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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 18, 2018 17:15:31 GMT -5
I will hunt those issues down, Hoosier X . Always willing to give something a fair shake. For old times' sake... The gigantic black and white TV screen, the Brain in a seventh-grade science project, the green unis, and that look on the gorilla's mug. Love it!  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 18, 2018 17:16:12 GMT -5
That said, I was out running errands and I stopped at the library and decided to use the computers for a bit. (This is where I typed all the comments I posted in the last 45 minutes.) And I decided to read one comic online before continuing with my errands and I chose ... Doom Patrol #35 of the Morrison run! I just started a Golden Age break but I stayed up late last night and read Mr. Terrific, the Gay Ghost, Wildcat, the Atomic Knights, Sky Girl and Space Smith. So I was more in the mood for something a little more recent and I decided to go with DP #35 because it's been a while since I read #34. And it's the first appearance of Danny the Street, who I know from the Young Animal line Doom Patrol series! I didn't know that #35 was his first appearance. Danny the Street's pretty cool. And some random abstract Morrison operatives are trying to kill him! Run, Danny, run! Morrison DP has its moments. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jan 19, 2018 12:53:18 GMT -5
But my experience is that Morrison's run is NOT one great story after another. It's sort of hit and miss. And sometimes, when it's bad, it's pretty bad. I rate the series higher than you do, and consider maybe 80% one of my favorite superhero team titles of all time, but agree that it has its share of spectacular fails (among them the second arc being tedious and too similar to the first, the banal and uninspiring endings of his two longest non-Dada story arcs, and the surprisingly implicitly racist treatment of Tempest). |
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 2:56:46 GMT -5
But my experience is that Morrison's run is NOT one great story after another. It's sort of hit and miss. And sometimes, when it's bad, it's pretty bad. I rate the series higher than you do, and consider maybe 80% one of my favorite superhero team titles of all time, but agree that it has its share of spectacular fails (among them the second arc being tedious and too similar to the first, the banal and uninspiring endings of his two longest non-Dada story arcs, and the surprisingly implicitly racist treatment of Tempest). I only read the first half of Morrison's run. I'm a huge fan of him, but DP was one of the few works of his that didn't really hold my interest. In the issues that I read, I don't remember any racist treatment of Tempest. Could you please point out a few specific instances? I find this to be really surprising, considering he is usually good when it comes to writing PoC (Calvin Ellis, Nix Uotan, Boy, Angel Salvadore, and Manhattan Guardian being just a short list of positive examples). |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jan 20, 2018 12:42:57 GMT -5
Morrison took several years off his age, and where he had previously been a world-famous surgeon, Morrison relegated him to basically being the Chief's butler. At one point a character is having a medical issue and Tempest literally goes running to the Chief for help rather than administering basic first aid!
I had no problem with Tempest choosing not to be a full-time superhero. However, there were times his refusal to use his powers seemed almost neurotic, and when he did use them they were treated as ineffectual.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 13:13:27 GMT -5
Morrison took several years off his age, and where he had previously been a world-famous surgeon, Morrison relegated him to basically being the Chief's butler. At one point a character is having a medical issue and Tempest literally goes running to the Chief for help rather than administering basic first aid! I had no problem with Tempest choosing not to be a full-time superhero. However, there were times his refusal to use his powers seemed almost neurotic, and when he did use them they were treated as ineffectual. Thanks for the reply. I wasn't aware of Tempest's background. Those are odd choices to make with the character and it does make me curious as to why they were made. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 6, 2018 16:01:15 GMT -5
I'm up to #40 in the post-Crisis Doom Patrol run. This latest arc has not been one of my favorites as far as the "bad guys" go, but I really like what Morrison is doing with the characters, especially Rhea (who is now running around naked with no face, unless you count the giant eye on her chest) and Crazy Jane. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 9, 2018 17:27:56 GMT -5
I'm up to Doom Patrol #42 and it's the origin of Flex Mentallo! It's a really good issue! I read Flex Mentallo #2, #3 and #4 back when they first came out and it was just about the first Grant Morrison story I ever read. I did read Arkham Asylum when it first came out but I didn't care much for it. So Flex Mentallo was the first Grant Morrison that I LIKED! (And all these years later, I still haven't read Flex Mentallo #1.) Rhea (Lodestone) took off for the stars at the end of the last issue, and apparently she was gone for good. She had really grown on me over the last few issues, what with her lack of concern for clothing, her faceless head, the eye on her chest. But #42 made up for it. Love Flex Mentallo. Love Danny the Street. I wonder what will happen next? |
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 16, 2018 0:39:39 GMT -5
