The Doom Patrol #19-22
Originally released in 1989
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Richard Case
The Doom Patrol is dead. Again. (This is seemingly something that happens on a regular basis - the former team that's mentioned here is different from the team that was mentioned to have died in The New Teen Titans) Many of its members are dead, comatose, or depowered, with Cliff Steele (a.k.a. Robotman) being the only one who doesn't fall into one of those categories.
Out of the comics that I've read for this blog, this is probably the first one that made me think "I have absolutely no idea what is going on." (Though that's not a bad thing - I was interested to see where all of it was going) It's weird and experimental, and delves into topics that something like Superman or Batman wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. (Then again, maybe Superman and Batman do get involved with problems like this under the pen of Grant Morrison; I haven't read Morrison's stories for those characters)
Robotman seems to be the heart of the team, which likely explains why he keeps surviving when the rest of the team is being killed off. He reminds me of the Thing from the Fantastic Four, albeit a much darker take on the character - both were once human before being turned into something that looks more monstrous at first glance, but Robotman seems like he's just ready to die. He doesn't seem to have the strong support network that Ben has, and he feels like a really tragic character.
Meeting a woman who's mainly known as "Crazy Jane" seems to help somewhat. Jane is a woman with dozens of split personalities with wildly different personalities, skill sets, and in some cases superpowers. (at one point, her head turns into a sun and she starts shooting fireballs at her assailants - this isn't commented on) The two bond over their difficulties about comprehending normalcy - Jane's original self might be somewhere in her mind, but it's competing with 63 "others" for control, while Cliff feels like he's suffering from the concept of a phantom limb (when people with amputated limbs can still feel that limb there), only for his entire body.
Rounding out the team is a fusion of Larry Trainor, the Negative Spirit that had been separated from him, and his doctor Eleanor Poole. The resulting person goes by the name of Rebis, covered in bandages to hold back the radiation and having a mix of male and female physical characteristics. I'm not up to date on gender studies/dynamics by any stretch of the imagination, so I'm not sure what the proper description for Rebis would be, but it was surprising that DC covered concepts like this in the 80's. (there seems to be some transgender elements with the character, with Rebis's response to Robotman calling them "Larry" coming across as being similar to someone responding to being dead-named, though I'm not sure if that was the intention or not)
Throughout these issues, various disconnected and bizarre events occur, including a group called the Scissormen who talk in utter nonsense and seem to "cut" people out of reality. Even the explanation makes little sense, being the result of a work of fiction about a bunch of writers creating a story about an alternate world called Orqwith, and somehow, that city becomes real and begins to bleed into reality. It's strange, but that's arguably the point - the Doom Patrol seemingly specializes in the weird and nonsensical, giving writers and artists freedom to do just about anything.
Morrison's writing here is even stranger than what I expected from Animal Man, and the artwork gives the book a surreal quality whenever elements from Orqwith start to spread. It seems like this book is going to go into some dark places with the three main characters, and it feels like a departure from what I've read of DC so far. It's an interesting introduction to this series, to say the least.
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