Review: World's Finest #2

World's Finest #2 came out this week and was another knockout winner of an issue. This issue, much like the last, feels like a love letter to the DCU. It is just about perfect.

I shouldn't be surprised that writer Mark Waid can capture, almost effortlessly, the voices of these characters. And by placing these stories somewhen in the past (and maybe even somewhere in the continuity of the DCU), he has a sort of carte blanche to go classic with these characters while still infusing some of their more current mores.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the issue is his wonderful characterization of Supergirl. I remember talking to Waid about Kara at a Boston Comic Con back in the day. I mentioned how his Supergirl in the Legion was so different from that time's 'current continuity' of Supergirl, the angst-riddled angry monster in the Loeb and then Kelly issues. It was clear in hearing him talk about picturing her smiling and flying that he and I shared an outlook. 

Here we have Waid doing it again. This Kara is there for her cousin, eager to help, capable and intelligent. Once more so different from the 'current continuity' Kara, the emotionally-devastated, angry monster of Tom King.

Seriously, and probably no surprise, the Supergirl stuff was my favorite part of the issue. But trust me, the rest of the issue is tremendous as you'll see. And it is clear that Waid is going to use our World's Finest duo as a straw to stir around the drink of the whole DCU.

Add to it the unbelievable beauty of Dan Mora's art and you have a winner. Last issue I said I wanted Mora on a Doom Patrol book after seeing his take on the classic team. After this issue, I want to see him on a monthly Supergirl book. His art sings, from the medical drama of the first scene to the brutal flashbacks of Devil Nehza origin, it all just leaps off the page.

Buy this book. 

On to the specifics.

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #1

Batman/Superman World's Finest #1 came out this week, an action packed, nigh perfect comic book which hearkened back to thrilling adventure comics of old. I unabashedly loved this comic. This was like mac and cheese, a comfort food of a comic that made me feel happy. 

The book opens with the pages previewed in Detective Comics #1050 but continues full throttle with an over-sized, no ad book. So I didn't mind paying for those pages again. I wasn't cheated. But I won't review those pages here again. 

Writer Mark Waid does a great job here, flashing back to an early meeting of Batman and Superman as a way to show how they became best friends. And that history does resonate in the latter half of the story so didn't feel gratuitous. But the big win here is the characterization of a young Dick Grayson as Robin. I get the sense that Robin is going to be the straw that stirs the drink. He will be our POV character, the comic relief quipper, and the contrast hero against the megastars of Superman and Batman. I trust Waid to handle the DCU well and he does. He writes the DC that I want to read. It takes place some time in the past and has a classic flavor.

Dan Mora is on art and he just shines here. Mora has a lot to show us here as Waid does a deep dive into the DC Universe already. Poison Ivy. Metallo. The Penguin. The Weaponeers of Qward. The Doom Patrol. The work is crisp and engaging. I hope he stays on this book for a long time. But if he doesn't, please give him a classic Doom Patrol book to pencil. I love his take on the team, one of my favorite properties. 

And I was lucky enough to grab the last copy at my LCS that has the cover by Artgerm which reminded me of one of his early covers on Batgirl #14 . So happy to see Kara and Steph together. Make the poster and t-shirt now DC!

I am going to gush.

On to the book.

Waiting For Doom Podcast: Supergirl and Doom Patrol

While Supergirl is my favorite character, there are plenty of other areas of comics that I absolutely love. The Legion of Super-Heroes has been a part of my comic collecting for almost my entire reading life. A

But another team I adore is the Doom Patrol. I have been dabbling in the Patrol in almost all their incarnations (sorry, no Byrne Patrol for me).

As a fan, I love the Waiting For Doom podcast, a show hosted by Paul and Mike and covering all of the Patrol, from the original Drake/Premiani stuff to the present. It is a show that I look forward to listening to each week. You should listen to it too! Here is the link: http://waitingfordoom.podbean.com/e/episode-39-waiting-for-supergirl-with-dr-anj/

This week, I was a guest on the show! The hosts asked me to come on to talk about the times Supergirl and the Doom Patrol teamed up and I was more than happy to join them. Hope you guys like the discussion.

I figured I would post some panels and briefly bullet review the stories for those who can't listen to the show.