Another great one-shot DP story by Morrison. It's called "The Beard Hunter" and it's about a guy who kills people with beards. And now he's targeted Niles Caulder! The Chief himself! I've read up to #48. Crazy Jane unleashes a new personality called the Scarlet Harlot, and she's great fun. Also ... THE SEX MEN! |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Feb 16, 2018 12:49:12 GMT -5
Love Flex Mentallo. Love Danny the Street. I never grokked the Flex Mentallo miniseries, but I love the character and included him in some fanfic. He is so immensily fun to write, both due to the vague and slightly absurd powers, and the fact that you can set up a scenario of total darkness and despair and then suddenly there are the glowing words HERO OF THE BEACH and you know everything will be all right. |
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Post by Chris on Feb 16, 2018 22:10:20 GMT -5
Another great one-shot DP story by Morrison. It's called "The Beard Hunter" and it's about a guy who kills people with beards. Does he kill bearded people, or kills people with beard weapons? A beard rifle, or some beard shuriken, would be totes awesome.  FUN FACT: The plot to beard the city through the water supply was a reference to a Silver Age Jimmy Olsen story. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2018 2:49:35 GMT -5
I'm up to Doom Patrol #52! It's the concluding chapter in a storyline about the new Brotherhood of Dada! With Mr. Nobody running for president! It was a lot of fun! And I decided it was a good time to take a break from Morrison's DP and go back to the Silver Age series. Things are getting serious between Rita and Mento! But Cliff and Larry have a stupid plan to throw a wrench in the works! |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Feb 25, 2018 9:18:26 GMT -5
Doom Patrol #45 was originally solicited with art by Brendan McCarthy, who tweeted a couple of pages from Morrison's script with added doodles by himself. Apparently it was going to be a Danny the Street story. link |
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2018 18:59:45 GMT -5
I wanted to say a little bit more about Doom Patrol #104. Because Rita and Steve do end up getting married at the end, despite the complications caused by Cliff and Larry's stupid plan and then also even more complications from Garguax, Mallah, the Brain and especially Madame Rouge, who uses her shape-changing powers to impersonate Mento, causing the DP a lot of trouble.
As much as I would like to see Rita getting along without a man (especially an egotistical, obnoxious douchecanoe like Dayton), I've accepted the inevitable and I will continue to read the Doom Patrol. It's like a celebrity marriage, only with super-heroes (both of whom are celebrities, quite apart from being super-heroes). It's 1966, and I guess the writers just couldn't think of any other way to continue Rita's story arc. It is what it is, and it's still the Doom Patrol, one of my favorite DC Silver Age comics.
Rita and Steve's wedding is kind of fun. The Justice League and the Teen Titans are there! (I'm guessing this is the first time that Beast Boy met his future teammates Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash.) And also ... Super-Hip! He's actually Bob Hope's nephew in DC's The Adventures of Bob Hope and he turns into a super-hero or something when he's stressed? Something like that.
You know who's not there? The Challengers of the Unknown! Boyoboy, the Challs are gonna be MAD when they find out Super-Hip was invited to Rita and Steve's wedding but they weren't!
EDITED TO ADD: I looked at the pages pertaining to the wedding again, to see if anybody notable was drawn into the background. It's one of those half-pages of the DC Silver Age where the bottom of the page is a house ad. And it seems the Challengers are busy fighting Villo this month! So maybe they were invited but couldn't make it because of an adventuring-related scheduling conflict?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2018 22:21:23 GMT -5
I wanted to say a little bit more about Doom Patrol #104. Because Rita and Steve do end up getting married at the end, despite the complications caused by Cliff and Larry's stupid plan and then also even more complications from Garguax, Mallah, the Brain and especially Madame Rouge, who uses her shape-changing powers to impersonate Mento, causing the DP a lot of trouble. As much as I would like to see Rita getting along without a man (especially an egotistical, obnoxious douchecanoe like Dayton), I've accepted the inevitable and I will continue to read the Doom Patrol. It's like a celebrity marriage, only with super-heroes (both of whom are celebrities, quite apart from being super-heroes). It's 1966, and I guess the writers just couldn't think of any other way to continue Rita's story arc. It is what it is, and it's still the Doom Patrol, one of my favorite DC Silver Age comics. Rita and Steve's wedding is kind of fun. The Justice League and the Teen Titans are there! (I'm guessing this is the first time that Beast Boy met his future teammates Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash.) And also ... Super-Hip! He's actually Bob Hope's nephew in DC's The Adventures of Bob Hope and he turns into a super-hero or something when he's stressed? Something like that. You know who's not there? The Challengers of the Unknown! Boyoboy, the Challs are gonna be MAD when they find out Super-Hip was invited to Rita and Steve's wedding but they weren't! EDITED TO ADD: I looked at the pages pertaining to the wedding again, to see if anybody notable was drawn into the background. It's one of those half-pages of the DC Silver Age where the bottom of the page is a house ad. And it seems the Challengers are busy fighting Villo this month! So maybe they were invited but couldn't make it because of an adventuring-related scheduling conflict? Excellent Write Up!  |
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