After the experience of writing the Painting That Ate Paris story (Doom Patrol (vol 2) 26-29), it was clear that Morrison had discovered a new style of writing that he enjoyed. Dadaism is nonsense, yet to some, writing in that style can allow for the imagination to go wild, despite a lack of a narrative or comprehensive story. Morrison had taken to Dadaism and he was not afraid to write another multi-part story based around it. However, the concept of nonsense in the Painting That Ate Paris obviously made sense, since the villains were the Brotherhood of Dada, lead by Mr Nobody. However, will it work here, where Morrison introduces us to a new character, or street, named Danny, while revealing what has been going on with Rhea Jones since the start of the run? This is what I like to call the beginning of Morrison’s Invisibles phase, where stories are randomly constructed full of nonsense. Granted, it is something that some can enjoy, but will the Down Paradise Way story come across as a work of genius, or just a pile of nonsensical fan-w*nk?
In the third of six Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison reviews, I will be reviewing:
Down Paradise Way/Box of Delights --- Doom Patrol (vol 2) 35-36
Persephone/Lost in Space/Bell, Book, and Candle/Battlefield of Dreams/Fallen Angel --- Doom Patrol (vol 2) 37-41
Doom Patrol (vol 2) 35-41 was published monthly from August 1990 to February 1991. As usual, it is written by Grant Morrison and it is drawn by a number of artists, such as Richard Case, John Nyberg, Kelley Jones, Mark McKenna and Kim DeMulder. Lastly, I have read this epic story in its original issues. However, the trade paperback that
collects all seven issues won’t be a problem tracking down.
Down Paradise Way/Box of Delights --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case, John Nyberg, Kelley Jones and Mark McKenna
THE STORY
A woman named Sara Furness waits in her room, before looking outside to find her friend Danny The Street (a living teleporting crossdressing street) appear, full of joy. She runs out to meet her friend, who tells her that he has been in Berlin. Meanwhile, Robotman is helping the Chief in packing up their belongings as they are moving to an undecided new base. Still angry about his new suit being destroyed (by Monsieur Mallah and the Brain in Doom Patrol (vol 2) 34), Robotman is told by the Chief that he hasn’t forgotten about building a suit for him. At the same time, Joshua attempts to help Dorothy by releasing her imaginary friends in order to destroy them, making her have more control over them. Elsewhere, Sara meets a happy man in Danny who has arrived from Birmingham, England. At the same time, a man named Darren Jones comes home to his wife, who plays a laugh track every time he says something. However, when he discovers that his wife has cooked the wrong food, he stabs her in the eyes. Darren then heads into the basement and introduces the strange people down there to him as the leader of the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Meanwhile, The Doom Patrol have a meeting where they all speak about their problems with the Chief, coming to the conclusion that they cannot help each other. Later, Darren has dinner with the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E, who are all confused about why they are called N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Then, Darren’s wife enters and due to her lack of vision, she drops his fruit juice on the floor. Afterwards, Darren tells the members that they must enforce normality and that Danny The Street is a target they must destroy. At the same time, Jane is painting patterns on Rebis’s body, confusing Robotman. He then notices a dreamachine, which causes hallucinations when the user shuts their eyes. Robotman becomes sad when he realises that he can’t shut his eyes. While the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E agree on invasion, Sara is entertained by the inhabitants of Danny, but then, a man named Eddie is killed. After finding the body, Sara finds the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E, who begin to destroy Danny. After Sara tells Danny to escape, he appears elsewhere in the world.
The Doom Patrol arrive in a damaged Danny The Street after sensing disturbance. Although confused, Robotman finds his enemy when he is attacked by the Men From (continued)
N.O.W.H.E.R.E. During the fight, Robotman is told by Sara that he must save Danny, who the Doom Patrol discover is a living street. Meanwhile, a strange group of aliens are on their way to Earth in order to sell a clock which collects time. At the same time, Jane screams at a Man From N.O.W.H.E.R.E, ordering them to leave. However, the man shows Jane a tear in his sleeve and despite a warning from a citizen, she stares into the tear and appears in another dimension with a maid constantly offering tea and cake to Jane. However, as Jane enjoys the other dimension, it causes the Man From N.O.W.H.E.R.E to explode and Jane to appear back in the real world. However, another Man From N.O.W.H.E.R.E appears and shoots Sara in the back. This causes Danny to have a breakdown and he appears somewhere else in the world. Meanwhile, Darren builds a delirium box in order to keep all the non-normal things in. However, once his wife suggests that they both might not be normal, he becomes angry and denies it. But, when Darren leaves his house, he finds that his house is on Danny. The Doom Patrol then arrive, causing Darren to use the delirium box on them, which does nothing. Then, Danny causes a hole to appear underneath Darren, before Danny turns him into a transvestite. Afterwards, Sara recovers from her injury and discovers that Danny is alright. Then, the man who warned Jane about the tear appears, revealing himself to be Flex Mentallo, the man of muscle mystery. In the end, while the aliens continue on their way to Earth, Joshua discovers music emanating from Rhea Jones’s body, before she reawakens in a different form.