It is an odd team-up. Maybe a team-up in name only. Because even though the story runs in three issues of Superman Family, 191-193, Supergirl and the Patrol only meet up in the last pages of the last issue.

The story starts with Supergirl investigating the odd death of a scientist in Florida, where she resided at the time.

Meanwhile, the Patrol happens to be vacationing in London when gravity goes haywire there, with earthquakes and tremors shaking the town apart.

In an almost scripted call to action, the Patrol sheds their civilian clothes to help the citizens.

Meanwhile, the scientist from Florida, someone name Clement seemed to had died in an experiment at his house, emerges as an enraged villain calling himself The Graviton Man!  When Supergirl arrives he attacks and gravity suddenly goes insane with everyone and everything floating into space.

Clement keeps talking about someone named Tain, someone he needs to get revenge on.

In the next issue, Clement takes off to Europe to find Tain. Meanwhile, Supergirl has to anchor everyone in Florida to the ground.

But that is just the beginning. Atmosphere will be ripped away from the world as well.

Meanwhile in Europe, the man named Tain has emerged and he also is in gravity powered armor.

We then get a long long monologue by Tain where he explains that Tain and Clement are related. But their family split in Colonial times. Clement stayed in American and flourished. Tain stayed in England and lost everything. However, oddly enough, now both of the surviving relatives happened to work in gravity experimentation. Now they can kill each other.

This seemed like an overly detailed history for two guys you know would never be heard from again.

Supergirl arrives to Europe and the two dueling cousins decide to eliminate Supergirl together before finishing their fight. Over the ocean they do foolish things like throwing the Titanic and a shark at the Maid of Might.

Eventually, they do get the upper hand, hammering Kara with the gravity energy directly.

Meanwhile, the Patrol, still in London, have discovered Tain's lab. They can shut down Tain's power from there. But they see on a giant monitor that Supergirl is getting crushed. Cliff sends Val and Joshua to aid Supergirl while he and Celsius shut down the gravity power there.

Over the ocean, Josh blasts Clement's armor to bits eliminating his threat.

Just like that, everything is normal.

I suppose there is some unseen introductions. But basically the team up of the whole Patrol and Supergirl is this last panel where Supergirl says goodbye.

I find it odd that the gravity villains are marched through town naked. Weird.

And yes, that blob of energy was pulling the strings all along. We know that blob is eventually revealed to be Lesla Lar!

The Daring New Adventures issues 8 and 9 are also covered on the show. This was a more classic crossover and also was the first appearance of Reactron!

I have covered those issues here and here.

Please listen to the show and give it some feedback. I love the Patrol and this show is the place for Doom Patrol fans to go!

Tuesday Musings

Okay, I will pause from Supergirl show news for a day to get back to comics.

It was something of a slow comic week for me with only 2 issues in my pull file. With a few extra bucks in my hand, I decided to make a couple of impulse buys. And, as is often the case, luck was with me as many had a Supergirl moment for me to ponder. So I figured I would share my musings.

First up is Scooby Doo Team Up #9, a fun little issue where the Scooby Gang have to foil the plans of the Prankster while trying to rein in a Red Kryptonite enraged Superman.

Writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela already gave us a great issue teaming up the Mystery Machine and the Superfriend in Team Up #6 in a story that included 'Rupergirl'!  So I figured I should grab the issue and have some fun and then play it forward to a younger reader.

We don't get Supergirl in this issue but at least she is name-dropped.

The Scooby Gang uses Jimmy's signal watch to try to bring Supergirl to Metropolis. But she doesn't respond. Instead Krypto arrives.

Things get even crazier as they try to stop both the monstrous Superman and the Prankster. At one point, Shaggy drinks the Elastic Lad serum and Scooby gets powers.

While there weren't many new books for me to buy, the dollar box was plentiful. I was in the midst of a 'nearly only Vertigo' period in my comic collecting so I wasn't getting Superman on a monthly basis. So this issue, Superman #20, was missed. There is was in the dollar box!

As I have said, I liked Byrne's reboot if only because it breathed new life into the mythos, a way to reimagine and meet these characters again. Plus, there is the Doom Patrol!

But then I got this treat! The Matrix Supergirl!!

We first met her back in Superman #16, buried under the ice.

