Giant Box of Television: Roots of the Doom Patrol

With Season 2 of the best goddamned superhero television series of all time underway (hyperbolic, ain't I?), I thought it would be interesting to have a look at some of the specific comics that have inspired moments, or stories, in the show. I'll stick mostly to the first season, though the already pretty great (though not as great as the first season?) second season might pop up a bit. Most of these early comics are first appearances of characters who have popped up on the show. Adapted storylines are pretty much all from Morrison's run on the title, which I'll cover in the next installment.

I'm going to do this chronologically. We begin in 1963...

This has to come first, of course. The first appearance of Negative Man, Elasti-Girl, The Chief, and Automaton. Who becomes Robotman hereafter. I'm assuming that Automaton was chosen because there was already a Robotman in the DCU (such as it was at the time). I actually think I might like Automaton better, but here we are. We're given their back stories, except the Chief, and introduced to General Immortus, Niles' impetus for searching for an immortality serum in this iteration of the team. You'll note that whatever the substance was that Niles used on Rita, it was named for Immortus.

The first issue after the title switches to The Doom Patrol features a team referred to in the series but never seen, The Brotherhood of Evil. What's significant about this issue is it marks the first, and only, appearance of Mr. Morden, our erstwhile antagonist, and Rog, the giant red robot that makes such an explosive appearance in the final episode of Season 1.

Though he's not featured on the cover, this issue marks the first appearance of Steve Dayton, the superhero known as Mento. Let me be blunt: Steve Dayton in the comics is a piece of garbage. He ends up marrying Rita, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Steve is given a much nicer treatment in the show.
Seriously. He's such a dick in the comics.

A little hop into Season 2 with the first, and one of only a few, appearance of Dr. Tyme. A more sinister version than the roller-skating madman that we met recently on TV, Dr. Tyme also shows up in the Keith Giffen-scripted version of the show as one of the mad scientists inhabiting Oolong Island.

The Doom Patrol from the television series, though based in the 1950s, took a good deal of inspiration from this version of the team that debuted in the 1970s. You could probably tell that from Tempest's collar in the picture. This marks the first appearances of both Arani Desai and Josh Clay, who are resident and doctor, respectively, at the rest home Niles sets up for the Doom Patrol. In that episode, Larry asks Josh if they know each other, and asks about military service. In the comics, it is revealed that Josh deserted his unit in Vietnam after his powers manifested. He's been on the run as a deserter for years.

The other member of the television Doom Patrol, Rhea Jones, or Lodestone, made her first appearance in the 1980s version of the team, as a younger member brought in by Arani. The problem with this run on the team is that it tries too hard to be a normal superhero comic. The Doom Patrol has never been normal.

One more for today, and my last comic before we hit Grant Morrison's run, which has provided most of the inspiration for the show. This issue marks the first appearance of Dorothy Spinner, the ape-faced girl. In this version of the series, Dorothy has no relation to Niles, and, at this point, no superpowers. She's from Kansas, and her farm happens to be at the center of a battle between the Doom Patrol, assisted by Power Girl, and a Lord of Chaos. What I will say about this issue is that, of all of Paul Kupperberg's run on the team, this is the one that I think is the most "Doom Patrol." It's weird, and not afraid to be.

Next time I'll have a look at some issues from Morrison's run. And, depending on what episode 4 of the new season brings, I might have some more comics to add.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1107: Challengers of the Unknown #48, March 1966

Sorry for the break in "season 2" of The Doom Patrol. (I've actually decided I'm going to read a chunk of the series once a year - the breakdown has it as a nine-year process to read up to what is current now!) One of the dearest people I know came for a visit, and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. Hence, some fill-in posts.

But when we last left our intrepid heroes, they'd discovered that someone had killed the Challengers of the Unknown, and ran to their rescue, or revenge. Well, of course, it turns out the Challs were not dead, merely very close to death, thanks to the machinations of the Challenger-Haters (a terrible, terrible, but nicely explanatory villain team name if ever there was one).

I don't know a lot about DC in this era, but I can't imagine that these kinds of crossovers were frequent. More so, that the crossover should last more than one issue - today's story concludes in tomorrow's comic. Even at the top of the cover we're told that this is a "Fantastic First!" And while it may have been a ploy to stifle flagging sales, it's also a moment that is fundamental in the creation of the shared narrative universe that both teams inhabit. Yes, the Justice League cement in their title the idea of a shared world. But it's important for us to see the lower-rank heroes also interacting, also participating in the building of their world. Neither team has the cachet of the JLA, but in some ways their existence down in the dirtier parts of the DCU gives us a better idea of what kind of a world this is.

Apparently one that is attacked by a new alien threat literally 5 or 6 times every month. But let's not dwell on that.

Tomorrow the DP (and now I'm wondering about the New Universe title D.P.7, about a collection of freaks who become heroes) and the Challengers hit the ground running after Multi-Man and his cohorts. Will Cliff and Rocky bicker? Will Rita try to calm everyone down? Find out next time!

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1098: The Doom Patrol #99, November 1965

It's not often, with the exception maybe of the First Issue Specials I have, that I come across old comics featuring the first appearances of characters still in publication. But today's comic has just that - the first appearance of Beast Boy, who goes on to great fame as Changeling of the New Teen Titans. His introduction in this issue is not surprising - the rest of the team are all of an older generation, and not necessarily one that appeals to the kids who are reading comics at the time. The issue also comes out in 1965, just as youth culture, in great part via The Beatles, is making its overwhelming presence known in North America.

So once the battle with Bug Man (another villain who doesn't get the Rebirth treatment) is done, Beast Boy introduces himself to the DP by breaking into their headquarters to prove that he should have a place on the team. I kind of get it, but perhaps you could have tried something less antagonistic, Gar.

Something else that I've discovered in this, and yesterday's, comic is a PSA from the National Social Welfare Agency in the form of a comic that takes up a whole page. These PSAs are short life lessons, about learning, or not going away to camp for the summer. I had a quick look back at My Greatest Adventure #80, and there's one there too. I think I may scan them all and post them as I did the Earth-H ads. As Sidney said, posey (and comics) should educate and delight.

More to come...