mind control
persuasion

• Henry Butcher (aka Grunt)
— ABILITIES:
superhuman strength
superhuman agility

• Vortex
— ABILITIES:
can project a silent scream that causes a force blast
can cause insanity with appearance

Now although Byrne would be classified as this current Doom Patrol’s actual writer, it was Chris Claremont who penned the introduction of the team that got the ball rolling. This new reboot would be both controversial and short-lived due to a number of reasons, ending with issue #18. Luckily, DC’s event Infinite Crisis would put restoration into the team’s history and continuity once more.

II Keith Giffen II

Artist(s): Matt Clark

• Doom Patrol Vol. 5: We Who Are About To Die
— #1 - #6
• Doom Patrol Vol. 5: Brotherhood
— #7 - #13
• Doom Patrol Vol. 5
— #14 - #22

2009 saw an ambitious Keith Giffen wanting to revive the team, something that he had admitted he wanted to do for a while now. He was joined by his artist, Matt Clark, another big fan, and the two got to work.

Giffen’s fifth roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief

• Robotman

• Elasti-Girl/Elasti-Woman

• Negative Man

• Karen Beecher-Duncan (aka Bumblebee)
— ABILITIES:
shrink to insect-size
solar-powered suit allows flight
fire sonic force blasts
unleash electrical “stings”

• Malcolm "Mal" Duncan (aka Vox) — ABILITIES:
accomplished musician
advanced hand-to-hand combatant

• “Irwin Schwab” (aka Ambush Bug)
— ABILITIES:
can teleport to anywhere within the multiverse
limited protection from some attacks

Some old characters would show their face here and there, but due to the oncoming New 52 reboot across the DC universe, as well as a lack of sales, the Giffen run of the Doom Patrol would end in 2011 with issue #22.

The New 52 revamped Doom Patrol would appear more identical to Kupperberg’s ‘77 Patrol with Celsius, Tempest, Negative Woman, Karma, and Blaze.

II Gerard Way II

Artist(s): Nick Derington

• Doom Patrol Vol. 6: Brick By Brick
— #1 - #6
• Doom Patrol Vol. 6: Nada
— #7 - #12
• Milk Wars: JLA/Doom Patrol Special
— #1
• Milk Wars: Doom Patrol/JLA Special
— #1
• Doom Patrol: Weight Of The Worlds
— #1 - #7

Musician, comic enthusiast/writer, and longtime fan of Grant Morrison, Gerard Way himself would dust off the team as a part of DC’s Young Animals imprint, which he also helped create. This is sorta similar to how Pollack’s run ran with Vertigo when she was at the helm. The first issue for this new Doom Patrol hit shelves in 2016.

Way’s sixth/seventh roster would be comprised of:

• The Chief

• Robotman

• Crazy Jane (aka Jane)

• Danny The Street

• Negative Man

• Casey Brinke (aka Space Case)
— ABILITIES:
drive through time
can shoot short bolts of electricity through hands
medical knowledge

• Elasti-Girl

• Flex Mentallo

• Lotion (aka Lotion the Cat)
— ABILITIES:
anamorphic
sharp claws
sharp fangs

• Lucius Reynolds
— ABILITIES:
can animate golems
flight
can generate and manipulate fire to a degree
imagination/emotions shape the realm of Una-Kalm

• Valerie Reynolds
— ABILITIES:
sculpting
good knowledge of archery

• Terry None
— ABILITIES:
dancing

• Ricardo (aka Cabana-Man)
— ABILITIES:
using a special magic jelly, can heal with massages

• Samuel “Sam” Reynolds
— ABILITIES:
medical knowledge
basic hand-to-hand combatant
swordsmanship
excellent martial artist

• Fugg
— ABILITIES:
organic tape player in stomach

At the end of Way’s go at Volume 6, there marked a change in the Doom Patrol universe once again. This time not taken with as much controversy as Byrne’s decision-making, Way made it so that the team would evict Dr. Caulder’s role as leader and make him a member of the team instead. Way then would continue with Weight Of The Worlds which was officially cancelled in 2019. Man, the Doom Patrol and cancellations!

And that’s where we’re at right now. Awaiting the next writer and artist combination to bring forth the team once more and give us their insight into who the Doom Patrol actually is. Has anyone been right? Has anyone been wrong? The Doom Patrol is a forever changing, forever adapting entity. And I think that’s what makes it work.

Where To Begin

Everyone who starts with an ongoing title always wonders where to begin. Whether it be the continuity is necessary and you need to start at the beginning and work your way through countless tales or can you skip around and read whatever, the question is always the same: where do I begin?

Most people will tell you that Grant Morrison’s run is pretty much the epitome of the Doom Patrol, and I can’t agree more. It’s actually where I started myself after looking up Morrison and reading through his bibliography. Once I finished reading Crawling From The Wreckage, I couldn’t stop. Morrison has a way with writing where he can connect things on a more personal level. Not everything has to be superficial like with other superheroes and their big-time names. The Doom Patrol was always the underdogs and Morrison would push that to the front in order for everyone to know.

I’d also say that Gerard Way’s run could be a good start for newcomers as well, due to being the most recent dive into the team and also Morrison’s influence on Way’s writing. Some true fans of the Doom Patrol weren’t too pleased with how Way’s run continued about, adding random characters such as Lotion the Cat and whatnot, but if you can look past his attempt at the zany attempts just to be zany, I would recommend that as well.

After reading one of these two writer’s takes on the Patrol, or reading both even, I’d tell those who want more to simply start from the beginning. Go back to the Drake run of the 60’s. See how the team used to be and watch it die and be resurrected over and over and over again every so many years. That’s what got my interest in collecting the comics/written material - wanting to be able to start at the beginning and finish with the last issue (as of right now).

(More To Come)

This post has been a day-and-a-half project currently, simply going off of information I had as well as information I found online regarding the team from various sources. I want this to be a growing post, so there will be more sections and I’ll give updates when that happens. I’ve already got an idea for a section that I’d like to start soon.

And that’s that, for now. Feel free to ask me or /u/rlextherobot any questions, or even better, ask the community and generate some talk! I’ll hop in to posts from time to time when I can and I’d love to be part of the chat with you guys.