Here she is in Smallville, living with Lana. We knew almost nothing about her at this time. She was sort of a blank slate. But here she is, in that red skirt costume I love, hoisting a tractor.

The sight of Ma and Pa Kent is shocking to her. She says they are dead. She talks about Lex. And then she goes catatonic.

Next issue began the incredible important Supergirl Saga, redefining Supergirl and having Superman execute the Phantom Zone villains of the pocket universe. That story sets up Superman's exile into space and opened up a whole other year's worth of stories.

I am sooo happy I bought this. I love Byrne's art in this time period and Matrix is perfect!

This is my favorite version of Supergirl's costume ... similar to the upcoming show's costume!

Now this issue I know I did own at one point but it had become lost!

So I was so happy to find another copy of Secret Origins Annual #1, another John Byrne/Doom Patrol issue!

In case you can't tell, I love the Patrol. So this issue, the prequel to the rebooted comic by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Lightle, is a great primer on the team.

So what is the Supergirl connection here?

Well, this was only 18 months after the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The history of the DC universe was still in flux. What was in? What was out? How do you rewrite things when key characters ... like Supergirl ... no longer existed. Ever.

Well, it means that the prior Supergirl/Doom Patrol crossover, the adventure when they fight Reactron together, is now a Power Girl/Doom Patrol crossover. This was just months after Power Girl's origin was rewritten as Arion's descendant.

But this just reminds me that there was a time when Supergirl simply didn't exist. Her adventures were recast or erased. And that seems so foreign now in a world where she has had hit books and a television show in production.

Anyways ... those are my Tuesday musings.

Psi Sighting 3: Doom Patrol/Suicide Squad Special #1

I just finished my look back at times 'Supergirl met Supergirl', a long box review from all the ages of Supergirl.

At the same time, because of her reappearance in Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S., I also have been looking back at Supergirl villain Psi. Her biggest appearance was in the first three issues of Daring New Adventures of Supergirl (reviewed here: http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/search/label/Psi). She did make a couple of appearances after that first battle though, most notably in the comic I am reviewing today -the Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special #1 from way back in 1988.

This is a crazy issue, co-written by  Suicide Squad scribe John Ostrander and Doom Patrol writer Paul Kupperberg with art by then relative-newcomer Erik Larsen. Hawk (of Hawk and Dove) is captured by contras in Nicaragua. The Suicide Squad is called in to rescue him or eliminate him if necessary! And it is Ronald Reagan who sends them!

An anti-Amanda Waller subset of the government would like to beat her group to the punch. One of them is owed a favor by Valentina 'Negative Woman' Vostock. That agent calls in his marker and the Doom Patrol are suddenly on their way to try and rescue Hawk as well.

This is a 45 page slugfest as the teams fight each other, fight contras, and end up fighting the Red Rockets. There is also the usual inter-team squabbling. But this review is supposed to be look at Psi so I will be concentrating on her moments.

The first thing to realize is this isn't the 'classic' Suicide Squad. Ostrander and Kupperberg send in Rick Flagg and the farm team. No Deadshot. No Captain Boomerang. No Bronze Tiger. No Nightshade.

Instead we get The Thinker, The Weasel, Mr. 104, and Psi. I suppose the addition of Mr.104 is a nice twist. He is an old Doom Patrol villain and that adds some fuel to the fire. And the Weasel here seems more like a lycanthrope than a frustrated professor in a suit (which I thought he was).

Anyways, Psi is able to use her powers to scout the area psionically and detects the Doom Patrol is in Nicaragua as well. And she is able to use her powers to mask the Squad's presence. Psi was always a troubled soul in Supergirl. Here we learn that she joined the Squad in hopes of them restoring her memories.

Too bad Nightshade wasn't there. I really like that character!

The Doom Patrol is on the island and it is the main team (at the time): Robotman, Celsius, Tempest, and the Negative Woman. So at least we have some 'big names' in the book.

The two teams work their way closer and closer to the prison; it was inevitable that the two would face off. It is a classic movie moment ... the two teams stealthily working their way through the streets (as stealtily as you can with a Weasel and guys dressed like the Squad is) only to turn the corner and run smack into each other.

