The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains , archenemies of the Doom Patrol , Justice League and Teen Titans .
162-486: Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics . The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney , along with artist Bruno Premiani . Doom Patrol has appeared in different incarnations in multiple comics, and have been adapted to other media. The series' creator and fans have suspected that Marvel Comics copied
324-595: A successful franchise which pioneered the Kyodai Hero subgenre where the superheroes would be as big as giant monsters ( kaiju ) that they fought. The kaiju monster Godzilla , originally a villain, began being portrayed as a radioactive superhero in the Godzilla films , starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with
486-602: A better place , or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime . Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films , film serials, television and video games ), as well as in Japanese media (including kamishibai , tokusatsu , manga , anime and video games). Superheroes come from
648-515: A bitter battle to rescue Raven and team leader Nightwing (who was mind-controlled by Brother Blood while working undercover as Dick Grayson) from Brother Blood's cult. During the battle, Brain and Mallah finally got access to the blood pits of Brother Blood while the Brotherhood captured Jericho and tied him to a lightning rod to force a final showdown with the Titans, which they lost. Meanwhile,
810-705: A book entitled Business Zero to Superhero . In 2014, he received a cease and desist from DC and Marvel who claimed that his use of the term superhero would cause confusion and dilute their brands. He was offered a few thousand dollars in settlement to change the name of his book, but he did not concede. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing at the Intellectual Property Office in London, the companies backed down. A similar scenario occurred when comic book creator Ray Felix attempted to register his comic book series A World Without Superheroes with
972-509: A cave-in trapped Mallah and Brain underground, separating them from their team. Meanwhile, Mr. Morden, now transformed into Mr. Nobody , attempted to reform the Brotherhood in Paris, but eventually decided (having gone basically insane) that the name and focus of the group be changed to reflect the fact that "the universe is a drooling idiot with no fashion sense" - the Brotherhood of Dada
1134-450: A corporate run Doom Patrol employed by Thayer Jost for Jost Enterprises featuring existing DC characters (Metamophoro, Elongated Man, the second Doctor Light and Beast Boy) and a second "underground" Doom Patrol, run by Robotman and featuring new characters: Fast Forward who could look 60 seconds into the future, Kid Slick who could become entirely frictionless, Fever who could set herself alight, and Freak who possessed mysterious powers from
1296-693: A decorated officer in the United States Air Force who would become a costumed superheroine herself years later. In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomori 's Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams and supporting vehicles that debuted in Gatchaman into live-action, and began the Super Sentai franchise (later adapted into the American Power Rangers series in
1458-465: A doppelganger of Plasma. This time the identities of the villains were revealed: they were energy beings who served a sentient alien computer called Technis which needed to assimilate Cyborg in order to survive. The Brotherhood of Evil were not seen during the second half of the 1990s and would not return until 2005, in JSA Classified #1-3. Brain and Mallah themselves were magically resurrected
1620-537: A larger one. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, creating the Super Robot genre. Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973; although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagai's manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media. The 1970s would see more anti-heroes introduced into Superhero fiction such examples included
1782-449: A letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories , the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak , by Max Plaisted. In the 1930s, the trends converged in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s), who first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid media combining pictures with live storytelling), Mandrake
SECTION 10
#17327762848241944-462: A more moderate position, stating that while it is possible Lee took his ideas from Doom Patrol, he could also have arrived at a similar concept independently: "Since we were working in the same vineyards, and if you do enough of that stuff, sooner or later, you will kind of look like you are imitating each other." The Doom Patrol and the X-Men have many similarities. Both series feature stories that show
2106-523: A multimedia franchise that used footage from Super Sentai . Internationally, the Japanese comic book character , Sailor Moon , is recognized as one of the most important and popular female superheroes ever created. The first use of the word "super hero" dates back to 1917. At the time, the word was merely used to describe a "public figure of great accomplishments." However, in 1967, Ben Cooper, Inc., an American Halloween costume manufacturer, became
2268-537: A new Doom Patrol series. However, the team did receive a series of guest appearances in various DC titles, such as Superman Family (in a three part arc in the Supergirl feature that was intended for the recently canceled Super-Team Family ), DC Comics Presents (teaming up with Superman in a story which revealed that Vostok's powers had changed to match Larry Trainor's exactly), and Supergirl . Robotman also appeared as an occasional supporting character in
2430-475: A parasitic entity in her soul. The later Doom Patrol were the main characters of the run, with the Jost owned group disbanding when it is revealed by Metamorpho that Robotman had reportedly died four years earlier which results in the 'imposter' Robotman in the team to vanish into nothingness. The Doom Patrol later rebuild the real Robotman once they recover his head and come to an agreement that Thayer Jost will fund
2592-454: A pay dispute and moved to Marvel Comics. He finished the script only out of friendship for Boltinoff. A few years later, three more issues appeared, reprints of earlier issues (#89, #95 and #90 appeared as #122, #123 and #124 respectively). A proper Doom Patrol revival did not occur until 1977, nine years after the original's demise. Some similarities exist between the original Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics' original X-Men ; Marvel acknowledged
2754-509: A power source for a teleportation device, and are seemingly killed when it self-destructs. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Brotherhood of Evil is featured as its members Phobia , Plasmus , and Warp are competing against La Dama 's agents to obtain the scarab. It ends up in the possession of Jaime Reyes who becomes Blue Beetle . Blue Beetle manages to fight off both villain groups. To ensure that Phobia, Plasmus, and Warp succeed in reclaiming
2916-457: A primary member of the Patrol; she brought her imaginary friends to her aid in combat. Overall, Pollack's run dealt with issues such as the generation gap , humanity , identity , transgender issues , bisexuality , and borrowed elements from Judaism and Kabbalah in the last few issues. The angel Akatriel is used as a major character in the last seven issues. The first story arc of her run
3078-423: A profound effect on Japanese television . 1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. It was the first of numerous televised superhero dramas that would make up the tokusatsu superhero genre. Created by Kōhan Kawauchi , he followed up its success with the tokusatsu superhero shows Seven Color Mask (1959) and Messenger of Allah (1960), both starring a young Sonny Chiba . It
3240-505: A promiscuous manner. Through the overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. Wonder Woman has been subject to a long history of suppression as a result of her strength and power, including American culture's undoing of the Lynda Carter television series. In 2017's Wonder Woman , she had
3402-586: A proposal for a new Doom Patrol series. The proposal was green-lit, and Kupperberg laid the groundwork for the new series by writing the John Byrne-illustrated Secret Origins Annual #1, published in 1987, which recapped the origins of the two iterations of the Doom Patrol that had existed thus far. In October 1987, DC relaunched Doom Patrol , written by Kupperberg and illustrated by Steve Lightle . Lightle took on
