Doom Patrol, Vol. 2: Nada

Doom Patrol by Gerard Way

by Gerard Way, Nick Derington (Illustrator), Mike Allred (Artist)

Gerard Way's Young Animal flagship title continues its monumental run here with DOOM PATROL VOL. 2!

 Flex Mentallo, Robotman, Rebis, Crazy Jane and more are back to twist minds and take control. The most prevailing question in Vol. 2? What is S**t, and why is everyone eating it? Cliff doesn't like it, but Casey can't get enough. Sure, Cliff doesn't like a lot of stuff, but that doesn't mean he's wrong to be suspicious this time around. Meanwhile, we find out where Lotion the cat got off to, and how his journey has changed him. Life on the streets has made him an entirely different animal!

 The spirit of Grant Morrison's groundbreaking DOOM PATROL is captured in this debut series starring the cult-favorite misfits as a part of Gerard Way's new Young Animal imprint.

 Collects DOOM PATROL #7-11.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fantasy, Fiction

165 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2018

About the author

Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comic book writer who served as frontman, lead vocalist, and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance from the time of its formation in 2001 until its breakup in 2013. He is the author of the Eisner Award-winning comic book series The Umbrella Academy (now a Netflix original series) and The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. In January 2014, he announced via Twitter that he and artist Gabriel Ba will begin work on Umbrella Academy Volumes 3 & 4 in late 2014/early 2015. His debut solo album Hesitant Alien was released on September 30, 2014. Way lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Lindsey (bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence) and their daughter, Bandit.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy successor to Grant Morrison. This has all the strange trippyness of the Vertigo run but still relates a quirky, fun story that you can actually follow. Nick Derington's pop art works perfectly with the absurdist stories. Tamra Bonvillain vibrant colors bring the book to life. I'm very tempted now to go back and read Grant Morrison's run straight into Way's. Way references the Vertigo run often but it's been 20 years since I've read it so I'm sure I missed a lot of the callbacks.

The only knock I'd give the book is the release schedule. This clearly leads into Milk Wars which already came out in trade 6 months ago. If you're going to plan an event, the books leading up to it better come out on time.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof and ugh. This one feel even more flat for me. It just felt “kiddish” but not in the right ways. Turns out, for me at least, what makes Doom Patrol, so good is the fact GM was not afraid to tackle some really heavy issues while entertaining you and forcing you to think. 

This arc didn't even have the homage feel as the previous Volume One, it was all over the place. The brevity hurts it deeply; parts I knew that should have been major just felt like a drop in a very empty bucket.

I really enjoy GW's other artistic endeavors, including MCR and reading Umbrella Academy (Which I enjoyed much more than this run) but this was just too little too late for me.

[Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While delightfully absurdist, meta, and psychedelic, the story arcs are becoming inconsequential and mired in their own madness.

[Wing Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars because of the release schedule...but man was this a trip!

World: I love the art, Derrington is one of my favorite current artists and he brings so much life and character and style for the book. This book would be nothing without his art setting the tone and the look for this insane world, I love it. The world building is utterly bonkers and fantastic. This is a full circle tale from what we saw with the first issue of the young animal version of Doom Patrol and the pieces that all come together to bring us a weird insane trippy world that is so insane it's hard to describe, you either think it's brilliant or you think it's just rubbish (I think it's brilliant).

Story: If this book had sequentially came out before Milk Wars this story would have made my brain explode. I loved Milk Wars and the against current norms and general embracing of weirdness and the fringe that that book was and this was the story that should have lead up to it. The Retconn and The Disappointment was started here and if I had the context with which this story established Milk Wars would have been even better, but alas the release schedule really messed that up. That being said this arc is insane and meta and also so much a love letter to Morrison's run of Doom Patrol that I can't help but love it. Are we trying to judge this arc and this series with logical eyes or are we looking at it as a celebration of just plain weird and odd and the other that makes this so special. The meta text with fan fiction and Cliff really made me gasp and the ideas behind Terry and of course the Morrison created Mister Nobody and the Brotherhood of Dada is utterly fantastic. If you go back and read the Magical Bus arc from Morrison you will find the framework and insanity that is found in this iteration, the Brotherhood of the Nada. This story is not for everyone, if you don't want your stories to be trippy and you want a straight logical story with set rules than this book will make you nuts. But if you want an acid trip of a book that's so different and so creative and you see that there are no rules and the spirit of Nobody is in every fibre of this book, you will love it. Then there's the Retconn and Disappointment stuff which will further drive you insane with happiness or annoyance. I love this book and this story.

