Customer Reviews

The Doom Patrol Archives, Vol. 3 (DC Archive Editions)

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Unlike most of the super-hero books of the 60s -- a genre dominated by the books of Julie Schwartz, Mort Weisinger and Stan Lee -- the Doom Patrol was always a little different. The spin on the characters was somewhere between DC's "we're all the best of pals" and Marvel's "we're real people so we argue with each other all the time." And it made for entertaining reading. If you haven't already picked up Volumes 1 and 2 of Doom Patrol Archives, do so. This is a series worth reading and enjoying from the beginning.

You know I had never read a single issue of the old Doom Patrol until reading their tales in the fantastic Archive editions. In fact, I had really own ever seen one issue as a kid and that was the very first issue in this, the third Archive Volume. My older brother used to have issue #98 when we were kids. I remember that cover distinctively, but I don't think I ever read it. This volume contains issues #98 - 105 as well as Challengers of the Unknown #48. It's safe to say that Doom Patrol was probably a third string book (at best) at DC back in the 1960's and that may have been a good thing judging by these stories. DC was known to exercise pretty tight editorial control over its top characters like Superman and Batman, but clearly Doom Patrol flew under the radar.

Much like many Marvel comics of the day like Fantastic Four and The Avengers, the heroes of the Doom Patrol didn't always get along. Heck! They didn't USUALLY get along when it comes down to it as Negative Man and Robotman were constantly at each other's throats leaving Rita, AKA Elasti-Girl to try and place peacekeeper. Throw in the later editions of Beast Boy and Mento, and you had one very dysfunctional super team. In that regard Doom Patrol was far ahead of its time when compared to say The Justice League of America. The stories were by Arnold Drake with art by Bruno Premiani and Bob Brown, not exactly names that stand out in comic lore. Nevertheless, this trio produced stories that were both exciting and more aimed at adult readers than the typical mid-60's DC fare and the art was well above average.

In issue #98 the Chief tells them that he his disbanding the Doom Patrol and throws them out of his office. The team soon finds that the Doctor is suffering from radioactive copper poisoning and is dying. The team not only has to battle Mr. 103 who can turn himself into any element, but find a way to cure the chief as well.

Issue #99 finds Robotman and Larry Trainor (Negative Man) again going at it as they perform for a crowd of fans. Trainor even goes at it with his Negative Man alter ego, thinking himself useless as Negative Man always saves the day. This was in some ways similar to Jim Corrigan's clashes with his Spectre alter ego.

Later the team joins the Challengers of the Unknown in a two-part epic as four villains: Kra the alien robot, Volcano Man, Drabny, and Multi-Man escape from the prison the challengers had them in and nearly kill them until Doom Patrol manages to save them from death.

Issue #100 introduces readers to Gar Logan, Beast Boy who would later become a member of the Teen Titans. Again Drake shows a strong Marvel influence as Beast Boy just saunters into Doom Patrol headquarters and demands to be a part of the team. Very reminiscent of Spider Man once demanding to be made a member of the Avengers way back in the day.

If you never read the original Doom Patrol these Archive editions are well worth the investment. This book was a well-kept secret in the mid-1960's but proves it is every bit as good as the frontline titles.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I couldn't agree more with the previous reviewer - great stuff, just as it was when I read the individual comics when much younger!

The problem with Amazon showing it as not yet releasd (when I wrote this it showed 4 to 6 weeks out) is 2 fold - one is though the specialist comic stores receive comic books on their scheduled release dates, Amazon receives and therefore releases them some time later (it is the same situation with "regular" book stores - they don't get them in until several weeks after release date).

The second reason is that Amazon sometimes finds that customer orders already placed "eat up" their initial order, causing them to be temporarily out of stock until they get more copies in. (This happened to me with a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives title I tried to order from them a while ago - I knew it was released but Amazon showed it as not released for some time.

If it is any consolation, though I've not seen it on sale in a store (I live in a small town so cannot check it "in the flesh") Midtown Comics, a large comic store in NY, web site showed the Doom Patrol Archives Volume 3 as released on 2/15/06. They are very reliable, I've found (much more than say Marvel at keeping to publication dates!)

I use Midtown to keep my "wants" comic list up to date & then order the books from Amazon when they have them in @ their excellent discounts.

I agree with the reviewer, the first 2 Doom Patrol Archives were first class (as are all the Archive titles) & will be buying it once Amazon has it in! I will also be doing the same with the Metal Men Archives in due course - another title from the 60s that was not your "usual" comic book. Now, if only DC would publish one on Eclipso (another "quirky" title), I'd be a happy man!

This is Doom Patrol at it's best. You won't miss much by skipping the first 2 volumes. They hit their stride when Beast Boy joins up. This title must have been an odd ball when it was first on the racks. This volume holds up well even 40 years later. The art is pretty decent, and the stories are pretty fun. I've heard that there's gonna be a Doom Patrol movie, and I hope this volume is the main influence.

This is one of the greatest comics of it's time, and the artwork and design is before it's time. In this volume in particular there is only one complaint. It hasn't been released yet!!! I have been waiting since the 1st of February to get this volume and it keeps getting pushed back a week. It is now March and I still haven't got solid word on it's exact release date. I've tried to look it up online, and all the info I've come across is inconclusive. Does anybody know whats going on. Anyway...I still give this a good review because the material is great. I own the first two volumes and the quality of the reprints were great.