What Bob Haney & Arnold Drake had started in the 60's, Scottish writer Grant Morrison added to and refreshed in the late 80's when he was asked to take over writing Doom Patrol at DC.
Subsequently, the series was moved to DC's Vertigo division, which allowed Morrison and all subsequent writers to let their imaginations run wild. It is Morrison's run that fuels DC Universe's Doom Patrol, which spun off from Titans last month.
The original Patrol are present and accounted for, joined by one of Morrison's creations, Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), whose 64 personalities all have individual abilities. Cyborg (Joivan Wade), originally a Titan in the books back in 1980, graduated to the Justice League, and is in the Patrol, likely at the request of executive producer Greg Berlanti, likely because he feels Victor Stone's story fits right in with the rest of the team.
Berlanti has added layers of backstory for the original trio. For example, Rita Farr, aka Elasti-Woman, had been a B-movie actress all the way back in the 50's. An exposure to some bizarre chemicals gave Rita her powers, but she doesn't have complete control, which makes for some awkward scenes.
Cliff Stone, before he was Robotman, was a womanizing race car driver who was not above getting busy with the family housekeeper. Brendan Fraser shows up in flashbacks, and the fact that he hasn't had any significant movie roles since the "Mummy" series suggests he's attempting a comeback. Someone get him Marie Osmond's phone number. Maybe she can hook him up with Nutri-Systems.
Test pilot Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer, ex-White Collar) wasn't exactly a faithful husband, either, according to this series. Thing was, he was working the other side of the street with his extra-marital affair. The idea here is that the Negative Man is, in fact, Trainor's male lover. It wouldn't be a Berlanti production if he wasn't representing the LGBT community in some form.
And, then, there is Dr. Niles Caulder, the Chief (Timothy Dalton), who, in the books, was later revealed to have had a more sinister agenda for his team. Dalton is the second actor to essay the part. The actor who played Caulder on Titans was given the boot to make room.
Wrapping this in a nice neat bow, at least early on, is Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk, ex-Powerless), the victim of an experiment gone wrong 60 years ago, and has a grudge against Caulder. More of Morrison's creations are due as the 15 episode first season rolls on.
In trying to avoid the coarse language that is all over every episode, we have this nice little teaser. Dalton is not present for this group shot.
In the parlance of 90's rap, this is wiggedy-wiggedy-wack.
Rating: A-.
I find the show a bit intriguing and plenty of room for improvement.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird seeing Cyborg here, considering Beast Boy was originally associated with the DP before joining the Titans (yes, I know he's on that show now).
I have a hunch they went the gay route with Negative Man (despite no history of this at all in the comics) not only because of Berlanti, but also for Matt Bomer, who is gay IRL.
That was the point of casting Bomer, I think.
ReplyDeleteCyborg was put in so they wouldn't have to deal with SJW's complaining about the team being all-white, though technically that wasn't true after what happened to Cliff & Larry......