Most people heard of the Doom Patrol before Grant Morrison. Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, the team was pretty much DC’s equivalent of Marvel’s X-Men. The original members of the team were the Chief (wheelchair bound), Robotman (survivor of a racing car accident), Negative Man (former test pilot with radiation poisoning) and Elasti-Girl (former actress with stretchy skin, like Plastic Man and the hundreds like them). Like the X-Men, they were seen as “freaks” in their world, mainly due to the strange characters and the enemies they fought. The Doom Patrol battled against bizarre villains, like Animal-Mineral-Vegetable Man and the Brotherhood of Evil, featuring Monsieur Mallah and the Brain. These all might sound like great ideas, but the problem was their title just didn’t sell. To cut things short, they were all killed in Doom Patrol (vol 1) 121. Some years passed and writer Paul Kupperberg relaunched the strange team, but its popularity was still lacking. It was around this time in the late 1980s that Grant Morrison arrived at DC, making a name for himself on Animal Man (vol 1). He was to be the one who could give new life to Doom Patrol… by telling Kupperberg to kill off some of the characters he created. This was made much easier due to the widespread Invasion 1-3 miniseries, resulting in many heroes losing powers, while others gained. This allowed Morrison to begin his time on Doom Patrol (vol 2) with much less baggage, but the main question was: could he save the Doom Patrol?
For the first of six reviews covering Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol (vol 2), I will be reviewing:
Crawling from The Wreckage --- Doom Patrol (vol 2) 19-22
The Butterfly Collector/The House That Jack Built --- Doom Patrol (vol 2) 23-24
Imaginary Friends --- Doom Patrol (vol 2) 25
Doom Patrol (vol 2) 19-25 were published monthly from February to August 1989. They are all written by Morrison, with all art pencilled by Richard Case, along with numerous inkers, predominantly Scott Hanna. I have actually read these stories in their original issues, but the paperback editions are far from hard to get, since DC
have a thing for reprinting the same selection of content over and over again...
Crawling from the Wreckage ---- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case, Carlos Garzon and Scott Hanna
THE STORY
After the events of Invasion (miniseries 1-3), Robotman checks himself into a psychiatric ward. He wakes up screaming after a nightmare about the racing crash, he was involved in, his last moments in his original body of Cliff Steele. After his dream, he loses his temper at his nurse, ordering her to leave him alone. Meanwhile, the Chief (Niles Caulder) phones the nurse of Larry Trainor (Negative Man) to see if he is recovering. Afterwards, the Chief and Joshua Clay (once the hero Tempest) prepare to leave their old headquarters. Although Clay attempts to tell the Chief that the Doom Patrol may now be over, he disagrees as they all have an important part to play in his plans. Meanwhile, Robotman is visited by Will Magnus (creator of the Metal Man and Robotman’s body), who despite trying to cheer him up, Robotman basically tells him to leave as well. At the same time, at hospital, Larry Trainor is visited by Doctor Eleanor Poole, who tells him that in a few days, he will be ready to leave. However, once she leaves, the Negative Spirit from inside of him appears and speaks to him, ordering Larry to open the window. The spirit then demands unity, ordering Larry to grab his hand. He does. Doctor Poole then runs into the room, where the Negative Spirit tells her to grab his hand as well. She does, causing Trainor and Poole to unite with the Negative Spirit, causing fear in the people around them. Meanwhile, Robotman and Magnus walk around, speaking about the Doom Patrol. This causes Robotman to become angry as he now dislikes the Doom Patrol, causing him to slam his head into a wall and breakdown. After some time of self-pity, Magnus becomes frustrated with Robotman, telling him that there are people with worse problems than his. Not believing the claim, Magnus takes Robotman outside into the rain, where a girl named Crazy Jane (also known as Kay) is painting a picture. Magnus tells Robotman that she has over sixty different personalities caused by abuse from her father. Once Magnus leaves, Robotman realises that Jane has got worse problems than he has, before telling her to get out of the rain. Elsewhere, the police notice a car crash, in which the man inside walks out on fire, screaming about The Scissor-Men, before dying and dropping a black book. The police inform government operatives, who then will inform the Pentagon, then the President and ultimately Niles Caulder.