Before either team can talk, Mr. 104 leaps to attack the Patrol. And, as is typical in these comics, the two teams of 'heroes' end up brawling. So much for a quiet mission that doesn't cause attention.

Remember Psi was strong enough to take on Supergirl. She also was conflicted in her desire to harm people.

I thought this was a great shot of her blasting Negative Woman, hoping to convince Val to step down rather than get hurt. Psi must be holding back here because she briefly defeated Supergirl with a move like this. Negative Woman shouldn't be able to shrug off that amount of power.

As I said above, the Rocket Red Squadron shows up, hoping to take Hawk back to the USSR and interrogate him. The old rubric 'politics make strange bedfellows' holds true. The Squad and the Patrol have a common enemy and so team up.

In the earlier battle, The Thinker ends up being killed and Rick Flagg throws on his helmet. Like Mento, a suddenly boosted brain makes him addled. He veers to evil and out of control.

As for poor Psi, she never did have great control over her powers or her empathy. With all these super-personalities around her, her mind is overwhelmed.

And that psychic pain means she can't concentrate to use her powers. As she flees the scene, she is blasted from behind by a nameless Rocket Red.

She took on Supergirl. She was immensely powerful. But in the end, she wasn't invulnerable. An energy blast is enough to take her out.

And it kills her!!

Even though they were fighting just a few pages before, Negative Woman goes to Psi to comfort her.

At least in those death throes, Psi suddenly remembers her past. She remembers her name, her parents, her life. Kupperberg gives her decent death scene.

And nice last panel with Val mourning her. But why that Rocket Red is just standing there and not fighting more doesn't make much sense.

Alas, Psi ... we barely knew ye.

And element of the USSR is concerned about this international incident so sends another Russion agent - the Cossack - to get to Hawk. In the meantime, Flagg, mad with Thinker power, ends up killing the Weasel. That act snaps him back to sanity and he removes the helmet. Hawk is freed by the Cossack but ends up in the hands of the Squad. And both teams scurry their separate ways, heading back to the states.

This book is a wild read. It is nearly all fighting with just a smidge of political intrigue mixed in. Everyone fights everybody. The city is left in rubble and three members of the Suicide Squad end up dead! Otherwise, this is a throwaway mission which didn't impact either books long term plans.

I like seeing early works of artists whose style have morphed over time. I am a Doom Patrol fan so I have much of Larsen's work on the title. You can see some of his 'Savage Dragon' sensibilities on the pages here and there.

But the main reason to review this was to showcase Psi and her tragic death. She was never a true villain. She was powerful, but susceptible to people hoping to exploit her. And that trust in others led her to her death.

This isn't an important issue for Supergirl fans ... or really any fans. Even Psi fans. But if you want nonstop action and the occasional death, and you see it in the quarter bin, you should pick it up.

Overall grade: C-

DC Nation Teaser Commercial

Back in October, I posted here about the upcoming DC Nation block coming to the Cartoon Network. It sounded great and included a Supergirl short in Super BFF's with Batgirl and Wonder Girl.

As has been widely reported lots of places, a teaser commercial for the DC Nation block was shown on Cartoon Network during the Green Lantern premiere. Here is the official You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMLdqwMU2OU&feature=related

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any teaser pics for the Super BFF shorts. But there is plenty to digest including some great images of other shorts. Here are some of the things that caught my eye.

Don't blink or you'll miss Supergirl speed by in the early montage of DC's heroes flying in. What got my attention was the use of the "old" DCU Supergirl costume, the Michael Turner design. I can't 100% identify who the artist is here given how quickly it slide by but it 'feels' like Mark Bagley's Supergirl from Justice League.

And she appears on the main DC Nation title shot as well right above the 'T'! Pretty prominent spot for Supergirl given the countless DC characters they could have put on this title sequence. I'm glad the Martian Manhunter is there. And Jade certainly gets a plum position for a little known character.

As I said, there are quick pics of the two ongoing series (Young Justice and Green Lantern) as well as snippets from the upcoming shorts. That includes a Teen Titans Go! style Titans show as well as the announced Doom Patrol. As a Doom Patrol fanatic, it is great to see the negative spirit leaving Larry's body here.

And this mystery pic which isn't a mystery any more.. I read on DC Women Kicking Ass that it is Amethyst and I would be all for a cartoon version of that.

