The Doomed and the Damned #1

I am a huge fan of crossovers. My collection is full of titles that generally pits a well known superhero like Spider-Man or Batman with an assortment of pals ranging from A-list allies such as The Human Torch to B-listers such as Plastic Man to never-rans like the one-time Avenge,r Jack of Hearts. It was always a treat when a villain was paired up with a do-gooder, as those tales were often unpredictable. 

This year, DC Comics gave us 2 Halloween themed specials. I never got around to the Swamp Thing book. (I guess I have that to look forward to next year.) But I could not wait to get my hands on The Doomed and the Damned. 

This volume features 10 spine-tingling tales featuring some unbelievable team-ups. Green Lantern learns a lesson in facing personal demons when the rhyming Etrigan appears looking for the same criminal. Man-Bat and Madame Xanadu investigate a literal ghost story with a twist. The Frankenstein/Aquaman trip to the Moon was far-out and I enjoyed the Superman/Swamp Thing mystery but that one seemed to leave out some important details that left me wondering who really was the narrator of that tale…

The final story had the despot of Apokolips, Darkseid seeking solace in a Gotham City speakeasy only to be shamed by some social justice warriors into a drinking contest with some guy named Baytor. It’s needless to ask just what Darkseid is doing in a bar in Batman’s back yard. This story was insane. I liked it. But I was also surprised that it saw print. 

The tale was written by Garth Ennis, whom has become the target of a number of sexual harassment accusations from young women who sought the Preacher creator as a mentor and might have gotten hit on in return. Truly, I am shocked that there was not a fire storm of protests from the social media populace demanding the removal of the Ennis story from this collection. Especially since Ennis skewers the SJWs in their over-the-top needling of Darkseid. 

I felt that the Batman story wasn’t a true team-up. He helps an orphan boy who believes that his brother was kidnapped by a demon hiding in the orphanages’ lavatory. Then there’s the Wonder Woman adventure with Raven. The implications of that story. Was it canon? Because if so, Princess Diana is going to have a DEVIL of a time in future issues of Wonder Woman and probably even Justice League Dark. 

I was really confused by the semantics of the last story. It was written fairly well in terms of the plot. But I guess I am just too old nowadays to understand the nomenclature of gender/ non gender pronouns without a road map. 

The characters of Klarion the Witch Boy and his adversary Beast Boy keep referring to Klarion's cat Teekl as 'they'. And I kept thinking that I was missing something because only 1 character had kidnapped the Teen Titan Raven. Being a magical creature, I was thinking maybe Teekl is actually two characters fused together. Plus in previous stories, the cat has always been referred to as a boy. But that's apparently not the case in 2020 comics.

It seems that Kirby originally made Teekl a girl. But sometime in the 90s, Grant Morrison changed Teekl over to being a male. I'm guessing that writer of this story decided to end the confusion once and for all using the non-binary they/them to describe Teekl.

I support those wanting to use non-binary pronouns instead of he/she. But I also support good grammar. I was always taught that THEY was plural, meaning more than one. I know that I will never have the impact to change this. But I think to avoid confusion, those who are non-binary might consider the use of THY or THOU. Using THEM is okay as it can be grammatically correct for the most part. But using THEY for just 1 person doesn't sound right in terms of syntax. But maybe that's just me getting old…

Despite feeling (and possibly showing) my age, I enjoyed this book. It’s been a couple of days since I read this book to now writing up my review. And it’s probably best I did as I feel that my rating on this book has improved over time. (Except with that Wonder Woman story. That just really feels unforgivable in so many ways.) 

A chilling collection of classic crossovers with modern day advancements. They may not all make sense to me, a traditionalist comic book collector in his 40s, but they made for a fun read this pandemic ridden Halloween season.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.