While a priest walks around a junkyard, a fish falls from the sky, followed by a fridge, which falls on him, crushing him to death. Meanwhile, the Chief and Joshua go the hospital, where they find the strange amalgamation of Larry and Eleanor, which emits radiation, causing for he, she, or it, to cover itself in bandages. When the Chief begins to question “Larry”, the amalgamation says that its gender is mixed and that it has named itself Rebis, who then tells the Chief and Joshua to leave. In Scotland, a young boy looks in his wardrobe before vanishing. His father finds just his empty shape, standing as if it were screaming. While the Chief asks Rebis is they would like to join the Doom Patrol, Magnus tells Robotman that he has seen improvement in both him and Jane since the two have become friends. To try and make him feel happier, Magnus then tells Robotman that he is planning to build him a new body, before leaving. Afterwards, Robotman speaks with Jane, in her Driver 8 personality, who is in charge of the mental railways in Jane’s head. While the two speak about Jane’s different personalities, a bloody man falls from a smashed window above, warning them about the Scissor-Men, before dying. Meanwhile in Manhattan, a man on a train is seemingly killed by three Scissor-Men. Later on, Robotman hears Jane chanting something about the blood of a lamb. He finds her covered in blood, before screaming at Robotman, telling him that they are coming. Jane and Robotman then notice the Scissor-Men, before running. After being hunted, the two of them make their way outside, but they notice the blank shapes of motionless people, confusing Robotman. Elsewhere, other strange events occur around the world, such as a girl mysteriously catching fire and a wax figure of John Lennon bleeding from a bullet wound.
Robotman and Jane arrive in Kansas City, but are still being hunted by Scissor-Men, who talk nonsense to each other. After hiding, Robotman and Jane enter the Doom Patrol headquarters, which has been abandoned. Jane then notices a note, saying that the new base is on Rhode Island. About to leave the abandoned base, Robotman and Jane are attacked by Scissor-Men and they can’t find an escape route. Robotman is then shocked when he sees Jane transform into a creature with large claws, who then
rips apart from the Scissor-Men. Jane then returns to normal, explaining to Robot Man that the personality she transformed into was Black Annis. Escaping from the abandoned base in a space craft that the Doom Patrol have, Robot Man and Jane just about get to Rhode Island, where they meet Joshua and the Chief, who explains that their new base is the original Justice League of America’s old base. The Chief then theorises about how the Scissor-Men crisis can be solved. He explains that he was sent the black book by the President and that its text should be deciphered in the next 24-hours. However, Jane explains that one of her personalities has translated the book, despite it just having black pages. Jane then says that the black book is metafiction, meaning that it explains the story of how the book was made by a group of philosophers who wanted to radically alter human thought. The book translates that the philosophers created a city-world known as Orqwith, that exists in a plane of reality which intersects our own. It is an alternative to the world we live in, meaning they outline their entire history in the black book. However, over time, the philosophers destroyed their own creations. The book then describes the religious sect known as the Scissor-Men, who worship the god in between our reality and the Orqwith’s reality. After hearing that, the Chief reveals that, thanks to Rebis, they have a Scissor-Man captured, so the Chief can discover how the deep the Orqwith invasion has been. Robot Man and Joshua are given the task of watching the trapped Scissor-Man, in which they discuss the differences between the two realities. Suddenly, numerous Scissor-Men arrive, causing Joshua to attack them with the powers he still has. Although he destroys nearly all of them, he is defeated by one of them, turning him into another white empty shell of a person. While the Chief is interested about what happened to Joshua, Rebis can sense the Scissor-Men are waiting for them in Orqwith. Therefore, Robot Man, Rebis and Jane decide to enter the other realm.
