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This week we are continuing our journey through Morrison’s Doom Patrol with Issues 26 & 27! How exciting! Spoiler Discussion begins right now and lasts until Sunday (2/24) so make sure you tell us what you think for a chance to get featured on DC Daily!
WARNING: DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE ISSUES. THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CONTAIN SPOILERS
Issue 26:
What did you think about this issue overall?
DC is known for their villains, and in this issue we are treated to an origin story for Mr. Nobody. How do you think this origin compares to other DC Villains?
Issue 27:
What did you think of this issue overall?
What was you key takeaway from the interaction between Cliff and Larry? What do you think will happen to their relationship moving forward?
What questions do you still have regarding the characters of Doom Patrol?
Somehow, this story is crazy yet believable. For example, Mr. Nobody was in a straight jacket in a white room, strapped to a chair, and completely immobile. He thought he was there for eons, but it turned out to only be three days. In those conditions anyone would lose track of time, and the sudden appearance of a simple black dot would drive any person crazy.
Through it all, Mr. Nobody maintains a funny, sarcastic, and lively personality.
Compared to other villain origin stories, Mr. Nobody was bullied / kicked out by the other members of his villain gang, the “Original Brotherhood of Evil”. At the time of his transformation, he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, he wasn’t power or money hungry, he wasn’t out for revenge, he was just trying to find a new home.
Doom Patrol 26 is such a great oddball of a comic. It is so Morrisony and by that I mean it is really cool how he takes advantage of the reader by letting them rely on interpreting their own visuals while using every available word on the page to demonstrate an internal life ultimately proving that no matter how out there the motivations of the Brotherhood of Dada’s assault on normality with absurdity, there is always a relatable and grounded emotional reality that everything comes from.
The origin of Mr. Nobody is a prime example of this. Unlike classic origin stories that are often narrated by an omniscient narrator, or, even if narrated by an in-story character, would often focus on the events of what happened. Whereas here the only descriptions of what happen by Mr. Nobody, our narrator, on the fate of Morden, are of the white room and how it made him feel, as he literally exploded into a being of pure absurdity with a floating eye. That transformation is only described as a feeling, letting our eyes piece together the unbelievable sight of a mustached man in a hazmat suit one panel becoming a black figure with a question mark for a head and a floating eye. Even before this origin we are met with the title Nowhere Man which sort of set a soundtrack in my head of the Beatles song and more specifically the absurd Yellow Submarine cartoon of the song.
Thanks @MattMcDonald and thanks for maintaining these boards. I’m so happy they are going through this run. This was the first comic series I ever read starting with issue 4 (my first comic)! Also driven nuts by the random specks on my screens - especially when I forget they are there and I’m, say reading a comic book online and mistake the panels. Like I thought there were multiple dots that he saw in the white room until I read these comments and then cleaned my phone haha.
I feel like I need a degree in English Literature to understand the first part of the issue (haha). The wonderful weirdness continues in this one: glass people, basements full of weird artifacts (bullets that show the future, keys to kids dreams, broadcasts of hell?).
Mr. Nobody might become my favorite villain by the end of this series. He’s so unique and theatrical. The Brotherhood of DADA is going to be insane, and I’m all in for it! Also, RIP Paris!
The key takeaway I had between Cliff and Larry is that Cliff cares for and misses his Larry - or the Larry he used to know. He doesn’t truly understand what’s going on with Larry and its concerning him. I’m not sure what to expect with them moving forward. But I think Cliff is going to look out for Larry’s best interests. What’s up with the Russian nesting dolls?
WARNING: DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE ISSUES. THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CONTAIN SPOILERS 
Book Cluuuub!