I can't wait to see all this stuff and hope to see some early shots of the BFF shorts.

And I wonder just how they decide who to showcase as a DC Fan. I don't have the star power of a NASCAR racer nor do I star on Big Bang Theory. But I am a lifelong fan! I am part of DC Nation! Put me on the tube!

Sales Review: September 2010

I figured I would start the week off with the depressing stuff. The news on comic sales for the third quarter of 2010 was dismal with sales decreasing by more than 10%. That isn't good news. I suppose that we are in a rough economic time and that simple pleasures, like comics, are usually the first thing to go when people have to tighten their belts.

As always, this news is derived from the excellent ICv2 website including the list of the top 300 books for September. Here is that link: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/18551.html

Supergirl #56 was a middle part of the BizarroGirl storyline and got high marks on the internet.

Unfortunately, sales continued to slip with sales down 3% from August sales.

Now no book did particularly well last month. So slight decreases don't matter to me that much. But the book used to be ranked in the 60s and now is almost in the 80s. This sort of stuff is perplexing as you would think word of mouth and good reviews might make some people pick up the title.

I will be interested to see if we see an upswing in sales with the new creative team.

As for my 'underdog' comics, Doom Patrol and R.E.B.E.L.S., sales remained low and steady (although Doom Patrol slipped a bit).

R.E.B.E.L.S. # 20 actually went up by a few hundred sales which may be a sign that all the new faces on the title each have a small following. Or that enough noise has been made about the book that some folks took a chance. Or that the Finch Lobo cover was very cool.

Doom Patrol unfortunately has slipped about 10% in sales over the last few months. Will DC continue to publish a book with less than 10K in sales? We'll see.

Man, I am starting to dislike these sales reviews.

Review: Doom Patrol #15

Doom Patrol #15 concludes the 2 part story where the Chief is able to obtain Kryptonian powers by experimenting on a prisoner of war from the War of the Supermen.

The fall-out of the War of the Supermen hasn't been touched upon in too many comics outside of Supergirl. It would seem that such a true world war would at least be mentioned here and there. Maybe the brief nature of the war made it easier to forget. At least Doom Patrol touches on it as least tangentially letting us know about the whereabouts of one of the Kryptonians that Superman could not account for when the war ended.

The relationship between the Chief and the Patrol has always been edgy and dysfunctional since the Kupperberg/Lightle reboot so many years ago. It always seems to reach a breaking point where Caulder and the group comes to blows. Last issue we saw that the Chief felt as though his influence over the team was waning and that if he needed to accomplish his goals he would need to do it himself. Grasping the powers of the Kryptonian, he became addled, lashing out at his team and advising them not to try to stop him. Hmmm ... was he protesting too much?

Much like R.E.B.E.L.S., Doom Patrol is a low-selling title that is really high quality. Writer Keith Giffen and artists Matthew Clark and Ron Randall walk the fine-line between mainstream heroics and surreal Vertigo nonsense while keeping the core characters true to their origins. I hope that this title sticks around for a bit longer.

The setting for the book is Oolong Island, the high-tech island nation which formerly housed all the mad scientist super-villains of the DCU. The Chief and the Doom Patrol live on the island and use it as their base of operations, flying from mission to mission.

I always wondered exactly what Oolong got out of the deal. As we know, metahumans like the Patrol tend to be a magnet for disaster. Now I know. Caulder left a clause in the living agreement that in times of danger, the Patrol could be nationalized, becoming a part of Oolong's military defense. Unaware of these details, the Patrol are shocked to find that they have been enlisted to help keep the island safe from the chief.

The Chief has bigger things on his mind than just the island. Suddenly infused with God-like powers, he decided to push the envelope. Sweeping over the world, he gathers all weapons and dumps them in the arctic. Not just nuclear weapons ... not just weapons of mass destruction ... ALL weapons. We see huge piles of missiles, guns, and bombs. It is all very  retro-Superman. How many time have we seen Superman try this stunt (usually just the nuclear warheads). He laughs at how easy it was ... and wonders why anyone with super-speed (Supergirl included) wouldn't do this.

