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Doom Patrol, Volume 1: Brick by Brick by Gerard Way, Todd Klein, Nick Derington, Tamra Bonvillain
mkhare's review against another edition
What can I say? The art and the colours were fantastic and dynamic and wonderfully consistent, but I just couldn’t engage with the story or characters enough to enjoy myself or to feel impacted by any events. I did enjoy the sporadic Niles Caulder interludes, especially the one panel where he seems to looks directly at the reader..
This was a feast for my eyes but I think I will pass it along for somebody else to experience rather than keeping it in my collection.
This was a feast for my eyes but I think I will pass it along for somebody else to experience rather than keeping it in my collection.
gabrielcunha's review against another edition
4.0
i felt lost at first starting to read doom patrol with this volume, but i kept going and everything kinda made sense
what a great comic book, i loves how weird and all over the place it felt. looking forward for the next ones!
what a great comic book, i loves how weird and all over the place it felt. looking forward for the next ones!
jordandaisies's review against another edition
4.0
The narrative of comics are just the best. Gerard notes in the afterward “we want you to feel like it’s 3am and you have no idea what’s going on- but somehow you do?”. Perfectly describes my experience. I’m not familiar with these characters or there stories, but was able to get the sense from these pages. What a way to detach from life. Lovely.
unladylike's review against another edition
4.0
Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol was one of the first comic book series I decided I had to own, and I've been a fan of The Umbrella Academy and aware of Gerard Way's admiration of, and relationship with, Grant Morrison for years. (I never cared for the band's music after their first EP, but check out My Chemical Romance's music videos and look for the various cameos made by Grant Morrison, usually playing some sort of baddie!) But I have also only heard rather negative or lackluster reviews of this book from the folks I follow, so I went into it with very low expectations.
The first two issues had me scratching my head and resigning myself to the thought that, "Well, Gerard is just going for weird-for-the-sake-of-weird without any coherent plot, but at least the art is exceptionally stunning!" And then it starts to come together, and I found myself feeling some of the same good, excited feels that Doom Patrol first gave me all those years ago.
Apparently "Young Animal" is the new DC imprint replacing Vertigo, so authors can occasionally have characters saying "fuck?" This is the first I've heard of it, maybe because DC has become barely worth paying attention to, but if it's a true revival of those good old days of Vertigo, I'm in. Is Shelly Bond the new Karen Berger? They got fucking Todd Klein to do the lettering in this book, and he's basically the *only* letterer whose name means a shit, and his craftsmanship really shows in this book. I even just learned there's a new Shade, the Changing [GIRL!], so who knows?
The first two issues had me scratching my head and resigning myself to the thought that, "Well, Gerard is just going for weird-for-the-sake-of-weird without any coherent plot, but at least the art is exceptionally stunning!" And then it starts to come together, and I found myself feeling some of the same good, excited feels that Doom Patrol first gave me all those years ago.
Apparently "Young Animal" is the new DC imprint replacing Vertigo, so authors can occasionally have characters saying "fuck?" This is the first I've heard of it, maybe because DC has become barely worth paying attention to, but if it's a true revival of those good old days of Vertigo, I'm in. Is Shelly Bond the new Karen Berger? They got fucking Todd Klein to do the lettering in this book, and he's basically the *only* letterer whose name means a shit, and his craftsmanship really shows in this book. I even just learned there's a new Shade, the Changing [GIRL!], so who knows?
hereticburger's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hellocookie's review against another edition
4.0
In my head as I started this comic, the Doom Song from Invader Zim kept popping into my mind. It has exactly zero relevance here and yet, as I write this review and think Doom Patrol again, it's back.
Doom Patrol is one of the big books coming out from DC's latest imprint (for the youths!), Young Animal. Gerard Way returns to comics post Umbrella Academy with this series that he clearly has a deep passion for and to give it a shot alongside artist Nick Derington.
The story follows an EMT team, Casey and Sam, as they go out on their rounds and do their thang... saving lives, eating burritos, saving more lives. The usual.