MY THOUGHTS
For somebody who likes to read stories that are sensical, entertaining and full of surprises at the same time, this story does surprisingly well. The very start of the story got me interested. A transvestite teleporting street which is home a number of strange wacky people is certainly an intriguing idea and is unique, but it just works so well because of it. This is what Grant Morrison can do really well. Sure, there are many times when he will reintroduce a character or a concept from the days of the Golden and Silver Ages, but with new ideas, Morrison is often unique and creates ideas that are generally just strange, yet fun to read about. The same goes for the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E, an ironic organisation that wants to spread normality around the world that have a leader who stabs his wife’s eyes out and she also has a laugh track button underneath the table. Everything about them is weird, completely against what they are fighting for and in this case, it is done with so much irony that it works. In terms of the plot, these two polar opposite factors just work so well. Danny The Street is the street of the diverse cultures of the world, which is full of the bizarre, while the Men From N.O.W.H.E.RE strive for normality. Therefore, the plot was obvious, but it worked and that’s what really mattered. The character of Sara was purely introduced to us so Danny could be introduced to us as well. What I mean by this is that when we are reading scenes about Danny, she is usually the character we follow in terms of perspective. This works well as we learn about both characters which gets us interested in them, especially when they are part of the invasion in the second part. Also, I think the character of Darren works well as a villain, mainly for the fact that he is so extreme and ultimately clueless. Whether it be the dark humour of him stabbing his wife in the eyes, or his complete lack of knowledge for why they are called the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E, this is a villain that you can laugh at because he isn’t very good at what he does. Apart from that, the story ends well with the revelation about Rhea Jones, finally tying up some of the strands of the previous 15 issues or so to a climax which is concluded in the next story.
One of the only problems I have with this story is that we don’t see enough of Danny before the attack and the people living in the street. Sure, we get the bits where Sara walks around and takes in the entertainment, but I think that we should have seen more of that from the beginning, just to make the impact of the invasion a lot more hard-hitting. The same goes for the people. There is only about two people who Sara talks to in Danny, but I think that there should have been more, particularly in terms of diversity. The reason for this is because it is a street that can appear all over the world and due to that, I would imagine there would be loads of different people there of different cultures. Apart from that, I think we needed a tiny bit more information on the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E and how they came to be, just to make the villains a bit more three-dimensional. There is also the fact that I dislike Flex Mentallo, but since he barely appears in this story and doesn’t feature just yet as a major character, I’ll excuse it.
