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DOOM PATROL #1
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: John Arcudi
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Bob Lappan
Editor: Andy Helfer
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Arcudi tells a decent story in this first issue, and while there's some strong potential in his characters, little in the script really grabbed me. However, editor Andy Helfer's hailing of the new artist is well founded. His stuff stands out as unique and dynamic. His angular style brings out the characters' weirdness while Arcudi's words emphasize their humanity.
Cliff Steele lands a job doing work in an industrial boiler room, work that would kill regular folks, but a car accident and heroic instincts put him back in the public eye... as well as in the eyes of a billionnaire that's trying to launch his own super-hero team. The problem is that the kids he's recruited lack discipline, both personally and with their powers. Exploiting Steele's need for cash, the rich guy hires him to serve as the young heroes' coach, for wont of a better term.
Tan is a real find. Though there's clearly a manga influence in his work, one can't simply dismiss him as yet another manga artist. His stuff reminds me a bit of the style of Doug (Superman: The Man of Steel) Mahnke, but he pencils much more tightly. He boasts a strong eye for design, and he conveys power and motion adeptly... a must for a super-hero artist.
There are elements in Arcudi's script and general concepts that really clicked for me. I loved seeing Cliff Steele working away at a regular job, even if it was one only a Robotman could do. I also enjoyed the new characters as well. Arcudi's instilled them with strong, intriguing personalities as well, and he's come up with some creative powers as well that are in keeping with the odd tone of the Doom Patrol name.
In the end, though, the super-hero mentor/student riff has been done time and time before, and I don't see anything really new this time around. The corporate-sponsored super-hero-team notion is quite familiar as well, and more interesting things are being with the concept over in Marvel's X-Force. Doom Patrol has a lot going for it, but it needs to break out of the formula that serves as its foundation.
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