SECTION 20
#17327762848243564-577: A publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static , a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock . In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the identities and roles of once-Caucasian heroes with new characters from minority backgrounds. The African-American John Stewart appeared in
3726-552: A regular basis and were later briefly joined by fellow Doom Patrol villains General Immortus and the alien Garguax . The group also was aided by the clumsy henchman Mr. Morden, who often operated robotic devices for the Brain including a robot called Rog (which was originally built by Niles Caulder). The group's constant failure to defeat the Doom Patrol combined with the growing romantic attraction between Madame Rouge and Patrol leader Niles Caulder, led to Madame Rouge breaking free of
3888-705: A secondary character of the Green Hornet media franchise series since its inception in the 1930s. ). Kitty Pryde , a member of the X-Men, was an openly Jewish superhero in mainstream American comic books as early as 1978. Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes ; Cage and many of his contemporaries often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals , and Asian Americans were often portrayed as kung fu martial artists . Subsequent minority heroes, such as
4050-406: A single source." DC and Marvel have continued to expand their commercialization of the "superhero" mark to categories beyond comic books. Now, the two publishers jointly own numerous trademarks for figurines (see Spider-Man, Batman), movies, TV shows, magazines, merchandise, cardboard stand-up figures, playing cards , erasers , pencils , notebooks , cartoons , and many more. For instance,
4212-464: A six-part storyline that ran in JLA #94–99 as "The Tenth Circle", though Byrne only drew this arc as it was written by Chris Claremont. This team introduced several new members such as Ava, Grunt, Nudge, and Vortex alongside the 1960s heroes. This reboot was both controversial and short-lived. Besides the removal of the popular Morrison run (and its characters) from canon and the butterfly effect it had on
4374-513: A skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House 's Jungle Comic #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil , a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940. In 1940, Maximo
4536-406: A suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch . The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters illustrate a sociological idea called
4698-485: A timeline incorporating all previous incarnations of the Doom Patrol, but with Rita Farr and Larry Trainor still alive. The Chief confirmed that Rita was indeed killed by Zahl's explosion. The Chief claimed that he later found her skull and treated it with synthetic proteins until her malleable body was regrown from it. Steve Dayton is again using the Mento helmet and he is mentally unstable; however, he remembers his time as
4860-535: A villain, Caulder planned to unleash nanobots into the world, hoping to create a catastrophe that would improve humanity, regardless of the carnage it would cause. But Caulder's plan was hijacked by the Candlemaker, a violent cosmic horror who is freed by Dorothy in exchange for his resurrection of Tempest (whom Candlemaker re-killed). Candlemaker then decapitated Caulder and sought to use the nanobots to enslave humanity. Dorothy, Crazy Jane, and Robotman (freed by
5022-476: A wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (such as Spider-Man and Superman ) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to achieve their abilities (such as Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel ) while others (for example, Iron Man and Batman ) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use. The Dictionary.com definition of "superhero"
Doom Patrol - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-462: A year prior to this during a Flash tie-in for Identity Crisis , having been revealed to be in jail for quite some time. The two were interrogated by the fifth incarnation of the Teen Titans for the location of Plasmus and Warp, as those two were suspects in the murder of Sue Dibny . It has been implied that the two were resurrected as a result of the same reality altering wave that erased
5346-683: Is Nick Fury , who is reinterpreted as African-American both in the Ultimate Marvel as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuities. Brotherhood of Evil The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the HBO Max series Doom Patrol . The Brotherhood of Evil first appeared in Doom Patrol #86 (March 1964) and were created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani . The Brotherhood of Evil
5508-512: Is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon , endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", and the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person." Terms such as masked crime fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as
5670-421: Is a motorcycle-riding hero in an insect-like costume, who shouts Henshin (Metamorphosis) to don his costume and gain superhuman powers. The ideas of second-wave feminism , which spread through the 1960s into the 1970s, greatly influenced the way comic book companies would depict as well as market their female characters: Wonder Woman was for a time revamped as a mod-dressing martial artist directly inspired by
5832-544: Is a website satirizing the sexualized portrayal of women in comics by recreating the same poses using male superheroes, especially Marvel's Hawkeye . In 1966, Marvel introduced the Black Panther , an African monarch who became the first non- caricatured black superhero. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon , followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage , a self-styled "hero-for-hire" , became
5994-485: Is able to transform her own body into its form rather than sending it out under control. The final member is Tempest aka Joshua Clay , a Vietnam veteran/deserter who fires energy blasts from his hands. This new version of the team did not receive its own series following its three-issue tryout. Kupperberg said this was most likely due to poor sales, as even in the months prior to the DC Implosion he heard no word of
6156-576: Is an ape -faced girl with powerful " imaginary friends ." Morrison also substantially retooled Negative Man: Larry Trainor (revealed to be alive in the Kupperburg run, as a prisoner of an underground society but now powerless) is forcibly merged with the Negative Spirit (now a cosmic entity) and a black doctor named Eleanor Poole, to create a multigender multiracial gestalt entity known as Rebis. The new writer introduced some new characters to
6318-532: Is arguable that the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s brought the biggest assortment of superheroes ever at one time into permanent publication, the likes of Spider-Man (1962), The Hulk , Iron Man , Daredevil , Nick Fury , The Mighty Thor , The Avengers (featuring a rebooted Captain America , Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man , Quicksilver ), and many others were given their own monthly titles. Typically
6480-506: Is uncommon, the USPTO will grant joint ownership in a mark. For example, in the case Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wegner S.A. , Opposition No. 103315 (TTAB June 27, 2003), the TTAB held that when "two entities have a long-standing relationship and rely on each other for quality control, it may be found, in appropriate circumstances, that the parties, as joint owners, do represent
6642-668: The Black Canary , introduced in Flash Comics #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman . Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology , she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston , with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance
Doom Patrol - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-518: The Brotherhood of Evil led by the Brain , a disembodied brain kept alive by technology. The Brotherhood of Evil also included the intelligent gorilla Monsieur Mallah and Madame Rouge , who was given powers similar to those of Elongated Man , with the extra attribute of a malleable face, allowing her to impersonate various people. The Doom Patrol had two crossovers: one with the Challengers of
