Reviewer: John Babos
Story Title: Salvation through Terror
Written by: John Arcudi
Penciled by: Tan Eng Huat
Inked by: Tan Eng Huat
Colored by: Chris Walker
Lettered by: Bob Lappan
Editor: Andy Helfer
Publisher: DC Comics
Issue 21 is the penultimate chapter of the current Doom Patrol (DP) series at DC. It appears to wrap up the “main” Nao Yut vs. DP plot — where immortal villain Nao Yut continues his quest to find mortal hosts for the “Seven Spirits”. This plot is the continuation of the saga from way back to issue 5 where, these kooky “villains” (to use the comic industry parlance, although I’m not sure if it “really” applies) were defeated at the hands of the New Doom Patrol and the New New Doom Patrol (that’s not a typo). During the current arc, the creature Nao Yut has been resurrected by blind sorcerer Tycho Bray, who in turn was rewarded with the gift of sight. They have descended on the DP’s storefront headquarters to fatally conscript the current DP roster for “hosting” duties for the Seven Spirits.
This issue is not a good standalone issue, as was the previous issue — which was a brief respite from this current arc, but a tie-up of a plot thread from the inception of this series.
John Arcudi, for the most part, delivers a really entertaining tale, but cops out creatively from page 17 onwards. I won’t give away how the story ends, but unlike Geoff Johns who delivers the best last pages in comics, the last page of this issue is very anticlimactic, but fitting with the clichéd mess that started with Arcudi’s creative decline a few pages back.
I’m really not looking forward to the last issue of this series next month from a writing perspective, as half this issue marks the worst creative outing by Arcudi on this series to date. However, since I’ve been here since issue 1, I’ll still pick up issue 22 to see how it all ends.
There is not much more I can say about artist Tan Eng Huat, that I haven’t already said previous reviews. My comments on issue 19 still ring true:
Wow. Tang Eng Huat continues to deliver. His art is just amazing. I hope DC has big plans for this kid after Doom Patrol wraps at issue 22. I found it quite interesting to see how artist Tang Eng Huat has matured over his Doom Patrol run. He was always good, but he has gotten better with each issue. Comparing how his style has evolved from issue 5, was really fascinating.
While part of this issue was disappointing, I’m still sad to see the DP go. I hope the last issue delivers some mayhem, fitting with this title’s name of Doom Patrol and the long-standing legacy of the franchise.