In terms of art, Case delivers the same old functional art, with the generic inks by John Nyberg. Nothing to rave over, but with the second issue, relatively new artist Kelley Jones was the guest artist and he is miles better. It may be down to the suitable inks by Mark McKenna, but everything about Jones’s art is better than Case. Whether it be his diverse and dramatic page layouts, his very experimental art style or the darkly strange mood he gives to the title, it’s apparent that Jones would have been a much better choice for artist on the title than Case. However, this is the only issue he drew and because of that, I’ll always treasure it, even if the Doom Patrol may not be the most suitable characters for Kelley Jones to draw, like the Teen Titans (New Teen Titans (vol 2) 47 and Annual 2)
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 8/10
Persephone/Lost in Space/Bell, Book, and Candle/Battlefield of Dreams/Fallen Angel --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Richard Case, Mark McKenna and Kim DeMulder
THE STORY
After returning home from Danny The Street, Robotman attempts to relay the information to the Chief. However, the Chief then warns Robotman about Rhea and how she is different. They both enter a room and find a naked Rhea, flying and
eradiating electromagnetic energy. Asked by the Chief, Rhea says that she feels fine, but after more questions, she becomes tired and says that she has things to do as in her new form, she explains that her body is connected to the nerves of the planet. Meanwhile, Dorothy serves tea and coffee to the residents of Danny, including Flex Mentallo. Although they want to return home, the Chief has ordered them to stay inside. At the same time, the aliens (from the last story) continue on their route to Earth. Meanwhile, Rhea begins to hear music from the circus, causing her to fly away and visit it. Although confused, Rebis explains that something is manipulating time and space, causing a circus to appear outside. While they decide to leave for the circus, Rhea is already there and enters the maze of mirrors. Robotman, Rebis and Jane then arrive and ask a tall muscular man if they have seen Rhea. However, the man explains that he is a dwarf on the inside, before walking off. While Rebis explains that the circus has nothing living inside of it, Jane walks off and finds a huge crowd watching Romulus and Remus, the Siamese Aerialists. Confused, the three decide to split up in order to find Rhea. After some time, Rebis enters a strange tent full of even stranger people, causing him to hear voices. Meanwhile in the hall of mirrors, Rhea becomes frightened after seeing different versions of herself. Jane meets a fortune teller, who tells her that she will face a trap, ruin and sacrifice. Robotman enters a shooting gallery and begins to lose his temper after not finding any answers on where Rhea is. They are all being watched by those in charge of the circus, who notice that the Doom Patrol are beginning to suspect something is wrong. This causes the circus to vanish, leaving just Robotman and Jane, with Rebis and Rhea missing. Then, the aliens arrive and realise they are too late, claiming that the geomancers have anticipated them.
After the circus vanished, Rebis finds himself in the psychedelic land of the geomancers. One of the geomancers explains that Rhea is safe and that they are inside the Kaleidoscape, a realm without space, perspective or movement. The geomancers are aliens, whose home has been taken from them and they now live their life by collecting items and bringing them to the Kaleidoscape. However, their defences were lowered by the plague silence, caused by mysterious attackers who succeeded by not saying a word as the Kaleidoscape cannot be defined by a word. Rebis then discovers that the enemy of the geomancers is coming, known as the Mesh. Meanwhile, Robotman and Jane are speaking to the other aliens about the whereabouts of Rebis and Rhea. The aliens explain that they were sent by the Orthodoxy to neutralise the pupa, but were pre-empted by the geomancers, who keep the pupa in their Kaleidoscape. The aliens fear that the geomancers will use the pupa to attack them and their beloved Judge Rock item. After hearing the tale, Robotman expresses anger that they won’t give any information about Rhea. The Chief then asks about the Orthodoxy, which the aliens explain are apart religiously and the geomancer’s refuse to acknowledge its sanctity, causing a war between the two alien races. The aliens then suddenly ask the Doom Patrol to come with them and help them in their war, causing Robotman and Jane to quickly agree and follow them. Elsewhere, Rebis finds Rhea in a more stable part of the Kaleidoscape, along with Huss, a powerful being keeping the Kaleidoscape stable. He explains that they became attracted to Earth after sensing the power inside Rhea. He also explains that they managed to capture Rhea before her body became completely fused with the Earth, making her a useful tool in their war, along with Rebis. Huss forces them both to fight in the war, or face death. Huss then explains that he wants to be remembered for his effort in the war and tells Rebis that they must destroy the Judge Rock. Elsewhere, Robotman and Jane arrive on the strange planet of the aliens, where they meet the Insect Mesh.
A woman named Dolores Watson meets a psychic, who tells her that the telephone was invented also as a magic device which would allow ghosts to communicate over it. Dolores then explains that she is looking for someone who is dead, specifically Flex Mentallo. Although the psychic cannot give any information about Mentallo, all she mentions is the Dead Hand, something which frightens the dead. Elsewhere, Robotman and Jane visit the Insect Mesh, where they enter its heart, known as the cage, where the Orthodoxy was created. Inside, they meet the Anatematicians of the Cage. Back on Earth, Dorothy gives Flex Mentallo a shave and a haircut. The alien prepares to punish the Anatematicians for the loss of the pupa, which is Rhea Jones, but then, a giant creature known as the Smoke Dog appears. Before he can even wonder what, the creature is, the Smoke Dog bites Robotman in half, destroying his lower body. This causes Jane to become Black Annis and she butchers the dog to death. Transforming back, Jane tends to Robotman’s injuries. Meanwhile, Huss explains to Rebis and Rhea that he sent the Smoke Dog to the Orthodoxy in retaliation, but before he can continue, they arrive at the Shadow Cabinet, the true power source of the realm. Inside, Huss introduces Rebis and Rhea to the previous geomancer rulers, all of whom were named Huss and are now trapped in jars. Elsewhere, after she is told that Robotman will recover, Jane watches the Orthodoxy prepare for the communion, which means that inhabitants of the Mesh are dropped into a wash of every single emotion at once. However, during the communion, Robotman returns, shocking Jane, since his legs have now been replaced with mechanical spider-like ones.