6966-535: The Emma Peel character from the British television series The Avengers (no relation to the superhero team of the same name), but later reverted to Marston's original concept after the editors of Ms. magazine publicly disapproved of the character being depowered and without her traditional costume; Supergirl was moved from being a secondary feature on Action Comics to headline Adventure Comics in 1969;
7128-527: The Lady Liberators appeared in an issue of The Avengers as a group of mind-controlled superheroines led by Valkyrie (actually a disguised supervillainess ) and were meant to be a caricatured parody of feminist activists; and Jean Grey became the embodiment of a cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force with seemingly unlimited power in the late 1970s, a stark contrast from her depiction as
7290-519: The Marv Wolfman and George Pérez era of Teen Titans , where it was revealed that Changeling, formerly DP associate Beast Boy , had arranged for Dayton Industries technicians to recreate the Caulder body design for Cliff. His first storyline here had him, the Titans, and a new Brotherhood of Evil battle Madame Rouge and General Zahl , the murderers of the original Doom Patrol, who died in
7452-706: The New York Times and The Colbert Report , and embraced by anti- Islamophobia campaigners in San Francisco who plastered over anti-Muslim bus adverts with Kamala stickers. Other such successor-heroes of color include James "Rhodey" Rhodes as Iron Man and to a lesser extent Riri "Ironheart" Williams , Ryan Choi as the Atom , Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle and Amadeus Cho as Hulk . Certain established characters have had their ethnicity changed when adapted to another continuity or media. A notable example
7614-671: The X-Men 's Storm and the Teen Titans ' Cyborg avoided such conventions; they were both part of ensemble teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters drawn from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler , Soviet / Russian Colossus , Irish Banshee , and Japanese Sunfire . In 1993, Milestone Comics , an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into
7776-399: The " male gaze " which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. The female characters in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is their hyper sexualized bodies: they are designed to be sexually pleasing to
7938-424: The "New Teen Titans ", the two adult Doom Patrol members went after Rouge. Both were defeated: Mento was tortured until he mentally broke down while Robotman was left deactivated and hung as a warning to trespassers outside their headquarters. The New Teen Titans went looking for Robotman and Mento when Beast Boy had not heard back from them, which ultimately led to conflict with Rouge and Zahl. Surprisingly though,
8100-636: The "One Year Gap") the Brotherhood has gained members "Elephant Man" and "Goldilocks" while losing Phobia, who opted to stay a freelance villain but still kept ties with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood then returned to their independent roots and launched a massive crime wave independent of the remains of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Their goals included cloning a new body for the Brain as well as creating unstable clones of existing super-heroes to sell to third world dictatorships in Africa, putting
8262-515: The "accidents" which turned Cliff, Larry Trainor, and Rita Farr into super beings. Chief stated he caused them to gain their powers (or in the case of Robotman, destroyed his original body in order to obtain his brain to put into his robot body) because of his hatred for them. He felt they were spoiled and narcissistic as well as shallow individuals, and that by turning them into "freaks", he could improve them as human beings. He further revealed that he lied about not being married to Celsius (the leader of
SECTION 50
#17327762848248424-568: The 1970s as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan , and would become a regular member of the Green Lantern Corps from the 1980s onward. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Morales , a youth of Puerto Rican and African-American ancestry who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, debuted as
8586-458: The 1980s, superhero fiction centered on cultural, ethnic, national, racial and language minority groups (from the perspective of US demographics ) began to be produced. This began with depiction of black superheroes in the 1960s, followed in the 1970s with a number of other ethnic-minority superheroes. In keeping with the political mood of the time, cultural diversity and inclusivism would be an important part of superhero groups starting from
8748-409: The 1980s. In the 1990s, this was further augmented by the first depictions of superheroes as homosexual. In 2017, Sign Gene emerged, the first group of deaf superheroes with superpowers through the use of sign language . Female super heroes—and villains—have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in
8910-561: The 1990s). In 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action Japanese television series . In this continuity, Spider-Man had a vehicle called Marveller that could transform into a giant and powerful robot called Leopardon, this idea would be carried over to Toei's Battle Fever J (also co-produced with Marvel) and now multi-colored teams not only had support vehicles but giant robots to fight giant monsters with. In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler , She-Hulk , Elektra , Catwoman , Witchblade , Spider-Girl , Batgirl and
9072-604: The Amazing Superman debut in Big Little Book series , by Russell R. Winterbotham (text), Henry E. Vallely and Erwin L. Hess (art). Captain America also appeared for the first time in print in December 1940, a year prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government, when America was still in isolationism . Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , the superhero was the physical embodiment of
9234-856: The American spirit during World War II. One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine , a rarity for its time: the Black Widow , a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell —debuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics . Most of the other female costumed crime fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red , introduced in Standard Comics ' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck , debuting in
9396-478: The Avengers) with her brother, Quicksilver. In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series. Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai -type series. 1966 saw the debut of the sci-fi/horror series Ultra Q created by Eiji Tsuburaya this would eventually lead to the sequel Ultraman , spawning
9558-639: The Birds of Prey became stars of long-running eponymous titles. Female characters began assuming leadership roles in many ensemble superhero teams; the Uncanny X-Men series and its related spin-off titles in particular have included many female characters in pivotal roles since the 1970s. Volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW! branding initiative in 2013. Superpowered female characters like Buffy
9720-431: The Brain. The group forced Changeling to steal the helmet for them in exchange for Brain helping restore Cyborg 's mental capacities (Cyborg had become a brain dead automaton at this point in time). Changeling stole the helmet but quickly changed his mind about giving it to Brain, leading to "Rita Farr" to make her presence known and attack her son from behind while "Mallah" distracted Changeling with energy blast powers that
9882-522: The Brotherhood's side. Unfortunately, in doing so, Raven's demonic father Trigon was able to gain control over Raven's body and nearly killed both the Titans and the Brotherhood, if not for the intervention of Donna Troy (who had been teleported outside the battlefield by Warp at the start of the fight). The Brotherhood resurfaced again in Zandia , months later as the New Teen Titans were in
SECTION 60
#173277628482410044-580: The Builders but managed to escape, and the Inner Child, a manifestation of the ghosts' purity and innocence. Another later newcomer of the team was Kate Godwin, aka Coagula , one of the first transgender superheroes. A one-time ally of the team called the Identity Addict, who could become different superheroes by shedding her skin like a lizard, integrated herself back into the team while using
10206-540: The Charles Atlas Company showed that DC was protected under Fair Use doctrine in addition to an expired statute of limitations . Issue #53 featured a dream sequence that mimicked the Stan Lee / Jack Kirby Fantastic Four , borrowing plot points both from " The Galactus Trilogy " ( FF #48–50) and FF #51, " This Man... This Monster! ". A 1992 special called Doom Force was released as a one-shot and
