"Let's just say that me and Super-Hip, we go back."

Above is a page from dead-comic-walking Doom Patrol #20. The Patrol, due to the machinations of the powers that be at Oolong Island, their former base, as well as the hissable Thayer Jost aka Mr. Somebody, have been evicted from their home.

They need transportation back to civilization, and Cliff Steele calls in a favor. And as you can see above, that favor is none other than JBS mascot Tadwallader Jutefruice, aka Super-Hip! You know, the fellow flying in the header at the top of this very blog.

Since this is such a momentous occasion, merely the first in-continuity appearance of Tad's alter-ego since, appropriately enough, the Mento-Elastigirl wedding in the later days of the first DP series, and I wanted to share it so much with everyone...well, I couldn't wait to get the comic and scan it, or download it, so I ganked it from CBR's preview, where I read it first. You all probably know how much I'm in the tank for this comic in the first place...and dropping Super-Hip, even older, fat Elvis-style Super-Hip...well, I for one was completely geeked by it.

Best of all, since Giffen is doing some of the best writing of his career right now, and dare I say in particular on this comic- he has done an unsurprisingly great job of reintroducing him. Many writers, especially those who perpetuate the sour tone that has become de rigeur at DC these days, would have made him a pathetic figure. Pill junkie, perhaps. What if it had been James Robinson? J.T. Krul? Shudder. But Giffen gives us an older Tad, like I said Fat Elvis or Wayne Newton style, living large in Vegas- perfectly logical and very gratifying for someone like me, who loves the character mostly because, well, I thought he was really neat and cool back in 1966.

My friend Jason (@jason1749) Last Name Unknown on Twitter said "Jeez, Giffen's writing that book directly at you now, isn't he?" and given that the sales figures for DP are so low, that may be true- I may be the only one still reading at this point!

Regardless, I thought that this was just far-out, fab, gear and groovy and wanted to share.

Oh, and DC? I beg of you- next time you need cannon fodder for your big multi-issue line-wide crossover doom-and-gloom event, please forget Giffen has done this, OK? Thanks.

"Pictures don't interest me any longer..."

Here's the explanation I promised yesterday about Rita Farr and her film career, as I continue to read old issues of My Greatest Adventure, which eventually became Doom Patrol.

In my last post, I expressed my long-held conviction that when it came to my perception of the team of "fabulous freaks", that I could never really buy the shape-shifting Ms. Farr as one of them, since her appearance wasn't disfigured and she seemed to be able to remain normal in appearance anytime she wanted. I also wondered why she couldn't have continued her film career, which seemed to be doing well when we first met her. I understood that scandal sometimes derailed film careers in the late 50's and early 60's, the approximate time period these stories were conceived in, and speculated that the only thing she should have to worry about would be an unscrupulous producer or director who would be looking to exploit her new abilities. I had the feeling this would have to be dealt with at some point, but couldn't recall any instances, and hadn't read a lot of the original team's 60's exploits so it was possible that this came up, but I didn't know about it.

And sure enough, I was right! In a way. In My Greatest Adventure #85, we're given a scenario which deals with Rita's former occupation and at least answers the question of why she couldn't resume her film career when she wasn't out fighting the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man.

We join the DP after they've made a successful rescue at sea, although Rita kinda went off-program to resolve the situation:






The Chief and the others persuade her to take the film offer, reasoning that it will help the public perception of the DP if she shows that they're not just a bunch of freaks. The Chief, as he so often does, (and unbeknownst to the others) has ulterior motives. Interestingly, Rita initially refuses because she apparently prefers the thrills of fighting weird menaces with the Patrol to fighting off casting couch directors, it seems, and says so in no uncertain terms. I do wonder where her income comes from now. Still, she gives in.

