The Doom Patrol Archives, Vol. 1 by Arnold Drake

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In the 1960s, Marvel was creating more realistic and human characters. Arnold Drake got a chance to follow suit as DC with the creation of the Doom Patrol. Three people whose lives have been transformed due to tragic accidents become the Doom Patrol: Elasti-girl, Negative Man, and Robotman. All three have become recluses after accident, but a wheel chair bound genius doctor know as the Chief spurs them into action. Thus they set out saving the world and become the Doom Patrol.

Robotman is a man stuck in a robot's body with a human brain, Negative Man has the power to have a negatively charged being of energy leave his body. The highlight of the book is Elastigirl who hasability to shrink and expand from inch-size to skyscraper size. Her power exceeded that of DC's Atom or the more comparable Marvel Ant Man. Plus, she has the most distinct personality in the book.

The stories are pure sci fi fun. It's not quite the Fantastic Four, but the stories work even though the only major villain is General Immortus who doesn't quite have the star power of Lex Luthor or Dr. Doom. There are some good fun action stories, a few very emotional stories such as Elastigirl's Private War which has her trying to reunite a war oprhan with his adopted father. There's also a solo Robotman story that's so humorous it has to be read to be believed. I can't help but think Monty Python read this before writing the black knight sketch.

Overall, this collection stands up pretty well despite some annoying "ha ha's" thanks to Elastigirl. I'll look forward to the next Archive.



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