Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Visionaries of Tomorrow Doom Patrol and you, Steve....

I am sure this has been told many times, but i don't know the story.

I loved the first five issues of the eighties doom patrol. Your art was about five notches above what was happening at the time.

and then the sixth issue i think it was, came out with other art, no where near as good in my tastes.

My question is, what caused you to leave the book?

Thanks, Rick.

I would also like to know the answer to this!!!!

The truth is that I was (and AM) a big fan of the original Doom Patrol. I just didn't feel that we were moving in a creative direction that would be faithful to the original concept. Couple that feeling with a few broken promises ...

Maybe things could have worked out if I had given the new editor a chance, but I only found out that the book had a new editor on the day that I called in to resign from the book.

I'm still a big Doom Patrol fan, and so is Paul Kupperburg ... we have both wondered what MIGHT have been, if only ...

Thanks for mentioning one of the most original super hero teams of all time ... I miss the DP.

Steve

well...the current Doom Patrol has gone too eccentric for now...no way to hmmmm.....make them come back...they have lost their popularity toward many readers, that's how I feel. what were John Arcudi thinking about having Elongated Man, Dr. light, Metamorpho to be on DP? thats sad.

Steve, Can you give us some details on where you wanted to take the book????

Excellent question, Icefire. I would love to hear this myself. I have to wonder if Steve planned for wierdness like the original patrol, only to see it come in later with the morrison run.

The X-Men have gotten a lot of mileage out of the "outcasts of society" theme, but I actually thought the Doom Patrol did it more realistically ... most of the time.

Meaning no disrespect to a very talented writer, I do feel that the Doom Patrol lost its foundation in realism when Grant Morrison took over. A fair comeback for Morrison might be that the DP had already swerved off course before he took the wheel. Still, if it were my call, I'd write off all the scissor men and penis army weirdness and get back to telling stories about a man trapped in an ugly robot body and a guy whose super powers left him vulnerable to his enemies as well as an "inhuman monstrosity." Out of the original Doom Patrol, Rita Farr was the only member that didn't carry visible scars, and it can be understood that this glamorous starlet did carry emotional scars that effected her self image.

The early Doom Patrol was one of the most original and thought provoking concepts in comics, and it had tremendous untapped potential. The Doom Patrol was a super hero book for thinking people, and as such, was far ahead of its time. In that respect, Morrison's interpretation of the team was a worthy successor ... but at the cost of realism.

Steve Lightle

Steve,

I see what you are saying about realism with Morrison's DP.

Still one of my favorite characters is Crazy Jane. Talk about a misunderstood hero. One with multiple personalities.

Steve how did you feel about the death of Celcius and the depowering of Valentina?

I'm not sure what I think of the death of Celsius, as I haven't seen (or don't recall) that issue. As for Valentina Vostock, if she was freed to live a normal life, good for her.

Then there's the fact that the code name Tempest is know being used by Aqualad ... and, between you and me, hasn't Tempest always seemed like a feminine name? Why do they keep applying it to male heroes?

I consider Negative Man, Robotman, the late Elasti-girl, and the Chief to be CORE to the series. After them ... maybe Changeling or Mento ...

Steve Lightle

While I loved Morrison's run on Doom Patrol (I felt the team was getting too "superhero-y" before Invasion), I think he did go too far into surrealism, losing his grounding in reality which is what makes the weird seem weird in the first place, y'know? When weird is the status quo, it's not as disturbing. He did do a good job of having Cliff be the "regular Joe" throughout it though, but his presence wasn't enough.

Still, there was something about Rebis that was sooooo fuckin' cool....