While on patrol (not THE patrol... you know, the DOOM Patrol... just a regular patrol), they come across a few strange things starting with a robot man thing (Way's words, not mine). From there, things start to get interesting as Casey inherits a strange new roommate (which I have some questions about.......) and a sentient ambulance (actually, I think I just generally have a lot of questions).
I won't tell you too much more of the plot here but there are a few things going on within this volume and several characters to be introduced to.
The first thing that struck me when I started reading this book, before the writing or art, was the colours. Oh my god, the colours. Tamra Bonvillain has always been a good colourist (in my opinion) but with Doom Patrol, she takes it to a whole new level for me. I was honestly super mesmerized by her work here and couldn't help but notice all these amazing things that were put into the book solely by her.
Colourists and letterers do not get enough credit, they truly don't. I'm guilty of not always saying stuff about the lettering but someone once told me that you shouldn't necessarily notice the lettering. The only time you'll super notice it is when it's bad. I think that's sort of true but you also notice it when it's really exceptional too and there's no one better in the business than Todd Klein who happens to be the letterer on this book. What can I say about Klein that hasn't already been said with 90% of the lettering in comics awards at the Eisner's and Harvey's? He's freaking great.
But I've gotten sidetracked here...
As mentioned, Bonvillain NAILS the colours here and I was floored.
The line work is amazing too. I'm sure I know Derington's art from elsewhere although without doing any Googling, the name doesn't automatically register for me. That being said, beCAUSE of Doom Patrol, he's definitely someone that I'll remember now going forward. His style was fantastic, incorporating some really great elements from older classic comics and blending them with a modern and unique style.
And then Gerard Way's writing in the book... it was hella fun. There were several moments when I genuinely connected with the book and laughed out loud, smiled or thought about taking a photo of a panel to show a friend who would appreciate it. I held off on reading Umbrella Academy for a long time because of My Chemical Romance, which I know is a crappy thing to have done. It's not that I don't like MCR but I felt like since it wasn't music I would naturally seek out to listen to regularly, the books might not translate to something I would enjoy either.
Then I realized that Way has always loved comic books and that his music career just happened to happen for him before comics did. Once I saw it that way, I realized I was being silly and I dove into Umbrella Academy, which was just brilliant (with the equally brilliant Gabriel Bá on art). Doom Patrol is the same calibre of comic as Umbrella Academy but better. Way has had years to read more, grow more and hone his craft and he comes to Doom Patrol with a passion for the book and the medium that shows through.
I adored Casey so much and wanted so much more of her character development in the book but it's a team book and I know Casey had to share her page space... but hot damn, she's so rad.
My biggest issue with Doom Patrol is the fact that I always felt like I was missing something. Doom Patrol isn't a new series and folks like Grant Morrison (nbd) have worked on it in the past. I generally enjoyed the book and the characters but it doesn't do an excellent job at providing you context for the characters. I couldn't tell if they were new, pre-existing or whatever. It all felt a bit jumbled to me.
Because of this, some of the big AH HA moments where there's a reveal or a plot twist didn't really hit it home for me. I was taken out of the book continually as I tried to process if what was happening should be a bigger deal to me. Did I miss something earlier? Is this an Easter Egg for fans of previous iterations of Doom Patrol? Am I just not getting it? were things that I couldn't turn off.
The writing was a lot of fun and I smile, laughed and enjoyed the ride but it didn't ultimately leave me feeling satisfied.
Verdict:
Buy it! Despite the fact that some stuff didn't really work for me overall, I still think that the calibre of writing, the art, and the colours (oh my god, the colours!) are well worth your hard-earned dollars.
Not to mention that I think Young Animal is the kind of imprint that DC needs right now to bring in a more diverse audience. Young Animal has become the new Vertigo as it takes on titles that we formerly would have seen under that umbrella. I don't know exactly what that means for Vertigo but that's something to be elaborated on in another article on another day.
I'll leave you with this: a comic that includes a whole scene with an epic burrito world war (IN burrito world war) is definitely one to be checked out.