In the centre of Orqwith stands the Ossuary, where two priests sit. One tells the truth, while the other lies. They await to answer the question that will unravel the world. Elsewhere, Robotman, Rebis and Jane appear. Robotman notices Joshua walking around, but he is like a zombie, ignoring everything. This attracts the attention of the Scissor-Men, causing another of Jane’s personalities, Flit, to teleport the three of them away from Joshua. Meanwhile, the Chief breaks into the home of a man named Reinmann, who tries to run away, but is stopped by the Chief, who shoots him in the leg, before asking him for information about Orqwith, where Robotman, Rebis and Jane are being hunted by Scissor-Men. Using the Negative Spirit, Rebis takes information from the Scissor-Men before he kills them. However, using Jane’s translation personality, the information is revealed, but it is nonsense. This makes Jane realise how they can destroy their enemies. Elsewhere, Reinmann explains to the Chief that the black book was created as a joke, which unintentionally infringed on reality. This caused the Scissor-Men to invade, but as a defence mechanism, Reinmann added a question into Orqwith, which can destroy the world if it is made to confront its own unreality. At the same time, Jane has come to that conclusion and says that they must get into the Ossuary. Despite the large number of Scissor-Men surrounding the Ossuary, Rebis says that he can get in if Robotman and Jane distract the Scissor-Men. They all agree, causing Robotman and Jane to fight the Scissor-Men. While the fight ensues, Rebis enters the Ossuary, where he meets the two priests. Rebis asks the question of why there is something instead of nothing. From this, he works out that the priest in black is the liar since he must know the answer. Rebis then tells the priests that they can’t
possibly exist, causing them to disappear along with all of Orqwith, saving Robotman and Jane from the Scissor-Men. Afterwards, the Chief explains that while all the Orqwith related events have ceased, the world still needs a Doom Patrol. Together, Robotman, Rebis, Jane and Joshua agree, making the Chief happy. Elsewhere in (continued)
hospital, Rhea Jones (former Doom Patrol member Lodestone) is in a coma but is watched by a strange person. Also, in Paraguay, a man named Doctor Bruckner is frightened when he finds that a Herr Niemand has escaped…
MY THOUGHTS
For a story that aimed to get both old and new Doom Patrol readers interested, Crawling from The Wreckage is excellently written. I think the story introduces or reintroduces the main members of the team perfectly. After just reading a few lines of dialogue and seeing what the characters do, they feel so familiar to us and so in-depth. Robotman, or Cliff Steele rather, is a prime example of that. We see him being haunted by the racing crash, causing him to become just a brain in a metal suit. His bitter and angry character reflects his emotions, yet we can easily sympathise with him, arguably making him the best character of the story. I’ll get into the other characters in a bit, but first, the plot. The story to this introductory four-parter is certainly bold and complex, yet somehow quite easy to get to grips with. Although the concept of the Scissor-Men and the Ossuary may be confusing ideas, the story explains them in a very simple way. See, this was back in the day when Morrison used to write confusing stuff and actually explain it, before he thought that everyone could just understand it anyway (like The Invisibles and Final Crisis). Basically, the story is a war between reality and unreality, in which the Doom Patrol succeed when they prove to the world of unreality that it cannot exist. The Scissor-Men are simply the bleed from in between the two realms who invade both. I think it is a very imaginative idea and not really that pretentious, certainly not as much as later Morrison Doom Patrol plots. Overall, the plot is filled with action and interest. There is no scene which feels like a waste. Everything means something and it is constructed flawlessly. The purpose of the story is to simply reunite a battle-worn Doom Patrol and it succeeds. The Doom Patrol exist to fight the strange. If this isn’t strange, then I don’t know what is. Like I said before, this story introduces or reintroduces us to the Doom Patrol. Morrison writes their unique characters brilliantly, since they are all recognisable and concreate characters. Robotman is probably the best character of the story, but most of the others are just as good. For instance, new character Crazy Jane is of huge interest. Her large number of personalities seem endless and due to that, she is never a boring character. Whether it be Driver 8 or Black Annis, they all add so much more mystery to her character. It thinks it’s safe to say that Jane is probably Morrison’s favourite character he created for the run, due to how important she is in latter stories. Rebis is another strange character, mainly for the fact that it is a hybrid of two other characters. This actually makes Rebis into a very interesting character, since we see Robotman and the Chief try to speak to Rebis as if they were still Larry Trainor. However, he isn’t making the character vastly different. This is one of Morrison’s huge strengths on Doom Patrol (vol 2), which is that he can create relatable characters that are strange and unique. This was the problem with Paul Kupperberg’s characters. He created unrelatable characters that were normal and boring. Morrison had the unfortunate burden of having to keep Tempest, or Joshua rather, in the book, so luckily, he is thrown to the back of most stories thankfully. Other than that, the Chief is obviously excellent. Morrison writes him in such a way that makes you think he knows more than he is willing to give up. This aspect of the character is seen much later on in the run, but it shows that Morrison is keen to set up the basics for all these characters. Now, while Reinmann was a creator of the black book, he isn’t really the villain, since the Scissor-Men aren’t in his control and he made it possible for Orqwith to be destroyed. I will say though, the Chief shooting Reinmann is a great moment in the story, displaying that the Chief isn’t as innocent as first thought. No, the real villains are the Scissor-Men, who despite not really killing anyone, since they all come back at the end, seemed like a real scary threat. There is a real sense of mystery behind them and the great thing about them is that we never really get to know much about them, apart from that they are some sort of religious sect. This works as it makes the Scissor-Men feel more mysterious and they really do work as villains. Other than that, there are so many other great moments in the story. Whether it be when Will Magnus speaks to Robotman who cannot bear being a robot anymore, seeing the original JLA base on Rhode Island, or the epilogues to the story which really builds up future plotlines, Crawling from The Wreckage is simply flawless.
