(Week 3) [Doom Patrol Club] Doom Patrol Beginnings(1955-): Issues #80-85(February 24-March 1)

A mysterious man known only as the Chief calls three people who have all escaped certain doom but were left outcasts because of their experiences. Plus, The Chief informs the Doom Patrol of an alien spaceship that has landed on Earth carrying a super-weapon.

:robot:My Greatest Adventure #80-85

Welcome everyone! this week we’ll start reading into the history of Doom Patrol starting with the earliest issues! Want you to read these issues #80-85 and Discuss!
Have until these dates here below and tell me what you think!
2020-02-24T06:00:00Z → 2020-03-01T06:00:00Z

:robot:1) Is this your first time reading Doom Patrol Comics?

:robot:2)Which villian in these issues stood out to you and why?

:robot:3)What was your favorite Page/Issue and why?

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The DC Universe Library actually has some earlier issues from before they changed the name of this series to the Doom Patrol.

https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/series/-/d34a3613-a052-4c09-bdaf-dfc5531d0d55

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oh ok

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there we go :+1:

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i was just thinking of rereading this anyway! i’m excited!

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Nice! Excited to hear your thoughts about it :slight_smile:

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I was just about to talk about the other selections (some nice stuff). I’ve read these Greatest Adventures last year, need to give them another look. My BIG THOUGHT for all of these is that Doom Patrol seems so far ahead of its time with serialized story telling, subplots, and heroes who aren’t paragons of honesty that always get along. Will be back!

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Cool, glad to hear your thoughts about it! And ok :slight_smile:

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I’m not through/ready to summarize yet, but I had to share this

Poor Cliff so cute and eager and wearing his new skiing outfit his mom bought him!

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Ok and awww, Cliff does look cute in the skiing outfit! Thank you @biff_pow for sharing this picture and looking forward to your thoughts on this! :smile:

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My Greatest Adventure #80, published around a year before I started getting hooked on comics as a 5th grader. I did catch this version of the Doom Patrol a little later though, so I get quite a reawakening of long-dormant memory brain cells when I see Cliff running around with that camera he’s wearing around his neck, it looks very much like the plastic red rectangular box flashlights I would sell around the same time
as an 11 year old for Boy Scouts from a Tom Wat sales kit door to door…

…

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Nice! Loved hearing the backstory on this and that’s a really cool picture :blush:

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I really like the original telling of the characters’ backstories. So much of the pathos was there from the beginning, even if the story has that compressed Silver Age pacing.

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Definitely!

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Apologies for currently reading and reacting to these one issue at a time, but like the JSA club, these first issues of Doom Patrol are “archetypal” master molds for everything that follows, they have many of the key ingredients / branding for later Doom Patrol versions.

My Greatest Adventure #81 may be a shorter story (16 pages), but it is good on so many levels! First, that cover! Covers like this compel me to occasionally part with hard earned money to own a handful of these (I own the next issue actually). Giant Rita in scuba gear about to jam a live torpedo into the sea monster in storm-tossed seas while tiny submarine sailors toil in the background works perfectly! I’m also a fan of the yellow background and her green outfit, although I can’t recall the last time I saw the sky that color honestly…

While I bet that we are all grateful the streaming TV show version of Doom Patrol doesn’t have their mansion HQ sandwiched between two 20 story city buildings tightly, the interior scenes of the mansion are spot on! I can actually hear the actor playing Larry’s voice in this scene from the comic:

Last personal reflection on issue #81- the sinister plan of the villain here sure is super -similar to the Mysterio twist on the recent Spiderman- Far from Home movie. The whole “can I trust the news and what I see on TV or even live” theme is also a very very loud drumbeat on the internetz with the whole “moon landing was fake” proponents and the Flat Earthers that won’t believe unless they can go up in space and see for themselves- that poor guy that just lost his life with his homemade rocket a prime example of the mistrust of media out there that this old early '60s story kind of preps our collective unconscious for…

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It’s ok and thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! :slight_smile:

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(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 48 hours unless flagged)

i’m gonna try again, i think i got auto flagged for using the ahem german fascist word

it’s really interesting how, on one hand Rita’s framed in the sexist attitudes of the era, but on the other she’s the most proactive and independent member of the team, at least in these early stories. it’s a stark contrast with how she’s treated when she’s “off duty.”

and i love how weird their enemies are right off the bat. purple eyeball tanks from outer space! a razi with a mustache disguise and the most inefficient and impractical plan he could possibly have!

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This is getting out of hand. We can’t even provide a link to a certain comic book series on here because Task Force X’s more famous name will get flagged in the link! And now we can’t even discuss the people whom our favorite heroes were punching in the 40s?!

Where’s the Doom Patrol to save us? :stuck_out_tongue:

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I also want to give a little pitch for the back up stories. They are so 1950s Sci Fi. Atomic explosion or exposure to space turns you into a cave man, tornado monster or whatever. They’re short, punchy stories that are a good companion of the Doom Patrol.
As everyone else is saying, it’s interesting to read early issues of any character and see where they were versus where they are. Roy Harper or Harley Quinn are miles from their originals, but the Doom Patrol is so spot on. That’s when you know your idea works.
Now, my reading is a little out of order so, not sure which issue this comes from, but I like the idea that the Chief’s duplicitous nature is established early on.


And the artwork is so nice and detailed, just like this crazy National Socialists’ face.

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