10368-610: The Chief and force him to step down as the Doom Patrol's leader, with Mento taking over that role. Two former members of the Teen Titans were dramatically altered during the course of the "Infinite Crisis". Mal Duncan , now code-named Vox, and his wife ( Bumblebee ) now reside in the Doom Patrol's castle headquarters. The Doom Patrol later appear in The Four Horsemen series (2007), with Caulder back in charge. According to Titans (vol. 2) #1, Beast Boy has recently become
10530-523: The Chief's expertise. In the Teiresias world, nannos "repaired" the Chief so he could live as a severed head. After his awakening, the craziness seemed to stop, and Dorothy, Cliff, and the Chief each realized that they needed to be together. The team relocated to Violet Valley's Rainbow Estates, a house haunted by ghosts of those who died in sexual accidents. There, three new members joined: The Bandage People, George and Marion, who were once two workers for
10692-489: The DC title My Greatest Adventure , an adventure anthology, was being converted to a superhero format. The task, assigned to writer Arnold Drake, was to create a team that fit both of these formats. With fellow writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani, he created Doom Patrol, a team of super-powered misfits who were regarded as freaks by the world at large. According to Drake, editor Murray Boltinoff told him My Greatest Adventure
10854-619: The Doom Patrol from the timeline, resulting in the team only recently being formed by Caulder. With Madame Rouge's daughter Gemini now a member, the group reunited with Phobia, Mallah, and Brain and joined the Secret Society of Super Villains , under the command of inner circle member Deathstroke . Deathstroke had the group acquire the mass murdering chemical monster Chemo for the Society and in Infinite Crisis #4, dropped
11016-748: The Doom Patrol, Coagula and Cliff took Dorothy to Kentucky to meet her previously unknown birth mother to offer Dorothy a chance at a more 'normal' life, but fearing that Coagula and Cliff were abandoning her, Dorothy had an explosive psychic outburst that reportedly killed Coagula and Cliff, and left her comatose. After finding out that Dorothy was permanently brain dead, Cliff gave the doctors permission to turn off her life support. The death of Dorothy ended Robotman's contract with Jost resulting in Fast Forward, Fever, Kid Slick and Freak being evicted and striking out together with royalty money that Jost gave them from his Doom Patrol TV series, while Cliff set off into
11178-407: The Doom Patrol, who like Brain were often victims of experimentation in order to create an army of super-heroes through the ruining of innocent lives (several members were experiments of the Nazi war criminal known as General Zahl ). The original line-up consisted of the Brain, his chief henchman Monsieur Mallah, and their first recruit, the shapeshifter Madame Rouge . They fought the Doom Patrol on
11340-434: The Doom Patrol. To tell the truth, I don't think either Erik or myself were happy with the arrangement, but we did our best to make it work." For his part, Larsen said he was perfectly happy on the series, in part because on the few occasions where he disliked an aspect of Kupperberg's plots, he would simply revise the plot when he drew the issue. In retrospect, Larsen felt that this practice was overstepping his bounds, but said
11502-408: The False Memory identity to change the team's memories until she was kicked out by Dorothy. Villains that the team fought, besides the Builders, included the Fox and the Crow, two animal spirits whose feud Dorothy and Cliff were subsequently pulled into; the Master Cleaner, a being with a human fetus inside a bubble for a head who began "cleaning" the world by stripping it down to nothing and replacing
11664-458: The Gods " crossover event); the Negative Spirit left Negative Woman's body; and Lodestone plunged into a coma, where she would remain for the first half of Morrison's run on the book. Tempest gave up fieldwork to become the team's physician. Conversely, Morrison picked up a throw-away character from DP #14, who was slipped into the art on the last page of #18 to set up Morrison's use: Dorothy Spinner
11826-529: The Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books , whose span, though disputed, is generally agreed to have started with Superman's launch. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At
11988-514: The Spirit , who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits. Some superheroes use their powers to help fight daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains , who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy or nemesis . Some popular supervillains become recurring characters in their own right. Antecedents of
12150-827: The Sunday- newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado , debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury , debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady , introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat , introduced in Harvey Comics ' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941); and
12312-502: The Teen Titans (which did its best to limit references to Beast Boy's past and avoided using the Brotherhood of Evil until the Byrne run was canceled and Geoff Johns could restore the previous lore), the series garnered controversy over a scene where Robotman and Elasti-Girl are sent back in time and inhabit their younger selves' bodies. During their time in the past, Robotman declares his love for Elasti-Girl. However, due to an age gap between
12474-408: The USPTO. Felix is one of many who argue that the term "superhero" has become generic (see discussion below). Felix's mark is currently abandoned, but he has stated that he intends to fight against DC and Marvel for use of the term. In 2024, Superbabies Limited managed to obtain a default judgement and cancel the "super heroes" trademarks as genericized, except for the animation pictures mark. This
12636-643: The Unknown , teaming up to fight Multi-Man and Multi-Woman; and second with the Flash in The Brave and the Bold #65. As the popularity of the book waned, the publisher cancelled it. Drake killed off the entire Doom Patrol in the final issue, Doom Patrol #121 (September–October 1968) where Doom Patrol sacrificed their lives to Madame Rouge and General Zahl to save the small fishing village of Codsville, Maine . This
12798-540: The Vampire Slayer and Darna have a tremendous influence on popular culture in their respective countries of origin. With more and more anime , manga and tokusatsu being translated or adapted, Western audiences were beginning to experience the Japanese styles of superhero fiction more than they were able to before. Saban 's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , an adaptation of Zyuranger , created
12960-529: The West as Astro Boy , was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son. Being built from an incomplete robot originally intended for military purposes, Astro Boy possessed amazing powers such as flight through thrusters in his feet and the incredible mechanical strength of his limbs. The 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics . During this era DC introduced
13122-402: The ape never possessed beforehand. This caused the Brotherhood to realize that the three were not who they claimed to be, leading to Warp escaping and bringing the Titans in to save Changeling and his teammates from the fake Elasti-Girl, Brain, and Mallah. Several weeks later, the three imposters attacked the Titans again and this time, they brought in an army of Titan villains with them, including
13284-512: The archetype include mythological characters such as Gilgamesh , Hanuman , Perseus , Odysseus , David , and demigods like Heracles , all of whom were blessed with extraordinary abilities, which later inspired the superpowers that became a fundamental aspect of modern-day superheroes. The distinct clothing and costumes of individuals from English folklore , like Robin Hood and Spring-Heeled Jack , also became inspirations. The dark costume of
13446-482: The archetypical hero stock character in 1930s American comics, superheroes are predominantly depicted as White American middle- or upper-class young adult males and females who are typically tall, athletic, educated, physically attractive and in perfect health. Beginning in the 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States, and increasingly with the rising concern over political correctness in
