The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in American comic books by DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963),[1] and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appeared in different incarnations in multiple comics, and have been adapted to other media. The series' creator has suspected that Marvel Comics copied the basic concept to create the X-Men, which debuted a few months later.
Doom Patrol is a group of super-powered misfits whose "gifts" caused them alienation and trauma. Dubbed the "world's strangest heroes" by editor Murray Boltinoff,[2] the original team included the Chief (Niles Caulder), Robotman (Cliff Steele), Elasti-Girl (Rita Farr), and Negative Man (Larry Trainor); Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) and Mento (Steve Dayton) joined soon after. The team remained the featured characters of My Greatest Adventure, which was re-titled Doom Patrol as of issue #86 (March 1964). The original series was canceled in 1968 when Drake killed the team off in issue #121, last of that series, (September–October 1968). The team did not return until 1987, after writer Paul Kupperberg killed most of the new team during the Invasion! event. Beginning with issue #19 of the second volume of Doom Patrol, Scottish comic writer Grant Morrison transformed the title into a much more surreal and bizarre story that explored topics of mental health, gender identity, and sexual discovery in an abstract manner. Morrison's run garnered critical acclaim, and the mature themes of their stories led to the comic being integrated into Vertigo Comics.
Publication history
My Greatest Adventure: Doom Patrol (volume 1)
Doom Patrol first appeared in 1963, when the DC title My Greatest Adventure, an adventure anthology, was being converted to a superhero format. The task, assigned to writer Arnold Drake, was to create a team that fit both of these formats. With fellow writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, he created Doom Patrol, a team of super-powered misfits who were regarded as freaks by the world at large.[1] According to Drake, editor Murray Boltinoff told him My Greatest Adventure was in danger of cancellation and he wanted him to create a new feature which might save it.[2] Boltinoff was enthusiastic about Drake's initial pitch with Elasti-Girl and Automaton (changed to Robotman by the team's third appearance, issue #82), but Drake wanted a third character and enlisted Haney's help in coming up with Negative Man.[2] The team was initially announced as "The Legion of the Strange".[3]
Enemies
The Doom Patrol faces a diverse array of foes. Each one is listed in alphabetical order with issue and date of their first appearance:
Central rogues' gallery
Foes of lesser renown
Other versions
Tangent Comics
An alternate universe iteration of the Doom Patrol from Earth-9 appear in a self-titled Tangent Comics one-shot, consisting of Doomsday, Star Sapphire, Firehawk, and Rampage. This version of the group come from the year 2030.
Just Imagine...
An alternate universe iteration of the Doom Patrol appear in Just Imagine..., consisting of Brock Smith / Blockbuster, Lucinda Radama / Parasite, and Deke Durgan / Deathstroke. This version of the group are death row inmates who serve under Reverend Dominic Darrk and his son Adam.[50]
Collected editions
My Greatest Adventure/Volume 1
Drake and Premiani's run is available as:
Issues #122–124 of Doom Patrol are reprinted material.
Volume 2
Volume 4
Volume 5
The Keith Giffen written Doom Patrol has been collected in the following trades:
A third collection, titled Fire Away containing issues #14–22, was originally scheduled but never released.
Volume 6
The sixth volume of Doom Patrol, written by Gerard Way, was published under DC's Young Animal Imprint, headed by Way.
Volume 7
In other media
Television
- The Doom Patrol appear in the Teen Titans episode "Homecoming", consisting of Mento, Negative Man, Robotman, and Elasti-Girl. Additionally, Beast Boy was also a member of the team before he left and eventually joined the Teen Titans.[51]
- The original Doom Patrol appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Last Patrol!", consisting of the Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman. This version of the team operated years prior until they failed to save a hostage amidst General Zahl's invasion of Paris and disbanded. In the present, Batman helps the Doom Patrol come out of retirement when Zahl forms an alliance with the rest of the Doom Patrol's enemies to seek revenge. While Batman defeats Zahl and his alliance, the Doom Patrol sacrifice themselves to save the town of Codsville, whose residents rename their town to "Four Heroes" in their memory.
- The original Doom Patrol appear in a self-titled segment of DC Nation Shorts, consisting of the Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman.
See also
- List of Doom Patrol members
- X-Men
External links
- Doom Patrol at the DC Database Project
- Doom Patrol at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016.
- Waiting For Doom fan made podcast, reviewing all issues of the Doom Patrol
References
- Scott Beatty. The DC Comics Encyclopedia Dorling Kindersley, 2008^
- Michael Browning. The Doom Patrol Interviews: Arnold Drake Back Issue!, TwoMorrows Publishing, July 2013^
- My Greatest Adventure letters column in #79, May 1963, "Announcement to our Readers: The next issue... will be devoted entirely to a full-length, three-part action-packed blockbuster... a new unique team called "The Legion of the Strange"...^