Reviewer: John Babos
Story Title: Robot Wars (from the cover) or A Brain is a Terrible Thing to Waste (from the interior)
Written and Penciled by: John Byrne
Inked by: Doug Hazlewood
Colored by: Alex Bleyaert
Lettered by: Jared K. Fletcher
Edited by: Mike Carlin
Published by: DC Comics
Doom Patrol #6 is part 2 of the 2-part “Robot Wars” arc that began in issue #5.
DC’s Solicitation for issue #5
Cliff, Rita and Nudge infiltrate an illegal ultimate fighting ring by pitting Robotman against multiple malevolent machines of destruction! Learn secrets of where Cliff Steele, Rita Farr and the Chief have come from… just in time for Robotman to lose his head?
Now to issue #6…
DC’s Solicitation for issue #6
The explosive conclusion of the 2-part “Robot Wars.” Robotman’s having a rough time surviving in the ultimate arena for malevolent machinery! Luckily he’s not in it alone, as Rita, Nudge and Grunt offer assistance of a biocentric nature!
The Review
The Story
I have to admit that after reading the last issue and experiencing John Byrne’s cliffhanger, I thought he wrote himself into a corner and that there was no plausible way for him to make the payoff satisfying. After reading issue #6, I can say that I was wrong.
Last issue ended with Cliff Steele, in a new robotic “shell” breaking into a robot Fight Club, having his head and brain stomped on. Well, R.I.P. Cliff Steele, right? Nope. Wrong. I won’t spoil how Cliff survives, but it is a fine bit of storytelling where I, and I imagine most readers, weren’t able to get ahead of the story. Yes, we probably knew that Cliff was going to live, but the “how” or the mechanics of the story was very much a big question mark.
That particular element of the story and Byrne’s ability to keep reader’s guessing is something that has made my enjoyment of this series grow with each issue.
The rest of the story with drugs, brain-trafficking, entertaining elites, and a connection to all this and Niles Caulder himself really made for an engaging yarn.
The one element of this story that had me a bit perplexed was the opening flashback where Grunt, the team’s 4-armed simian, attacks a disguised Cliff Steele because he doesn’t “recognize” him. It made me question why a character that is more beast than man is actually on this team. We have the brawn in Steele. Why does the team need Grunt in its ranks? I imagine Byrne has a story to tell with Grunt and, with the rest of this issue so entertaining, I’ll give Byrne the benefit of the doubt. I imagine there’s more to the team’s ape than meets the eye.
The Art
I’m a fan of Byrne’s pencils. His pacing and ability to tell a story visually has made him an industry icon. His action scenes are dynamic and full of energy. Doug Hazlewood’s inks complement Byrne’s pencils well.
A few things that I didn’t like in the issue was some of the character designs. I wasn’t a fan of Rita’s skullcap disguise nor the stereotypical Native American “elite” in the story. They weren’t that distracting to the story, but were elements that I didn’t particularly fancy.
However, I am still a HUGE fan of Larry Trainor’s “Negative Man” persona. The flying skeleton design is just gorgeous.
The coloring was also quite good in this issue. Its clear there were some lessons learned from the JLA: Tenth Circle arc that spawned this new Doom Patrol series. In those Tenth Circle issues, flashback coloring was very dark and mono-colour. While in Doom Patrol #6 we do get mono-colour flashbacks, its a softer green color that is used. This approach is not as jarring a story transition as the Tenth Circle arc’s.
So…
Doom Patrol #6 is the best issue of this series to date. John Byrne has really hit his stride story-wise. He gets some solid characterization and growth, particularly with the conflicted nature of Cliff Steele – a “person” that is neither human any longer nor fully a robot. His is an interesting and complex journey. I’m sure that there’s more to come on the tortured soul of the Doom Patrol’s “Robotman”.
We also get some foreshadowing of next issue’s opening Devolutionist arc. Maybe we’ll have some exploration of Grunt’s character here since, according to next issue’s blurb and cover, there’ll be some dinosaurs and giants apes afoot!
It is a true challenge to write a “mainstream” DC book and not have it be a full-on super-hero tale. Byrne’s Doom Patrol is very much in the strange vein of its Silver Age predecessor. Is there a non-Vertigo market for these type of stories? Yes.
Byrne takes no easy story shortcuts in his Doom Patrol series. There are no “capes and cowls” regularly in this book. Byrne should be commended for delivering something unique in a “mainstream” DC book.
Action. Characterization. Suspense. Surprise. These are the elements that makes Doom Patrol #6 a book YOU should pick up.
