Doom Patrol #107 (1966)
by Arnold Drake & Bruno Premiani
cover by Bob Brown
Unusual for the Silver Age, these three issues are a continuing storyline.
The backup feature with Negative Man will be covered separately.
We begin with a giant robot, as more comics should.
It’s quite powerful, but Chief already has a plan to deal with it.
But more importantly, Mento is financing an investigation into proving that Beast Boy’s legal guardian is a criminal.
Okay, I’ve been harsh on Mento so far… with good reason I believe… but FOR ONCE he’s doing the right thing without being awful about it.
But in the meantime, the fight with the giant robot isn’t going well.
Which requires Elasti-Girl to get to their rescue, much to Mento’s distaste.
I must once again point out that Elasti-Girl has the worst possible superpower for wearing a skirt.
Well, worst for her. For the car drivers, not so much.
It’s hard to argue against Elasti-Girl being the powerhouse of the team. Even if she doesn’t defeat the robot.
In fact, the gas shrinks her down SO much that she goes microscopic!
It’s a trope more associated with the Marvel Universe, but little known fact: DC also has its own microverse.
And Elasti-Girl has been captured by the inhabitants of said microverse.
Naturally, Chief has already figured out everything. I’m not counting this as Robotman being damaged because the hand was removed willingly, by the way.
Chief is also able to create a detailed diagram of the giant robot… SOMEHOW.
Meanwhile, we learn that Beast Boy’s mentor has been working with this guy.
The cover might make you think that he’s the main villain, but he doesn’t do much in this first part.
He doesn’t even seem to be connected to the microverse people imprisoning Elasti-Girl.
I’m not going to fault Mento for sleeping on separate beds: the Comics Code would not allow two people to be shown sharing the bed, even if they were married!
Robotman and Negative Man fight the robot, managing to recover a sample of the shrinking gas.
Mento does show up to help…
…aaand to let the robot escape.
And the first part ends on a cliffhanger.
Doom Patrol #108 (1966)
by Arnold Drake & Bruno Premiani
cover by Bob Brown
Beast Boy, don’t spoil the end of the series! There’s still 13 issues to go!
Mento is shrunk down into the microverse to rescue Elasti-Girl. Not really sure why the other heroes don’t go with him… but in their defense, they’d have to share scenes with Mento.
Speaking of Elasti-Girl, she’s been sprunfrom prison by one of the locals.
We already had a giant robot, so why not a Kaiju?
You might have asked yourself: why can’t Elasti-Girl just return to her world by growing back to human size?
Well, aside from the fact that she doesn’t KNOW she’s in a microverse yet, her powers aren’t working properly.
In the 60s, sexism was inescapable even in other dimensions.
Also this guy, who used to be the king of the microverse, is in love with Elasti-Girl.
Mento is on the case, helped by some tracking birds. Not really sure what the atmosphere has to do with telepathy, though.
You might expect him to spend the rest of the story looking for her, considering this entire issue is dedicated to this adventure… but nope, he finds her THE NEXT PAGE.
Mento brought with him a gas developed by Chief to bring them back home, and all the king wants in return is Elasti-Girl’s head band.
Dude, I could understand that face if he asked to kiss her, but COME ON.
Well that was quick.
The boys tease Elasti-Girl for being everyone’s love interest…
…and then she just leaves! Because why would she be interested in taking down the dangerous villain who exiled her to another dimension, that’s not something for married women!
What happened to the previous issues where she insisted on continuing her hero career???
I mean, they could have framed this as her needing some rest before returning to active duty… she WAS imprisoned for at least a couple of days after all.
But Mento gets bad news: his attempt to force the backers of Beast Boy’s legal guardians to allow the investigation has backfired.
So to recap Mento’s philosophy.
A giant robot almost killed your wife = someone else’s problem.
Your investments backfire = EMERGENCY! LEAVE THE COUNTRY IMMEDIATELY!
Another round against the robot. Don’t even try to check the consistency of its size.
Until Robotman discovers that the robot is actually The Brain.
Who is working with Garguax.
Don’t say stuff like that, Arnold Drake, it’s entirely possible in the DC Universe.
In Switzerland, Mento discovers that the guy running the show is actually Monsieur Mallah in disguise.
Mento doesn’t do great in this fight…
…but I’ll give him credit, not everyone would have the guts to do this.
Still… it’s Mento.
Some on, Elasti-Girl, you’re supposed to be too smart for this!
And ESPECIALLY for this!
I get that she was worried about her husband, but Elasti-Girl managed to board a plane without noticing EVERYONE IS A MANNEQUIN.
Only the stewardess is real, so this leads to a big dumb catfight.
We interrupt this high-stakes superhero story for Beast Boy shenanigans.
But he’s contacted by Chief because the Doom Patrol needs saving.
You’d expect the Brain to just wait for Beast Boy, especially since he taunted Chief about it… but the Brotherhood decides to EXECUTE THE DOOM PATROL.
Doom Patrol #109 (1967)
by Arnold Drake & Bruno Premiani
cover by Bob Brown
Soooo… why isn’t the series over?
Because Chief has Beast Boy put the Doom Patrol back to the headquarters, where he puts them all under cryogenic sleep.
And because Garguax set the weapon to half power.
So the Doom Patrol is already back at PAGE FOUR.
But that’s not because Garguax is an idiot… although he IS… but because someone from the inside sabotaged the mission.
Chief suggests that the Doom Patrol play dead, and when Robotman takes a while to understand him Mento decides FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER to be a dick.
Notice Elasti-Girl doesn’t come to her husband’s rescue when he’s having his butt kicked by Negative Man.
In my headcanon, she expresses her opinion once they get home.
Chief and Beast Boy are going to act as bait for the next Brotherhood attack.
That’s when Chief drops the lore that he used to know his father.
And sure enough, Garguax sends a new super-android after them.
Were they playing for VERY high sums, or has Mento lost thousands of games?
The new android is a major challenge. Why didn’t they use this earlier???
Ultimately Beast Boy is the only one with any success…
…by STRANGLING THE ANDROID.
Alright, I will admit that THIS scene with Mento is pretty badass.
But it’s ultimately meaningless, because we end the saga in the same exact place we started it.
Historical significance: 2/10
The super-android shows up again. It also continues the saga of Beast Boy’s legal guardian, but like I said this doesn’t add much. It’s also the first clue that Madame Rouge is more complex than she looks. As far as I know, the microverse never shows up again.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
The detour into the microverse is COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THE PLOT. The Brain didn’t even know Elasti-Girl would end somewhere!
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
Kind of a missed opportunity. By far the weirdest thing is dedicating a chunk of the storyline to a side quest in the microverse that comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere.
But you also have the VERY rushed death of the Doom Patrol and many, MANY idiotic aspects of the plan of the villains… and aside from a couple of moments when they’re fighting the Brotherhood, the action is not all that exciting.
Times Robotman has been damaged: 20
Issues when Robotman is never damaged: 15