tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72457564854976263552012-02-16T10:19:56.732-05:00This blog is an ongoing critical study of the American comic book feature DOOM PATROL from the perspective of a native. It is not construed to be authorized or endorsed by DC Comics, Warner Communications or any pertinent holders of copyrights, trademarks, licenses, options or the ilk. For a more articulate mission statement, please refer to our archive for the first post.pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-32537555632221690032012-02-01T14:36:00.004-05:002012-02-01T15:42:46.766-05:00

.....I've been amending the post on the Flex Mentallo trade solicited last year because the Diamond distributor's website has been posting changes to the announced release date(s). Noting that the first attempt to bring this mini-series into collected form is sometimes memorialized on some web-sites by giving it an April Fools' Day release date, I wondered if there was any significance to the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-27557030634203962072012-01-04T19:37:00.005-05:002012-01-27T13:34:05.753-05:00

.....In the most recent Diamond Previews (issue 280, January 2012 for products shipping beginning in March) there is a DP-related product being offered. I hadn't previously covered licensed merchandise or other non-comics paraphernalia but with the series discontinued and Robotman's serial in My Greatest Adventure only half finished, I wanted to note something current before I dive into the older

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-83621809384998028692011-12-31T22:01:00.012-05:002012-01-27T13:37:55.828-05:00

.....It seems odd to post a 'trade' announcement for the Wilderness Years (summarized in DP05-AB) before there have even been collected trades solicited for the Pollack Period (DP05-AA). The reason I'm going ahead with it anyway is the nature of the item in question. Most of the comics I've cited in the Wilderness Years are brief cameos, short stories from anthologies, retro period stories or

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-13602718099523800682011-11-19T17:35:00.004-05:002011-11-19T19:19:14.369-05:00

.....Last night (Nov. 18, 2011) the Cartoon Network a delayed Halloween episode of Young Justice introducing that continuity's version of Secret in a script written by the man who knew her best, Peter David. David wrote the Young Justice comic book series from its beginning in the late 1990's. More relevant to this blog is a side plot in which three members of the team attend a Halloween party

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-80013717140904400642011-09-23T23:15:00.003-04:002011-09-24T00:33:02.540-04:00

.....After about a month of rumors, Diamond Comics Distributors confirmed this morning that the third and final collected trade paperback reprinting Keith Giffen's run as plotter/scripter on Doom Patrol has been 'cancelled by the publisher'. Solicited with the title "Fire Away" and scheduled for August 24th, there was some confusion prompted by the original solicitation which described the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-19222096429127832802011-06-13T22:35:00.001-04:002011-06-21T23:09:43.126-04:00

.....NOTICE: THE POST MENTIONED BELOW HAS BEEN RESTORED. It was eventually posted June 21st, 2011 and has a byline of June 12th, on the page prior to this one. You can access it by clicking on "Older Post" below or by using the archives on the left. Sorry for the delay......I'm publishing this purely as a test. The post I intended to publish was only partially saved. I've just tried to restore

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-416646168492668272011-06-12T15:04:00.014-04:002011-06-21T23:00:12.470-04:00

.....Barring cameos I haven't yet discovered or which may yet surface before the Flashpoint to-do plays out (we'll see how long DC's readers can sustain nostalgia for The Age Of Apocalypse, if at all), this was the last of the Doom Patrol appearances during Giffen's run that take place in earlier periods. During the most recent Doom Patrol title there were three issues which each focused on the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-58263844244885393792011-06-09T22:18:00.006-04:002011-06-11T01:17:47.522-04:00

.....To paraphrase Oprah, "YOU get a link, and YOU get a link, and YOU get a...".....After the previous two posts I had to get some much needed sunlight. The timing was right; here in the northeast U.S. it's been a bright, humid, summery first week of June, during which I cleared out several barrels of yard clippings, filled several (non-DP) holes in my comics collection and took a belated look

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-37327678757868998612011-06-02T19:26:00.009-04:002011-06-05T21:18:00.327-04:00