A man named Mr Christmas is visited by the Men in Green, government operatives who have been watching Christmas due to his conspiracy theories. They forcefully take him away in their car, before driving off quickly, only followed by Christmas’s dog, Barney. Meanwhile, the Orthodoxy have created an army for the war by using thoughtforms, the sleeping citizens of the planet. One of the aliens then give Robotman and Jane protection, which is a dust that protects them from the Smoke Dog’s sniffing them out. At the same time, Rebis, Rhea and Huss head out in order to locate and destroy the Judge Rock, but they don’t know what the opposition will be planning. Entering the battlefield, Robotman begins to feel strange about the war and how it doesn’t make any real sense, since neither side has suffered any real gain or losses. However, their conversation is cut short when a Smoke Dog notices them. At the same time, Rebis comes to the conclusion that Hush only wants the Judge Rock as he is afraid of dying. Meanwhile, Robotman and Jane attempt to fight the Smoke Dog, but it doesn’t suffer any damage. Then, Jane jumps onto the creature and they both teleport high in the sky, before Jane teleports back, leaving the Smoke Dog to fall to its death. At the same time, Rhea enters the Judge Rock and instead of waiting for Huss’s signal to destroy the rock, she starts to destroy it. This causes both sides in the war to become shocked as the Judge Rock falls from the sky down to the ground.
Dolores Watson visits a Lost and Found Office and the clerk takes her to the backroom, which is full of different lost items. She explains that she is looking for Flex Mentallo, but all she finds is the metal arm of an android behind the curtain, before she is killed. Meanwhile, Robotman rescues Jane from the rubble of the Judge Rock and witness the Orthodoxy contemplating life after the rock’s destruction. Huss then arrives with Rebis and claims victory. Although he claims that he was the one who (continued)
destroyed the rock, Rhea appears and confirms it was her. She then reveals that she found the flower of life inside the rock, which instead of giving it to Huss, she gives it to Robotman, telling him to take it back to the rock. Despite his efforts to try and stop Rhea, Huss is stopped and told by Rebis that they will stop the war, whether it will benefit him or not. While both alien races argue and fight each other over the destruction of the Judge Rock, the fighting ends when Robotman returns, telling Jane that he returned the flower back into the rock, causing it to rise up in the sky again. Rhea then explains that the rock is an angel named Balzizras who had the task of turning Eden from a physical plane to an abstract idea. However, it abandoned this role when he realised how God had made the Earth into a mess and decided to experiment, creating the aliens and their planets, watching them begin their war. Later, Rebis speaks with Huss and tells him he did the right thing and that he will be remembered after all. The aliens then both decide to build a tower, commemorating both the Mesh and the Kaleidoscape. In the end, Rhea decides to leave the Doom Patrol and head for a star, which is light-years away and Robotman decides its time to go home.