Doom Patrol is one of the big books coming out from DC's latest imprint (for the youths!), Young Animal. Gerard Way returns to comics post Umbrella Academy with this series that he clearly has a deep passion for and to give it a shot alongside artist Nick Derington.
The story follows an EMT team, Casey and Sam, as they go out on their rounds and do their thang... saving lives, eating burritos, saving more lives. The usual.
While on patrol (not THE patrol... you know, the DOOM Patrol... just a regular patrol), they come across a few strange things starting with a robot man thing (Way's words, not mine). From there, things start to get interesting as Casey inherits a strange new roommate (which I have some questions about.......) and a sentient ambulance (actually, I think I just generally have a lot of questions).
I won't tell you too much more of the plot here but there are a few things going on within this volume and several characters to be introduced to.
The first thing that struck me when I started reading this book, before the writing or art, was the colours. Oh my god, the colours. Tamra Bonvillain has always been a good colourist (in my opinion) but with Doom Patrol, she takes it to a whole new level for me. I was honestly super mesmerized by her work here and couldn't help but notice all these amazing things that were put into the book solely by her.
Colourists and letterers do not get enough credit, they truly don't. I'm guilty of not always saying stuff about the lettering but someone once told me that you shouldn't necessarily notice the lettering. The only time you'll super notice it is when it's bad. I think that's sort of true but you also notice it when it's really exceptional too and there's no one better in the business than Todd Klein who happens to be the letterer on this book. What can I say about Klein that hasn't already been said with 90% of the lettering in comics awards at the Eisner's and Harvey's? He's freaking great.
But I've gotten sidetracked here...
As mentioned, Bonvillain NAILS the colours here and I was floored.
The line work is amazing too. I'm sure I know Derington's art from elsewhere although without doing any Googling, the name doesn't automatically register for me. That being said, beCAUSE of Doom Patrol, he's definitely someone that I'll remember now going forward. His style was fantastic, incorporating some really great elements from older classic comics and blending them with a modern and unique style.
And then Gerard Way's writing in the book... it was hella fun. There were several moments when I genuinely connected with the book and laughed out loud, smiled or thought about taking a photo of a panel to show a friend who would appreciate it. I held off on reading Umbrella Academy for a long time because of My Chemical Romance, which I know is a crappy thing to have done. It's not that I don't like MCR but I felt like since it wasn't music I would naturally seek out to listen to regularly, the books might not translate to something I would enjoy either.
Then I realized that Way has always loved comic books and that his music career just happened to happen for him before comics did. Once I saw it that way, I realized I was being silly and I dove into Umbrella Academy, which was just brilliant (with the equally brilliant Gabriel Bá on art). Doom Patrol is the same calibre of comic as Umbrella Academy but better. Way has had years to read more, grow more and hone his craft and he comes to Doom Patrol with a passion for the book and the medium that shows through.
I adored Casey so much and wanted so much more of her character development in the book but it's a team book and I know Casey had to share her page space... but hot damn, she's so rad.
My biggest issue with Doom Patrol is the fact that I always felt like I was missing something. Doom Patrol isn't a new series and folks like Grant Morrison (nbd) have worked on it in the past. I generally enjoyed the book and the characters but it doesn't do an excellent job at providing you context for the characters. I couldn't tell if they were new, pre-existing or whatever. It all felt a bit jumbled to me.
Because of this, some of the big AH HA moments where there's a reveal or a plot twist didn't really hit it home for me. I was taken out of the book continually as I tried to process if what was happening should be a bigger deal to me. Did I miss something earlier? Is this an Easter Egg for fans of previous iterations of Doom Patrol? Am I just not getting it? were things that I couldn't turn off.
The writing was a lot of fun and I smile, laughed and enjoyed the ride but it didn't ultimately leave me feeling satisfied.
Verdict:
Buy it! Despite the fact that some stuff didn't really work for me overall, I still think that the calibre of writing, the art, and the colours (oh my god, the colours!) are well worth your hard-earned dollars.
Not to mention that I think Young Animal is the kind of imprint that DC needs right now to bring in a more diverse audience. Young Animal has become the new Vertigo as it takes on titles that we formerly would have seen under that umbrella. I don't know exactly what that means for Vertigo but that's something to be elaborated on in another article on another day.
