A gathering of misfits is a powerful thing, add superpowers and it becomes a grand trope. One of the first times a group of outcasts who were united to help the world was Doom Patrol. They are weird people, often cursed more so than blessed by their powers. How do you get into the Doom Patrol and what’s with the name? Let’s find out!
Doctor Niles Caulder was a brilliant man who had found several individuals with abilities that felt more like a disability than extraordinary. Through his positive outlook and encouragement, he was able to help these strange people become heroes. There was Robot Man, Cliff Steele, former race car driver who suffered a horrible crash that destroy his body, but not his mind. Cliff was able to have his mind put into a robotic body, but he felt distant in his new machine form, learning to reconnect through heroics.
Actress Rita Farr would be Elasti-Girl, during a film shoot, she would get infected with a gas on location. This caused her to be able to shrink and grow in size, but at first, she had no control and went into hiding until Niles brought her aboard. Pilot Larry Trainor would get hit with radiation while test flying a new fighter jet, causing him to be irradiated and able to become a negative energy being by leaving his body behind.
Niles “The Chief” and this trio would be the founding members of the Doom Patrol. As time went on, more heroes joined their cause. Mento, a wealthy man who wanted to impress Rita, so he built a helmet that gave him psychic powers. Beast Boy, a child who had nearly died but an experimental procedure saved him but granted him shapeshifting powers and a green pallor. Flex Mentallo, a man who gained cosmic powers through arcane exercise. Crazy Jane, had multiple personalities, each with their own power. Danny the Street, a sentient piece of land who could alter it as they saw fit.
Over the years, the team would fight villains who were just as weird as they were, if not stranger. The Brotherhood of Evil would be lead by a brain in a robotic pillar, The Brain, terribly clever for a genius. They’d have the gorilla mercenary, Monsieur Mallah, these two often lead other bizarre villains. A lot of brotherhoods got involved with fighting the Doom Patrol, the Brotherhood of Dada was filled with even more weird villains, lead by Mr. Nobody. You had people who could gain new powers that hadn’t existed yet but then disappear soon after use, because now they exist. Can’t forget Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man who was part man, part plant, part dinosaur, all villain.
The thing about being named Doom Patrol is that the name is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Team members come and go, often due to death and returning just as easily. Most members of the team have died at least once, it’s almost a rite of passage. Though it seems you can never keep the Doom Patrol down for too long, they’re too weird to live but to rare to die.
There you have it! The Doom Patrol have been a bizarre bunch for as long as the X-Men have been around but were seen as second fiddle by most. They’re wrong for thinking that, but it seems fitting for this crew to get that hand dealt to them. They’ve been animated multiple times and have even gotten their own live-action TV show that is fittingly weird for the series. The Doom Patrol might be at its most popular, let’s hope it’s only going up from here. See you next time!
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Doom Patrol
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
