With the end of the original incarnation of the Doom Patrol, let’s have a look at the first failed relaunch.
Showcase #94 (1977)
by Paul Kupperberg & Joe Staton
cover by Jim Aparo
Showcase is one of the most historically important series in superhero comics.
Intended to introduce new characters to see if they could sustain a regular series, it’s where the Silver Age proper began. It’s where the Silver Age versions of Flash, Green Lantern and Atom were introduced, in addition to stuff like the Metal Men, the Challengers of the Unknown, Hawk & Dove and really too many to count.
The series had been canceled in 1970, but it was relaunched seven years later with this new version of the Doom Patrol. It would run only until 1978, being canceled for good with #104.
We have to thank Paul Levitz for this revival: as the editor of the book, he instructed Kupperberg to start a new Doom Patrol. But as a fan of the original team, and as a way to pay his respects to the heroic way they died, Kupperberg decided against simply resurrecting everybody.
However, weeks later Robotman is washed ashore. Now I’m REALLY starting to suspect his brain is truly immortal!
And he stumbles upon a familiar pipe-smoking scientist.
This issue shares the same cover date of Metal Men #53, meaning that Doc Magnus took a break after fighting *groan* Doctor Strangeglove to wander around.
And he decided to build a new body for Robotman. Weirdly enough he doesn’t give him any shapeshifting abilities, but even weirder is the fact that he looks LESS humanoid than he did with his original design!
This is just baffling, since we KNOW Doc Magnus can build perfectly humanoid robots.
Going back to the old Doom Patrol headquarters, however, Robotman discovers there’s a new team squatting there.
These would be the confusingly named Tempest, who can shoot blasts from his hands…
…Celsius, who can generate cold or heat…
…and Negative Woman, who can create an energy being from her cleavage.
Although initially it’s not a separate body.
The new Doom Patrol is far more diverse than the average superhero team from the period.
Negative Woman is Russian, Tempest is black and Celsius is Indian (and her skin color changes a lot throughout her history).
That’s by design, as this relaunch was most likely inspired by the X-Men relaunch of the same year.
So not only the Doom Patrol debuted very close to the original X-Men… BOTH teams had their books canceled and were relaunched in 1977.
It COULD be a coincidence, since the X-Men were relaunched four months before this story, but I’m pretty sure this is a direct result of the X-Men being successful (unlike the original incarnations of both teams, where I’m certain it was a coincidence).
The first villain of this new Doom Patrol is once again General Immortus. Weird to see Robotman mention that he’s heard the General has run of his immortality juice… when, exactly?
I should highlight that the new Doom Patrol members didn’t even expect Robotman to still be alive!
This is not intended to be a full review of all these books, just a general overview, so let’s move along.
Showcase #95 (1977)
by Paul Kupperberg & Joe Staton
cover by Jim Aparo
Not really the best way to showcase you’re “DC’s latest and greatest super-team” to be imprisoned by your villain in your second cover, guys.
In this issue we discover the backstory of Celsius: she was an orphan in Calcutta, when she ran into a young Chief (before he lost the use of his legs).
And seemingly out of nowhere he decides that she’s eventually going to marry him!
It’s not clear how old she is at this point, but I’m pretty sure she’s a teenager AT BEST.
Aaaaaand then he dumps her in a monastery.
That’s where she develops her superpowers. I’m not sure if she’s a mutant or if they’re quasi-mystical in nature.
Once she grows into adulthood, Chief returns to inform her about HIS origin story, which you might recall having General Immortus making him work on the immortality serum.
You might also remember that Chief DID figure out the secret of immortality… but he gave this to Celsius as a wedding gift, without taking the serum himself.
See why I told you that Chief stating Madame Rouge was the first woman he ever loved would eventually be hilarious?
This is probably the only time we ever see General Immortus young.
But it doesn’t last long, because the effects of this serum are temporary if it’s not specifically adjusted for a specific person.
Something else to point out from these initial stories is that Negative Woman’s powers don’t really resemble her male counterpart all that much.
Showcase #96 (1978)
by Paul Kupperberg & Joe Staton
cover by Jim Aparo
As previously mentioned, the Showcase run lasts only three issues.
Since Negative Woman is Russian, you just know we’re going to have a Cold War storyline.
Not one of the good ones, though. Despite featuring a robot riding a winged horse.
I can see why this didn’t last. While Robotman does have his original personality and the rest of the team COULD work… even if I don’t think Tempest does anything interesting here… it really doesn’t feel like the Doom Patrol at all.
Kupperberg wasn’t a big fan of his own work here.
I was missing the point of the Doom Patrol. The original group were outsiders and freaks, while my new guys were just comic-book superheroes. I was young and inexperienced and new to writing, with about two years under my belt before getting the gig.
PAUL KUPPERBERG
Superman Family #191 (1978)
by Gerry Conway & Arvell Jones
The New Doom Patrol then showed up, of all places, in the Supergirl serial published on Superman Family. This wasn’t even interesting enough to cover in the Supergirl retrospective.
Aside from the name, Negative Woman has basically nothing to do with the original at this point.
They don’t even interact with Supergirl in the story.
Superman Family #192 (1978)
by Gerry Conway & Arvell Jones
Or in the second part. They’re just caught in a weird plot about a guy who can turn off gravity.
