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The Doom Patrol Archives #2
The Doom Patrol Archives, Vol. 2
The World's Strangest Heroes are back in an Archive Edition collecting DOOM PATROL #90-97 (originally published in 1964-1965). Robotman, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man and "The Chief" take on classic villains including The Brotherhood of Evil, the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Dr. Tyme, Mento, General Immortus, and more! Plus: an introduction by comics legend Roy Thomas.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2004
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About the author
Arnold Drake
323 books10 followersArnold Drake was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, among others.
Drake was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Drake was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 20, 2023
Nice collection of the silver age stories. Fun reads form when I was a kid. Recommended
September 5, 2017
Archives Vol 2 is significantly less creepy and oogly-moogly than Vol. 1, which makes the reading experience a little less disconcerting, but also makes the Doom Patrol feel...a little less Doom Patrol, if you know what I mean. The modern Doom Patrol has since been reinvented as the superhero team that's Weirder than Weird, and even Drake and Premiani's original version dubs itself "The World's Strangest Heroes!," but here things feel a little less strange and a little more... just zany, I guess. The stories are mostly punch-em-ups dominated by DP's (limited) rogue's gallery: General Immortus, who is basically Ra's Al Ghul; The Brotherhood of Evil, made up of an evil brain, a talking gorilla, and an elastic Frenchwoman; Gargaux, generic alien conqueror; and the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, who's like Clayface, but less gooey.
Which is all, y'know, pretty weird, but not tons weirder than the Batman stories from the same period that Grant Morrison compiled into The Black Casebook, much less any of the other 60's DC comics that featured aliens, monsters, and alien-monsters of all stripes.
I think the thing is that the early 60's weren't really a high point for DC comics in general -- Marvel is what RULED the 60's, so it's hard to even get a sense of context for Doom Patrol. Artist Bruno Premiani captures the goofy giant robots and crazy monsters of the era, but renders them sort of realistically compared to a lot of comics of the day. So you could argue that there's a little aesthetic dissonance throughout -- but very little of the dysmorphia and gloom that marked writer Arnold Drake's earlier stories. Instead things are just kind of...fun? Is that weird? Can we say old comics can just be kinda fun?
NO, IT'S FINE! Things are allowed to be fun and also good! Serious Comics do not actually always have to be serious, and to be honest, it wasn't all bad to be able to pick up a Doom Patrol book without instantly feeling a sense of dread. Zany comics are cool too, and the goodtime "we are family" themes of this volume may actually ring truer to Gerard Way's Doom Patrol (which is kinda hella obsessed with togetherness ), even if the unease of Grant Morrison's classic run doesn't echo as strongly.
Side note: this volume also introduces billionaire telekenetic wannabe-member Mento, beginning the fine Doom Patrol tradition of sucky hangers-on who basically get made fun of by the rest of the team. One of my favorite aspects of ALL the DP series is that the characters can never actually decide who's on the team and who isn't, or what Doom Patrol stands for or what it actually is. So, in that sense, if no other, Archives Vol 2 does keep things a little bit tasty and weird.
Which is all, y'know, pretty weird, but not tons weirder than the Batman stories from the same period that Grant Morrison compiled into The Black Casebook, much less any of the other 60's DC comics that featured aliens, monsters, and alien-monsters of all stripes.
I think the thing is that the early 60's weren't really a high point for DC comics in general -- Marvel is what RULED the 60's, so it's hard to even get a sense of context for Doom Patrol. Artist Bruno Premiani captures the goofy giant robots and crazy monsters of the era, but renders them sort of realistically compared to a lot of comics of the day. So you could argue that there's a little aesthetic dissonance throughout -- but very little of the dysmorphia and gloom that marked writer Arnold Drake's earlier stories. Instead things are just kind of...fun? Is that weird? Can we say old comics can just be kinda fun?
NO, IT'S FINE! Things are allowed to be fun and also good! Serious Comics do not actually always have to be serious, and to be honest, it wasn't all bad to be able to pick up a Doom Patrol book without instantly feeling a sense of dread. Zany comics are cool too, and the goodtime "we are family" themes of this volume may actually ring truer to Gerard Way's Doom Patrol (which is kinda hella obsessed with togetherness ), even if the unease of Grant Morrison's classic run doesn't echo as strongly.
Side note: this volume also introduces billionaire telekenetic wannabe-member Mento, beginning the fine Doom Patrol tradition of sucky hangers-on who basically get made fun of by the rest of the team. One of my favorite aspects of ALL the DP series is that the characters can never actually decide who's on the team and who isn't, or what Doom Patrol stands for or what it actually is. So, in that sense, if no other, Archives Vol 2 does keep things a little bit tasty and weird.