The art by Richard Case is very much suited to the more dark, psychological and gritty world of Morrison’s Doom Patrol. Case does tell the story well and some scenes, such as Robotman throwing his head against a wall, are very impactful due to Case's art.
However, the main problem is that I don’t find it interesting. In fact, I find it kind of hard to speak about Case’s art. Other artists like Steve Ditko, Jim Aparo or even crap ones like Denys Cowan or Frank Miller I can still talk about. Here, the art feels quite ordinary and plain. I think a lot of artists at the time, like Chase, Truog and some others are just passable. Nothing much else to say really, not the best, but not the worst.
Story: 10/10
Art: 6/10
The Butterfly Collector/The House That Jack Built --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case and Scott Hanna
THE STORY
While a strange man gleefully marvels at his butterfly collection, the chief tells Joshua that he is curious about the sudden change in temperature and weather on Rhode Island. Boring Joshua, the Chief decides to introduce a new member of the Doom Patrol to him, named Dorothy Spinner, a young girl with the face of a monkey. Meanwhile, Rebis visits the home of Dan Poole, Eleanor’s husband. While Dan loses his temper, screaming about their relationship and what it once meant, Rebis is more focused on a set of matryoshka dolls. At the same time, Robotman and Jane decide to visit the hospital to see how Rhea Jones is doing. However, when they get to her room, they are shocked to find the room trashed without Rhea. Meanwhile, Joshua gives Dorothy a tour of the base and asks questions about her. She explains that the Gene Bomb (Invasion) caused Caulder to phone her dad as something happened to her. However, before he can ask, Joshua notices a giant insect-like creature about to attack. Dorothy then screams at the creature, telling it to go away, which it does. Dorothy explains that weird things can easily escape her head and come into reality. Elsewhere, Dan Poole hugs Rebis as a goodbye. Meanwhile in London, a woman named Holly McKenzie wakes up on a beach next to a police car on fire along with numerous dead officers. A mysterious person then calls to her, telling her to call him Mr Nobody, before grabbing her. At the same time, Jane senses something strange in Rhea’s hospital room, before screaming about bookstores and running out the room. Robotman follows Jane, who jumps through a bookstore window and takes some books. Once Robotman explains about the window, he follows Jane back to the hospital. She then cuts up the books into tiny fragments of paper and arranges them in a particular order. Then, when Rebis arrives, she reads out the assorted texts, finding the common topic to be Jack the Ripper. Jane then speaks the names of his victims, including Rhea Jones, which causes the door to open, presenting a strange unknown hallway. Although Robotman, Jane and Rebis enter the door, when nurses decide to do the same, they find it is just a regular hallway. After some time of walking through the hallway, he finds Rhea unconscious with her captor, Red Jack.
Elsewhere in Red Jack’s house, Rebis walks around lost. Jane does the same, but she finds a mutoscope. She looks into it and sees a fat naked man wearing a hat and a mother holding a baby insect. Jane then moves away from the mutoscope and looks up, seeing a pair of eyes staring at her. Meanwhile, Red Jack speaks to Robotman about how he is planning to marry Rhea, despite being in a coma. Red Jack then causes the floor to split, but Robotman manages to hold onto the edge as Red Jack introduces himself to Robot Man as God. Elsewhere, Jane finds Red Jack’s huge butterfly collection, feeling sorry for them. While Red Jack continues to speak nonsense about how he created the universe, Robotman manages to get up and charges at Red Jack. Shockingly, the villain, knocks Robotman away, before stabbing Rhea with a knife, making Robotman angry. However, Red Jack claims that in his world, death doesn’t exist and there is only pain. He then explains his fascination with butterflies and how their agony powers him, but as they aren’t the most powerful creatures, he needs a large collection of them. After Robotman fails yet again to attack Red Jack, he explains that he was Jack the Ripper 100 years prior and that he was attracted to Rhea mainly due to her powers. Suddenly, Rebis jumps down to attack Red Jack, who defends himself by throwing Rebis onto large spikes of broken glass, killing him. Robotman then goes to attack Red Jack, who punches his arm off, before pushing him backwards. Red Jack then begins to shout at Rebis as he has shut down his nervous system, causing Red Jack to become unable to absorb his pain. The Negative Spirit then leaves Rebis and attacks Red Jack, hurting him. However, it isn’t enough as Red Jack defeats both Robotman and Rebis. But, when Red Jack looks for his knife, he is stabbed in the back with it by Rhea, causing the butterflies to escape from him, meaning their effect on him disappears. Red Jack then begins to fall, before dying on the ground. Although Cliff wonders if Red Jack was actually God, Rebis doesn’t care and together, with Rhea’s comatose body, they all walk away from Red Jack, wondering how to leave his house. Meanwhile in Detroit, a crazy homeless person named Lloyd Jefferson walks away from a building that he set on fire. Mr Nobody appears to him, welcoming him into the Brotherhood.