.....This is actually the second half of an analysis of the story "Out Of Time" from The Brave And The Bold #34 (07/10)- 35 (08/10). In the previous post I provided the details of the creator credits and the rosters for the four teams involved. There's also my reasons for placing the story in the period of comics published c.1964. Anyone who had difficulty using the links provided in the previous

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-50380201850351723622011-05-26T18:01:00.011-04:002011-05-30T22:17:04.719-04:00

.....There are several kinds of period pieces in comics. Some are written to offer explanations for glitches in continuity or unresolved questions about a character's background. Some are pastiches or satires that are more about the period itself than the characters. In DC, where the Silver Age stories occur in an entirely different timeline from the post-Crisis stories, a period piece might be a

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-25623643727065099902011-05-19T19:44:00.005-04:002011-05-20T17:18:09.710-04:00

.....The next selection is cover dated February 2010 but shipped December 9th, 2009......Once the Giffen Period was under way in the summer of 2009 I felt as if I was holding my breath every time I read the new solicitations. Under the last four writers the feature veered in and out of continuity over twenty years: Morrison (in), Pollack (out), Arcudi (in) and Byrne (out). More importantly, the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-56786246974313698372011-05-11T15:10:00.017-04:002011-05-19T03:05:12.333-04:00

.....In the various Period synopses early in this blog, beginning with "The Wilderness Years", I began to designate period pieces with the symbol [P]. The phrase "period piece" here means the same as it does in theater and film: a whole work that noticeably takes place in an earlier, distinctly different period. There's a qualitative difference between those stories and ones that include

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-7734147034662246522011-05-04T23:59:00.007-04:002011-05-11T03:48:47.943-04:00

.....[Both this post and the previous one were saved for editing and needed to be altered prior to posting. That explains, if not necessarily excuses, the gap between their stated dates and their eventual publication. Since this blog usually deals with the past and is meant to be a record to be referenced for some time to come I don't generally worry about those gaps. In this case the prior post

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-85492754861107055202011-04-08T20:29:00.016-04:002011-05-08T02:18:36.418-04:00

.....[This post has been re-edited after May 4th, 2011 before original publication.].....As recounted in the Original Period reprint posts last year, Doom Patrol was one of several DC titles revived or created to run themed reprints briefly during 1973. Just prior to this the original run of Teen Titans was cancelled in the midst of an intense spate of experimentation with diversifying formats at

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-28002935286585532012011-04-01T19:46:00.008-04:002011-04-05T22:30:04.051-04:00

.....For readers, the length of time between the demise of the Doom Patrol (the first time) and the return of Robotman for the New Doom Patrol was nine years. According to narration at the time it was "mere months". By contrast, the discorporation of the Teen Titans within that same time lasted just under four years for readers but took two years for the characters. Of course, it's generally

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-13997287764761074832011-03-28T20:16:00.005-04:002011-04-01T00:53:06.643-04:00

.....For one year from mid-1971 to mid-1972 DC comics did not publish comics in the standard 32-page length they had been using for nearly two decades. Their new standard became 48 pages at 25¢, known as the "Bigger and Better" format. Until then, that had been the price point of their 64-page "Giant" format, which then became 35¢ for its last four issues. While those four issues played out in

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-41833414814216938762011-03-20T22:39:00.013-04:002011-03-28T03:42:24.027-04:00

.....We've reached 1971. Beast Boy and the Doom Patrol will remain unseen for six years (Gar reappears in Part 6). Mal Duncan has been asked to join a covert, government sponsored civic works program run by Mr. Jupiter, only to learn that he has become the only member of the Teen Titans without a super power. The team that created him has left the book and been replaced by industry veterans

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-73624013838607351952011-02-27T16:50:00.008-05:002011-03-20T22:35:39.294-04:00

.....After the Doom Patrol were killed (in 1968, our time) Beast Boy was shelved for a few years. He eventually found a new family in the Teen Titans when they reconfigured in 1980. In the meantime, future DP'ers Vox (Malcolm Duncan) and Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) had their start in the Titans. Fans of the current series may want to know why Mal never made it from the Geoff Johns 'pilot' to the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-20282959216711243112011-02-19T17:53:00.004-05:002011-02-19T18:36:23.982-05:00

