Doom Patrol #120 (1968)
by Arnold Drake & Bruno Premiani
cover by Jack Sparling
Can’t you just wait one issue before the series ends, Robotman?
We begin with Robotman and Negative Man dealing with called a satellite but is clearly a lunar module.
I should point out that the issue has a cover date of August 1968, so almost a year before the Moon landing.
Space exploration is much more dangerous in the DC universe, where astronaut have to deal with ROCKETS BEING FIRED AT THEM.
Turns out that someone is gathering all manners of satellites and ships, to the point of creating the Sargasso Of Space.
DC Comics loooooved the idea in the Silver Age.
I wonder why.
The Sargasso Of Space has its own defenses, and I wonder why Negative Man bothered to go the in person and not in his energy form. It would take him one second to get there if it was on the Moon, and I’m pretty sure it’s much closer to Earth.
Also I’m pretty sure the energy form HAS carried him a couple of times. Although admittedly it makes sense as a weakness.
In other plots, Beast Boy has a date!
This makes Elasti-Girl and Mento feel old…
…so they decide to go dancing. You know, this might be the first time Mento is acting like a human being.
He’s not dressing like one, but hey, baby steps.
Chief has figured out that satellites are not the only target, but other machines all over the world.
He thinks this is because someone is trying to sabotage technology, even bringing up the etymology of the word. Even after the Golden Age we can’t get rid of saboteurs!
Robotman is not buying it.
And then THIS happens to him!!!
Are we sure Robotman isn’t actually immortal?
Considering Robotman HAS operated just fine in space before, is anyone else thinking Chief just switched to a cheaper metal?
Chief has an ace up his sleeve: continuity!
So Chief puts Robotman into this spare unit.
How’s the date going?
Riveting.
Meanwhile Robotman is back in action with this atrocious new look.
The ones behind the Sargasso Of Space turn out to be, you guessed it, aliens.
Specifically it’s the work of this would-be-conqueror, which delivers a rare splash page.
That would be The Wrecker.
He seems fine.
The heroes try to stall him by asking questions, and it turns out The Wrecker isn’t even an alien.
Yeah this guy isn’t exactly Lex Luthor.
But he DOES have a surprising amount of henchmen!
Too bad Chief has run out of cool robots.
The heroes escape again…
…so that Negative Man can plug Robotman’s brain into ANOTHER body.
I guess it makes sense for Chief to make the process plug-and-play, considering how often Robotman is damaged.
Speaking of which:
The whole plan was just to take a picture of The Wrecker.
Now they can go on the offensive, with Robotman using TWO different bodies.
If you were wondering how an artist would be able to build all these weapons… it’s the twin brother of the artist, who blames technology for his death.
This could have worked to an extent if it didn’t come at the last minute.
Returning to the date, Beast Boy has to defeat a bully.
It’s going to be hard to come up with a way to do this without revealing his secret identity!
Elasti-Girl and Mento were, by sheer coincidence, in the same disco.
Somehow this turns into an all-out brawl (???).
It’s not because he’s a man, Elasti-Girl.
It’s because your husband is just. The. Worst.
So what was the point of Beast Boy not revealing he has powers if the fact that his parents are super-heroes is public knowledge?
How the heck did THREE super-heroes end up beaten THIS BADLY during a random brawl with normal people?
Historical significance: 0/10
To the best of my knowledge, The Wrecker never shows up again.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
This random scientist is able to do ALL THAT on his own, without anyone else really caring.
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
Once again Premiani is the only saving grace, but even he can’t do much here. This is particularly frustrating because it COULD have worked!
We could have given at least a bit of lip service to the villain’s motives, but he’s just nuts.
The worst is having Robotman jump through multiple new inhuman bodies and not even attempting to explore the body horror, something that the early stories excelled at.
The subplot about the date is profoundly uninteresting and makes me question how these people are able to deal with much worse. Well except for Mento, this is just about what I expect from him.
Times Robotman has been damaged: 30
Issues when Robotman is never damaged: 20
Number of Robotman robot bodies: 8
Robotman already went through THREE different bodies in the rest of the series, and this one adds FOUR non-humanoid ones and a new “standard” one.
Interesting letters: this is a weird way to announce that next issue will be the last.