August 30, 2013
The Doom Patrol is a real guilty pleasure. Sure, the stories are goofy, but they have a certain undeniable charm. I'm not a huge fan of the DC Silver Age, but this title is lovably weird enough to keep me reading.
December 23, 2013
The original Doom Patrol, DC's team comic book that looks like a Marvel magazine continues in this 2nd archive edition, collecting Doom Patrol Issues 90-97 for September 1964-August of 1965.
If anything, writer Arnold Drake stepped up in these eight stories. The Doom Patrol universe expands with the introduction of a Mento, a superhero with designs on Elasti-girl. Both Robotoman and Larry Trainor resent him. Though his amazing mental powers lead to an offer to join the Doom Patrol that one member votes down. Who is a bit of a surprise.
Elasti-girl continues to be the most interesting character in the book though Robotman has a few interesting stories as well.
The stories are very well-developed. Unlike most other DC books, of the era, seven of the eight issues had book length tales, which means that most stories are about five pages longer than the typical Marvel story of the same era. As such, there's great fight scenes, great plot twists, and some good character moments.
Through the first six issues, I was prepared to give this collection four stars for the simple reason that the villains were quirky and fun, but nothing really special or epic, however Issues 96 and 97 have a fantastic story with the Doom Patrol taking on its most dangerous challenge ever.
Overall, the Doom Patrol is action packed, thrilling, and with great characters that are just fun to read. This collection is highly recommended.
If anything, writer Arnold Drake stepped up in these eight stories. The Doom Patrol universe expands with the introduction of a Mento, a superhero with designs on Elasti-girl. Both Robotoman and Larry Trainor resent him. Though his amazing mental powers lead to an offer to join the Doom Patrol that one member votes down. Who is a bit of a surprise.
Elasti-girl continues to be the most interesting character in the book though Robotman has a few interesting stories as well.
The stories are very well-developed. Unlike most other DC books, of the era, seven of the eight issues had book length tales, which means that most stories are about five pages longer than the typical Marvel story of the same era. As such, there's great fight scenes, great plot twists, and some good character moments.
Through the first six issues, I was prepared to give this collection four stars for the simple reason that the villains were quirky and fun, but nothing really special or epic, however Issues 96 and 97 have a fantastic story with the Doom Patrol taking on its most dangerous challenge ever.
Overall, the Doom Patrol is action packed, thrilling, and with great characters that are just fun to read. This collection is highly recommended.
August 20, 2014
this is more of a 3.5 than a true 4 stars like volume 1. the stories are still fun, just not as sparky and nuts as before. we begin to see towards the end more reliance on Negative Man and Robotman, and although Elasti-Girl gets her chops, she's not as much in the limelight.
perhaps the biggest development was the ability of Elasti-Girl to grow just a fist, which is very weird and fits with the tone of the book.
Premiani's art improved quite a bit by the end of the book.
perhaps the biggest development was the ability of Elasti-Girl to grow just a fist, which is very weird and fits with the tone of the book.
Premiani's art improved quite a bit by the end of the book.
August 13, 2014
If you thought Mike Allred's "Madman" was the most trashy, insane comic of all time then The Doom Patrol will make your head explode. The romance between Madame Rouge and The Professor is spun as fuck. And who knew the Fifth Richest Man in the world had so much spunk?*
*A pretty cool dig at Bob Kane and the whole Tony Stark millionaire crime fighter myth. Well done!
*A pretty cool dig at Bob Kane and the whole Tony Stark millionaire crime fighter myth. Well done!
February 1, 2022
Inconsistent. Arnold Drake writes some really creaky stories but also a few that are a lot of fun. Bruno Premiani is an OK artist who improves considerably in the latter issues collected here. This is a two and half star book, but too many pages are readable only for curiosity's sake, so I round down.
September 16, 2013
This is really fun and light, despite the main tenet and name of the team. I took a star off because some if it is a bit dated, but it doesn't render it any less enjoyable...just sometimes overly verbose.
April 2, 2008
I read this concurrently with Grant Morrison's re-imagining of the series. I like Morrison's take better. There are elements of a great story to be told in the original, but it gets buried in hack work and schlock. And, wow, I can't believe how wordy the old comics were.
July 20, 2016
What if Stan Lee could write as well as he came up with ideas? That's what these comics are. They're awesome. By far best comics of the era that I have read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews