My Greatest Adventure #80 (1963)
written by Arnold Drake & Bob Haney
pencils by Bruno Premiani
New retrospective! We will be looking at the original run of the Doom Patrol.
First I have to talk about is creators.
Arnold Drake needs little introduction: in addition to the Doom Patrol, he’s also the co-creator of Deadman and of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, and was an influential writer at both DC Comics and Marvel.
Artist Bruno Premiani is less known; in addition to the Doom Patrol he’s also the co-creator of the Teen Titans, but he’s known for little elso (at DC he also has mostly credits on Batman and Tomahawk).
He’s a bit of mysterious figure, emigrating from Italy to Argentina in 1930. Most reliable sources report him being born in 1907, although a few others say he was born in 1924. Quite a bit of difference, since this means he escaped the fascists when he was either 23 years old or only 6 years old! Considering there are sources saying he couldn’t get back to Italy during the 40s without being arrested for anti-fascist activities… I really don’t think he was born in 1924.
He worked in newspapers comics in Argentina until 1947, before moving to America where he lived between 1948 and 1952. It’s in this period that he began working at DC Comics, and in 1957 he was the author of the illustrated book El Caballo which is reportedly THE book on how to draw horses.
There are contradicting sources on how long he stayed in the US; his last credited story is from 1971, and he died in Argentina in 1984.
His legacy is so tied to the Doom Patrol that he makes an appearance in their last issue!
As for how the Doom Patrol came to be, we have direct sources!
Murray Boltinoff the editor, came to me one day, or I went to him one day and he said, “We’re having a lot of trouble with My Greatest Adventure, it’s starting to lay an egg. The era of the superhero has taken over completely. My Greatest Adventure has ordinary heroes. We need some kind of superhero to punch it up.” So I said okay, went out and came back a couple of hours later with the basic idea about the man in the wheelchair who is the great brain, and runs this group of superheroes who hate being superheroes. That was the new aspect. That was the thing that made Doom Patrol different, these people hated being superheroes. And they were a little bit self-pitying, just a little bit, and the chief was constantly telling them, “Stop crying in your beer.” That made them something that wasn’t around at the time.
ARNOLD DRAKE
Before moving to the story itself, there’s one point to be discussed: the relationship with the OTHER superhero team from 1963 about misfits led by a guy on a wheelchair, the X-Men.
The Doom Patrol unquestionably came first in June 1963, and the X-Men would first show up three months later.
Drake was still bitter about the creation of the X-Men years later.
I’ve become more and more convinced that [Stan Lee] knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol. Over the years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between Marvel and DC. Therefore from when I first brought the idea into Murray Boltinoff’s office, it would’ve been easy for someone to walk over and hear that I was working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair. So over the years, I began to feel that Stan had more lead time than I realized. He may well have had four, five, or even six months.
ARNOLD DRAKE
It should be noted, however, that years later Drake ended up working on the X-Men while Stan Lee was still at Marvel, and according to the same interview he never even asked about the Doom Patrol. In fact, in a 2007 interview shortly before his death, he conceded another possibility:
Since we were working in the same vineyards, and if you do enough of that stuff, sooner or later, you will kind of look like you are imitating each other.
ARNOLD DRAKE
For what it’s worth, I don’t agree with the idea that the X-Men were a ripoff of the Doom Patrol. While there are similarities between the two teams, they are also VASTLY different: just to name one thing, the teenage aspect is completely absent from the original Doom Patrol stories.
Considering the changes in society in the 60s, I think it was inevitable to have two teams of misfits dealing with prejudice. Also, calling the original X-Men “reluctant heroes” is a bit of a stretch, and it’s undeniable that the Doom Patrol owes A LOT to the Fantastic Four.
But if I keep rambling this review will never actually start, so without further ado: let’s begin this weird, weird journey.
We begin with bearded man, who will be known only as “Chief” for quite a while, introducing himself to three mysterious figures in the shadows.
Chief is quite harsh on these people, basically forcing them to talk about their origin stories.
The first one is Rita Farr, famous actress.
During her flashback we learn she’s an Olympian medalist! I don’t think this ever comes up again.
During the shooting she’s exposed to some mysterious vapors…
…and gain the power to grow or shrink in size.
That’s supposed to be her tragedy: she doesn’t fully control her powers.
Honestly, while I like her as a character, this is the reason why I never thought she REALLY fit with the Doom Patrol… her “tragedy” is absolutely NOTHING compared to her teammates, especially because she WILL learn to control her powers pretty soon!!!
I mean: THIS GUY is the second recruit, and just by looking at him you can already tell he got a worse deal.
This guy, Larry Trainor, gained his powers by flying too close to the radiation belt around Earth before crashing his plane. See, I didn’t reference the Fantastic Four for nothing!
His power is to project a “Negative Man” out of his body for 60 seconds, but there are several drawbacks:
1) his actual body can’t do anything during the projection
2) if the projection doesn’t come back within 60 seconds, he dies
3) there’s a reason why he’s wearing bandages. We’ll see later that you DO NOT want to know what’s beneath.
