The Doom Patrol - Character Corner #65

We're back! This time instead of diving into your favorite, well-known characters, we're tackling a group that's a little less known: The Doom Patrol. This episode is bit different from other Character Corners we've done since there's not a whole lot of material to pull from for the Doom Patrol. This is a group that ended their first run in the late 70's with the entire team being killed off. We start off our discussion by talking about the comic landscape in the 60's and the claim from one of the Doom Patrol creators (Arnold Drake) that Stan Lee stole the idea of the X-Men from Doom Patrol. While we don't think Stan Lee stole the concept, it does lead to an interesting question: Why did creations like the X-Men & Fantastic Four take off while Doom Patrol failed to really connect? After the Doom Patrol was killed off in the 70's, other creators tried to resurrect them and get them to catch on but not with a lot of success. A lot of writers that have tried to tackle the Doom Patrol even fully admit that at the time, they weren't doing the team justice because they weren't nailing what made these characters so unique and special over at DC. And then Grant Morrison took over. 

Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol can be best described as a Clusterfuck of Weirdness and while that might seem like we're speaking negatively about it, it's just the opposite. Morrison's run is probably the definitive run one what the Doom Patrol is and what makes them so unique. Morrison leaned into his own unique viewpoint of the world and created a run that was full of unique and strange villains (Red Jack, The Brotherhood of Dada, the Scissor Men, the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E.) and parodies like his Punisher parody, The Beard Hunter. Honestly, if you understand Morrison's Doom Patrol run on your first reading, you should get yourself checked out. That said, it's compelling, interesting and is the most significant when it comes to the Doom Patrol.

Give the episode a listen and let us know what you think. We have two more episodes for 2018 coming up so subscribe and stay tuned!

Original Team:

The Chief (Niles Caulder)
Robotman (Cliff Steele)
Elasti-Girl (Rita Farr)
Negative Man (Larry Trainor)

Issues:

First Appearance - My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963)
Beast Boy Joins - Doom Patrol #99
Killed off for the First Time - Doom Patrol #121
Grant Morrison (Vertigo Comics Imprint) - Doom Patrol Vol 2 19 - 63

Doom Patrol Book One
Doom Patrol Book Two
Doom Patrol Book Three

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