Despite that this may be a cleansing of some sort, the Chief realizes that the super-hero community won't allow it. Most heroes agree that they cannot dictate the ways of humanity, only defend what is decided upon. Knowing that these 'heroes' will only re-distribute the weapons, the Caulder knows he needs to take a few more steps.

Throughout the story, the Chief slips into Kryptonese spouting some hackneyed Superman quotes. Here he slips in a Mighty Mouse reference ... 'Here I come to save the day!'

If the heroes won't act against the will of nations, the Chief goes to the nations themselves to try to keep the weapons where they are. Crashing into the UN, he tells the leaders of the world to not thwart his will. If they do, he will strike back.

He says he is 'the will and the way' in Kryptonian. Smacks a bit of hubris.

Back on Oolong, the Patrol has recovered enough from the Chief's earlier assault to be back in the action.

There is a tense scene on Oolong as the Patrol and the Oolong government try to come to grips with what to do next.

Professor I.Q., a D-list tech-villain living on the island, notices the Kryptonese statements and wonders if the K-transfer not only included powers but fears or psychological trauma as well. Maybe that is why the Chief is acting so erratically.

The Patrol realizes that in many ways the Chief is their responsibility. Gearing up to fight him, Robotman asks President Cale for whatever weapons she has to take down Superman. In a nice bit of continuity, Cliff says he knows the island has such weapons because of Black Adam. Remember, in 52, Black Adam razed Biayla and then flew to Oolong to battle. Oolong was prepared.

Ambush Bug teleports the Chief to the war-torn landscape of Biayla to face off against the group.

Amazingly, Cliff first tries to end this diplomatically, trying to talk him down. But the Chief wants no part of it. He has an agenda and he doesn't need foot soldiers any more.

I love how he says 'Kneel before Caulder' in Kryptonese. Maybe some Kryptonian traits really have sunk in?

When Caulder tries to flee, the heroes do attack.Cliff once again gets beheaded after trying to give the Chief vertigo with sonics. Larry sends the Negative Being into Caulder to try to disrupt his neural pathways only to have his shell body threatened. Rita takes a heat vision blast to the face.

It is clear that the Chief could end this in seconds but seems to be holding back. He begins ranting about the nature of family, how children always rebel and leave the home. In his own weird way, the Chief is telling the Patrol that he loves them. I doubt he would pull punches with any other group. My guess is he would have no problem with immolating the Teen Titans.

 Suddenly the Patrol gets some help from Millicent, the AI computer that the Chief has been using.

She tells the heroes that Caulder is basically insane from stimulus overload. She can help them defeat the Chief if they can keep him nearby.

Larry, picking up the 'jilted father' vibe from Caulder's mad speech, calls Niles' "Dad" stopping him in his tracks. But it is clear that Chief is mad. At first he embraces the Negative Man, then threatens to destroy him, swinging from love to hate and back in seconds. It's funny but this is probably the closest we have seen of the 'real' Chief even if he is insane. All the things we are seeing have been in him even if buried beneath his brusque facade. I think he does love the team as children even if he does send them on suicide missions routinely.

But he is insane.

He feels emotionally abandoned by the team (remember we have seen him watching films of the team talking about how they have begun to hate the chief). He feels he is the groups savior ... their god. In a great panel (I should have posted it), he yells that he created the Patrol in his image (God complex) but the panel shows the scarred visage of Rita. Is that the Chief's self-image? A damaged ugly freak? I love it when words and art mesh in comics.

Finally, the Chief picks up Cliff's head to have a final quarrel. It is hear that we see how the Kryptonian's trauma has effected the Chief. He begins saying how he lost his world and couldn't bear to lose his last friends. Some of his feelings are the Chief's ... but some are this unnamed Kryptonian soldier's.

Luckily, the Chief built in a fail-safe device in Millicent to take himself down if he should ever lose control. With Cliff so close, his optics emit the shut down code, rendering the Chief comatose. It is a bit deus ex machina ... but how interesting that the Chief was self-aware enough to know he might need to be removed some day.

Like Vril Dox, the Chief is a wonderfully layered and not very likable character that I love reading about. He must be fun to write.

Despite all of what has transpired, the Doom Patrol actually defends the Chief, arguing that his madness was more from the Kryptonian influence rather than from within.

