DOOM PATROL Lives!
DOOM PATROL has a pretty deep history dating all the way back to the 60′s and has been around ever since with a few decent-sized chunks of inactivity throughout. Most fans remember Grant Morrison’s run when the book had it’s first relaunch. Morrison took over with issue #19 and pretty much redefined the book turning it into the cult classic it is today with more of a superhero spins with an insane amount of bizarreness for good measure. Morrison’s run lasted from issue #19-#63 and is currently being reprinted in 3 trade paperback volumes. Here’s an idea of what to expect:
The groundbreaking series from Grant Morrison that led American comics in a wholly unexpected direction.Originally conceived in the 1960s by the visionary team of writer Arnold Drake and artist Bruno Premiani, the Doom Patrol was reborn a generation later through Grant Morrison’s singular imagination. Though they are super-powered beings, and though their foes are bent on world domination, convention ends there. Shunned as freaks and outcasts, and tempered by loss and insanity, this band of misfits faces threats so mystifying in nature and so corrupted in motive that reality itself threatens to fall apart around them—but it’s still all in a day’s work for the Doom Patrol.
Fast forward to 2016 and DOOM PATROL is back with the new creative team of Gerard Way and Nick Derington writing and illustrating respectively. Fans can expect the tone of Morrison’s run here as this new story is likely going to go in bizarre and unexpected territory in true DOOM PATROL fashion. It’s also worth noting the DOOM PATROL is the first series in DC’s new “Young Animal” imprint geared towards more mature and edgy readers. Ya know…cool people.
The atoms are buzzing. The daydreams crowd sentient streets, and the creative team has been warned, ‘Turn back now or suffer the mighty consequence of sheer, psycho-maniacal mayhem.’ Generation-arsonists unite-this is DOOM PATROL, and the God of the Super Heroes is bleeding on the floor. A blenderized reimagining of the ultimate series of the strange, DOOM PATROL combines elements from classic runs, new directions, and things that could not be. Our entry point is Casey Brinke, a young EMT on the graveyard shift to abstract enlightenment, with a past so odd that she’s not entirely sure what is real and what is not. Along with her partner, Sam Reynolds, the pair blaze a path through the city and its denizens, finding the only quiet that exists at 3am is the chaos of the brain. When the pair answer a hit-and-run call, they find themselves face to face with a familiar figure: Cliff Steele, AKA Robotman. 'It gets weirder from here,’ writer Gerard Way had to say about the book, with artist Nick Derington gripping tightly on the wheel of the ambulance. The pair’s only communication? Shouting out of the open windows while at high velocity. Who needs a new roommate? Who names a cat 'Lotion’? And when do we get to see all those muscles? Find your answers inside the pages of this comic book, as we set the stage for new beginnings, as well as the re-introduction of some classic DOOM PATROL characters, including Niles Caulder, Negative Man, Flex Mentallo, and Crazy Jane. The debut title of DC’s Young Animal line kicks off with a removable sticker on its cover: Pull back the gyro to reveal its secrets, but be warned-there is no turning back.
I recommend catching up with at least Morrison’s run with the aforementioned 3 collected volumes to ensure you catch all the inevitable nods, but don’t let that be a requirement. I’d say you can just as easily pick up this #1 issue and dive into the madness head first. Could be fun.
Words by Jason Furie
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