MC in the Motor City!

Quick post for today. Looking into the future a bit, past the snow and ice, mid-May always brings the Motor City Comic Con to Novi, Michigan. Novi, for those of you non-Michiganders, is roughly a half hour outside of Detroit. The con itself has trended towards pop culture more than comics in recent years, but this year sees a MAJOR upswing back into the world of comic books. Why's that you ask? 

Well, some guy named Stan Lee's going to be there. And another fella named George Pérez. Rafael Albuquerque and Mike McKone are also on the guest list, but the one comic creator I'm most eager to meet is Doom Patrol volume 5 artist Matthew Clark! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to finally have a chance to meet Matthew. He's been über-generous with his time for this blog and his reinterpretations of the DP are definitive in my mind. I'm happy to have a chance to finally shake his hand and thank him. In May. Just a few more months to go. 

Hopefully by then we'll see more DP in the DC Universe, but I'm not going to hold my breath. No sir. Instead I'm going to keep reading my Doom Patrol back issues and breathe easy knowing that I don't have to go too far from home to find a great array of comic book creators this coming con season. 

For those of you thinking about coming to Novi that weekend, the Detroit Tigers aren't at home, so you'll have plenty of time to focus on the comic con without feeling like you're missing something. Here's a link to the comic guest list for the con. 

Negative Monday 39

It's Monday. Time to get negative. 

Art by Tan Eng Huat

Gal Friday 01

As mentioned earlier and as is my prerogative for My Greatest Adventure 80, I've rebooted the Girl Fridays to Gal Fridays and extended their reach beyond solely focusing on appearances of Rita Farr. Sure, Rita will make appearances here, but not right now. 

Today's Gal Friday is a double-feature: Fever and Freak. 

In this panel, the final page of Doom Patrol #1 (volume 3) by John Arcudi with art by Tan Eng Huat, colors from Dave Stweart and letters from Bob Lappan, the team strikes a pose and forgets to stand in front of anything remotely resembling a background. Kid Slick and Fast Forward round out the team under Robotman's supervision. 

Added for 2013

I haven't done this in the past, but I've threatened to do so. In 2013, I plan to review, as I do for Comic Book Resources, a run of Doom Patrol. I've been wanting to unlax my poor little brain from so much of today's comics by reading (or re-reading) some DP adventures, but just haven't been able to fit it in. 

So I hemmed and I hawed. I really wanted to take a swing at John Byrne's 2004-2005 volume (Volume 4 as it were), but the fine fellows at Doom Podtrol are doing a very good job with that series. Alternatively, they're tackling the Morrison issues of the second volume of Doom Patrol with episodes in between their Byrne musings. Scott and Murray have also hit the highlights for the last, pre-New 52 volume as well as the original series, so that really only leaves the John Arcudi and Tan Eng Huat collection. 

That said, beginning Thursday, January 10, I'll be reviewing the entire run, one issue at a time. During the week I'll post panels from that book resurrecting Negative Mondays and Gal Fridays (formerly known as Elasti-Girl Fridays) and using DC's philosophy of selectively re-numbering continuity. 

Fridays following the post will include a panel featuring one of the DP's female characters, but Monday before will feature someone being in the issue coming up. So there you go: Negative Mondays and Gal Fridays return in 2013. See y'all on Monday! 

I promise not to be brutal with the reviews, Cliff! 

New Year, New Post, New 52

I'm not sure how long DC can call the rebooted DC Universe line "The New 52," but for sake of clarification, I'll play along. For now. 

I'll fully admit, I have no clue whatsoever if the Doom Patrol ever existed in this post-Flashpoint world. I seriously doubt it, since there really is no concrete evidence of Larry Trainor or Rita Farr, at least not that I've seen. I mean maybe Larry flew with Hal Jordan still if that one issue of Green Lantern is still in canon, but DC has some powerfully selective memories for what still holds true and what doesn't. 

So we'll move on. 

Danny the Street has appeared in Teen Titans. I haven't been getting that book, but there is a nice little story here on Comics Worth Reading. I'm certain this cannot possibly be as creative as the original Danny concept or even Giffen's re-imagining of the character as Danny the Brick. 

