The Doom Patrol might just be the strangest superteam in the DC Universe, or any comic book world, and they're proud of it. Created by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani in 1963's My Greatest Adventure #80, the Doom Patrol followed a group of misfits led by Doctor Niles Caulder in a series of bizarre adventures and surreal, baffling antagonists.
With the team's live-action DC Universe original series having just completed its first season, here is a selection of some of the best and most accessible Doom Patrol comic book stories to help pass the wait until Season 2.
Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage
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The creative team that catapulted Doom Patrol into the modern age of comic books and helped launch DC Comics' Vertigo imprint was Grant Morrison and Richard Case. Morrison pushed the boundaries of the medium while being presciently progressive for its time, with the run serving as the biggest inspiration on the DC Universe series.
Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage collects Morrison and Case's first story arc on the comic series, featuring the debut of fan-favorite team member Crazy Jane, the return of Dorothy Spinner, and a drastic revision to Negative Man as the team reforms after recent losses.
Doom Patrol: The Silver Age
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Predating the X-Men, the Doom Patrol was created as a group of misfits rejected and ostracized by society who banded together to protect those that continued to shun them. It was a revolutionary premise whereas most superhero teams were idolized by the public with their poster-boy good looks and swashbuckling attitude.
Doom Patrol: The Silver Age collects the original adventures of the team both from their debut title My Greatest Adventure and their own eponymous series that resulted from its success. In it, the early days of the team are explored including some of their most bizarre villains including Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, the Brotherhood of Evil, and General Immortus.
Doom Patrol: The Painting That Ate Paris
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The second volume of Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol doubles down on the bizarre, surrealist content as the team faces the Brotherhood of Dada, leading to a showdown of abstract proportions. In addition to Richard Case continuing on, artist John Nyberg also illustrates the sophomore volume of the Vertigo Comics title.
Doom Patrol: The Painting That Ate Paris collects the entire second story arc that features the Brotherhood of Dada and the return of the villainous Monsieur Mallah and Brain as the team encounters antagonists that are just as strange as they are.
Doom Patrol: Brick by Brick
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Rock star and award-winning comic book creator Gerard Way launched the Young Animal imprint for DC in 2017. Way teamed with artist Nick Derington to launch a new volume of Doom Patrol that served as the imprint's flagship title, embracing Morrison's influence while forging their own direction with the series.
Doom Patrol: Brick by Brick collects the relaunch's first story arc, reintroducing the team and its classic members as the creative team pushed the abstract and surrealist boundaries of the medium to deliver a Doom Patrol story for the ages with the team still so unapologetically weird.
Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery
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One of the breakout characters during Morrison's run on Doom Patrol who would later appear in the DC Universe series is Flex Mentallo. Inspired by old comic book ads that promised to turn readers into muscle-bound beach gods in peak physical condition, Flex Mentallo's extraordinary muscles allows him to perform completely inexplicable feats while helping the Doom Patrol.
Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery collects the character's spinoff miniseries as Flex learns that an enigmatic musician may be the one person capable of saving him and his former ally The Fact. The miniseries marks one of the earliest collaborations between Morrison and Frank Quitely, with Morrison later observing that the miniseries was thematically linked to his other Vertigo series, The Invisibles and The Filth.
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