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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 23, 2017 14:24:03 GMT -5
I thought it was way past time for a general Doom Patrol appreciation thread. I haven't read that many Doom Patrol comics. I just vaguely remember hearing about them when I was a kid. Maybe from house ads in old comics? I vaguely remember when they were brought back for a Showcase tryout. I didn't read the Showcase tryout when it came out but I got all three issues a few months ago and ... I like the Joe Staton art. But even with my limited experience with the Doom Patrol, it seemed to me like the Showcase issues largely missed the point. About the same time I got the Showcase issues, I also put low bids on issues of Doom Patrol from the Silver Age and also got cheap copies of The Doom Patrol from the 1990s series, one issue from before Grant Morrison took over, a few issues from the Morrison run and a few issues from after Morrison left. So lately I've gotten a little more interested in The Doom Patrol, and I started this thread to see what everybody else thinks. I hope Prince Hal shows up because he recently talked about reading the Doom Patrol as it was coming out on his comics memories thread. (I love that issue of Brave and the Bold as well. For 20 years, that was the only Silver Age appearance of the Doom Patrol that I'd ever read.) Of course, the real reason I started this thread is because of my fascination with Rita Farr. Even though I've not read very many of her appearances, I think the idea of a famous actress becoming a super-hero and running around with Cliff and the Chief and Larry and then marrying Mento and adopting Changeling is fascinating and fraught with potential. And since poor Rita doesn't get used anymore when they bring back the Doom Patrol, this whole idea of a super-hero actress just sits there with nothing being done about it. So I made a few notes for a Rita Farr filmography, but I gave up on it because I wasn't sure there was anywhere to put it. Until I realized I could put it on the Doom Patrol thread. I read the first appearance of the Doom Patrol online a few months ago and, for the first time, I discovered that Rita Farr started out as an Olympic swimmer and then went into the movies. A lot like Esther Williams! Which is what prompted my idea for a Rita Farr filmography because I'm such a fan of Esther Williams. Because I have read so few issues of the Doom Patrol, I don't know if there were ever any hints about what the names of any of Rita's movie were, though I did come across a comment on Wikipedia that J'onn Jonzz once commented that he liked her "chiller" pictures. So that gave me one clue about at least one phase of her career that's quite different from anything Esther Williams did. If anybody remembers any hints from the comics about Rita Farr's career, please share them here! The titles I came up with for her "chiller" pictures are: The Evil that Women Do Streets of Blood Blind Alley I like to think that one of them was directed by John Farrow and starred Tom Neal. And she must have made at least one movie with Ruth Roman! |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on Jul 23, 2017 14:25:39 GMT -5
This is one DC property I've just never gotten around to. I've flirted with the idea of reading the Morrison run. Beyond that, all I really know them for is Beast Boy and seeming like an intended counterpart to the X-Men.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2017 14:49:17 GMT -5
Hoosier XI dabble with this group heavily in the early days of the Doom Patrol and I was a huge fan of Elasti Girl, Robotman, and the Chief. Excellent Stories and I'll would love to hear what you have to say about it. I'm not familiar with the Morrison Run as shaxper mentioned in his post earlier. If you have something to say about it ... your influence could start a love affair of this book by him and I was a huge fan of Morrison Run with the JLA.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 23, 2017 15:24:39 GMT -5
Sometimes Rita Farr kind of cracks me up. |
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Post by Spike-X on Jul 23, 2017 20:41:04 GMT -5
Now that I have the Omnibus I've been reading an issue per night, from the beginning. I'm just up to where the title changes from My Greatest Adventure to The Doom Patrol (#86), and this is where they really start to ramp up the craziness. A disembodied brain in a jar, being protected by a talking French gorilla with a genius IQ! Hey, kids! Comics!
I'll keep an eye out for any of Rita's movies being mentioned so you can add them to the list, Hoosier.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 23, 2017 20:44:10 GMT -5
Sometimes Rita Farr kind of cracks me up. She's so sexual, I'm sure it wasn't intentional .  |
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Post by Spike-X on Jul 23, 2017 20:46:15 GMT -5
One thing I like about Rita so far (so Farr! Hahaha!) is her willingness to get stuck in and do what needs doing without being all helpless and hysterical and waiting for a man to tell her what to do (I'm looking at you, 1960s Susan Storm Richards!).