I'll leave you with this: a comic that includes a whole scene with an epic burrito world war (IN burrito world war) is definitely one to be checked out.
ericrobien's review against another edition
4.5
I read this because I love the show. I feel like if I wasn't already familiar with the characters/story, I would have been very very confused, even more than I was lol. It was different from the show, but in a way that I liked.
andrejt's review against another edition
3.0
A psychedelic comic about a group of unusual superheroes (Doom Patrol) getting back together. Pros: occasional deep ideas, beautiful lettering, and a couple of panels so masterful that I'd love to have each on a t-shirt. Cons: just too much going on and not enough room for proper character building.
shewwimonster's review against another edition
1.0
I had a hard time following what was going on when I started this, and I just realized that I have zero desire to pick it up again to finish, so I'm calling it.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
A young EMT named Casey Brink witnesses Robotman being hit by a garbage truck and she's pulled into the maelstrom of weirdness that is... the Doom Patrol!
Here we are, another decade, another Doom Patrol book. The Doom Patrol went from being DC's version of the Fantastic Four in the 60s to being the book that put Grant Morrison on the map in the early nineties. There were a few more attempts at a Doom Patrol series after Morrison's but they weren't very memorable, although I still remember the landfill full of Robotman parts behind Doom Patrol headquarters during Keith Giffen's run.
Anyway, the weirdest super heroes in the room are back. And much like the Grant Morrison days, I was only half aware of what was going on. That being said, I did enjoy myself in a nostalgic sort of way.
Robotman is still the most normal member of the Doom Patrol and my favorite. He's like Moe of the Three Stooges, struggling to keep the group together. From being hit by a garbage truck to stomping off to go find some pants, Robotman is the hilarious grumpy uncle of the team. I also liked Negative Man getting back to something resembling the version I was familiar with, though Larry wearing Rebis' shades was a nice touch. And what the hell is up with the Chief, Niles Caulder? Hell, that alone makes me want to get the second volume.
Much like [b:Shade, the Changing Girl, Volume 1: Earth Girl Made Easy|33233008|Shade, the Changing Girl, Volume 1 Earth Girl Made Easy|Cecil Castellucci|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490501603s/33233008.jpg|53944270], I felt like this book was laying the groundwork for the series, integrating Space Case with Robotman, Flex Mentallo, Negative Man, and Crazy Jane. However, I didn't find it nearly as accessible as Shade.
While it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd hoped, I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of the series. Three out of five stars.
Here we are, another decade, another Doom Patrol book. The Doom Patrol went from being DC's version of the Fantastic Four in the 60s to being the book that put Grant Morrison on the map in the early nineties. There were a few more attempts at a Doom Patrol series after Morrison's but they weren't very memorable, although I still remember the landfill full of Robotman parts behind Doom Patrol headquarters during Keith Giffen's run.
Anyway, the weirdest super heroes in the room are back. And much like the Grant Morrison days, I was only half aware of what was going on. That being said, I did enjoy myself in a nostalgic sort of way.
Robotman is still the most normal member of the Doom Patrol and my favorite. He's like Moe of the Three Stooges, struggling to keep the group together. From being hit by a garbage truck to stomping off to go find some pants, Robotman is the hilarious grumpy uncle of the team. I also liked Negative Man getting back to something resembling the version I was familiar with, though Larry wearing Rebis' shades was a nice touch. And what the hell is up with the Chief, Niles Caulder? Hell, that alone makes me want to get the second volume.
Much like [b:Shade, the Changing Girl, Volume 1: Earth Girl Made Easy|33233008|Shade, the Changing Girl, Volume 1 Earth Girl Made Easy|Cecil Castellucci|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490501603s/33233008.jpg|53944270], I felt like this book was laying the groundwork for the series, integrating Space Case with Robotman, Flex Mentallo, Negative Man, and Crazy Jane. However, I didn't find it nearly as accessible as Shade.
While it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd hoped, I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of the series. Three out of five stars.