MY THOUGHTS
A fantastic story is followed by another. This two-part story does have some flaws, but it is a very entertaining one the explores the Doom Patrol characters further. The main event in this story is that we are introduced to Dorothy, which is good, but her character isn’t explored until after this two-parter. Basically, the plot to this story is to
get Rhea Jones back, who was one of the boring characters from Kupperberg’s run. However, that is arguably the most least interesting part of the story, because what is interesting is the journey that Robotman, Jane and Rebis have to go through to get to Red Jack. Although pretentious when reading it, the method of how the Doom Patrol get into Red Jack’s house is clever when you discover that he is Jack the Ripper. It ties up everything nicely while adding a large sense of mystery behind the character of Red Jack. In fact, I think that Red Jack is possibly the best thing about this story, mainly due to his power of absorbing life from other creatures, most notably butterflies. I like this because, again, it is strange and Red Jack feels like the type of villain that the Doom Patrol should be facing. Some moments inside Red Jack’s house are just flat out weird, especially when we see Rebis and Jane looking around during part two. What I think Morrison succeeds in is making what we think is weird the same as what the characters feel weird. This means that we are just as clueless as the heroes. If they understood everything that was going on, then readers would just feel lost. Apart from that, the apparent death of Red Jack is good, bringing up the question about whether he was God or not. I think that the greatest moment of the story is when Rebis goes to visit the husband of Eleanor, which is a very powerful and human scene. This works as Dan still has love for his wife, which is something that Rebis doesn’t feel anymore. It really shows how Morrison writes detailed characters and doesn’t forget about small pieces of dialogue from previous issues. Of course, at the end of the story, we are teased about Mr Nobody, who appears to be gathering a group of criminals. These scenes take place over the space of a few issues and because of that and their reoccurrence, we wonder what will happen with Mr Nobody, showing that Morrison perfectly builds up his future stories.
My big problem with this story has to be the second half, which despite having some great moments featuring Rebis and Jane, does feel incredibly slow-paced due to the overwhelming amount of dialogue from Red Jack. The first part of the story feels incredibly fast, but the second feels too slow, since it only really picks up midway through. As I mentioned before, Rhea Jones isn’t the greatest of characters, but I guess it works, even if it does bring up the point of if Red Jack wanted a wife, why didn’t he get one who wasn’t in a coma?
Red Jack’s rather crazy and unnatural design is definitely brought to life by Case and Hanna, even if the art as a whole isn’t anything to scream about.