Really? Man, there is a whiff of Stockholm Syndrome here ... willing to go to bat for this man who has done so much damage to them. Yes, the Kryptonian definitely had an effect but there was definitely some Caulder in this episode.

But there is one last wonderful twist here. As Caulder's catatonic body is pushed into cold storage, we get to read some of his journal entries. He realizes that the Patrol has begun to hate him, even wondering if he was responsible for their personal disasters (a wink at Morrison's run). 

To stop the Patrol from wallowing in self-loathing, he has been stoking the fire of their hating him. A common enemy would make the team stronger. So ... was all of this ... the weapons, the understated 'fight', the 'shut-down switch' ... just a ruse to help unite his 'children'? Or was their Kryptonian madness? Or was their real madness? Or some melange of all of it? Who can say ... but it sure is fun to think about.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. I thought Grant Morrison made it impossible for me to like any other version of the Doom Patrol but his. Kudos to Keith Giffen for letting me read and enjoy new stories of these characters I love so much. If only DC will keep the title afloat.

I think Matthew Clark and Ron Randall do a good job tag-teaming the art in this issue (as they do each issue). I wonder if it would be possible to have each do alternating complete issues. I'd like to see that.

Overall grade: B+

Review: Doom Patrol #14

 I have sung the praises of the current Doom Patrol title in the past over here. I thought the content of Doom Patrol #14 was just Kryptonian enough to warrant a post and review here.

As a long time fan of the group (especially the Morrison stuff, although the Drake/Premiani stuff stands up), I have suffered through reimaginations and reboots of the team. But none have grabbed me post-Morrison until this version.

Specifically, I think Keith Giffen understands that the Doom Patrol needs a couple of things to work with. They need to have bizarre adventures and there needs to be a sense of fatalism, a sense of impending doom as it were. Giffen has put those things into this book. And rather than shying away from the team's confusing and often contradictory history, he embraces it. How can there have been so many versions of the Negative Man? How can there be so many incarnations of this team? How can all of their stories fit into current DC history? Who knows how? Who cares? This is the Doom Patrol ... that is all the answer you need. Bizarre stuff happens. And that is how Giffen sees it. We see bits of Morrison here, but also Arcudi, and Kupperberg, and even Drake. The Doom Patrol's continuity is a soup. Deal with it!

Oh, one other thing you need from the Doom Patrol ... you need the Chief. And more and more, in more and more versions of the team, the Chief has been portrayed as a master manipulator, convincing people to act as his agents, all while being a boor. He is willing to put anyone on the front line and in peril to achieve his goals. Sounds a little like Vril Dox, doesn't it? I wonder what it says about my personality that I like reading books with these sort of Machiavellian leaders.

But unlike Dox in R.E.B.E.L.S., the Chief doesn't 'stir the drink' here. No, in this book it is the members of the Doom Patrol that I want to read about. I care about these characters. And in this incarnation, the team is the original three - solid Cliff 'Robotman' Steele, crazy Larry 'Negative Man' Trainor, and traumatized Rita 'Elasti-Girl' Farr. Rita just recently learned she is more like Proty than human. While Crazy Jane, Danny the Street, and Bumblebee have all been in the book, the stories have revolved around the inital team members. So while I want to see Dox scheming and victorious in R.E.B.E.L.S., I want to see the Doom Patrol triumph despite the Chief.

Doom Patrol #14 starts with a general recap of recent issues in to form of a Beverly Hillbillies style ditty sung by fourth wall busting Ambush Bug (another erstwhile team member and the obvious comic relief on the team).

Immediately we see how Giffen acknowldges and accepts all that has come before. From Morrison's run, Mr. Nobody (now Mr. Somebody) has possessed Mr. Jost, the benefactor from Arcudi's run.

These recaps are usually best done in issues where I expect there to be an influx of new readers ... an event cross-over, a new art team, a bold new direction. So it seemed strange to see it here. I think the same 11K readers have been with this title the whole way.

The most sympathetic character in the book is Rita. Not only has she learned that she isn't necessarily human but rather a blob of malleable protoplasm in the shape of Rita Farr, resurrected/cloned by the Chief, but she also has learned that her ex-husband Steve Dayton, the telepath Mento, has been using his powers to make Rita perform ... unsavory ... acts. Overwhelmed by the truth of her origins and outraged by these violations by the perverted Dayton, Rita lashes out, nearly killing Mento. Only a timely save by Cliff stops Rita from becoming a murderer.