MY THOUGHTS
Okay, like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, Morrison definitely took to dada as a style of writing. I can see the appeal in writing it, but…. Well, lets start with the good parts. To start with, I want to say that this story starts off very well. For the past 15 issues or so, Morrison had been building up the storyline involving Rhea Jones, which he had done very well. Here is the conclusion to that story and it starts off well. Until we get to part two and even the stuff in part one about the circus is good, is story is good. It builds up and we constantly want to know more about Rhea’s powers and what they mean. We also see what has happened to some of the people from the last story, including Flex Mentallo, again showing that Morrison is possibly building up elements for a latter story. A prime example of this during the latter stages of this story, where we see government operatives along with a Dolores Watson searching for Mentallo. These scenes work very well because they are building up to a future story, making us engaged. Apart from that, I also want to say that the actual plot, breaking it down to its simplest form, is classic, but it works. Two alien races fighting for power is as basic as you can get in terms of sci-fi plots, but in terms of the wacky tales of the Doom Patrol, that certainly isn’t a bad thing. However, things get worse very quickly…
This story is a headache. Like I said, the story is as basic as you can get, and I think that Morrison realised this in early stages. Because of that, I think Morrison wanted to add more to the story and in doing, he made into a complex mess full of technobabble terms and characters that are pretentious just for the sake for it. That is the biggest crime of this story and I think if Morrison had made the story easier to read and less complex, than the story would have worked so much better than it does. What really is a standard Star Wars-type war between two races evolves into a rant about mythological legends and false alien history, which doesn’t come across as interesting, but as just sheer nonsense. The stuff about the Orthodoxy and the Kaleidoscope just comes across as confusing and Morrison constantly adds in new ideas while forgetting to explain or develop the older ones. This is very similar to one of Morrison’s influences, Jack Kirby, who certainly was a master in terms of art, but in terms of stories, he came up with such a range of different ideas, some very good and others not so good. However, instead of editing those ideas and altering or erasing those that don’t work, he just throws them all in anyway. For example, the Smoke Dog seems to just randomly turn up in this story, just so Robotman’s body can be destroyed a bit. The same goes for the soldiers fighting in the war, who are apparently the inhabitants of the planet, but there is nothing about them. In terms of character, everybody here lacks any interest, meaning by the end of the story, you have either forgotten about them as characters or simply don’t care. Huss is a prime example of this. I know that Morrison was trying to build his character up to some sort of redemption, hence why Rebis tells him that he will be remembered for the war, but he is so dull and boring that his presence is pointless. Then there’s the whole Judge Rock thing and I call it a thing because I don’t know what else to call it. Rhea, because of her new powers which never get explored in this story or any others in the Morrison run, states that the rock had something to do with Earth in its early stages and became dissatisfied with God. This whole concept comes across as pretentious to me and somehow it is meant to be a satisfying conclusion to this story. Another big problem I have with this story is that with the exception of the first and last parts, nothing happens. While Rebis and Rhea walk around talking to Huss about the Kaleidoscope and war, Robotman and Jane are doing the same thing with the aliens, talking about the Insect Mesh (another confusing for its own good concept) and war. The middle of the story may be littered with cosmic b*llsh*t terminology that can annoy me, but it is also boring, making it a horrible read, particularly after reading the action-packed and exciting previous story. This is a five-parter, which is really stretching it, particularly when the middle of the story is full of nothing. At a maximum, this story should have been a four-parter and perhaps even that is too long. Morrison throws in all of these ideas, but they are far from developed, meaning that the story which was meant to be full ends up just coming across as empty and boring. One aspect that really irks with the story is that it is suitably focused on Rhea, a big part of the run up until this point. However, all of that goes out of the window when these two alien races get involved, causing the reason for this story to begin to become a sideshow. Other than that, the regular cast of the Doom Patrol are just okay. I don’t think that they are at their best here, but they are one of the few aspects which make the story readable. That being said, I am not a
fan of Robotman’s new legs and I’m quite happy he wasn’t either, since he doesn’t have them for much longer. This story just cannot sustain itself for five issues and while it isn’t the worst Doom Patrol story of the run (close to it though), there are so many other better stories, including the one that came before it.
In terms of the art, it is all by Case and McKenna, along with Kim DeMulder briefly. Unlike Kelley Jones, the art still doesn’t make me feel much of anything. It isn’t good, it isn’t bad. It’s just boring and average, a combo which I hate more than slightly interesting and terrible. The inks compared to John Nyberg don’t look any different and looking at it, it just makes feel sad that Kelley Jones didn’t become the regular artist on the book.
Story: 2.5/10
Art: 6/10
VERDICT
Overall, Doom Patrol: Down Paradise Way is unfortunately split once again (Doom Patrol: The Painting that Ate Paris, read my review of it here). While the two-parter featuring the introduction of Danny The Street is very good with some interesting villains, the overlong five-parter is a chore to read, featuring the most boring war between two boring races that you don’t really even care about. Richard Case’s art is still boring me and it’s a shame that he is the penciller for pretty much the rest of the run, which is disappointing after seeing artists like Kelley Jones drawing the title.
Stories: 5.5/10
Art: 7/10
Next Week: Doom Patrol: Musclebound (Doom Patrol (vol 2) 42-50). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Mike Dringenberg, Doug Hazlewood, Steve Yeowell, Richard Case, Mark McKenna, Vince Giarrano, Malcolm Jones III, Scott Hanna, Mark Badger, Jamie Hewlett, Rian Hughes, Duncan Fegredo, Shaky Kane, Brian Bolland, Paul Grist and Simon Bisley. Expected to be published by 01/03/2020.
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