Niles Caulder is a recurring character in Ravagers, a title which also stars one-time Doom Patroller Beast Boy. Admittedly, I haven't given this title much attention or money as every issue I've sampled of it woefully disappoints. Furthermore, neither character seems to have much resemblance to their previous incarnations. Caulder is still a scientist, but ambulatory and affiliated with other characters, like Fairchild and Superboy. Beast Boy is red now, a visual cue that he is connected to the same mystical source of animal-based power used by Animal Man. 

Unfortunately, I personally find Ravagers to be an awful comic book from concept to execution, and cannot justify shelling out three bucks a month for something that may or may not (smart money is on "not") pan out to be Doom Patrol-related. It is, however, the strongest chance we have to see more Doom Patrollers, so if anyone else is more tolerant of the title than I am, please share your discoveries. 

Cliff Steele appears in My Greatest Adventure along with Maddy Rouge. I'll get more in depth on the adventures of Cliff Steele in that comic book very soon. 

Finally, re-imagined members of the Brotherhood have popped up in the pages of Blue Beetle. That Brotherhood included an unnamed employer, Phobia, Warp, Plasmus and a character that seems to be part Mallah, part Brain in the form of Silverback. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever get a Silverback action figure, but take a gander down below and let your imagination wander. 

Drawn by Ig Guara, inked by J. P. Mayer and colored by Pete Pantazis

Those are the post-reboot appearances I have figured out (with confirmation and collaboration from folks far and wide across the interwebs, but notably the gentlemen on Doom Podtrol and my fellow CBR reviewer, Greg McElhatton). 


Sorry I've been so intermittent throughout 2012, my friends. Life gets busy when you're raising three kids with various activities throughout the year, changing jobs and reviewing at least six comic books every week on the side. Excuses? Nah. Just facts. I'm not a master at time management, but by golly, I'm learning how to squeeze in as much as possible into the time I have available. 

Getting the Lead Out Part 1

[Editor's note: this post has been waiting. . .waiting. . .waiting to be be posted. I've preserved the integrity of the post as I typed it, but please be aware that new developments are already in the works and/or complete]

Some of you folks might be aware of the Eaglemoss line of lead figurines. I first happened across these things somewhere around 2006. I had seen a few of the figurines at comic shops, but hadn't bother to  purchase any.

At this time they were only producing Marvel characters under the brand Classic Marvel Figurine Collection. The first one I bought was the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing.

From there I bought Spider-Man. Then I vowed to get the Champions, my favorite Marvel hero team from my youth. Except I couldn't pass up Captain America. It would be. . . well, un-American! So I bought Cap and then decided to fill out the ranks with the characters from Avengers Forever - the core team. Except Iron Man looked really cool and so did Falcon. Eventually, I just decided to get whatever characters I wanted and could afford.

Each of the lead figurines comes with a magazine. The Marvel ones have a timeline across the bottom that  offer up recommended critical issues for that character, while the DC magazines tend to be a little slimmer and not as informative overall.

The prices vary depending on where and when you buy the figurines and a subscription model is available in the UK.

What does all of this have to do with the Doom Patrol? I'm glad you asked.

Eaglemoss has since produced a line of DC figurines under the brand of DC Comics Super Hero Collection. They've already produced a few Doom Patrol-related characters, with the core trio of Doom Patrollers set to release in the calendar year of 2012. I'll be taking some time over the course of the next week (or two) to talk about these figurines and their accompanying magazines a bit. I'm going to start with the ones that have already been released. From the image below, can you guess where I'm starting?

Cosplaying Some Doom at DragonCon

The ever-lovin' Irredeemable Shag recently returned from DragonCon with a veritable boatload of images of the cosplyers he found down in Atlanta. Among the notables are Rita Farr and Cliff Steele as shown below.

I've been to a few cons and I've even covered costume parades for a certain comics news site, but I do not ever recall seeing any Doom Patrollers. Seems to me Negative Man wouldn't be too bad a choice for a con costume.

Shag has shared the love with a plethora of other websites, some of which are listed right here: 

Aquaman @ The Aquaman Shrine

The Atom @ Power of the Atom

Booster Gold @ Boosterrific

DC Cosplay Obscura @ DC Bloodlines

Doctor Fate @ Tower of Fate

Firestorm @ Firestorm Fan

Flash @ Speed Force

Hawkman/Hawkgirl @ Being Carter Hall

Martian Manhunter @ The Idol-Head of Diabolu

The Vixen and Zatanna @ Justice League Detroit

Wonder Woman @ Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman

Check out those other sites and come on back to MGA80 soon.