Can it possibly be? The Brotherhood and the Doom Patrol working together?!
Actually, this is the result of one of the more realistic moments in any Doom Patrol comic ever: an alien overlord decides to destroy the Earth. In response, the Brotherhood realize that they need to team up with the Patrol because otherwise everyone dies. And, to top it all, the Brotherhood actually sticks to the deal, and doesn't try to undermine the Patrol in some way while also saving the world. It's a nice touch, showing that regardless of the differences they have, both teams have a vested interest in saving the world they inhabit. It's just for very different reasons. This, I think, is a lesson conservatives around the world (and especially the oil-hungry pieces of garbage here in Alberta) could stand to learn. We're all in this together.
What confounds me about this story is that Zarox-13 literally does everything for himself, even though he's ostensibly got an army awakening on his ship. We see his soldiers very briefly at the beginning of the previous issue, and again at the end of this one. And they're useless, very A New Hope Stormtrooper.
As I noted yesterday, the more interesting story is Madame Rouge's story. We get an origin for her this issue, and it seems she is a victim of some evil science. A car accident victim left with two personalities, she is tricked into thinking that a new procedure will remove the evil personality. Of course, she is tricked by the Brain and Mallah, and they erase her kind personality. Or do they? Perhaps it's returning, thanks to her smittenness with the Chief.
Okay - SPOILER time. If you're not familiar with the events of Morrison's run, you should probably stop reading.
This is really a pretty great revelation, especially if we inflect the earlier stories with the events from later comics. And with the Doom Patrol, there's no reason not to. They seem to exist through revisions, maintaining their history despite universal resets. Niles' wonder at the Brain's experiment with Madame Rouge can be read very sinisterly here. The two are linked by a shared history, so it's not a stretch (ha! Madame Rouge humour!) to think that they'd have similar approaches to their experiments. This one looks an awful lot like what Niles does with the original members of the Patrol. He's a difficult character to read in these early stories. Even though there's no hint of the betrayal he perpetuates, he's not the most trustworthy character, despite what the team says.
One last thing: nothing even remotely like that cover happens in this issue. The Brain never commands the Doom Patrol to do anything, and much of the action takes place at a uranium mine. Not entirely sure where this cover image comes from, apart from the brain of Bob Brown, I suppose.
"'Dear reader' -- no, make that 'Greetings fellow swingers--' No!"
No comments:
Post a Comment