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 6.5/10
Imaginary Friends --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Doug Braithwaite and John Nyberg
THE STORY
Before heading out, the Chief tells Joshua that Maxwell Lord of the Justice League International called and was interested in something the original league left behind, known as a materioptikon. The Chief explains that it was invented by Doctor Destiny to externalize his subconscious. Although he is worried about where the other Doom Patrol members are (still trapped in Red Jack’s house), Joshua agrees to look. Later on, Dorothy speaks to Joshua, saying that there is a problem with her TV. When they both get to Dorothy’s room, the TV continually shows a room with a table in it. While trying to fix it, Joshua asks Dorothy about school, but she says that her imaginary friends taught her everything. While at first, he is confused, Joshua admits that he had imaginary friends as a child, and they helped him learn about the world. Dorothy then explains that her imaginary friends were once giving her bad dreams, so she shot them with an imaginary gun. Joshua then remembers about what the Chief told him to do, so he tells Dorothy that he will be back as quickly as he can. After searching for a bit, Joshua finds the materioptikon. However, just as he is about to leave the room, he hears noises behind him. Meanwhile, Dorothy looks at the TV and notices a read of red shoes on the table. She becomes frightened and a strange smiling person appears behind her. At the same time, Joshua notices the strange ink-like creatures (continued)
behind him. Although he runs from them, he appears in a strange swamp where he is attacked by a Scissor-Man, causing Joshua to scream. He then comes back to reality, worried about Dorothy, who is still being taunted by the smiling man to put on the red shoes. Just as she begins to cry, Joshua bursts into the room and grabs her hand. The two runs from the strange people chasing them and manage to hide in a room. Joshua thinks that Dorothy and her powers are the behind the appearence of these entities, but she says that she has nothing to do with it. She believes that her imaginary friends are real and that they are going to punish her as she shot them. Dorothy then begins to shout about the red shoes and how she doesn’t want to wear them. She makes Joshua ask her about the red shoes, causing Dorothy to admit she wanted the shoes because of the Wizard of Oz and wanted to be liked by other kids. But she was told that she couldn’t have the red shoes as they would constantly make her feet dance, meaning that they would have to be cut off. Although Joshua believes the shoes to be a symbol of growing up, which Dorothy must face, he realises that everything that has appeared has been externalised through imaginary friends. Joshua then realises what the cause has been. He heads back to the materioptikon and punches it, destroying it. Once all the imaginary friends disappear, Dorothy decides to put on the red shoes. Elsewhere, a man named Byron Shelley is introduced by Mr Nobody into the Brotherhood of Evil.
MY THOUGHTS
This one-off story has the purpose of basically introducing Dorothy Spinner to us and it works. Apart from Joshua and very briefly the Chief, the rest of the Doom Patrol are nowhere to be found, still stuck in Red Jack’s house presumably. Anyway, this story is the standard invasion of the f*cking weird. Throughout, we think that Dorothy is the cause of these “imaginary friends” appearing, since we saw her cause some weird creature to appear in the last story, but it has all been caused by one of Doctor Destiny’s gizmos. I think it was fairly obvious from the beginning that the materioptikon was the cause, since Morrison wouldn’t just mention it and then leave it. I guess he wanted to make use of the Doom Patrol being in the old JLA headquarters, which I think is good. This story is clearly a character piece of Dorothy and we learn about her background and her fascination with her imaginary friends. The scenes between her and Joshua before everything goes crazy is quite interesting, since we know there is something strange about her. However, as a character, there is a lot that you can sympathise with her on, such as bullying and imaginary friends. You have to remember that she is basically a child, which makes her different from all the other Doom Patrol members. Therefore, the world of her imaginary friends feels real to her. There isn’t really much else to say about it in terms of positives. It is a very good character piece with a nice twist, which I think a lot of older JLA fans liked. Also, we see Mr Nobody create the Brotherhood of Evil, a well-known group of villains who once fought the Doom Patrol, teasing us about what the next story might entail…
I think this story rather falls apart when Dorothy and Joshua are chased by imaginary creatures. This isn’t because of the chase, but because I think the story about the red shoes feels incredibly cliched and pretentious. I think Morrison just put it in to try and use his knowledge of literature to make him come across as clever and unexpected. I don’t get the analogy of how the red shoes represent growing up. In fact, the shoes don’t even need to be in the story. Dorothy and Joshua just could have been chased by these imaginary creatures and then worked out that Doctor Destiny’s thingy was the cause. I also think this story could have worked better if it was featured later in the run. This is because it would have allowed us to become more familiar with Dorothy and her powers.
Notably, this issue is the first to be inked by John Nyberg, who did Green Arrow (vol 2) over Rick Hoberg and inks pretty much every issue until Case leaves. Doesn’t change the fact that the art looks dull, but you can’t have everything.
Story: 8/10
Art: 6/10
VERDICT
Overall, Doom Patrol: Crawling from The Wreckage features a great set of stories. The main four-parter is flawless, featuring some of the greatest character writing by Morrison, along with a fantastic and thrilling plot. Despite their flaws, I enjoy the other stories featuring Red Jack and Dorothy’s imaginary friends, both of which explore the Doom Patrol and their characters in a very unique way. I think its safe to say that Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol run got off to a fantastic start. Can it maintain that though?
Stories: 9/10
Art: 6/10
Next Week: Doom Patrol: The Painting That Ate Paris (Doom Patrol (vol 2) 26-34). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case and John Nyberg. Expected to be published by 10/02/2020.
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