.....I've been catching up on reading other blogs and in my absence here I've forgotten to note that the current series of Doom Patrol is scheduled for cancellation after the publication of issue #22 this spring. It is one of several titles selling below expectations that will be cancelled before a far-reaching summer 'event' storyline. It's true that shortly after this series started it was

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-72459479482556105442011-02-11T18:58:00.005-05:002011-03-20T22:35:14.136-04:00

.....I noticed that I recently had an increase in pageviews. Because I hadn't realized until a few months ago that Google gave me the means to eliminate myself from the counts, I hadn't placed too much significance on the numbers. Still, almost a third of the views are from other countries, and I know I can't possibly be re-reading myself that much, even for editing purposes. I should acknowledge

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-62548853567473458752011-01-31T20:44:00.011-05:002011-03-20T01:14:42.838-04:00

[Apologies for the delay, but this had to be rewritten a few times. Big chunks that were extracted from this, mostly to make it manageable to edit and read but also for the sake of maintaining coherence, have been distilled into a much more practical 'reading list' for a future post. Likewise, the Part 4 post about Mal has been rewritten into a similar list of appearances so that the more

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-8054047259765324992011-01-12T01:11:00.004-05:002011-01-12T03:04:10.735-05:00

.....First, if you haven't stopped by in a few weeks, I should direct your attention to the previous post. With Bumblebee taking a more active role in the current Doom Patrol series, I've been taking a closer look at the Teen Titans' history as it pertains to Gar Logan and Mal Duncan. The previous post explains why Mal's position as DC's first black hero may come 'with an asterisk', as they say..

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-51239659864495384532010-11-21T13:51:00.007-05:002011-01-12T01:05:33.875-05:00

.....In Part 1 (the previous post, or DP02-04) the history of the Teen Titans during the 1960's, both as a group and as a title, was summarized against a background of changes at DC Comics. In the last three years of the decade ('67-'69) there were as many titles launched as in the first seven ('60-'66), yet when the 1970 cover dates began to ship, most of the titles that had been weeded out

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-27437627656165491262010-11-04T20:46:00.014-04:002011-01-10T17:39:49.085-05:00

.....While the Doom Patrol were experiencing a revival of sorts in Showcase in 1977, several other DC titles were experiencing more explicit revivals, not the least of which was the Showcase title itself. In the previous year, Blackhawk, Plastic Man, All-Star Comics, Metal Men, Green Lantern and Teen Titans all resumed publishing at the issue numbers following their respective points of prior

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-3986353304030575912010-10-25T22:17:00.009-04:002010-10-25T22:47:49.210-04:00

.....The post reviewing Showcase #96(12/77-01/78) underwent re-editing (believe it or not, it's the shortened version; sections that strayed off topic were surgically excised to make separate posts). You can find it quickly by clicking on the July, 2010 link on the left side of this page.

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-37238750975926931472010-10-10T16:16:00.003-04:002010-10-10T16:55:09.475-04:00

.....One down, one to go. My other blog, "So, What Kind Of Music Do You Listen To?" has just posted part one of a two part Halloween special and should be doing daily posts this week. New DP posts are en route. (I got another hat, so to speak.).....In the meantime, it's not much of a stretch to suspect that comics fans, especially fans of a group of walking wounded like the Doom Patrol, might

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-37660004050000743312010-09-18T17:39:00.003-04:002010-09-18T18:56:41.017-04:00

.....At the risk of sounding like a military training film about hygiene, I've decided that before I return to regular posting that I take a serious look at the few regular features of the blog. The template is fine, and in fact I am reluctant to fiddle with it because my absences here that have resulted in long gaps during the summer have been enough of an interruption to continuity. So, the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-52253977319367817712010-09-15T19:51:00.003-04:002010-09-15T23:29:03.472-04:00