13608-459: The arrival of something called "The Book of Ice". A government agency known as the Builders, similar to the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E., were trying to stop the outbreak, which was apparently linked to a race of shapeshifters known as the Teiresias. As the Chief was kept in a cryogenic state, he appeared in the land of the Teiresias as a face carved in a mountain. They warned him that his arrival in this world
13770-611: The artwork for most of the final 13 issues. Pollack continued writing the title until its cancellation with issue #87, in February 1995. In December 2001, writer John Arcudi and artist Tan Eng Huat launched a new Doom Patrol series. This relaunch was not under the Vertigo imprint and returned the title to the mainstream DC universe. The series lasted for 22 issues before it was cancelled. Arcudi's run largely ignored Morrison and Pollack's runs at first; Arcudi stated in interviews at
13932-459: The assignment with reluctance, having read and disliked Kupperberg's new Doom Patrol in Showcase #94–96, and soon quit due to several grievances, such as not being involved in plotting the comic despite the editor repeatedly promising that he would be. He was replaced by a young Erik Larsen after issue #5. Kupperberg later commented, "I like Erik's work, but I don't think he was exactly right for
14094-532: The basic concept to create the X-Men , which debuted a few months later. Doom Patrol are a group of super-powered misfits whose "gifts" caused them alienation and trauma. Dubbed the "world's strangest heroes" by editor Murray Boltinoff , the original team included the Chief (Niles Caulder), Robotman (Cliff Steele), Elasti-Girl (Rita Farr), and Negative Man (Larry Trainor); Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) and Mento (Steve Dayton) joined soon after. The team remained
14256-426: The basic idea about the man in the wheelchair who is the great brain, and runs this group of superheroes who hate being superheroes. That was the new aspect. That was the thing that made Doom Patrol different, these people hated being superheroes. And they were a little bit self-pitying, just a little bit, and the chief was constantly telling them, "Stop crying in your beer." That made them something that wasn't around at
14418-408: The battle. Eclipse Comics published Doom Patrol: The Official Index with covers drawn by John Byrne in 1984. The two-part series included all of their appearances from My Greatest Adventure #80 to their final appearance before their 1980s return. Kupperberg's enthusiasm for the Doom Patrol remained, and in addition to writing some of the team's post- Showcase appearances, he eventually wrote
14580-457: The book the next issue. Pollack's first issue was also the first under the new Vertigo imprint of DC Comics (although the trade paperback editions of Morrison's work do bear the imprint, the original issues did not). Returning characters for Rachel Pollack's run included Cliff Steele, Niles Caulder (kept alive by the nanobots, but reduced to a disembodied head, usually kept on a tray filled with ice), and Dorothy Spinner. Pollack's run had Dorothy as
14742-413: The comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie 's character Hugo Danner (1930). Another early example was Sarutobi Sasuke , a Japanese superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s; by 1914, he had a number of superhuman powers and abilities. The French character L'Oiselle , created in 1909, can be classed as a superheroine. In August 1937, in
14904-534: The companies filed a trademark application as joint owners for the mark "SUPER HEROES" for a series of animated motion pictures in 2009 (Reg. No. 5613972). Both DC and Marvel also individually owned trademarks involving the "super hero" mark. Notably, DC owns the mark " Legion of Super-Heroes " for comic magazines and Marvel owns the mark "Marvel Super Hero Island" for story books, fiction books, and children’s activity books. DC and Marvel have become known for aggressively protecting their registered marks. In 2019,
15066-552: The companies pursued a British law student named Graham Jules who was attempting to publish a self-help book titled Business Zero to Superhero . Much academic debate exists about whether the "super hero" mark has become generic and whether DC and Marvel have created a duopoly over the "super hero" mark. Conversely, DC and Marvel hold that they are merely exercising their right and duty to protect their registered marks. The following trademarks were or are registered jointly with MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. and DC COMICS: As mentioned,
15228-426: The conception of Doom Patrol. Murray Boltinoff the editor, came to me one day, or I went to him one day and he said, "We're having a lot of trouble with My Greatest Adventure , it's starting to lay an egg. The era of the superhero has taken over completely. My Greatest Adventure has ordinary heroes. We need some kind of superhero to punch it up." So I said okay, went out and came back a couple of hours later with
15390-402: The country of Zandia. Meanwhile, the Doom Patrol had reformed with Robotman as the only surviving original member. Along with Doom Patrol hanger-on Steve Dayton (AKA Mento), the two avoided going after Madame Rouge for the murders of Doom Patrol as they did not want to involve young Doom Patrol member Beast Boy in their vendetta. However, when Beast Boy (now calling himself "Changeling") joined
15552-494: The cover art of My Greatest Adventure #80 ( cover dated June 1963). Drake and Haney devised the plot for the issue together, and then each scripted half the issue independently (Drake the first half, Haney the second). Doctor Niles Caulder motivated the original Doom Patrol, bitter from being isolated from the world, to use their powers for the greater good. My Greatest Adventure was officially retitled The Doom Patrol beginning with issue #86. In an interview, Drake discussed
15714-477: The debut of Shotaro Ishinomori 's Skull Man (the basis for his later Kamen Rider ) in 1970, Go Nagai's Devilman in 1972 and Gerry Conway and John Romita's Punisher in 1974. The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation and underwent drastic changes. The character was redesigned to resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider
15876-586: The editor never objected to it. This incarnation was a more conventional superhero series than the original volume. It included new members who were hired to the team: the magnetically empowered strong-girl Lodestone (Rhea Jones); Karma (Wayne Hawking), whose psychic power make anyone trying to attack him fall over themselves; and Scorch (Scott Fischer), whose body generates phenomenal quantities of heat focused through his hands, requiring him to wear protective gloves at all times. A DC Comics Bonus Book appeared in issue #9 (June 1988). According to Kupperberg, sales on
16038-401: The end of the decade, in 1939, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger . During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash , Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of one of the earliest female superheroes, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks 's character Fantomah , an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into
16200-408: The featured characters of My Greatest Adventure , which was re-titled Doom Patrol as of issue #86 (March 1964). The original series was canceled in 1968 when Drake killed the team off in issue #121, last of that series, (September–October 1968). Since then, there have been six Doom Patrol series, with Robotman as the only character to appear in all of them. Doom Patrol first appeared in 1963, when
16362-515: The first black superhero to star in his own series . In 1989, the Monica Rambeau incarnation of Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series. In 1973, Shang-Chi became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book ( Kato had been
16524-454: The first entity to commercialize the phrase "super hero" when it registered the mark in connection with Halloween costumes. In 1972, Mego Corporation , an American toy company, attempted to register the mark "World's Greatest Superheroes" in connection with its line of action figures. Mego Corporation’s attempted registration led Ben Cooper, Inc. to sue Mego Corporation for trademark infringement. Due to its financial struggles, Mego Corporation