Characters: Bonkers. I don't want to ruin anything for readers but the cast of characters are amazing, insanely original and nostalgic at the same time. From Spacecase to Rita Farr this book has some of the most unbelievable characters, add to that the banter, perfect. I can't say anything else cause the heart of this book are the characters and they are amazing.

I am biased, I just simply love the Doom Patrol and the weirder and more unconventional they are the more I love them. This is a manifesto for fringe and weird and just unorthodox storytelling that perfectly encapsulates what the Young Animal line has been doing.

I love this book!

Onward to the next book!

*read individual issues*

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no doubts, Gerard Way is a main eventer. With his Doom patrol, he does more than follow in Morrison's footsteps. He creates a world and tone uniquely his own, and weaves a comprehensive narrative through all the madness. The story is wildly meta, and trusts the reader an awful lot to put things together, but even if you didn't have a clue what was going on, you would still love reading this book between the snappy dialogue and gorgeous weird-scapes of Nick Derrington. But again, the story IS here, and really pretty damn thrilling as Way's new reality defines its parameters.

Wish the schedule was tighter, but happy there's been no lapse in quality. Keep it coming boyz.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only way that I can describe this is that it is bonkers. The story is meta and hardly holds together at all. Despite all this, I really enjoyed it. It's zany in a way that is likable. I particularly enjoyed it when Niles Caulder shows up and tries to take control of the Doom Patrol. Things get really weird (even for the Doom Patrol) after that. This is definitely not a series for those who need things to make sense.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine continuation of volume 1. Way keeps introducing fun new elements to the Doom Patrol universe and brings back things from Morrison’s run to mostly good effects. Storytelling feels a bit haphazard and rushed here, but not too bad and still entertaining (other than the final D&D issue which I didn’t really care for).

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just when things look like they might finally make sense, Casey and the Doom Patrol run afoul of the Brotherhood of Nada, lead by the infamous Mister Nobody! You can't make this stuff up, I swear.

Having read all of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol in between volumes of Gerard Way's Doom Patrol, I can really see his influence on display here. This arc is almost a re-telling of the old Brotherhood of Dada storylines from Morrison's run, with some different characters thrown in for fun, so if you liked that, you'll like this, I guess?

I think reading this volume in trade will be a lot more of an experience than reading it in single issues was - the release schedule was all over the shop, so being able to read the complete story in one go will likely enhance the impact.

That still doesn't explain why issue 12 is completely unrelated to the rest of the run bar a tangential character appearance and a reference to the Milk Wars crossover, but I think DC were just trying to make sure the trade was 6 issues before they released it by this point, to be honest.

Doom Patrol had a lot of potential, but only coming out once every six months did not a successful series make.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. At times, Way seems to be making a conscious effort to break with Morrison; see the hilarious first story with all the sparring with Caulder. Then there are all the moments that read like pastiches of Morrison devices, down to some very distinctive panel layouts that were common in the Morrison run of Doom Patrol. I'm not sure I'm convinced to dip into Volume 3.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Nobody’s daughter, Terry None, is Casey Brinke’s new roommate/lover and the creator of a new addictive food additive called S#!t that distorts reality. Casey’s cat, Lotion, is walking on two feet, wearing a hoodie, and is very emo. Danny Street is now Danny Land and is also an ambulance. Lucius is trying to summon up some black magic but gets Mr. Nobody. At the end of the universe, a disgruntled former superhero whose comic book was cancelled right before the last issue has murdered God and now wants to destroy the known universe. Terry is pregnant, impossibly, with Casey’s baby. Rita Farr, thought to be dead, is alive and living at the bottom of someone’s shoe. Lucius and his mom and dad end up in the Daemonscape, a fictional dream-world conjured up by Lucius’s grandmother.