On the set, here's how it goes:






She is initially set to appear as the wife in an Incredible Shrinking Man type flick, the lead injures himself (or DOES he?) and at Rita's suggestion, they switch her role with the male lead's, in order to exploit, I mean take advantage of, her shrinking ability. Anyway, soon, Rita finds out that the Chief set this all up in order to keep her out of harm's way while the men deal with a dangerous underground mission. Why this is that much more dangerous than the other incredible menaces the trio has faced before isn't really explained to anybody's (well, not mine anyway) satisfaction...but I guess good old fashioned chivalrous early 60s sexism is as good a reason as we can find. Anyway, Rita's a bit pissed, but not so pissed that she doesn't come to the rescue when the boys find themselves in a jam:



With Rita's aid, the DP deals with the threat, basically (as they're described in the story) "living nuclear reactors" that are mobile and heading for the Earth's surface.

At story's end, Rita gets in a little jab at the Chief, but all's well that ends well, apparently:



I wonder if this wasn't one of the Beard Hunter's favorite classic DP tales...?

So anyways, it seems as if Rita is sticking with the DP not because she's ashamed or shunned, but because she a) craves the kick only fighting monsters and supervillains can bring, and b) fears being exploited by Hollywood suits. Works for me, I guess. If I run across anything else noteworthy as I continue to read old DP stories, I'll pass it on!

"I didn't win a swimming gold medal at the Olympics for doing the dog paddle"

Above you see the character known by many of you, I'm sure, as Elasti-Woman, alias Rita Farr and charter member of the Doom Patrol. She features prominently in the first issue of yet another attempt by DC to perpetuate the license, this time brought to you by writer Keith Giffen and artists Matthew Clark plus the eponymously named "Livesay" on inks (shouldn't you have at least accomplished something noteworthy, a la Cher, Nilsson, Kirby, Garbo or Bowie, before you can expect to be addressed by one name only?). DOOM PATROL Vol. 5 #1: as relaunches go, it's about par for the course for recent DP revivals; Giffen by now is an old hand at this sort of thing, and they display the requisite angst expected of all DC properties right now, and in the case of the DP, that means lots of self-pity and surly attitudes. Not a lot of bwah-ha-ha here. It reminds of the short-lived and disappointing Suicide Squad revamp Giffen spearheaded a few years ago, especially when we're treated, right off the bat, to a mission gone all squirrely and the death of one teammate and the abandonment of her partner at the scene, as the original 3 (because after all, that's all we're supposed to care about, right? Not the lame-o members introduced in failed revivals) make their escape. The rest of the story is taken up by the standard "meet the principles through the eyes of a "normal" person" scenario, as a priest counselor volunteer talks to each member in turn, and then the requisite cliffhanger for the next issue. We also meet what I assume is another leftover character from a previous run, a diminutive young lady called "Bumblebee"- a character I was passing familiar with, especially her animated incarnation, and who has apparently hooked up with the DP as of 52 due to being stuck at tiny size, counting on the Chief to solve her problem. Lotsa luck with that; Niles Caulder is of course every bit as sociopathic as he's ever been (maybe not late Morrison and Pollock run sociopathic, but almost). The way DC operates right now, and since she's a) obscure and b) likeable, I give her six issues tops before she's raped and eviscerated, maybe not in that order. Anyway, nothing groundbreaking at all, but it's reasonably well done, surliness and all. Clark and Livesay's art isn't bad either; sometimes the figure drawings are stiff and awkward, sometimes (as with Rita above) not so; hopefully they'll loosen up a bit before they're is done or the book is canned, whichever comes first. A most atypical Metal Men backup feature rounds out the book; it's slight but since it's by Giffen/DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire (outstanding as always), it is (don't tell Didio, whose bland Metal Men in Wednesday Comics is very weak beer in comparison) a fun read, evoking, unsurprisingly, the old bwah-ha-ha Justice League as well as a gentle tweak of Lee/Kirby's Fantastic Four monster Tomazooma, the Living Totem. It's almost as if someone wasn't paying attention and they snuck a lighthearted superhero tale by the editors- wonder how long before we get the expected rape and evisceration? I give this issue a B+, and even though I've never been the biggest fan of the DP (except for the atypical Grant Morrison run, as well as the last few issues of Rachel Pollack's), I might follow along for a few issues to see where it goes.

