Remember Grunt and Nudge, from Byrne's Doom Patrol?

[queenursula.insanejournal.com]

Comments

[jaybee3.insanejournal.com]

I know they were from Byrne's DP reboot (which I read event though it was loathed) and these characters were harmless and both were just teenagers too (Grunt is actually just a young boy who was incorrectly put in a gorilla's body ala the Ultra-Humanite) so I was not impressed with what happened. It seemed to be more DC-killing just for the sake of it. I mean really the other DPers just let Grunt run away? And Rita of all people feeling absolutely nothing about poor Nudge's gruesome death? The girl was younger than her own son, Gar. It just seems out of character (like a lot of the series so far - I prefer the Metal Men back-up).

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, I cna't believe thay even included them in this version. I bet this book will not make 10 issues.

[wizardru.insanejournal.com]

That's too bad.


....I really like the Metal Men.

[thandrak.insanejournal.com]

motto

[arbre_rieur.insanejournal.com]

I've only read the third issue, but I quite liked it.

[thokstar.insanejournal.com]

Rita's behavior is a plot point. It's definitely OOC, but Giffen is putting her in a position where she very mentally messed up and is acting OOC (because of her interactions with Mento.)

Giffen claims he has plans to follow up on Nudge's death, and not via Blackest Night.

That said, the Metal Man stuff is much better, especially that new character who's name I can't remember.

[deepspaceartist.insanejournal.com]

To be fair, I havn't read this issue, but they are in fact being shot at by three attack helicopters. I don't think it's too ooc to be concerned with getting the still-living out of there, rather then helping the girl who just exploded in a cloud of blood and is therefore obviously dead.

[jaybee3.insanejournal.com]

But they left Grunt behind for whatever faced him (and once again - he's actually just a little boy in a gorilla's body). Which is very unlike the idea of a "team" that is willing to die together ala Drake's original.

[wizardru.insanejournal.com]

They're not terribly broken up about it after the fact, though. Now, it's made pretty clear that they're all so psychologically messed up that the real issue is that they're covering up for it, to some extent. But they make no effort to find and rescue their teammate, who's name they can't even remember after they've lost him. And if Grunt was that unprepared for a mission, why did they send him? Why not one of the others?

But by and large, the new Doom Patrol are a collection of unrelenting assholes. A lot of what is supposed to be humor here falls flat to me, because of the unlikable nature of this version of the characters. Negative man, for example, is supposed to be the unhinged wisecracker...but he just comes off as a bastard trying to get a rise out of people on his way to suicide-by-supervillain. Giffen can do better than this. Compare him to Ragdoll in Secret Six to see the difference.

I kinda feel like Giffen thinks he has to try and emulate Morrison's run on the title, but it's not working for me. Now we've got sociopathic Doc revealing that Mento has been screwing with his ex-wife's head and has his powers naturally instead of with his helmet.

Also, the text-heavy nature of this title is starting to wear it down. Way too much time reading lengthy text boxes of exposition that really don't feel like they're advancing the story.

Metal Men, by contrast, is Silver Age Shiny and works much better.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Didn't they kill another Doom Patrol member in Terror Titans? Seems like DC, instead of ignoring the past, would rather light it on fire and salt the earth.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Doom Patrol members exist to die. It's DC tradition.

Crazy Jane, of course, is off happy somewhere, so she's an exception.

[randyripoff.insanejournal.com]

I'll happily take Byrne's run over this any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[mullon.insanejournal.com]

Okay, now I'm tired of gorillas.

[foxhack.insanejournal.com]

...

Who wrote this garbage?

[drsevarius.insanejournal.com]

Keith Giffen.

[yaseen101.insanejournal.com]

Kieth Giffen.

[pyrotwilight.insanejournal.com]

Hey look that girl kinda looks like Gehenna maybe she'll last lon- nevermind.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Yeech. Gratuitous deaths, hello! I hate it when DC/Marvel (I've begun to think of them as a single entity) pulls this crap. I didn't even know who the hell Grunt and Nudge were, and I still feel like I just got slapped in the face.
Incidentally, would there be any chance of posting some of the Metal Men backup? I ask because just about everyone keeps saying it's pretty nifty, and I'm a big MM fan.