If any of this makes sense to you, you are either mentally insane or you have read Doom Patrol Volume 2: “Nada” by Gerard Way. I have read it, and it still doesn’t make any fucking sense, but I love it anyway.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The new Doom Patrol (v6) continues to be Morrison-esque in all the best ways. So we get more weirdness here and some returns to old Morrison characters (like his screwed-up Chief and the Brotherhood of Dada). But Way also creates fun new characters (like The Disappointment) and reimagines Morrison's work for the modern day.

Mind you, this story still has weaknesses. The characters continue to be somewhat weak, particularly the Brotherhood of Nada who are entirely ciphers. And we don't see the same depth of ideas as Morrison offered. Where his weirdness seemed to be making murky philosophical points, Way's doesn't.

And this volume is also dragged down by an unwieldy crossover with the awful DC/Young Animal: Milk Wars and a setup for what's presumably the next arc.

Still, this is good stuff that's certainly on the high-end of 3.5+ stars.

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

a step down from the previous volume on all accounts. there were suddenly furries, plot holes, and the whole thing felt like it was on drugs? at times it was barely comprehensible, but then stuff was explained cleverly. it was still creative i guess.
i can’t tell if any of it was supposed to be metaphorical because honestly most the time I was trying to just follow what was happening.
didn’t live up to my expectations but still has redeeming value.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

5

Crazy volume. Just one crazy book. The first volume introduced bizarre characters and a unique storyline, but this dials it to 11. Gerard Way took his time with this volume, delayed issues at the time, but it was well worth it. Doom Patrol is the flag ship of the Young Animal imprint, so I did wait until last to read this.

Why the 5?

It's just insane. I won't spoil this volume, but if you had issues with the story from number one, you won't be returning for volume 2. I loved this volume the most and it allows for unpredictable story beats. There's a love scene I don't want to ruin, but it's all parts, twisted. This is the last book before the Milk Wars, and I cannot wait.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully fucking meta-weird as before. If anything, I prefer this Way-era to the Morrison-era. Same attitude with less to prove. Derrington's art is awesome, the new side characters are super interesting, and the roller coaster never stops. Good stuff.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as strong as the first volume. There was a lot going on in this volume that it's kinda hard keeping track. Cool to see the Brotherhood of Nada, which proved more of a love-hate thing because not much depth and development was thrown at it. Well, a lot was left unresolved, let's hope the next volume redeems this one.

[Kyle Dinges · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a jumbled, confusing, at times incoherent, mess. It is trying exceptionally hard to be trippy, at the expense of any semblance of a plot. I enjoyed the first volume quite a bit so this was a pretty big letdown. I haven't read Morrison's Doom Patrol (it's on my list), but I get the feeling it's almost a requirement to understand any of what's happening here. I thought the point of Young Animal was to bring these weird characters to a new generation. That's great as long as it doesn't require doing research on the previous generation to understand what's happening!

Derington's art is great and I enjoyed the one issue Allred cameo. Both seem to be a good fit for the series and these characters. But beyond that I wouldn't recommend this. Maybe you're smarter than me and will get it or maybe if you've read Morrison's run this all makes sense.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please tell me there's more to come of the Reynolds family in the Daemonscape....

[Tatiana Torricillas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um ode a todos os desajustados. Um ode ao desconforto, ao caos. Como uma pancada certa de sentimentos bagunçados, que muitas vezes não conseguimos decifrar - isso é Patrulha do Destino. É a maneira como a escrita, muitas vezes desconexa de Way, consegue se envolver em cada camada da psiquê, retirando dela conflitos que temos medo de encarar.

A sequência, pode não parecer das mais fáceis leituras para se acompanhar, mas é um tributo recheado de experiências pessoais, de maneira atual, para cada um dos personagens da antiga série dos anos 90 de Morrison, elevando ao máximo a montanha-russa de sensações que o leitor tem ao embarcar em suas rebeliões internas.

É um ode as inseguranças do mundo moderno, e também, uma belíssima maneira de celebrarmos os traumas que carregamos - no mais fundo buraco dentro de todos nós existe uma Patrulha do Destino que espera para despertar. Seja bem-vindo a Dannyland, sempre temos espaço para mais um.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 2! So despite my defense of Gerard Way's erratic sense of storytelling in my prior review for Doom Patrol, it's here that it just becomes ridiculous. It feels like too many storylines are clashing for no valid reason and there's hardly any room for anything to feel real.