Anyway, reviewing this issue isn't the only thing I wanted to do here; something else occurred to me as I was reading it, and it's something I've noticed before when reading the old reprints (I only bought maybe one or two issues of DP as a child in the 60s)...and it has to do with the Rita Farr aka Elasti-Woman character. Below, here's a look at her introduction, along with her origin:

Of course, click to make them biggerer for the easier readin'. Now, that's a pretty standard origin for the second wave of DC superheroes back then; "underground chemical vapors" weren't all that more far-fetched than the "Orb of Ra", white dwarf stars, or a scratch from a magical black diamond. Here's the thing that's always bugged me about this character, though- as far as I can tell, she has no real reason to adopt that "Oh, woe is me, I'm a pitiful freak who is shunned by humanity" stance, especially when compared to her teammates. Cliff Steele's brain was placed in a robot body, Larry Trainor is covered in bandages to keep the negative energy being form getting out of his body. Caulder is in his wheelchair. But Rita...well, she grows and shrinks and stretches a la Plastic Man, Elongated Man, and Mr. Fantastic. Otherwise, she looks perfectly normal and can remain so. In the sequence above, she claims to be unable to control her power, and the implied suggestion is that the Chief can help her learn to harness her ability...but a few panels later, a bomb threat conveniently pops up, and she helps the DP eliminate the threat by shrinking and entering the bomb, defusing it. No other mention is made (and bear in mind I haven't read all the subsequent adventures, it may have popped up again later) of her inability to control her size changing and limb stretching, and she seems perfectly capable of controlling it in both that episode, as well as the first battle with General Immortus later on. She says that she had to hide out of "shame and fear" after her "accident", and it's implied that she was being shunned by Hollywood. Now, I realize this was the early 60's, and in those days a career could be easily derailed by a report of scandal- when I broached this subject on Twitter a while back, I was reminded by Johanna Carlson of Robert Mitchum's pot bust and an affair that Ingrid Bergman had, that set back their careers for a good long while. This may be true, but it seems like something like Rita's "affliction" is different from getting caught in an illegal or immoral (by 50's-60's standards) act; I'd think that as long as Rita could remain at normal height and limb length, and be able to control this, that she would only have to worry about ruthless producers who'd wish to exploit her abilities. If she couldn't, as she said in her origin story, then that would be a problem and she would be perceived as freakish and shunned. But since she's shown every sign (at least in what I've read) of being able to exercise control, shrinking and growing and stretching at will, I just don't see it. She looks the same, which is why I've never been able to buy her as a "freak" and whatever angst she's displayed has always rung false, especially in the new series, which takes place in the modern-day DCU, a place where the extraordinary is commonplace and super-beings of all varieties are everywhere. Which doesn't make her any less cool when she's slamming helicopters around, but in all other aspects I have a hard time staying interested and feeling that she belongs- which must have been a problem with other writers, since only über-nostalgist Byrne could be troubled to bring her back after she died at the end of the original series. All this said, I do kinda like the character, although I'm mostly indifferent to the whole non-Morrison Patrol in general; she has a nasty, prickly temperament which sets her a part a little bit sometimes.

One cool thing about her character, though, and one which ties directly in to this blog, is this scene, from her wedding in issue #104 of the original series:

It was at her wedding that the Official Mascot of the Johnny Bacardi Show, that none other than Super-Hip! (bottom right- he kinda stands out a bit in that company) made his only appearance in a DC comic outside of his own Adventures of Bob Hope series. Groovy, baby! This was Arnold Drake having some fun with his creations, I'd think.

ETA: As so often is the case, once I got farther into the run of the early Doom Patrol, I came across a story that addresses some of the complaints I noted above, most notably why Rita couldn't continue to lead her normal life. I'll do a separate post about it at some future date.

Reviews coming soon, I hope- comics, incl. Mike Dawson's Ace-Face collection, Green Lantern-First Flight, and Cliff Meth's Billboards short-story collection.