In one early issue, she realizes the Chief, Larry and Cliff are in deadly peril, so she finds the equipment she needs, rigs it all up, and does what needs to be done. Then gives the fellas a proper bollocking for leaving her out of the operation in the first place.
Rita Farr - a woman you can look up to. Because sometimes you have no choice. Because she can get really big. See, so it works on two levels...
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Post by Spike-X on Jul 23, 2017 20:47:44 GMT -5
Sometimes Rita Farr kind of cracks me up. She's so sexual, I'm sure it wasn't intentional . Dude in the car isn't planning to move any time soon, 's all I'm sayin'. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 23, 2017 20:51:56 GMT -5
ha! He's beaver shooting.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 23, 2017 22:08:33 GMT -5
I read a trade or two of the Morrison run, which helped me realize I like Grant Morrison about as much as Shax does. I was mildly intrigued to read the series before that (for Beast Boy, really), but I just never got around to it.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 24, 2017 1:40:14 GMT -5
Now that I have the Omnibus I've been reading an issue per night, from the beginning. I'm just up to where the title changes from My Greatest Adventure to The Doom Patrol (#86), and this is where they really start to ramp up the craziness. A disembodied brain in a jar, being protected by a talking French gorilla with a genius IQ! Hey, kids! Comics! I'll keep an eye out for any of Rita's movies being mentioned so you can add them to the list, Hoosier. Thanks, Spike. I have about ten more made-up movie titles but I can't find the other notes I made. It was just some stuff I jotted down about which Olympics she was in and what year her career as an actress might have started. But I can't remember if it was explicitly stated in her first appearance or if I just made some guesses about it so I need to look at her first appearance again. |
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Post by Spike-X on Jul 24, 2017 6:32:13 GMT -5
If anybody remembers any hints from the comics about Rita Farr's career, please share them here! The titles I came up with for her "chiller" pictures are: The Evil that Women Do Streets of Blood Blind Alley My Greatest Adventure #85 (The Furies From 4,000 Miles Below!) shows Rita starring in a movie called The Diminishing Lady, where she plays a woman stricken with a strange condition which causes her to shrink. Talk about being typecast! |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jul 24, 2017 12:10:32 GMT -5
One thing I like about Rita so far (so Farr! Hahaha!) is her willingness to get stuck in and do what needs doing without being all helpless and hysterical and waiting for a man to tell her what to do (I'm looking at you, 1960s Susan Storm Richards!). Curiously, as much as Marvel was considered hipper than DC, Lee's heroines tended towards the fragile, fainting type (Marvel Girl, Invisible Girl, Scarlet Witch) while Fox's were more take-charge (Eliast-Girl, Zatanna, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman).
I'm fond of the original series and all its weirdness and disfunction. I think Morrison's run on the title is the best thing he has ever done.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 12:29:44 GMT -5
I had a DC Digest featuring the Doom Patrol (purchased at a Super-X pharmacy!) and I really enjoyed reading it. I think some interest was sparked in them due to a storyline in the New Teen Titans at the time. A few years ago I purchased the first 2 Doom Patrol Archives. Great stories--some silly elements along with some sophisticated ones. The art is very classy looking as well--and the drama!! I believe there is a Doom Patrol Omnibus being released this year.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 24, 2017 13:52:14 GMT -5
If anybody remembers any hints from the comics about Rita Farr's career, please share them here! The titles I came up with for her "chiller" pictures are: The Evil that Women Do Streets of Blood Blind Alley My Greatest Adventure #85 (The Furies From 4,000 Miles Below!) shows Rita starring in a movie called The Diminishing Lady, where she plays a woman stricken with a strange condition which causes her to shrink. Talk about being typecast! Well, I had to find that online and read it. It's one of the best Doom Patrol story I've read (and I've admitted I haven't read very many) and it makes me a little more eager to dive in and start reading Doom Patrol from the beginning. As for The Diminishing Lady, I'm under the impression that Rita didn't stick around to finish the movie, but I think I'll list it as The Diminishing Lady (1964) with a note that Ms. Farr left the production mid-shoot but they re-wrote the script and shot around her and found a Rita Farr look-a-like in order to use the awesome footage of the fight with the cat. |
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