DC Finest: Doom Patrol: The World's Strangest Heroes

DC Finest: Doom Patrol #1

by Arnold Drake

Collects:
The Brave and the Bold #65
Doom Patrol #86–102
Challengers of the Unknown #48
My Greatest Adventure #80–85
Teen Titans (vol. 1) #6

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

624 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2025

About the author

Arnold 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.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've heard about the Doom Patrol for a long time, usually in reference to 60s X-Men. This is way better than 60s X-Men, but definitely following in the footsteps of the best Marvel comics from the early 60s. I had a ton of fun here, and I'm glad I finally started catching up with this team. This also features the first appearance of Beast Boy, which is totally worth it. Though, it does leave one backup issue storyline incomplete, I love this more accessible and inexpensive way to read this team.

My Greatest Adventure #80 ⧫ 5 Stars “The Doom Patrol”
The pathos of Spider-Man and the character dynamics of the Fantastic Four! This came out the same year as the original X-Men comic, and it blows that out of the water. These strange heroes provide the ideal mix of weird, heroic, and empathetic. I should have gotten to this series sooner!

My Greatest Adventure #81 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Nightmare Maker”
The series continues to gain steam with both the drama and a pretty cool villain.

My Greatest Adventure #82 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “Three Against the Earth”
I enjoyed much of the intrigue around the Chief’s identity and who betrayed the team. The end comes a little out of nowhere, though.

My Greatest Adventure #83 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Night Negative Man Went Berserk”
The peril here results from the team pushing too hard to solve Negative Man’s time limit. The result is a strong story about the team and the idea that the Negative Man is a separate entity from Larry.

My Greatest Adventure #84 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Return of General Immortus”
I’m not a huge fan of Immortus. His schemes are very silly; fortunately I love the teamwork needed against evil Robot Man that result from his schemes.

My Greatest Adventure #85 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Furies from 4,000 Miles Below”
This one seems rather disjointed as Rita just kind of teleports from one place to the next. I think it worked better in the context of the time, but it is a stronger message about women than most other comics of the era.

Doom Patrol #86 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Brotherhood of Evil”
I don’t love the new villain team, but they get better as the series continues and the sixties spy motif gets somewhat clearer.

Doom Patrol #87 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Terrible Secret of Negative Man”
This focuses on more friction in the team as more emotional strain and lies are added to the mix. I’m getting used to the more spy v. spy feel with the new villain team.
“Robotman Fights Alone!” ⧫ 5 Stars
This one also has a cool second story with a very hardcore Robot Man story. Guy is a trooper!

Doom Patrol #88 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Incredible Origin of the Chief”
A strong showing for the Chief and Immortus! I like their shared backstory, and it’s surprisingly grounded.

Doom Patrol #89 ⧫ 3 Stars “The Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Menace”
Probably the most standard issue of the series so far: scientist turns himself into a monster. I think this plot gets explored more in future issues.
“The Private War of Elasti-Girl” ⧫ 4 Stars
A Rita solo issue! She has been using her celebrity some, and while simple, this is a good use of her character.

Doom Patrol #90 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Enemy within the Doom Patrol”
Madame Rouge gets powers and becomes much more of a threat. It is essentially more spy vs. spy, but it’s fun and creative.

Doom Patrol #91 ⧫ 3 Stars “Mento--the Man Who Split the Doom Patrol”
I don’t like the forced third party. I guess they can’t act on the love triangle, but Mento sucks. It’s as high as it is because the androids are cool, and I was not expecting torture to be used on Mento. He’s back next issue, though. Hurray.

Doom Patrol #92 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Sinister Secret of Dr. Tyme”
More very wacky Doom Patrol, though I know it’s minor compared to what the rest of the company was doing. Still not into Mento, though Robotman is a real king in this issue. Also, I’m a sucker for time-based powers.

Doom Patrol #93 ⧫ 4.5 Stars “Showdown on Nightmare Road”
I really enjoyed this clash with the Brotherhood of Evil! They have become quite the foils to the Doom Patrol. This story plays on a bunch of fears and frustrations within the team. The plan is cool. There is even a nice nod to Frankenstein!

