Doom Patrol #101 (1966)
by Arnold Drake & Bruno Premiani
cover by Bob Brown
Continuing the extended origin of Robotman, when he’s still basically a supervillain.
Good thing Chief has a high-pressure liquid rubber gun to stop him. Where is he keeping the pressurized liquid rubber, in his wheelchair?
Robotman then manages to leave the stadium (great job, cops!!!) and find himself some clothes.
Little known fact, but one of the things shared between DC and Marvel is that wearing a coat and a hat is a universal disguise that always works.
Until it doesn’t.
Fortunately for Robotman, he’s helped by a beggar and a blind man.
A blind man packing heat!!!
Oh so THAT’S where Daredevil got that cane gun thing from!!!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, is where the story turns bonkes.
Yes.
NOW.
Because he runs into a family that includes a blind man, a hunchback and a dwarf acrobat.
The point being made isn’t exactly subtle… Robotman isn’t the only person who’s had it rough… but I can’t argue with him.
They might be disabled or disfigured, but at least they have actual bodies!!!
He was maniacally evil in the first part of the previous chapter and at the beginning of this one, but he comes to his senses when he saves people when the makeshift house begins to crumble.
I swear whenever a hunchback shows up in the Silver Age he ALWAYS has super-strenght.
Did comic book writers believe that’s an actual thing???
Meanwhile Chief has convinced the police to help Robotman recover his sanity and avoid starving to death. That’s sure a step up from the previous chapter, where the Mayor was ready to ORDER A NUCLEAR STRIKE against Robotman!
Except it’s a trap by the authorities to capture Robotman.
I can’t imagine why the cops don’t trust you, Robotman. It’s not like THIS PANEL was on THE FIRST PAGE OF THIS CHAPTER.
However this comic manages to completely surprise me by having the blind guy disguising himself to let Robotman escape!
I did not see this coming. Pun intended.
Robotman gets his “brain food” and leaves his newfound family.
And so we close where we started the first chapter: with Robotman wanting to kill the man who made him into a robot.
Because of the Challengers crossover, the Robotman serial will return in #102.
Historical significance: 0/10
We never see them again, even though they live in abject poverty and Chief is incredibly wealthy.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
I’m telling you, if the coat and hat combo doesn’t work as a disguise, don’t even try anything else.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/10
Completely unnecessary and disjointed. The implication is that Robotman turns evil without his special food, I guess?
It did manage to surprise me a few times, once even in a positive way (I’m still shocked at the blind guy reveal, that was great).
The main problem with this whole plot is that now the general public has A VERY GOOD REASON for distrusting Robotman, and it makes the fact that everything is completely forgotten by everybody once the Doom Patrol forms very jarring.
A cane-gun is a real thing. When they used to give tours of FBI headquarters (before 9/11), one of the stops on the tour was a view of their confiscated weapons vault, where they always specifically pointed out a cane gun.
That was always a fun tour, such a shame they no longer give it. I’d have loved to bring my kids to that.