Obscurity of DC and Doom Patrol Club Present: Coagula Read-A-Long, Week 2 (April 23-April 29) - A Tribute to Rachel Pollack

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Hey @ObscurityofDCClub, @DoomPatrolClub and the rest of the DC Community! As some of you may know, a legend has recently fallen. The amazing Rachel Pollack has recently passed away from hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer in the immune system. Pollack has had an immense impact on several people both within and outside of the comic industry. She advocated for the rights of the trans community, women’s rights, and Jewish awareness. Pollack created the first-ever mainstream character to be openly transgender. That is who we will be focusing on for the next few weeks…

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COAGULA!
AGE SUGGESTION: 17+

Number of Issues: 6 — Please only read issues 76-81 (Unless you haven’t read 70-75 yet… then read those first)

Description from wikipedia.com: Coagula is a transgender lesbian, former prostitute and programmer. After having sex with former Doom Patrol member Rebis (“an alchemical hermaphrodite”), Coagula gained “alchemical powers the power to dissolve things on the one hand and coagulate them on the other hand.” She tried to join the Justice League, but “it’s implied that she was rejected in part for being an out transgender lesbian activist”; she instead joined the Doom Patrol. Coagula first appears in issue 70—“The Laughing Game”—defeating The Codpiece, a spurned man-turned-villain with a multifunctional, mechanical codpiece. After her introduction in the next few issues, Coagula takes center stage in “The Teiresias Wars”, a five-part story combining “Greek mythology with [Pollack’s] twisted retelling of the Tower of Babel”.

Onto the discussion questions:

  1. Besides the minor argument, how do you think Kate and Cliff’s friendship was changed after Cliff learned that Kate’s transgender?
  2. Over the span of just a few issues, we see Kate become a major part of the Doom Patrol Family. What factor(s) do you think enabled Kate to fit in and grow so accustomed to the unusual group? Explain.
  3. Why do you think Kate still looked over Cliff, even after his ignorant comments regarding Kate being transgender?
  4. In issue 78, we get massive insight on Kate’s life; we learned more of her thoughts, memories, and heroism. In one of my favorite panels, Kate laughed at Agent Contract because he “didn’t have anything we [Kate and Cliff] need.” What do you think she meant by this?
  5. In issue 78, we see Kate hating the idea of merging with Cliff. In the beginning of issue 79, she resents the idea of separating with him. What do you think made her change her mind?

Do you have an interest in exploring the unknown? Do you like discussing comics? Do you like pineapple on pizza? If so, The Obscurity of DC Club is the club for you! Join HERE if you’re interested!

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Do you an interest in the weird and wild? Do you enjoy the inexplicable? Do you find things like donkey-butt-portals intriguing? If so, the Doom Patrol Club is the club for you! Join HERE if you’re interested!
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Please remember to make sure you’re on Week 2!

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  1. Besides the minor argument, how do you think Kate and Cliff’s friendship was changed after Cliff learned that Kate’s transgender?

It’s a little hard to say since a LOT of things happen that changes their dynamic in large and small ways real quick. I think there was a more personal and intimate side to it, even before the whole merging, since Kate decided to open up and tell Cliff about the transition process. I think her telling Cliff inspired him to want to have more of a say in what his Robotman body looks like.

  1. Over the span of just a few issues, we see Kate become a major part of the Doom Patrol Family. What factor(s) do you think enabled Kate to fit in and grow so accustomed to the unusual group? Explain.

I mean, there’s nothing like being a big player and helping save the world that will make you an essential part of a superhero team. I also think she just grew attached and close to most of them by this point – ironically, the Negative Couple are the ones that invite her in, but at this point she probably has a deeper relationship with Cliff and Dorathy.

  1. Why do you think Kate still looked over Cliff, even after his ignorant comments regarding Kate being transgender?

I think she knew Cliff long enough that she thought – or at least hoped – that his remarks came from a place of shock and, yes, ignorance, rather than hate and malice.

  1. In issue 78, we get massive insight on Kate’s life; we learned more of her thoughts, memories, and heroism. In one of my favorite panels, Kate laughed at Agent Contract because he “didn’t have anything we [Kate and Cliff] need.” What do you think she meant by this?

Well, for one thing, Agent Contract was the bad guy and superheroes don’t make deals with bad guys.

But more importantly, while I’m sure the idea of having the ideal, biological bodies might have been tempting, for both Cliff and Kate, the journey of making their own bodies have so fundamentally changed and molded them that it would have felt wrong to do that for them.

  1. In issue 78, we see Kate hating the idea of merging with Cliff. In the beginning of issue 79, she resents the idea of separating with him. What do you think made her change her mind?

I think being apprehensive about merging with another person would freak anyone out, even if it’s a fairly close friend like Kate and Cliff, because as we saw, they would have a front row seat for every thought and memory in your head. But I think that experience with those two only made them grow closer, which is why Kate partly resents the separation, even though she knows it’s likely the right thing to do.

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Some more on Coagula

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