Reviews

So patchy. I loved the series the first time I read it just because it was completely out there. Where else would you see a character that is a transvestite talking street? Or a supervillain group called the Brotherhood of Dada (as in the art movement)? The story arc called The Painting That Ate Paris is worth the price of admission alone, with the characters trapped in a painting that has different "zones", each representing a different art style.

10 years later, it feels like Morrison threw every literary reference that he could at the wall to see what sticks. Some of it does. Most feel Pretentious and in-your-face. Some of it is entertaining beyond belief - like the one-off featuring Monsieur Mallah and the Brain, a villainous duo comprising a talking ape quoting Descartes wearing a beret, and - well - a brain, encased in a glass case.

One of the few comics where a different artist may have made more of an impact. Richard Case (and later, Mike Dringenberg) try hard, but bringing concepts like a Kaleidoscape (correct spelling) or an AntiGod that is a giant eye to the page would work better with someone completely out there, like Frank Quitely or JH Williams III. But Case worked in the confines of a monthly series, and some of his work is phenomenal, despite looking rushed.

Still belongs on the bookshelf as a definitive 80s series, though.

lcush98's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

zeroiv's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

molok's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Really great book. Some of the story lines were better than others. And a few of them were amazing.

dkmode's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Took me more than two years to get through this because there are more ideas in a single panel of it than most superhero comics have in their entire runs and sometimes you need a break from that. Every page there's a weird three-legged dog with a fork for a head running up to our heroes out of the shadows and telling them that the Diamond Of Langreene is overcharged and must be returned to The Subspace of Reality (which, the book will tell you, was initially conceptualized by Freud on his first LSD trip) or some shit, and there isn't anything you can do but begrudgingly accept it. This is the same reaction our main POV character, Robotman, has to this information, which is good, because most of the other Doom Patrol members are off hallucinating their imaginary friends into physical being or having sex with themselves to give birth to a new version of themself which hatches from an egg. There is just A Lot Going On, and it gives the proceedings an anarchic glee which is simultaneously chaotic, hilarious, and, often, horrific. It's a run that commits to its own weirdness, that's interested in investigating what it means to be weird, gross, and ugly in a world that demands the sanded-off edges of conformity - and that, eventually, finds a twisted, sweet beauty in it all.

btmarino84's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

"There's a better world. There has to be."

coleparkinson4's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

More...