Still enjoyable with its artwork and characters but when there's everything and anything happening all at once - nothing really happens and you lose interest.

Looks like this series was cancelled in 2019 so that marks the end of this run. Oh well. I liked Umbrella Academy.

[RND · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than the first volume; perhaps everything being set up just helped the action get on its way, and the meta-narrative was entertaining.

[Sina]

I thought this was so fun, ty gerard

[B!!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to get through it but I enjoyed it!

[Roosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody's favorite Doom Patrol villain Mr. Nobody returns with a plan to use food additives to spread his particular brand of insanity, but this time he's not putting together a Brotherhood of Dada. This time, there's Nada. A fun, silly story about stories ensues, and fun is had by all, except those who don't survive.

The Reynolds Family's adventures in the Demonscape is the best single issue story that I've read in a long while, and I especially adore the cut out paper dolls at the end. Young Animal really is a line aimed at actual YA readers, not collectors. I appreciate that.

I highly recommend this book. It has plenty of appeal for both fans of classic Doom Patrol and new readers.

[Unnur · Rating 5 out of 5]

two things are certain: gerard way will put lesbians in their comics and i will read them

[Arturo Del Rosal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really Liked It!

It could had been 4.5 Stars but a felt that the story had a lot more to give, maybe two more chapter were necessary, the first self contained story Was good and the second one was great with that D&D feeling that was pure nostalgia, I have always love the way Gerard Way develops his characters (including Umbrella Academy) and the colorful art was pitch perfect.

Read it if you are a fan of the characters or the writer.

[Pat of Rocks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to like Doom Patrol. It's bright and colorful. The characters are weird and fun. But most of this volume made no sense. The quirkiness lost its appeal each time I said "huh?"

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerard Way is such a great successor to Grant Morrison for this title.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone can reach Morrison's surreal approach to superheroics - it will be Gerard Way. His Doom Patrol is stacking up really well against Morrison's. Looking forward to the next volume.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esperé mucho para leer este segundo tomo y me quedé con ganas de más. No creo esperar mucho para leer Milk Wars y volver a ver estos personajes en acción.
Este segundo tomo me pareció mucho más madurado pero al mismo tiempo mucho más loco que el primero. Way explora algunas ideas interesantes y lo hace bastante bien, lleva sus ideas a culmen.
Lo que no me gustó mucho fue la estructura del tomo. Tenemos un número ilustrado por Allred, muy llamativo, que nos muestra el retorno de Niles Caulder a liderar el equipo pero se siente más como relleno que una historia importante. Me gustaba más los cortos sobre Niles Caulder que había en el primer tomo que su aparición completa en este número, y no vuelve a aparecer en el resto del tomo.
De ahí tenemos cuatro números que abordan el arco "Nada". Y son maravillosos, muy filosóficos y con mucho significado profundo. Tenemos el clímax de la aparición de Terry None en el tomo anterior y del trato que aterriza con una corporación al final del volumen. También tenemos el resurgir de Mr. Nobody, mi villano favorito de todo el Doom Patrol de Morrison, y siento que aunque su aparición es bastante buena, Way desaprovechó un poco al personaje, creo que daba para más que sólo cuatro números.
Es en este arco "Nada" donde creo que Way alcanza una cúspide en la locura de sus líneas argumentales. Ya ha explorado ideas innovadoras y locas en los cómics como en Umbrella Academy y los Killjoys. Pero es en este tomo, con la aparición de Hallaxxon y Retcon que creo que alcanzó otro nivel con el simbolismo de sus ideas. Su trama rompe la cuarta barrera de maneras muy interesantes pero sutiles. Es más, podrías pensar que no rompe la cuarta barrera, pero si reflexionas sobre el origen de Halaxxon puede que sientas que sí lo hace.
De ahí tenemos un números sobre el universo Daemonico a dónde es transportada la familia de Lucius antes de la batalla final. La narración es interesante y la trama ayuda a construir la relación de familia que estaba fragmentada desde el tomo uno, pero es relleno también.
Si sumamos todos los retrasos y el tiempo que tomó para que saliera este segundo tomo, es triste pensar que de los seis números que incluía, sólo cuatro números abordan el arco argumental y los otros dos son una especie de relleno.
La historia continúa en Milk Wars, el crossover de personajes de DC y los personajes de Young Animal.