.....The good news is that the technological problems that interrupted my flow here and on the "So, What Kind Of..." music blog I had been cobbling together have (I think) been overcome or at least circumvented by upgrade. The bad news, if there is any, is that, obviously (a) in technology there are no permanent solutions, only current situations and (b) no amount of technology can make me less

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-92134975721954308862010-08-10T13:52:00.002-04:002010-08-10T14:07:00.914-04:00

.....I'd like to apologize to any regular readers about the delay in posting, although this (unlike some previous delays) can't be attributed to my personal lethargy or shifting priorities. My hard drive blew and I'm only able to write this due to public library access. It may be the end of August before repairs or replacement are possible. On the plus side I am hand writing a back log of

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-43300584140427845802010-07-08T00:07:00.025-04:002010-10-25T22:13:21.618-04:00

.....FYI: This is a critical review of a comic book published over thirty years earlier. It was the third issue of a three issue arc. This blog's internal search can be used to find reviews of the previous two issues as well as related essays on the period by typing in the codes 'DP02-01' and 'DP02-02'......On June 16th, 1963 cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, riding

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-36599746440248538182010-06-07T01:47:00.006-04:002010-07-06T22:56:59.834-04:00

.....[This is a supplement to the review that appears in the previous post.].....I once worked in the periodicals department of a college library (which should come as no surprise to anybody who has read the earliest posts on this blog). This was in the days of card catalogues and ID's with photos rather than barcodes. In addition to the racks of current magazines and newspapers, we had an

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-79000384109758054402010-06-01T21:54:00.013-04:002010-06-06T02:33:21.255-04:00

.....[Happy Birthday Matthew Cable! (see below)].....FYI: This is a critical review of a comic book published over thirty years earlier. It was the second issue of a three issue arc. For the perspective of events leading up to the arc, use this blog's internal search to search the term DP02-01[a]; for the review of the previous issue, search DP02-01[b]; for trivia regarding all three issues,

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-32619520944107592942010-05-29T23:19:00.003-04:002010-05-30T00:52:11.481-04:00

.....LGC: Doom Patrol will be ending its research sabbatical on June 1st with what I hope will be regular weekly postings. In addition to reviews of the three Showcase issues there will be supplementary articles on contemporary titles and dummy place-holders for Supergirl stories I haven't acquired. I will also have to provide some kind of essay explaining the post-CRISIS rationale for

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-1043822647386057052010-04-30T18:31:00.003-04:002010-04-30T19:12:19.824-04:00

.....If anybody is waiting for the reviews to Showcase #'s95 & 96 I promised about a month or so ago, I'm sorry that I've put them off up to this point. The review for #95 has already been rewritten once and "it's about to be writ again", to quote David Bowie. I've recently acquired a sizable number of like-period comics and , sure enough, I found bits in them that come to bear on what I'm

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-4958737205265203192010-03-18T20:56:00.016-04:002010-03-27T01:35:22.401-04:00

.....[continued from part b].....Every so often in their lives people happen across a tidbit of information that is simply intriguing in its own right-- not world -changing, but intriguing. Then, realizing that it is intriguing because it seems odd or unusual and unlikely to be widely known, it then occurs to them to somehow work this tidbit of information into their next casual conversation so

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-48269255923152803712010-03-13T18:44:00.008-05:002010-04-03T19:03:29.064-04:00

.....[continued from part a].....According to the full page ads, Showcase #94(08-09/77) went "on sale May 31st!" This comic not only revived the team name as a feature, but the Showcase title itself, which originally ran from #1(03-04/56) to #93(09/70). Keeping with the spirit of that earlier run, this would be the first of three installments seeking to lead into an ongoing series. The only

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-19436730869938811122010-03-04T18:20:00.010-05:002010-03-09T04:17:26.907-05:00

.....In the letters' page for Metal Men #49(12/76-01/77), "Airmail Alloys" L-539, there's a letter from Bob Rodi responding to issue #47. [It should be pointed out that Rodi doesn't explicitly mention the issue number. Since the story, for whatever reason, didn't have a title on the splash page, he refers to the issue by the blurb in the banner above the logo-- "The X-Effect". Given that #47