Negative Man is the main contribution of Bob Haney to this story, since apparently the character was his idea, suggested to help Drake finish the deadline.
And finally we have Robotman, who is unquestionably THE face of the Doom Patrol.
I also get the feeling he’s the character that Premiani has the most fun drawing. Just look at the details!!!
Robotman used to be an adventurer and a car racer before an accident, and he’s easily the most extreme case of body horror of all mainstream superheroes.
Between his “depressed tough guy with a heart of gold” persona and his orange skin, I can’t help but compare him to the Thing. But even Ben Grimm got a better deal than him!
Also, we immediately learn that Chief is the one who transplanted Cliff Steele’s brain inside the robot body.
In the post-Crisis run by Grant Morrison, we will learn that Chief DELIBERATELY caused the accident… it’s quite eerie to see that it fits this first story. I will track any potential conflicts with this idea throughout the rest of the run.
While he hasn’t flat out told them yet, Chief’s goal is to create a superhero team.
Conveniently, a broadcast from Plot Convenience News informs them of a nearby threat.
Negative Man is an amazing character, but I always find it funny that whenever he uses his powers his teammates are always ready to do the countdown.
Negative Man brings back the bomb within 60 seconds, but then Chief discovers he has to use Rita’s powers as well.
Hhhmmm, that’s awfully convenient… I’m beginning to understand where Morrison got the idea that Chief was toying with them.
Also, didn’t she JUST say she can’t control her powers?
Robotman helps by… basically just standing there.
Following Chief’s instructions, she disarms the bomb that he totally didn’t build himself.
And this convinces the team that they work well enough together to make this a regular thing.
A bit underwhelming for the team’s first outing, isn’t it? Fortunately, there’s a SECOND part.
Which begins with a VERY old guy spying on Chief.
So, uhm, Chief has several “drone rockets” that are constantly patrolling the sky.
Even if he’s supposed to be a civilian. Because I guess the United States are not particularly bothered by private rockets shooting back and forth all the time, at the height of the cold war?
Sounds legit.
Also, it will be a while before the Doom Patrol is firmly established to be in continuity with the rest of DC Comics, so nobody else notices the alien ship Chief discovered.
The old guy is General Immortus, the first Doom Patrol villain and by far the most long-lived. Pun intended, but we’re not saying goodbye to this guy anytime soon.
Chief informs the Doom patrol about his previous encounters with General Immortus… OFF-PANEL.
The team finds the alien ship, which unleashes a tank (???) with a giant eye (???).
If you’ve ever wondered what the heck Robotman is wearing on his chest: it started out as a camera-slash-radio that allows Chief to follow their adventures.
The tank uses the eye to target the Doom Patrol, so Negative Man blocks it…
…but it’s Rita, who hasn’t used her codename Elasti-Girl yet, that does the heavy lifting.
Uhm, Rita, I’m sure the guys appreciate the view but… maybe a skirt isn’t the best choice if your main power is turning giant-size?
However the tank is full of surprises: it has a freezing ray that immobilizes both Elasti-Girl and Negative Man. But Robotman is way, WAY tougher.
Robotman doesn’t have enough strength left to destroy the tank, so Chief orders him to stick his arm into the barrel.
WHICH WORKS, leaving Robotman unable to use the left side of his body.
His robot body will take A LOT of abuse during this series; not to the extent of the Metal Men, but I’ll try to keep count of just how many times he has to be repaired.
Robotman’s resilience is always amazing. Even without the use of one arm and one leg, he’s STILL able to take the device they were looking for from the ship.
At first I thought we were going to get the twist that the ship isn’t alien but a trick from General Immortus, but… nope, it’s the real deal.
Instead, General Immortus ambushes them. Robotman takes the most abuse, because of course.
He also has technology that can disrupt Negative Man’s powers, which is the cover scene.
However he missed Elasti-Girl because she hid in Robotman’s ear!
This allows her to switch off the Polarization Ray™ and save Negative Man…
…IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS.
General Immortus still manages to escape with the ship, only to blow it up.
You probably don’t need me to tell you that a character named “Immortus” is actually still alive.
Doom Patrol is probably the most Marvel-like series from 60s DC; this kind of tension within the team wouldn’t feel out of place in the Fantastic Four or the Avengers.
The team gets its name from a newspaper, in the very last panel.
How the heck does the press know about their involvement if they acted in the middle of nowhere with no civilians around? Chief totally leaked images to the press, didn’t he?
Historical significance: 9/10
While the specifics of the first story are not all that important, not only does the Doom Patrol concept endure but the team has influenced various parts of the DC Universe.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
That alien ship comes out of absolutely nowhere!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Aside from Elasti-Girl not fitting the theme, this holds up incredibly well. I suppose there’s the weirdness of the unexplained alien ship, but the Doom Patrol is all about dealing with oddball things so it doesn’t really feel out of place in a modern story for them.
The core team is well-established, their personalities are obviously not fully explored yet but they feel real, Robotman especially. Chief remains an enigma, probably on purpose at this point.
Overall, an underrated classic.
Times Robotman has been damaged: 1