Doom Patrol, Book 2: The Painting That Ate Paris (Paperback)

by Grant Morrison (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Before writing such critically acclaimed cult comics as The Invisibles, Morrison made his name in 1988 by updating Animal Man, a third-rate 1960s costumed crimefighter. The next year he similarly resuscitated the Doom Patrol, a band of misfit superheroes whose strange powers made society fear and hate them (compare Marvel's X-Men, who debuted at the same time). Morrison's Animal Man drew praise for daring experimentation, but his "World's Strangest Superheroes" raised the stakes by replacing many original cast members with the likes of Crazy Jane, a schizophrenic whose multiple personalities each has its own superpower, and Dorothy Spinner, an ape-faced girl with the ability to distort reality. In this second collection of Morrison's Doom Patrol run, the archvillainous Brotherhood of Evil has been supplanted by the ludicrous but dangerous Brotherhood of Dada. Morrison's outrageously inventive takes on superheroes, which manage to be both smart and silly, may be off-putting to tradition-minded fans. The compensation is that his sensibility draws readers who usually prefer alternative comics. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401203426
• ISBN-13: 978-1401203429
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS!, October 22, 2004

By	Robert J. Steele "moforising" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Grant Morrison's run on DOOM PATROL is not one of my favorite comics ever. It's one of my favorite THINGS ever. My world is a better place by sheer virtue of the fact that this series is lying around in it.

DOOM PATROL (2nd Series), for those not in the know, is an early 90's update for one of the weirdest silver age series around. After an uninspiring intro by Paul Kupperberg (who at least brought the series back), Grant Morrison retooled the whole thing and came up with (Am I stupid enough to say it? Yes!) Pure Magick!

You probably need to be enthralled to the whole superhero ethos to understand this series, but if you are, ZANG! This may be the most off-the-wall bizarre thing you will ever read. If it was anybody else, this would simply be another boring deconstruction of superheroes. It is so very easy to write the strange for sake of the strange. What Morrison brought to the table is an absolute love for the medium and a deep concern with the damaged characters who populate it.

Perhaps his most inspired creation of the series is featured prominently in this trade, the Brotherhood of Dada! They aren't really supervillains as much as art school graduates, rejects and visionaries. Led by Mr. Nobody (whose origin is terrifying), they are simply, I don't know, snork-tacular?

After these escapades we are led into a journey of Crazy Jane's brain (who has been seriously damaged by childhood trauma into mulitple personalities). This issue (#30) is one of the creepiest comics ever to make to publication, and a perfect example of Morrison's commitment to his characters.

We follow this up with the sublimely weird Cult of the Unwritten Book story arc. Who hasn't wished that John Constantine had been a character from Withnail & I?

The final issue of this paperback features Monsieur Mallah & The Brain. If you have never laughed out loud at a comic, you are missing out. It's a testament to Morrison's talent on this series that he can feature two single issues (this and #30) that are so dichotomous, but still work together as a series. Brilliant.

And this was all pre-Vertigo. Nobody was making things like this!

<You forgot the power to make escape-proof spirit jars.>

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully weird, September 29, 2004

By	Shaun M. Corley (Radford, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I remember reading the first Invisibles trade and thinking to myself "man, that was weird. How can he top that?" Well, I got the second one, and sure enough, Morrison did. So why bring this up in a review of a Doom Patrol trade? Because I had the exact same thing happen to me with "The Painting That Ate Paris." I read "Crawling from the Wreckage" and thought there was no way Morrison could surpass it. Well, was I ever wrong! In this collection, we're introduced to the Brotherhood of Dada, who wish to wreck their own brand of havoc on the world. To do so, they unleash a painting that sucks the entire city of Paris into it, hence the title. The weirdness precedes from there, such as battles with the Fifth Horsemen of the Apoclaypse (the way he's defeated is a testament to Morrison's inventiveness) and the Cult of the Unwritten book. If you find The Invisibles too weird for your tastes, and want something along similiar lines, then try Morrison's The Doom Patrol.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it is all about 'the brotherhood of dada.', November 9, 2006

By	jamesinger (LAX) - See all my reviews

Out of the "new" series, I think this is the best collection of the revamped DOOM PATROL. There is a massive amount of story depth, character development and fairly impressive philosophical/aesthetic theory intertwined into this narrative. I usually read cliche pansy indie comics about how some guy is sad because some girl doesn't like him. However, Doom Patrol took me out of that genre and into the world of "retarded super heros" as one of my friends calls it. I like this metatheme of superheros who don't necessarily want to be super heros and are basically normal people with psychological issues. I think this is a worthy purchase and this is coming from someone who does not usually purchase any DC/Marvel comics. Last, I think this comic is drawn exceptionally well.