I've been intrigued and impressed with the new "One Year Later" direction in this title, and this issue the best yet since the retooling of the lineup and plotlines. The focus here is on dysfunction in the Doom Patrol "family," and the sharp contrast between that team and the title characters is a dramatic and intriguing one. Johns combines a traditional super-hero team-up story with more thoughtful and unsettling interpersonal dynamics to arrive at a truly entertaining yet stimulating genre story. And while Tony Daniel's style isn't my favorite, I cannot deny that he brings a slightly darker quality to the characters that's needed to sell the edgier aspects of the characterization elements.
The Brotherhood plots its schemes in Paris, endeavoring to steal what technology needed to clone a new body for its leader, the Brain. Meanwhile, the heroes who would see them incarcerated for the crimes they've committed over the years -- the Doom Patrol, the Teen Titans and Wonder Girl -- gather at the Patrol's headquarters where the Chief is working to save Kid Devil's life. As the heroes catch up, Robin begins to realize that all is not well with the Doom Patrol, despite the assurances of his ex-teammate Beast Boy.
Tony Daniel's art here exhibits a slight hint of Rob (Youngblood) Liefeld influence, but it's not overt. For example, Daniel has a stronger grasp on anatomy and offers much more in the way of background detail. Overall, his art tells the story clearly, but more importantly, he brings a vacant, tragic quality to several members of the Doom Patrol, and that's the real conflict here. I was relieved to find that the employment of three inkers to assemble this issue didn't result in visual inconsistencies, and the colors are appropriately dark.
Given the number of characters participating in this story and the extensive history that factors into it, Johns delivers a solidly accessible script. The only real connection between the Titans and the Doom Patrol in the past has been Beast Boy, but Johns continues in the footsteps tread by 1980s New Teen Titans writer Marv Wolfman by further strengthening the two bonds between the teams with the addition of past Titans to the DP lineup.
The real draw of this issue, aside from the Silver Age camp of the Brotherhood villains with a somewhat understated gay-relationship tack, is the Chief's manipulations of his super-hero creations. The Chief is clearly a man who needs to be needed, to the point that he manipulates those he's been entrusted to aid. He's a parent who Munchausens his "children". All the while the Doom Patrol members pretend to be superior to the Titans simply because the latter team is in some disarray and in transition. Johns's message seems to me that "traditional" family dynamics may be put up on a pedestal, but they're not always as healthy as everyone thinks them to be. 8/10