Doom Patrol #94 ⧫ 2.5 Stars “The Nightmare Fighters”
A fine, if unremarkable villain that narrowly veers away from extreme racism and doesn’t escape that entirely.

“The Chief ‘Stands’ Alone” ⧫ 3 Stars
Absolutely brutal quotation marks there… Silly villain, nice ending.

Doom Patrol #95 ⧫ 3 Stars “Menace of the Turnabout Heroes”
Pretty standard power swap issue.

Doom Patrol #96 ⧫ 2 Stars “The Day the World Went Mad!”
The opening is alright, but I don’t love the way the end tries to raise the stakes.

Doom Patrol #97 ⧫ 2.5 Stars “The War Against the Mind Slaves”
The conclusion of the big villain team-up arc. It’s fine. Too much action, not enough weirdness.

Doom Patrol #98 ⧫ 4 Stars “The Death of the Doom Patrol”
Some classic Doom Patrol here! The Chief being shady, a weird if familiar villain, it’s all back on. The team shows its fortitude without the chief and prove their worth without really needing to do so.
“60 Sinister Seconds” ⧫ 3.5 Stars
The final solo outing story features Negative Man in a surprisingly world spanning affair. The fact that the team is this cool alone really speaks to why they are so well loved. Honestly, compare it to the X-Men solo stories from this era, night and day.

Doom Patrol #99 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Deadly Sting of the Bug Man”
This is the Doom Patrol back to their weird battles. Bug man is a little similar to past villains, but he’s so silly and such a big threat. I think coming off the forced villain crossover, I really appreciate the small things.
“The Beast-Boy” ⧫ 3.5 Stars
I’m just really happy to see Beast Boy. Part of my buying this collection was to see the first appearance and origin of Beast Boy. He’s kind of meant to be the disaffected teen character. The “cool outside’ of the era. Anyway, he’s a little bit of a mishmash, but the original version of his power is cool, and I like his addition to the team.

Doom Patrol #100 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “The Fantastic Origin of Beast-Boy”
Beast Boy has a good origin with many story possibilities. I don’t know what else to say.
“Robotman–Wanted Dead or Alive” ⧫ 4 Stars
Robot Man’s origin gets expanded here. Note, that it actually doesn’t finish in this DC Finest collection, which is weird, but I like the Titans inclusion at the end, so I can’t complain.

Doom Patrol #101 ⧫ 4 Stars “I, Kranus, Robot Emperor!”
Beast Boy’s caretaker gets a wraparound story that connects to his overall arc. The main story is pretty silly, but I liked Kranus and his weirdness and even the reveal.
“The Lonely Giant” ⧫ 4 Stars
Robot Man goes full Frankenstein, but I’m here for weirdos supporting weirdos.

Challengers of the Unknown #42 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “Twilight of the Challengers”
I think the Challengers of the Unknown are boring, but it is fun to see the Challenger-Haters… See why this is pretty much my first engagement with 60s DC. Anyway, this is worth it for the Challengers getting humped into submission by rabbits. Amazing.
Doom Patrol #102 ⧫ 3 Stars “8 Against Eternity”
So, I had to look up why the little weirdo was building a giant woman… Apparently, that’s his thing? But yeah, fight! It’s fine.

The Brave and the Bold #65 ⧫ 3.5 Stars “Alias Negative Man!”
It’s cool to see the heroes trick the villains with Flash impersonating Negative Man. I’m a little worried that the Brotherhood of Evil is now permanently teamed up with the silly aliens and Immortus, but it’s a lighter touch here. I’ll find out next collection, I guess.

Teen Titans #6 ⧫ 3 Stars “The Fifth Titan”
The 60s and villainous circus performers are a weird recurring thing. That said, I didn’t realize that Beast Boy appeared this early in Titans history. It’s fun enough if nothing super original.