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-57936004063211164962010-02-14T18:24:00.002-05:002010-02-14T20:15:07.600-05:00

.....For convenience, I've decided to provide a one-page summary of the reprints of the Original Period Doom Patrol stories. The list will be redundant to the previous three posts. Following the list will be mentions of any reprints of the period released from Gypsy Period 1 on to the present.House Of Secrets #93(08-09/71) reprints non-DP back-up story from My Greatest Adventure #85(02/64).Batman

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-13958731162523322712010-02-10T21:26:00.008-05:002010-02-14T16:14:50.909-05:00

.....During 1974 many of DC's major titles converted to the '100-Page' format (96 pages plus covers) fo 60 cents. Flying under most people's radar, the recently cancelled Supergirl and Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane were folded into the similarly flagging Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen and collectively became Superman Family. As 1975 began, the major titles reverted to the standard 32-page format

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-71475911634186376622010-02-09T20:24:00.004-05:002010-02-10T01:09:53.407-05:00

.....In 1973, DC briefly published standard format reprint titles. Some were entirely new titles, such as Legion Of Super-Heroes, and Secret Origins. Others had been cancelled in the previous five years and returned where their numbering had left off, except that they now had reprints. These were Challengers Of The Unknown, Metal Men, and Doom Patrol. Those last three each lasted only three more

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-17040616194596804112010-02-08T03:16:00.008-05:002010-02-08T23:41:00.382-05:00

.....When Marvel Comics was experiencing a renaissance in the early 1960's it was during a period of restricted and spotty distribution. As their audience increased they found that the demand for those early stories was enough to support entire titles and by 1966 began regular, sequential reprint titles. They continued this practice through 1981, with some titles continuing beyond that.

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-81829032140184374032010-02-06T19:20:00.002-05:002010-02-06T19:52:16.533-05:00

.....[As of this writing, the Giffen period is roughly six months old and plans have been announced for its first trade collection, "We Who Are About To Die", to be released later this year. For obvious reasons it is impossible to analyze the work this early in the game. What can be said is that the series' early momentum was undercut somewhat by the need to participate in the DCU crossover "

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-17551580305321676712010-02-05T17:46:00.007-05:002010-02-20T20:21:47.863-05:00

[This page is a dedicated list of trade format Doom Patrol publications and as such is not a permanent fixture, but will be subject to periodic revision. The nature of future revisions may or may not include: adding new titles; adding details regarding differences between original magazine format publications and trade reprintings; noting the solicitation/publication of new printings and/or

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-91398735000136444302010-01-30T16:49:00.005-05:002010-01-31T20:53:34.388-05:00

[Out of necessity this entry is being issued tentatively and will no doubt be subject to consistant revision as it is both the most recent prior to the current series and composed entirely of series other than a proper, nominal Doom Patrol title. Also, aside from adjunct characters Will Magnus, Faith and Metamorpho, this period was the first time previously existing established characters were

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-43463422480178167462009-12-27T17:18:00.012-05:002010-01-02T03:52:20.365-05:00

.....Once upon a time there was a comics fanzine called Contemporary Pictorial Literature . Like Alfred E. Neuman or Irving Forbush, they created their own mascot character, a shambling overworked robot named Rog-2000. In order to get a small self-produced publication out its contributors often have to pitch in and do things that no one could have predicted would be needed, let alone worked into

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-63213319212215178722009-12-02T21:59:00.000-05:002009-12-15T04:20:13.515-05:00

.....One lasting memory I have of late night television is from David Letterman's NBC days. It's of a very old Danny Thomas teaching a very young Macauley Culkin how to set up and then execute a 'spit take'. Even people who've never seen "Make Room For Daddy" probably know what this means; a person is about to drink from a glass while someone else is speaking and takes their first sip while the

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-86656150177875102512009-10-27T19:54:00.002-04:002010-01-15T02:59:19.841-05:00

