Thursday, August 6, 2009

Spoiler-free DP #1 Review

As promised, I reviewed Doom Patrol #1 for Comic Book Resources. Here's the link to my review, wherein I express the following thoughts and, oh, so much more.

Giffen quickly establishes that this team is a strike force of sorts, not a bunch of pals chumming around. They operate from Oolong Island under the auspices of Niles Caulder, who has manipulated them in the past and most likely won't hesitate to do so again. This Doom Patrol seems to have a purpose, at least moreso than some of the teams that ran under the "Doom Patrol" brand in the past. I look forward to what Giffen's going to put these characters through and how Clark renders it. The world Giffen is building isn't going to forget where the Doom Patrol came from, nor is it going to lose what makes the DC Universe special, and that gives me great hope for what is to come.

4 comments:

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  2. Edit:
    I enjoyed your review on this issue. I contemplated starting a DP blog, but you beat me to it. I found it interesting that Rita was referred to as Elasti-Woman as well. In MGA 80 she was only named as Rita, and then in MGA 81 and 82 she was Elasti-Woman, then it changed to Elasti-Girl. Hopefully it will stick this time around.
    I did think that the characters personalities were a bit "off," and I found it odd that Rita was mentioned as a mutant in the Chief's notes rather than suffer the fate of breathing in the volcanic vapors as had previously been established. If this is in fact her clone, then maybe that is how the chief labels her since she would technically have the powers at "birth."

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  3. Now that you've got a month till issue #2 comes out, I'm guessing that you'll pick up rereading the Kupperberg run where you left off. (The last one I remember you posting about was #5 or 6.)
    If you're now getting to the issues that Erik Larsen pencilled, pay particular attention to the letterer credits. Despite appearances, everything after #6 (except #17 and the specials) is John Workman. About half of them are psuedonyms and this isn't the only place he uses them. Unlike many letterers, Workman is also a published writer and penciller with credits going back to the 70's (maybe the 60's; I wouldn't know where to start looking if he normally uses aliases).
    Workman turned out to be that volume's Robotman, being the only consistant element in all three phases of the book with only the occasional fill-in by Gaspar Saladino or W.H.Pratt (although I suspect 'Atticus Finch', 'Joliet Jake' and 'A. Toscanini' were other Workman aliases).
    Remember, you'll also need the DP/Suicide Squad special, Superman #20, the DP Annual#1 and Invasion! to complete those stories. You may also want to dig up the Phantom Stranger and Power Girl mini-series for background reading.
    Have fun!

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  4. I really enjoyed this issue from start to finish. I have never read the Doom Patrol in any form save for guest spots prior to this, and I felt that Giffen did a great job of introducing the team to me without just doing a big ole infodump. I am really, really suspicious of the Chief, but I think that is the point, yes?

    Metal Men was hilarious. The "come hither" look Platinum is sporting on Doc's bed made me literally laugh out loud.

    VERY MUCH looking forward to the continuing installments of this very quirky, very cool, and very entertaining title.

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