Since I had blogged about the DC Comics relaunch of “The New 52” titles last month, I decided that perhaps this is something that should be looked into for the Blog readers a little more often when it is possible to do so. That being said I snared the first two issues of a new six-issue mini-series called “My Greatest Adventure”. It’s a revisit to an anthology title that ran way back in 1955 and offered readers the first appearance of The Doom Patrol in 1963. The Doom Patrol was a great group of misfit characters who have gone through many different series and incarnations over the years and in this new title, the group’s most popular member Robotman continues his adventures. The series also hosts short tales about Garbage Man and Tanga (who is an alien from a faraway place). I’ve put together some quick thoughts about the first couple of issues for your enjoyment.
Issue #1 Overview: Serialized Adventures Of Robotman, Garbage Man and Tanga
Robotman: Having not followed any of the Doom Patrol’s adventures in a number of years I was happy to find their most popular member getting some solo screen time in this new title. Robotman was always pretty cool as he was a robot with a man’s brain and with that in mind found that the same crap that bothers a regular person bothers him, he is just more invulnerable to the other stuff around him. Interesting to learn how he operates in a clandestine fashion and manipulates computers and any social media reference to his activities so they don’t show him doing any of the heroism. He runs an adventure agency which is more of a detective agency to the public who needs his help and is assisted by Maddy Rouge (I will guess this to be Madame Rouge from the original Doom Patrol comics storylines). This particular quest leads him into the path of zombies and his programming doesn’t let him harm humans so he is in a bit of a bind even if their dead. Dare I say “Oh the humanity”? I guess that was better than saying how this left off on a “Cliff” hanger. Matt Kindt writes and Scott Kolins draws.
Garbage Man: Our story begins with the creature known as Garbage Man floating to the bottom of a river and then it’s all recollection from its mind about how it ended up in this predicament. We see a marriage falling apart some obvious corporate nastiness and the value of one’s friends. The creature comes to and makes it to the banks of Gotham City where it begins a new quest for some answers and while the tale is just beginning it is here that it ends for the readers. This was my first exposure to the character that apparently starred in “Weird Worlds” with the Tanga character in the next segment. I’ve never read “Weird Worlds” before so cannot discuss much about it even though I know Lobo was a part of it if I am not mistaken. Story and pencils by Aaron Lopresti with inks by Matt Ryan.
Tanga: This part of the anthology series follows the adventures of Tanga who strikes me as a very powerful interstellar defender and one with a brash, no nonsense attitude to boot. She seems to have a couple of problematic authority figures to deal with but she shows how she takes no crap from anyone when it comes down to it. There were some great action scenes but it didn’t capture my attention as much as the other two characters did. Don’t get me wrong as I love a good female lead character, but I guess I need to see how her adventures develop over the course of the remaining five issues. Kevin Maguire does the story and art.
Closing Thoughts: I liked how each characters segment managed to get ten pages apiece but like all of the second issues of The New 52 we had that “preview” of the “Batman Noel” story which cost us five pages of character content. I really enjoyed what was being done with Robotman and kind of liked how he was a mystery protector now. His armored body seems more wondrous than before so let’s see what this baby can do for the forces of good. Garbage Man was interesting in the sense that it reminded me a little of Swamp Thing and also a bit of the Ultraverse character Sludge. It’s the whole man is now a monster theme and it’s obvious that whoever put him in this state is going to get it. I hope we see some righteous smiting. Tanga seemed to have some promise but didn’t interest me as much as the other two storylines and I guess this is because I know nothing of her back story. Yes the same applied for Garbage Man but I liked his premise. It’s a hefty price tag at $3.99 a copy but that is what it costs and we cannot change that.
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Check out some of the classic adventures of Doom Patrol with this awesome hardcover edition that collects their earliest missions.