Superman Family #193 (1978)
by Gerry Conway & Scott Edelman
pencils by Arvell Jones
Negative Woman looks more like the Human Torch than Negative Man by now.
Supergirl doesn’t even recognize the Doom Patrol…
…and in fact they BARELY interact throughout the story.
DC Comics Presents #52 (1982)
by Paul Kupperberg & Keith Giffen
It seems like nobody cared about the new Doom Patrol except Kupperberg himself.
Something I forgot to mention is that Tempest and Negative Woman are an item. Mostly because there’s been barely any focus on them.
I will probably give this one a proper review at some point, since it’s the first appearance of Ambush Bug.
Robotman has mercifully returned to his classic look. Notice that the new Doom Patrol is so obscure that even LOIS LANE doesn’t know them.
Or even SUPERMAN, because he initially thinks the new guys are responsible for the current mess he’s found himself into.
Shouldn’t he know then through Supergirl?
This story changes the look of Negative Woman’s powers to match the original, but also somewhat retcons her origin story.
Now she’s kind of possessed by the energy body of Negative Man.
Honestly this would have benefitted from being its own story without being mixed up with the introduction of Ambush Bug.
This is also the story that forces her to be covered in radiation-proof bandages.
Supergirl vol2 #8 (1983)
by Paul Kupperberg & Carmine Infantino
Kupperberg continues to be the only writer interested in this Doom Patrol, but once again they don’t really interact with Supergirl.
Robotman has gone through another body change, and since this book has awful 80s Infantino artwork of course it looks like crap.
Supergirl vol2 #9 (1983)
by Paul Kupperberg & Carmine Infantino
I feel like the new Doom Patrol members have powers that don’t really match.
Both Tempest and Celsius can shoot stuff from their hands. Granted it’s not the same, as Celsius is more versatile, but it’s still too close.
And both Tempest and Negative Woman can fly… something that looks kind of weird for him, because he’s supposed to do so by shooting energy, but it’s rarely drawn that way.
That results in multiple fights involving just the two flying members, isolated from the others.
Tempest is also one of the VERY rare DC characters that is straight up defined as a mutant.
It’s too bad that this version of the Doom Patrol never found its footing, because the fact that Tempest was a Vietnam veteran who deserted would have been worth exploring.
And that was it for the new Doom Patrol, aside from Robotman making appearances on Teen Titans. We will take a look his involvement in the storyline that acts as an epilogue of the original series, but first… like most retrospectives, we have an obligatory stop at Crisis.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (1985)
by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Surprisingly, the Doom Patrol is NOT in the famous two-page spread with a record number of heroes. In fact, while all the members are typically listed as appearing in this issue, I could only spot a Robotman cameo.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 (1985)
by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
In fact I can’t find Doom Patrol appearances until the issue where EVERY superhero goes into the big final mission. Including Mento!!!
This is not his first reappearance after the original series… he already showed up in the Teen Titans issues we will look at in the retrospective finale.
But in that storyline he had a completely new look, while in this one he goes back to an older and uglier one.
Notice Celsius is now more Indian-looking, and Robotman making fun at the lack of Doom Patrol appearances.
They even get some action scenes!
Negative Woman also interacts with fellow Russian hero Red Star.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 (1986)
by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
And speaking of Negative Woman, these are probably her most famous appearances.
She gets to destroy Chemo!
The rest of the team gets into the action as well, with Celsius even being suggested as a potential Teen Titans member.
Although she definitely isn’t a teenager anymore, but already at this point the “teen” part of the name was just a formality.
Mento teams up with Beast Boy to defeat Shaggy Man.
Other than that, there’s a Tempest cameo as he helps rescuing Captain Atom.
Who’s the guy with the cool visor fighting Cyborg, by the way? That’s a neat design!
Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (1986)
by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
More cameos. Am I too harsh for thinking Tempest is a more obscure character than B’Wana Beast?
Surprisingly enough Negative Woman keeps getting the spotlight more than the others, being recruited among the powerhouses.
She is, in fact, among the heroes that participate in the final assault against the Anti-Monitor.
Given by how obscure she was, I’m guessing they just liked her visual design.
Historical significance: 4/10
The New Doom Patrol kept the brand running, but just barely.
Celsius and especially Tempest end up rather unimportant in the history of the Doom Patrol.
Negative Woman’s main contribution is probably making future incarnations of Negative Man more complex, but she’s not particularly notable on her own.
On the other hand, Robotman is firmly established as the only one you MUST have on the team if you want to keep the name.
Did they deserve better? Yes
I fully agree with Kupperberg: he missed the mark by making this team just regular superheroes.
The few adventures they have are not BAD, mind you, just kind of generic.
There was definitely potential, particularly by exploring a team mostly composed of people from different countries. That’s the other defining problem of this incarnation: they have so few appearances that there’s no time to really explore anything.
Ironically, if they hadn’t failed a relaunch in 1977 by trying to follow the X-Men… I think they would have had a chance for a proper relaunch when the New Teen Titans by Wolfman & Pérez proved to be a juggernaut in sales and critical acclaim.
In fact, I would go as far to say as New Teen Titans being a more worthy successor of the original Doom Patrol when it comes to exploring an unusual team that fights through personal tragedies.
Next time we’ll have a look at the tragic end of this new version.
Number of Robotman robot bodies: 11
After going through eight bodies in the original series.