The 60s series Challengers of the Unknown and
the Doom Patrol are often mentioned in tandem. Both series started about the
same time as well as ended just before the dawn of the 70s. Also, both series
saw a revival at about the same time in 1977 and again in the 80s and 90s,
though the Doom Patrol had more success as a long term series (thanks to the
genius of a Scotsman named Grant Morrison.)
What I read were
the first couple of dozen issues of the Doom Patrol. From their first
appearance in My Greatest Adventure #80 to the series being retitled The Doom
Patrol about 5 issues later, this series is about a group of self-proclaimed “freaks.”
These freaks include a woman who can grow and shrink in size and strength, a
human brain encapsulated into a giant robot, and a mysteriously mummy wrapped
man who houses a radioactive entity called Negative Man. The team lives in a
super deluxe mansion where they conduct training drills in a “War Room” and are
led by a wheelchair bound genius named “The Chief.” (Hmmm, this sounds a lot
like a bunch of mutants in upstate New York, but the Doom Patrol beat the X-Men
to newsstands by just a couple of months.)
There’s another
similarity to a famous Marvel group- the Fantastic Four. The Doom Patrol has a
pogo-type rocket plane in which they fly off on their worldwide adventures and
they fight amongst themselves like wet cats and dogs. Yet, when the chips are
down, they know that they are family that can achieve wonders when teamwork is
involved. (This time, Marvel won, as their formula for a dysfunctional family
of oddities was almost 2 years old when the Doom Patrol first appeared.)
For a 1960s
non-Marvel comic, the Doom Patrol is pretty good. They’ve got a Rogue’s gallery
that’s even kookier than them and many of these stories are not dumbed down. I
think DC really tried to aim this title to adults. It only took about 30 years
for a much more R-rated DP to find its audience.
But, back to the
1960s. This series sees the first appearances of one Garfield Logan, AKA Beast
Boy, later of Teen Titan fame. There’s also an oddly helmeted super hero named
Mento, who later will became an enemy of the Titans. The DP also fights several
villains such as Monsieur Mallah and his boss, The Brain, who’ll eventually
become thorns in the side of those pesky Teen Titans. If you want a glimpse of
the early days of the Teen Titans, this is the book for you!
Before I give my
final verdict on this book, I want to come back to the Challengers of the
Unknown. In the final issue of this book, the Doom Patrol intercepts a message
from the Challengers, requesting their assistance for some unknown reason. The
issue ends with a blurb telling the reader to check out next month’s issue of
Challengers and then the following issue of Doom Patrol to learn what happens.
I so very hate it when books require another title to complete a story. That
ticked me off a little bit here.
Thankfully, I want volume 2 really bad. But,
I have no idea if that book will have the needed Challengers title as a
companion piece in it or not. I currently own Showcase Presents: Challengers of
the Unknown, volumes 1 and 2. Having read them, I don’t remember a Doom Patrol
team-up. So, I really don’t have a clue if the next volume of Doom Patrol will
have the complete story. Also, as of this point, I don’t know what issue of
Challengers to look for as DC neglected to put that info in their caption. Much
research might be needed.
Worth Consuming,
but with an irksome pet peeve at the end.
Rating: 9 out of
10 stars.