Other Comics Reviews
DC Finest - Superman 1938-1940: The First Superhero
Challengers of the Unknown
Jack Kirby’s The Fourth World Omnibus
Orion Omnibus
Roots of the Swamp Thing
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Power Girl: Power Trip
Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman: The Deluxe Edition
Batman Black and White Vol. 1
Batman Black and White Vol. 2
Batman Black and White Vol. 3
Batman Black and White Vol. 4
Batman Black and White Vol. 5
DC Finest - Batman 1896-1987: Year One & Two
Batman by Neal Adams Omnibus
Legends of the Dark Knight: Michael Golden
Batman: Tales of the Demon

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

That was fun!! I loved this team!! I think I enjoyed this more than the first two epic collections of Fantastic Four, they’re just so goofy ahahhaha I’ll definitely pick up the next volume when it’s available!

[Doug Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one didn't personally grab me, although I did still enjoy it on the whole. a lot of the book is old school comic fun, which isn't really my thing, though I do appreciate it. the stories near the end with beast boy, specifically the one dealing with his parental situation, was the standout for me.

[Drew L · Rating 4 out of 5]

The earlier stories are ok, but Arnold really hits his stride after he gets a handle on the characters, in particular their interpersonal relationships. They really do feel like a family, I don’t see the X-men connection people bring up when the much more obvious parallel you can draw is with the fantastic four.

Having read the Morrison run, I didn’t realize how much certain personalities like Robotman had already been developed back in the 60s. I laughed out loud a few times at some of his insults. It’s high praise to the original stories that they’ve now made me have a deeper appreciation of the Morrison run, which already was the first comic I read that I really fell in love with

[Erik Wirfs-Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading an extended run of DC comics from the sixties, although I had read a few sporadic examples earlier, and I had fun with this one. The difference in approach from Marvel's output at the same time is pretty obvious even with this being apparently an attempt to copy the Marvel formula-the title is obviously writer driven and has much less dynamic art, instead of soap opera plotlines for each character we get the team insulting each other constantly, and there's no sense of a shared universe outside of designated team up books. There's also a kind of non-sequitur feel to the early issues that is very different to Stan Lee's silly plotting, like it actually feels like product made for little kids with a short attention span. What makes the book unique is it just leans into sillier and sillier villains and more team dysfunction as the book goes on. There are some elements that are pretty winking like Robotman getting his body destroyed nearly every issue, and some where you go "did Arnold Drake intend this to be weird, or did he not think through the implications"- like the wheelchair bound chief sometimes acts pretty unhinged and shady. Also in the series favor-the art despite being kind of stiff is still pretty clear and easy to read, and Rita Farr is a better female character than any sixties marvel superheroine (and her powers are used more creatively than Ant-man). Like most sixties comics it's probably better read not straight though but instead sampling individual issues every once in a while, but if you can get over its datedness it's a good value for the amount of material you get.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this doesn't reach the levels of psychological depth and wackiness of Grant Morrison's run in the 80s, you can see how this weird little Silver Age team struck such a chord in readers and became a 'cult classic,' so to speak. The art by Bruno Premiani is really good in this, especially how he draws Robotman and General Immortus with so much expression. It really is a product of Silver Age storytelling, with weird wacky hijinks, constant quipping, and every episode wrapping up with a consistent last-minute defeat of the villains, who nevertheless escape by trickery. But there is definitely the germ of the angst and torment of these "super-freaks" that would go on to be explored in much more depth post-Crisis. Still, despite our characters bemoaning the fact that they will never be accepted by society, the reality is that the government, police, and society-at-large treat the Doom Patrol no different from any other super heroes. You can really feel that tension with how restricting the Comics Code was in these matters. Still, there is something to that Silver Age innocence that is really charming. It's hard to describe, but there is something really special about the balance between wackiness and familiar format in the Silver Age that can feel so comforting. I think this is in many ways the high watermark of the Silver Age in that respect.

[Del · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a while to get into, but about halfway through, these characters really grew on me. Some really great silver age stories to be found here.

[David Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great until they started in with the wisecracking. If I wanted to read a Marvel comic, I’d read a Marvel comic.

[Matt Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

DC’s response to Fantastic Four and X-Men but these stories are way more bizarre and they work great because of that. The most Marvel-like comics DC did in the 60s. Covers 1963-1966.