I’ve never read a Doom Patrol comic but the show has caused me to fall in love. I know the service offers the Grant Morrison run but I was very interested in adding it to my collection at home. I saw on amazon there is “The Doom Patrol Omnibus” and it collects Doom Patrol #19-63 and Doom Force Special #1. Anyone recommend this or have a better option? Is it easy to follow for someone who only watched the show? Would love to hear your thoughts!
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There’s a lot of ways you could describe Morrison’s Doom Patrol run, but “easy to follow” is not one of them. Nothing you can read or watch will prepare you for it. Just steel yourself and dive in.
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@HubCityQuestion I should have wrote my post better. I more so meant like, is his run independent of other stories or do you have to know what happened in previous runs before reading this. I wouldn’t want to be lost before even opening the cover. I say this because the product description on amazon says “The new Doom Patrol puts itself back together after nearly being destroyed, and things start to get a lot weirder for everybody” and it sounds like something happened previously that isn’t included in their series. Wasn’t sure if that would be confusing to read
It spends a little time tying up loose ends left by the preceding issues, but it feels like a formality so it can make a clean break and do its own thing. In my opinion, you can just go straight to Morrison. (Others might disagree!)
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Added context, if you read the letters columns of the pre-Morrison series, the readers HATED it. I mean, the most consistently brutal feedback I can remember reading in a comic. So I suspect there was an editorial mandate to abandon it and start fresh.
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Thanks @biff_pow. Sounds like picking up at Morrison is the move to make. I’m assuming then that Doom Patrol #19-63 and Doom Force Special #1 are the complete work but I’ll do more digging. The Omnibus I see on amazon is $97 so I want to make sure I’m getting everything because that’s pretty expensive 
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Yeah, Rachel Pollack took over Doom Patrol on issue #64, and while it continues from Morrison in a very similar vein, it begins a clearly different chapter, and I personally think it makes sense for it to be separate. I don’t have the omnibus, though, so I can’t say whether or not it’s worth $97!
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The whole run is available to read in DC Universe or ComiXology Unlimited. So if you don’t want to throw down that kind cash for the print version. I’m currently reading the run right now and it’s amazing and I’m surprised how well it holds up
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@michael I did notice the entire run was here and I’m tempted to just read on my iPad. I have a modest collection and that omnibus looked like a great addition but I can’t fathom spending that much money when I already have access to the comics. The one thing that I noticed is the amount of money I’ve saved on books by using this service.
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To add to what biff-pow said…
When the Doom Patrol series launched in the late ‘80s, I really liked it.
The Lightle art was really good and it felt like a book on par with Titans and Legion.
I also thought that including the Who’s Who pages in the first issue was a great idea.
But, unfortunately, Lightle thought it was a mini-series or something and stopped doing art after the first arc. This is where the troubles began.
Readers were already not that excited about the new characters.
But then, new characters have been hard for DC to get to stick with the Doom Patrol.
For me, myself, Erik Larsen killed the book.
Which is where I must add that I do like Larsen. On Savage Dragon and less serious stuff.
But his unique art on Doom Patrol moved it out of the Titans and Legion camp for me.
When Morrison was brought in to revamp it, the book was moved out of the newsstands and into direct only sales. So I never saw it again until Vertigo started in 1993 and I had access to a comic shop.
By that time, Morrison had moved on.
But I went back and picked up issues from his run and really liked them.
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The Grant Morrison run is also available in 3 books. I have Book 1 and 2 which collects issues 19-34 and 35-50. Book 3 is 51-63 and Doom Force Special #1. Unless there is bonus material in the Omnibus, Book 1-3 should be the same thing. Plus on Amazon the 3 book rage from $20-25 each.
I jumped right in after watching the first episode of Doom Patrol. I was vaguely aware of Doom Patrol before the show and I went and bought Book 1 the day after the show premiered. I had no problem reading or understanding the comic, I kinda think it’s more straightforward than it’s made out to be. I’ve read book 1 so far and in my opinion DP is the best Grant Morrison I’ve read.
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Thanks @LP. I actually just started reading the issues last night on the app. I totally agree. It’s pretty straightforward and easy to understand. Though the show really helps. I am just like you, saw the show and was like “I need more of these people in my life” haha.
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