The issue before this one was a great introspective on the character of Rita and is worth reading.

Watching from afar ... always watching from afar through the hardwired eyes of Cliff ... the Chief replays a recent conversation that the team has had after surviving their fight with Jost's/Somebody's Front Men team.

It is clear how much the members of the team love each other, how despite the chaos in their lives they rely on each other, love each other, rely on each other, look to each other as a foundation upon which to build their lives.

It is charming and natural to see how they have become a family. Thrown together in combat situations, the relationships forged are tremendously strong.

And yet the Chief is put off by this. At one point, he was the thing holding the members' lives together. They needed him. Now with this vocalized loyalty and support to each other, the Doom Patrol doesn't need the Chief. And without his 'minions', the Chief is suddenly powerless. Maybe he is jealous that he is shut out.

The Chief speaks with such for the team, as if their friendship with each other is a burden to him.

Suddenly, without operatives, he needs a new plan. And so we are made privy to just how diabolical the Chief is.

We heard at the end of War of the Supermen that maybe some Kryptonians were unaccounted for. Now we know about one of them. Vivisected, this poor Kryptonian has become a lab rat for Caulder.

This is horrific. Villainous. Evil. Inhuman. Suddenly we are looking at the Chief in a new light ... a terrible light.

The reason for the experimentation is clear. The Chief wants to learn the 'how's' of Kryptonian physiology in hopes of obtaining their power.

Interestingly enough, the Chief's analysis shows no major difference between human and Kryptonian cells. There is no obvious cellular reason why Kryptonian cells should absorb yellow sun rays and become gods.

With no difference in form, there can only be a difference in essence. Yeah, I don't understand it either.

And ironically, Caulder's computer knows what he doesn't. The Chief cannot live in a vacuum. He needs the Doom Patrol.

The look on the Chief's face is priceless when he is called on it. He knows it too ... maybe he doesn't want to admit it, but he knows he needs them. To him, it is probably weakness that he needs them. But that silent panel is great, speaking volumes.

But with only a metaphysical cellular 'essence' standing in his way to co-opt Kryptonian power, the Chief is able to grasp it. He suddenly becomes Super-Chief. The flood of information ... sensations ... now that he has Kryptonian abilities seems too much to comprehend, to process even for a mind like Caulder's.

This read a bit like Morrison's Luthor at the end of All-Star Superman. Lex was bombarded when obtained Superman's capabilities as well. But there, Lex seemed to ascend. Here The Chief descends into madness. It was interesting for me to compare the two responses.

But insane and drunk with power, the Chief lashes out at those he feels have betrayed him.

In short order the Chief immolates Larry, beheads Cliff, and bisects Rita.

Brutal and scary. How the heck did we win a war with 100K of people like this?

The Negative being rushes to a spare Larry-body the Chief has held in stasis. Cliff's head and brain are still operable. Rita has no internal organs but is on the ground. It is amazing that they all survive. But that survival also takes away some of the ability of Giffen to create suspense in the future. If the Doom Patrol can survive this, what can't they survive? What cliffhanger will now leave me hanging, worried about the team?

I suppose the Chief could finish them off but he doesn't. Maybe some of that unrecognized, unacknowledged love for his friends is still in there despite the madness.

An insane Chief with Kryptonian powers is a cool concept. But somehow this felt a little premature for this to play out in the book. It took Grant Morrison over 3 years before he showed Caulder's true colors, showed him to be the villain he was. Here we are only at issue #14. How do you come back from this storyline with the Chief still part of the book? Why would any of the team let him back into their lives? I like the friction between the Chief and the team ... but not like this.

Of course, with poor sales it might be now or never for Giffen. This is a good issue NOW. I'll have to worry about the future of the title later.

And I am enjoying this title. It isn't Morrison's Doom Patrol, a run revered by me. But it is a good version of the Doom Patrol and I can't ask for more than that.

The mixed art of Matthew Clark and Ron Randall is fine here, although Clark's line work is a bit more suited for the warped world of this book. That vivesection scene was gruesome.

Overall grade: B+