DOOM FORCE SPECIAL #1, DC Comics, July 1992
Because Tim Callahan's book on Grant Morrison's early works includes a page and a half on Doom Force, I think I'll close out this week's theme with it. What is Doom Force? Well...
You know how Silver Age comics were stupid? And really, how today's comics are stupid too? Just in different ways? Now imagine that instead of the Silver Age, Grant Morrison had decided to use 90s stupidity rather than 50s or 60s silliness as a basis for his Doom Patrol. Well, you don't have to imagine it, he actually did it, and that's what Doom Force is.
Bringing in various elements from his DP, but lampooning the style of the early 90s Marvels and their bastard children at Image (Rob Liefeld especially), Doom Force hits all the marks as far as representing the era goes: Claims of collectibility, giant guns that might as well be penises, more than 10 artists to make sure the issue comes out on time, overwrought dialogue, grimacing characters with terrible names, lots and lots of crosshatching, frequent (and random) pin-ups, abnormal anatomy, gratuitous fight scenes, near-naked women, an obligatory Wolverine clone, and oh yeah, Angst with a capital A. Heck, it's even got a self-promoting letters page that starts with the words "We didn't set out to revolutionize comics."
There are some cute bits, especially if you're a Doom Patrol fan. Take a gander at the Chief's head keeping cool in a pink lemonade glass:
But in general, the indulgences of the style try your patience as much as anything in Liefeld's output. It's a bit like, say, Another Teenage Movie. It's not funny because it parodies something that is already a parody of itself.
Because Tim Callahan's book on Grant Morrison's early works includes a page and a half on Doom Force, I think I'll close out this week's theme with it. What is Doom Force? Well...You know how Silver Age comics were stupid? And really, how today's comics are stupid too? Just in different ways? Now imagine that instead of the Silver Age, Grant Morrison had decided to use 90s stupidity rather than 50s or 60s silliness as a basis for his Doom Patrol. Well, you don't have to imagine it, he actually did it, and that's what Doom Force is.
Bringing in various elements from his DP, but lampooning the style of the early 90s Marvels and their bastard children at Image (Rob Liefeld especially), Doom Force hits all the marks as far as representing the era goes: Claims of collectibility, giant guns that might as well be penises, more than 10 artists to make sure the issue comes out on time, overwrought dialogue, grimacing characters with terrible names, lots and lots of crosshatching, frequent (and random) pin-ups, abnormal anatomy, gratuitous fight scenes, near-naked women, an obligatory Wolverine clone, and oh yeah, Angst with a capital A. Heck, it's even got a self-promoting letters page that starts with the words "We didn't set out to revolutionize comics."
There are some cute bits, especially if you're a Doom Patrol fan. Take a gander at the Chief's head keeping cool in a pink lemonade glass:
But in general, the indulgences of the style try your patience as much as anything in Liefeld's output. It's a bit like, say, Another Teenage Movie. It's not funny because it parodies something that is already a parody of itself.
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