37 Years Ago, Grant Morrison Revitalized DC’s Weirdest Team

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One of the best parts of the late ’80s British Invasion was the way that these creators breathed new life into characters, and Morrison was one of the best at this. In 1989, after Animal Man had been a hit, DC decided to let them work their magic on another Silver Age creation, one that hadn’t reached the heights that the publisher was hoping despite several reboots: the Doom Patrol. Morrison’s Doom Patrol run is one of the greats of the medium, and they revitalized it by merely embracing the weirdness of the team.

Morrison’s Doom Patrol Showed Everyone What the Doom Patrol Should Be

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

The Doom Patrol premiered in June 1963’s My Greatest Adventure #80. The team consisted of Robotman, Negative Man, and Elasti-Girl, people who were given powers because of terrible accidents that ruined their lives, led by the Chief, a scientist in a wheel chair leading them against the weirdest foes out there. The team was created by Arnold Drake and Bob Haney (who believed that the X-Men were based on the Patrol), creators who wanted to do the weirdest superhero book imaginable. The team had their bizarre adventures for years, with their last mission “killing” them.

DC decided to reboot the group in the ’80s, but made them into a standard superhero team, forgetting why fans loved them so much in the ’60s. One volume of the book failed pre-Crisis, and the late ’80s saw another try. That book was on its way out, when the publisher handed it to Morrison. The writer decided to embrace the strangeness at the center of the team with “Crawling From the Wreckage”, a story that took them back to their weird roots.

“Crawling From the Wreckage” saw a new version of the team taking on the Scissormen, mysterious beings who cut people out of reality, all while dealing with their own issues. Robotman was constantly dealing with the loss of his humanity, using his real name Cliff Steele. Larry Trainor, the Negative Man, bonded with Dr. Eleanor Poole to become the intersex Rebus (in 1989!), and a new character who would become one of the greatest Doom Patrol members was introduced: Crazy Jane, a woman so badly abused that she developed DID, with each alter getting powers after the Dominators’ gene bomb was detonated in Invasion!. The Chief was back as well, and Patrol member Joshua Clay stopped using his superhero name Tempest and became the team doctor.

Morrison used the book to talk about trauma, and the mental effect it has on people, and it worked like a charm. There’s also the aspects of “found family”, as the members of the team found love and acceptance with their fellow “freaks”. Morrison is one of the best team book writers ever, and their take on the team was praised by Arnold Drake as exactly what they should be. They would also start introducing queer themes in their work, normalizing it in an industry that had often went the other way when it came to queer characters. Morrison’s Doom Patrol didn’t change the team, it took it to its ultimate extent, and created a book that would help change comics forever.

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