.....Why choose a designation like 'The Wilderness Years' for that intermediary time between the Pollack and Arcudi Periods? Why not simply use the term 'Gypsy', as I have for two other periods in this study? That's because this stretch of time, 1995 to 2000, has several distinguishing complications. What it shares with either 'Gypsy' is that there are new guest appearances of Doom Patrol team

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-62748867988435842532009-10-08T21:47:00.000-04:002009-10-15T22:43:30.857-04:00

In the last few months of Grant Morrison's tenure on Doom Patrol the letters' pages carried increasingly strident and stalker-like letters from a fan named Rachel Pollack. Of course, it was all a joke between Grant and Rachel (and/or editor Tom Peyer-- good lord, I hope Tom was in on it...). The first letter mixes praise and kibitzing, the last (in #63) threatens to put sugar in the editor's gas

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-8472988037822819462009-09-21T20:37:00.000-04:002009-09-22T22:37:27.070-04:00

The phase of Doom Patrol history written by Grant Morrison was published in what was initially called "New Format". This meant not only a better stock of paper but a printing process that allowed what is called "full bleed", that is, the artwork can be printed to the very edge of the page. Whatever their opinion of Morrison (the graphic novel "Arkham Asylum" was nearly a year away), DC

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-3963285082479190202009-09-19T02:37:00.000-04:002009-09-19T17:28:13.307-04:00

(Many of the 1986 issues and storylines mentioned in this entry owe much of their chronological arrangement to research using the websites Grand Comic Book Database, The Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe and Titanstower.com)Because Paul Kupperberg wrote the first New Doom Patrol story arc in 1977 (see DP02-AA) you will often see the twelve years preceding Grant Morrison entirely attributed to

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-30918890429525301742009-09-16T23:59:00.000-04:002009-09-17T03:03:17.571-04:00

(Much of this entry was previously posted in a slightly different form on my LiveJournal page as a part of the essay "Doom Patrol/Towards A More Precise Outline" on September 1st, 2009.)02) Gypsy Period 1 - (1977-1985) Not counting reprints, the 1970's attempt to revive the Doom Patrol as an ongoing feature took twice as long as the original five year run of the 1960's series. Before finally

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-86574004499340025852009-09-14T20:34:00.000-04:002009-09-14T23:33:44.248-04:00

(Most of this entry has previously appeared in slightly different form as part of an essay titled "Doom Patrol/Toward A More Precise Outline" on my LiveJournal page on September 1st, 2009) 01) The Original Series - The Doom Patrol first appeared in issue #80 (6/63) of what had been an anthology title, My Greatest Adventure. The superhero revival that DC had been engaged in was proving to be

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-84618808223657801632009-09-11T20:42:00.000-04:002009-09-11T23:19:23.522-04:00

(Much of this entry previously appeared in an essay on my Livejournal page entitled "Doom Patrol/Towards A More Precise Outline" on September 1st, 2009 in a slightly different form.)This entry will attempt to redress the lack of a detailed comparative critical study of the Doom Patrol comics' history in electronic format. The first act in the serious study of any subject is the definition of

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-73747231707138377092009-09-09T21:48:00.000-04:002009-09-09T23:09:08.886-04:00

(An earlier version of this entry appeared previously on my Livejournal page on August 30th, 2009.) With the current revival of the Doom Patrol by Keith Giffen and Matt Clark looming a few months ago (it has since begun publishing), I went looking for an online fansite devoted to the team. I had prior been able to find fanatically detailed sites for Challengers of the Unknown, Swamp

pblfsdahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07471473189061385119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245756485497626355.post-38658469226405325542009-09-07T22:04:00.000-04:002009-09-08T00:44:46.959-04:00

The LGC is the Layman's Guide to Criticism, a concept I conceived in college in the 1980's. I developed a love for art films at a time when home video was in its infancy and repertory movie theaters were more common. Researching the films so that you could spend your budgeted time on those that spoke most to you meant books, catalogues, magazines, and (on rare occasions) newspaper archives as

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