Doom Patrol‘s Back, Baby, and Everyone Just Wants to Find Themselves

They might have beenlighting up DC Universethis year , but it ’s been a raging second since we ’ve seen the Doom Patrol in DC ’s comics . The farseeing waiting since thewacky exploits of Milk Warsshook this incarnation of theworld ’s strangest heroesto its core is finally over as of today , and the team is picking up the piece — as is Doom Patrol itself .

As with child as the team ’s return as part of Gerard Way ’s offbeat , on - again – off - againDC imprint Young Animal was — with its lyrical whimsy and commitment tothe weird aspectsof the squad ’s makeup as part of an introverted superhero character dramatic play — the serial played much advantageously in collection than it did issue - by - issue . So when it all came to a fugitive end with the arrival of Milk Wars and the series ’ twelfth event , it not only leave our sub sputter to find who they were to themselves , but in many ways , Doom Patrol found itself on a like quest .

It seems to have , for now at least , find that in Weight of the Worlds # 1 . Penned once again by Gerard Way and Jeremy Lambert , with fine art from James Harvey and Sajan Rai , this might be a young number one , but it is fundamentally Doom Patrol # 13 in all but name ( Scheol , even the opening night touch on to itself as such ) . Everything that happened in the serial and Milk Wars happened . Casey and Cliff found out they ’re fictional amalgams ( and in Cliff ’s showcase , became the human version of himself once more ) .

The Doom Patrol has a new mission. And some new faces. And Fugg, who is still Fugg.

The Doom Patrol has a new mission. And some new faces. And Fugg, who is still Fugg.Image: James Harvey and Sajan Rai (DC Comics)

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Original team extremity Rita Farr , the Elasti - Girl , was resurrected . Jane still go by into the underground , overwhelmed by one of her dominant personalities . Larry the Negative Manstill freaks out about his clock time by from the Negative Spirit within . new team member Lucius , perhaps the least - well - dish in this re - launching , is still working through his payoff to the real world after slaying an inter - planar demon with his parents . Danny the Street is still Danny the Ambulance / Danny the Theme Park ( Inside an Ambulance ) .

Which have in mind , that , refreshingly , we also get to see how our heroes are actually dealing with their problems , instead of just acknowledging that they exist before getting on with the crucial superhero stuff .

Part of Cliff’s exploration of his human self has more…let’s say explosive outcomes.Image: James Harvey and Sajan Rai (DC Comics)

It ’s surprisingly subdue for a superhero comic , and while Weight of the Worlds primarily uses how the team is attempt to re - centre itself as a means for anyone unfamiliar with the original discharge to grab up ( or simply read it and bury everything that happened almost a year and a one-half ago ! ) , it bid the rare chance to in reality see torpedo just … accept prison term to in reality call theirmental health , to varying forms of winner . And in a capacity that is n’t just going out onto the street in a cowl and cloak to perforate things all dark ! Not thatanyone else at DC Comicsis doing that , no .

Casey still cast aside herself into her work , desperate for a new missionary station as she helps pilot her friends through their own attempt to recover . Rita , working with Flex Mentallo , literally essay to build herself back together , training to sustain her physical form all over again . Larry picks up an worked up support wiener as a quasi - new teammate . Jane gets a therapist . Cliff the not - so - robotic Robotman might be the tightlipped the issue comes to a failure in this regard — fight off by the mother he assay to reach out to to start his own healing cognitive process , as he search his manhood — but he still try . That ’s kind of the full stop of it all . The Doom Patrol , god bless them , are trying , taking a moment to pause and find themselves in the eternally bizarre cosmos they splurge itself about in .

But as much as this return offspring is about the struggles of a team of fractured people memorize to consider with , and move on from , their own personal traumas , it is also still a Doom Patrol Scripture , which means a ) there has to be some outlandishness and b ) , there has to be a mission to focus on our hoagie on , and it ’s really here that Weight of the World shines . It start with a bare ask from Jane to Danny—“Take us where there ’s anguish , take us where we can help”—but it catapults the team on a suitably wild interstellar route trip , like some variety of superheroic Doctor Who where the phonebox is a genderqueer sentient ambulance .

Image: James Harvey and Sajan Rai

Part of Cliff’s exploration of his human self has more…let’s say explosive outcomes.Image: James Harvey and Sajan Rai (DC Comics)

The foreign mission is simple enough : the people of the major planet Orbius , tricked by a fitness equipment sell convict - creative person named Gerb fashioning himself as the verbaliser for an ancient god , are exercising themselves to death in an attempt to defy their natural , spherical cast . The Orbans are literally run from their straight selves , take part in ritual marathons aboard an infinite treadwheel to attain a slim figure at the cost of being able to actually last a life beyond running in the marathon eternal .

It ’s weird . It ’s , dare I say , goofy . It ’s utterly , completely absurd — but reflective of the team ’s own personal quests to find themselves , and therefore a quintessentially Doom Patrol sort of narrative . or else of choosing to draw from their on-key ego as the Orbans have , our heroes are now working to observe that sensory faculty of self — patronage each other along the way , as they help the Orbans free their honest graven image and embrace their spherical states in a healthy mode . Their teamwork , bolstered by all these belittled footling consequence of self - charge across the emergence , help to carry the day , and in victory , Jane , her ragtag and bobtail crew , and the series itself are emboldened with a raw sense of purpose beyond being misfit .

The Doom Patrol is on a deputation to help the existence . And in doing so , they might just serve themselves along the way .

Image: James Harvey and Sajan Rai