16686-446: The former two) defeated Candlemaker with help from the new reborn version of Rebis. Rebis briefly left the team to mate with a double of himself in order to be "reborn" in a new body as part of a cosmic ritual. However, during the battle, Jane was sent flying into a portal and landed in a world without heroes. Forcibly institutionalized for her mental issues in this new world, the final issue of Morrison's run had Robotman locate Jane as she
16848-478: The gig." The new team is led by Celsius (Arani Desai), the Chief 's previously unseen wife, who recreates the Doom Patrol to protect herself from General Immortus. Robotman is the only survivor of the original Doom Patrol, and his ruined body is replaced by a new, futuristic one built by Dr. Will Magnus . The Negative Spirit now possesses Russian cosmonaut Valentina Vostok , making her Negative Woman (although its presence does not render her radioactive), and she
17010-452: The group returned to their existing name and dropped Trinity from its roster. In The New Titans #97-99, Brain and Mallah apparently returned to the Brotherhood with a shocking new member: Rita Farr , the sole member of the original Doom Patrol who had not came back to life at the time. The return was bittersweet though, as Brain was suffering from severe mental deterioration and Mallah proclaimed that only Mento's new Mento helmet could save
17172-471: The group so long as Jost has the distributing rights to the Doom Patrol which he uses to create a Doom Patrol TV series based on the Silver Age Team. Over the course of the run Fast Forward loses control of his powers when he tries to look beyond 60 seconds into the future and has to suppress them with medicine in order to function while Kid Slick and Fever start a relationship with one another despite
17334-401: The heroes were aided by the Brain and Mallah and their new version of the Brotherhood of Evil. Brain and Mallah had predicted Rouge's betrayal and went into hiding, leaving decoys that Rouge ultimately destroyed. Rouge and Zahl both died while fighting Beast Boy and Robotman respectively. The Brain's new Brotherhood left the Titans, knowing that they would soon come into conflict. The Brain and
17496-479: The hypothetical heteronormative male audience. Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy , use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin . Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in
17658-470: The idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity . Over the next few decades, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), and Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936), began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength , including
17820-450: The latter accidentally hospitalising the former with her powers. It is later revealed that part of Robotman's agreement with Jost involves Jost funding for Dorothy Spinner's healthcare as she has been in a coma for the last four years, Cliff deduces that the 'imposter' Robotman was an imaginary Cliff that Dorothy had subconsciously manifested. Visiting Dorothy, Cliff regained his lost memories about how Dorothy became comatose. Deciding to end
17982-467: The latter, complete with a domino mask and a cape, became influential for the myriad of masked rogues in penny dreadfuls and dime novels . The vigilantes of the American Old West also became an influence to the superhero. Several vigilantes during this time period hid their identities using masks. In frontier communities where de jure law was not yet matured, people sometimes took
18144-606: The law into their own hands with makeshift masks made out of sacks . Vigilante mobs and gangs like the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers became infamous throughout that Old West era. Such masked vigilantism later inspired fictional masked crimefighters in American story-telling, beginning with the character Deadwood Dick in 1877. The word superhero dates back to 1899. The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized
18306-478: The likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl , Miss Arrowette , and Bat-Girl ; all female derivatives of established male superheroes. In 1957 Japan, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the superhero character Super Giant , signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture towards tokusatsu masked superheroes over kaiju giant monsters. Along with Astro Boy , the Super Giant serials had
18468-764: The magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." In 1971, Kamen Rider launched the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the tokusatsu superhero genre in Japan. In 1972, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman anime debuted, which built upon the superhero team idea of the live-action Phantom Agents as well as introducing different colors for team members and special vehicles to support them, said vehicles could also combine into
18630-470: The mark in connection with comic books, and were granted the mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1981. In the years leading up to the assignment of the mark, both DC and Marvel battled to register various trademarks involving the phrase “superhero.” However, DC and Marvel quickly discovered that they could only register marks involving the phrase "superhero" if
18792-419: The members of the Doom Patrol and forced them to choose the horrible death of dying in a nuclear explosion in order to save a small Maine fishing village. The Doom Patrol reluctantly chose death and were apparently killed in the explosion. Madame Rouge and Zahl (now calling himself "General" Zahl) stayed in hiding for many years, gathering an army of minions for their next big plan, the invasion and conquest of
18954-499: The mental conditioning the Brain used to forcibly recruit her. Rouge quit the Brotherhood to join the Doom Patrol but the Brain quickly recaptured Madame Rouge and rebrainwashed her to make her evil personality dominant. The result backfired horribly on the Brain, as Madame Rouge turned against her evil teammates and launched a missile to destroy the Brain and Mallah. Now aided by escaped Nazi war criminal Captain Zahl, Madame Rouge captured
19116-544: The monster onto the city of Blüdhaven . Murdering several million people, the Brotherhood became the most wanted villains in the DC Universe for their act of mass murder. Furthermore, Warp was recruited by the villainous Doctor Psycho to free the murderous Doomsday for the Society as part of the group's final endgame against Earth's heroes. After the one-year gap , between the end of Infinite Crisis and Teen Titans (vol. 3) #34 (the first issue of Teen Titans after
19278-456: The new Brotherhood of Evil came into conflict with Brother Blood , whose life-restoring blood pits Brain sought to use to prolong his own life. To deal with Brother Blood's inhuman powers, the group repeatedly attacked the Titans in order to kidnap Raven and force her to aid them in defeating Brother Blood. They ultimately succeeded in kidnapping Raven with the Brain's influence and the fear manipulating power of Phobia , briefly turning Raven to
19440-432: The new Spider-Man after the apparent death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker . Kamala Khan , a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is revealed to have Inhuman lineage after her shapeshifting powers manifested, takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel in 2014 after Carol Danvers had become Captain Marvel. Her self-titled comic book series became a cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage by CNN ,
19602-458: The original series have much in common with the members of The Fantastic Four. Both teams, composed of a woman and three men, have one member with stretching powers, another with great strength trapped in a distorted or inhuman orange body, and a third whose form seems ablaze with fire or energy. One can extend the comparison by saying that the fourth member is either invisible or behind the scenes. This has inspired fan speculation that The Doom Patrol
19764-623: The pages of several popular superhero titles from the late 1950s onward: Hal Jordan 's love interest Carol Ferris was introduced as the Vice-President of Ferris Aircraft and later took over the company from her father; Medusa , who was first introduced in the Fantastic Four series, is a member of the Inhuman Royal Family and a prominent statesperson within her people's quasi-feudal society; and Carol Danvers ,
19926-420: The past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/DC movies). Women are presented differently than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that showcases their curves and cleavage and showing a lot of skin in some cases. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing and showing cleavage. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing
20088-406: The phrase referenced their own company or a character associated with their company. As a result, DC and Marvel decided to become joint owners of the "superhero" trademark. Although many consumers likely see DC and Marvel as competitors, the two comic book publishing giants are allies when it comes to protecting the trademark "superhero" and variants thereof. Although joint ownership in a trademark
20250-419: The power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the sociological concept "feminine apologetic," which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (strength, individualism, toughness, aggressiveness, bravery). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men. The Hawkeye Initiative
20412-434: The protagonists struggling with the mantle of heroism. Both teams are family-oriented with internal problems that are resolved through the aid of other members of the team. And both share some of the same writers such as Grant Morrison and John Byrne . However, while the Doom Patrol tends to go on bizarre and zany adventures, the X-Men tend to be more focused on the themes of racism and prejudice. The four lead characters of
20574-520: The public, and policing unauthorized uses. However, misuse by the public alone does not necessarily cause a trademark to become generic if the primary significance of the term is still to indicate a particular source. Some legal experts argue that, like the once-trademarked terms "aspirin" and "yo-yo," the term "superhero" now primarily refers to a general type of character with extraordinary abilities, rather than characters originating from specific publishers. In keeping with their origins as representing
20736-500: The reprinted edition of Infinite Crisis , additional scenes added to the collection showed Fever, Kid Slick, Ava, Nudge, Grunt, and Vortex among a two-page spread of heroes. While assisting the Teen Titans in battling Superboy-Prime, members of the Doom Patrol had flashbacks to their original history. Robotman and Niles Caulder regained memories of the previous Doom Patrol teams with which they had worked. This battle apparently undid some of Superboy-Prime's timeline changes and resulted in
20898-409: The second Doom Patrol, who Caulder claimed was insane/lying about being married to him) out of anger. He was upset over how the experiments performed on her (like with Elasti-Girl) only gave her super-powers and did not turn her into a freak. When Tempest and Robotman found out his role in "creating" Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and Negative Man, Tempest was killed and Robotman paralyzed. Having been exposed as
21060-628: The series "started out okay, and descended to the point where I was removed from the book and replaced by Grant Morrison in the hopes he could salvage the title." After the first 18 issues (and various crossovers and annuals), Kupperberg was replaced by Grant Morrison and the comic was no longer submitted to the CCA for approval (relieving the stories and images depicted of several constraints), starting with issue #19. Kupperberg agreed to help Morrison by writing out characters Morrison did not want to use: Celsius and Scott Fischer died before issue #18: Celsius
21222-448: The similarity in its humor title Not Brand Echh . Both include misfit superheroes shunned by society and both are led by men of preternatural intelligence who use wheelchairs. These similarities ultimately led series writer Arnold Drake to argue that the concept of the X-Men must have been based on the Doom Patrol. Drake stated: ...I've become more and more convinced that [ Stan Lee ] knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol. Over
21384-407: The spare body exploded (the robot body had gained sentience, a fact the two were unaware of, and had vowed to destroy itself rather than have a human brain inserted into it again). The rest of the Brotherhood meanwhile rechristened themselves the "Society of Sin" and recruited a new female member named Trinity. This incarnation of the Brotherhood would only exist for one battle with the Titans before
21546-604: The stolen items, including people, with a paper ticket; and a group of Hassidic healers who called themselves the False Healers and their leader, the Rabbi of Darkness. Toward the end of the series, Cliff Steele's brain became entirely robotic, until Dorothy Spinner used her imaginary friends to "repair" it. The Chief would later die after trying to enter the Sephirot or Tree of Life. A new artist, Ted McKeever , took over
21708-465: The story in which the Doom Patrol met their deaths, and was inspired by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum 's then-recent "all-new, all-different X-Men". Kupperberg has since said he is not proud of the reboot, remarking that "[I was] missing the point of the Doom Patrol. The original group were outsiders and freaks, while my new guys were just comic-book superheroes. I was young and inexperienced and new to writing, with about two years under my belt before getting
21870-553: The superhero supergroups featured at least one (and often the only) female member, much like DC's flagship superhero team the Justice League of America (whose initial roster included Wonder Woman as the token female ); examples include the Fantastic Four 's Invisible Girl , the X-Men 's Jean Grey (originally known as Marvel Girl ), the Avengers ' Wasp , and the Brotherhood of Mutants ' Scarlet Witch (who later joined
22032-578: The team in conflict with the Teen Titans, Doom Patrol, and the Outsiders . The Brain, Monsieur Mallah, General Immortus, Phobia, Plasmus and Warp were later seen in the Salvation Run mini-series. In Salvation Run #4, the Brain and Mallah are killed by Gorilla Grodd . In the final issue, General Immortus is killed during a battle with Parademons but turned up alive in " Final Crisis Aftermath: Run." Plasmus and Warp are used by Lex Luthor as
22194-415: The team leader. In DC Universe: Decisions , Robotman has a supporting role while Mento appears in issue #4. Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero ; typically using their powers to help the world become
22356-518: The team, including Crazy Jane , who had multiple personalities, and sentient neighborhood Danny the Street . Morrison used DC's Invasion crossover to restart the book. They incorporated bizarre secret societies , elements of Dada , surrealism , and the cut-up technique pioneered by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin . They also borrowed the ideas of Jorge Luis Borges and Heinrich Hoffmann . The original creator, Arnold Drake, said Morrison's
22518-410: The term "SUPER HERO" trademark is at risk of becoming generic. Courts have noted that determining whether a term has become generic is a highly factual inquiry not suitable for resolution without considering evidence like dictionary definitions, media usage, and consumer surveys. Trademark owners can take steps to prevent genericide , such as using the trademark with the generic product name, educating
22680-485: The time, that the disconnect with the Vertigo run was due to DC editorial having an agreement in play banning writers from using characters and concepts from his run; most notably Rebis/Negative Man and Crazy Jane. However, due to negative fan response to the run; Arcudi was allowed to make reference to the Vertigo series to explain what had happened to the characters from the Pollack run. The run featured two Doom Patrols:
22842-424: The time. The members of the Doom Patrol often quarrelled and had personal problems, something that was already common among superhero teams published by Marvel Comics such as Fantastic Four , but was novel among the DC lineup. Doom Patrol's rogues gallery matched the strange, weird tone of the series. Villains included the immortality-seeking General Immortus , the shape-shifting Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man , and
23004-421: The two companies also own a variety of other superhero-related marks. For instance, DC owns "Legion of Super-Heroes" and " DC Super Hero Girls " and Marvel owns “Marvel Super Hero Island" and "Marvel Super Hero Adventures." DC and Marvel have garnered a reputation for zealously protecting their superhero marks. As noted above, one of these instances included a man by the name of Graham Jules, who sought to publish
