Doom Patrol #8

Writer: Gerard Way
Penciller: Nick Derington
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Published by: DC’s Young Animal

Comics can be a lot of things to a lot of people, and sometimes what they need to be is just plain old fun. DC’s Young Animal does just that and this issue of Doom Patrol by Way and Derington continues that trend.

This issue starts off with two company men discussing something. I’m not actually quite sure what it is exactly, but Way’s run on Doom Patrol has had scenes like this in previous issues, so I trust this will have a payoff down the line. Skip to the next page and we are now in Dannyland with Keeg (Trainor’s negative persona) helping the duplicates that spawned from the alternate Danny (as seen in previous issues) differentiate themselves so that if ever they came into contact with one another, they wouldn’t, well, blow up. When Jane enters the room, we also discover that Keeg and Trainor have struck a deal that allows Keeg to roam free allowing Trainor to explore the “dream” world.

After that, we are treated to the reunion of Casey and her pet cat Lotion. However, as was hinted at in previous issues, Lotion is no longer just a cat, but an anthropomorphized moody teenage cat now. Letting Lotion into her apartment, Casey then runs off to the Doom Patrol team meeting where they learn that Danny the Ambulance, who used to be able to survive on happiness, now requires Casey to be with him almost at all times to sustain his power. To her dismay. This leads, predictably, to some trouble, especially when Casey’s roommate introduces her to S#!T, the product that has been popping up in previous issues.    

One thing that has always been great about former Doom Patrol stories has been the sense of forced family that the characters had to endure. Here, Way and Derington do a good job portraying exactly that: Casey isn’t happy about her new position with Danny, stating that she loves her apartment, but is willing to move into Dannyland anyways. We also have Sam trying to reconcile with his wife who’s been in Crazy Jane’s cult for the past four years and their son Lucius experimenting with forces he probably shouldn’t be touching. And finally, we have Cliff beginning to worry about Trainor’s frequent trips to the dream world, leaving the real world behind.