DC COMICS
WRITER: John Byrne
ARTISTS: John Byrne, Doug Hazlewood
COVER: John Byrne
This is a reboot of the original Doom Patrol, discarding years of continuity, stretching back to the 1960s, and starting completely from scratch. Ironically, the story reads like one of the better team titles of the 1960s. New characters are introduced, get a chance to show off their powers, the heroes slug it out with some supervilllains, big-name heroes appear in a guest-star role, all capped off by a seeming cliffhanger-- oh, and there is a gorilla in the story too. In contrast to all the slow-moving first issues out there, Byrne starts off with an action-packed opener that tries to wrap up some loose ends from the "Tenth Circle" story arc over in the pages of JLA. The Tenth Circle vampires come back for a rematch, this time inhabiting the bodies of some supervillains.
The old Patrol regulars, Robotman, Larry and Rita get the best scenes in this tale as they show off their abilities against their opponents. Byrne's new creations, Nudge, Vortex and Grunt still haven't been fleshed out yet. But at least they aren't as irritating as they were in the pages of JLA. Byrne's dialogue still needs work. His clever 'quips' often fall flat and some of the characters are too talky but at least Byrne, in the best Silver Age tradition, isn't afraid to have his characters explain the action of the story rather than leaving it up the reader to guess what is happening (like so many of new writers.)
The art also has a dynamism about it that keeps the story moving forward and makes the action easily comprehensible. This is crucial in this issue since Byrne resorts to using flashbacks, flashforwards and shifts in the viewpoint of the story. As a writer, he does not do these transitions too well and his art saves him in this regard. One thing that is really lacking is the sense that these heroes and their adventures are truly "different"-- even compared to other superheroes. Drake, Morrison, Pollack and Arcudi all made this a central theme of their runs on the Patrol so that the title always stood out from the crowd. But so far, this latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol looks like another super-team book. A solidly-written one perhaps, but not so different from all the other teams on the stands.
By the way, was it really necessary to give Robotman metallic butt cheeks?