23166-602: The two heroes, Rita is trapped in her twelve-year-old self's body when the adult Cliff reveals his romantic feelings and kisses her. DC canceled Byrne's series with issue #18. DC editorial used the events of the " Infinite Crisis " storyline to restore the Doom Patrol's continuity. In escaping from the paradise dimension they had inhabited since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths , Superboy-Prime and Alex Luthor created temporal ripples which spread throughout reality, causing overlaps on parallel timelines of certain events ( Hypertime ), such as restoring Jason Todd to life. In
23328-473: The villainous Crime Lord. The Chief appears to be manipulating the Doom Patrol members once again; he claims to wish to return them to normal so "maybe one day [they] won't be freaks anymore". After the Doom Patrol encounters the Titans, the Chief tells them that Kid Devil should be a member of the Doom Patrol instead of the Titans, since his unique appearance and nature will always separate him from others. However, Beast Boy, Elasti-Girl, and Mento all stand up to
23490-611: The weakest member of her team a decade ago. Both major American publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda , Power Girl , and the Huntress by DC comics; and from Marvel, the second Black Widow , Shanna the She-Devil , and The Cat . Female supporting characters who were successful professionals or hold positions of authority in their own right also debuted in
23652-502: The world once again alone. Arcudi's new characters have made very few subsequent appearances, mainly constituting cameos. In August 2004, DC launched a new Doom Patrol series after the new team debuted in JLA . John Byrne wrote and illustrated this series, with inks by Doug Hazlewood . Touted as "Together again for the first time!", Byrne rebooted the series, eliminating all previous Doom Patrol continuity. The series debuted as part of
23814-564: The years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between [Marvel and DC]. Therefore from when I first brought the idea into [DC editor] Murray Boltinoff's office, it would've been easy for someone to walk over and hear that [I was] working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair. So over the years, I began to feel that Stan had more lead time than I realized. He may well have had four, five, or even six months. In an interview shortly before his death in 2007, Drake took
23976-425: Was about to kill herself and take her to live with Cliff within the confines of Danny the Street. The cycle aptly ends with the words "There is another world... There is a better world... Well there must be", from the song Asleep by The Smiths . A four-issue Flex Mentallo mini-series illustrated by Frank Quitely spun out from this run. Morrison left the book with issue #63, and Rachel Pollack took over writing
24138-427: Was born. The Brotherhood of Dada would fight the Doom Patrol on two separate occasions before being permanently defeated. Meanwhile, Brain and Mallah made their way to America, without the help of the Brotherhood of Evil. The two broke into the lair of the latest incarnation of Doom Patrol, in order to steal one of Robotman's spare bodies for the Brain. Now with a body, Brain declared his undying love for Mallah just as
24300-533: Was called "Sliding in the Wreckage". Cliff's computer brain started to malfunction, and he regressed into flashbacks from previous storylines. Dorothy was haunted by African spirits while dealing with living alone in the real world. The Chief was given a new body by Will Magnus, but to atone for his sins, Caulder ripped his head off the body and was kept in cryogenic storage. Meanwhile, the entire Earth had been suffering from random outbreaks of weirdness, contributed by
24462-408: Was causing the craziness in the real world. Throughout the storyline, little people with backward letters for heads had been seen altering people. These people were apparently older version of nanomachines, referred to as "nannos". At the Doom Patrol headquarters, Builder agents attacked, and in the craziness, two of the Teiresias approached Dorothy with a new brain for Cliff, but to insert it she needed
24624-491: Was founded by the enigmatic villain the Brain . In the beginning, the group's motivation was world domination. It has recently been revealed that Brain's true purpose for the Brotherhood was to destroy Niles Caulder and his "colleagues". Caulder murdered Brain so he could turn the scientist into Robotman without Brain's consent, but his plans were foiled by the Brain's creation, the super-intelligent gorilla Monsieur Mallah . Brain swore revenge against Caulder and his "pets",
24786-609: Was in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications , one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944. Pérák was an urban legend originating from the city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II . In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as the only Czech superhero in film and comics. In 1952, Osamu Tezuka 's manga Tetsuwan Atom , more popularly known in
24948-494: Was in danger of cancellation and he wanted him to create a new feature which might save it. Boltinoff was enthusiastic about Drake's initial pitch with Elasti-Girl and Automaton (changed to Robotman by the team's third appearance, issue #82), but Drake wanted a third character and enlisted Haney's help in coming up with Negative Man . The team was initially announced as "The Legion of the Strange". Doom Patrol were announced on
25110-562: Was inspired by, or imitative of, the earlier series. John Byrne, who has written and drawn all three sets of characters, has written that "I wish someone would ask Arnold Drake about the Doom Patrol's similarities with the Fantastic Four, instead of always bringing up the X-Men comparison." Writer Paul Kupperberg , a longtime Doom Patrol fan, and artist Joe Staton introduced a new team in Showcase #94 (August–September 1977). DC
25272-576: Was killed in an explosion in DC Comics' " Invasion! " event, and Scott Fischer (already experiencing a recurrence of childhood leukemia) was the only known active superhero casualty of the Dominators ' gene-bomb (also in "Invasion!"); Karma had left the team as he was still on the run from the law (he became a member of the Suicide Squad and died on his first mission with them in the " War of
25434-542: Was meant to mimic and parody the X-Force book by Rob Liefeld . Issue #45 parodied Marvel's Punisher and Alan Moore in a satire called the Beard Hunter, a perpetually clean-shaven serial killer who murders bearded men and targets the Chief. Morrison's villains were extremely unusual and strange, even by Doom Patrol's eccentric standards. For example: In issue #57, it was revealed that the Chief had secretly caused
25596-411: Was the first time in comic book history that a cancelled title was concluded with the death of its cast. Artist Bruno Premiani and editor Murray Boltinoff appeared at the beginning and the end of the story, asking fans to write to DC to resurrect Doom Patrol, although the latter was supposed to have been Arnold Drake. According to the writer, he was replaced with the editor because he had just resigned over
25758-549: Was the only subsequent run to reflect the intent of the original series. Over the course of the series, Morrison dedicated some issues to parody and homage. Willoughby Kipling led the Doom Patrol on a parody of the Brujería story arc of Swamp Thing : A Murder of Crows in issues #31–32. Issue #42 featured the origin of Flex Mentallo , who was supposed to be the character in the Charles Atlas ad. A belated lawsuit from
25920-437: Was then lining up features for the Showcase revival—the series was initially an anthology that would debut new characters who could springboard into their own series if they proved sufficiently popular, and Showcase #94 was the first new issue of the series in almost seven years. Editor Paul Levitz instructed Kupperberg and Staton to do a Doom Patrol feature. Kupperberg opted to create a new lineup because he wanted to respect
26082-404: Was unexpected as Marvel and DC had filed a motion to extend time to answer. There is an ongoing debate among legal scholars and in the courts about whether the term "superhero" has become genericized due to its widespread use in popular culture, similar to terms like "aspirin" or "escalator" which lost their trademark protection and became generic terms for their respective products. Some argue
26244-467: Was unwilling to defend itself against Ben Cooper Inc.'s suit. As a result, in 1977, Mego Corporation jointly assigned its interest in the trademark to DC Comics , Inc. ("DC") and Marvel Comics ("Marvel"). Due to the financial prowess of DC and Marvel, Ben Cooper, Inc. decided to withdraw its trademark opposition and jointly assigned its interest in the "World's Greatest Super Heroes" mark to DC and Marvel. Two years later in 1979, DC and Marvel applied for
#823176