Talking comics with indie comix creator and actor Tony Wolf

Tony Wolf first came to our attention via twitter -- or rather -- a few panels from Tony's brilliant autobiographal comic detailing his experiences with 1989's Batmania caught our attention on twitter:

Written and illustrated by Tony Wolf.

After a bit of internet sleuthing (hey, we wanted to see more) we discovered that: Tony grew up collecting and reading 80s comics, Tony has written and illustrated a few indie comics for various publications, and Tony is currently working on a new 'secret' project. He's also an accomplished actor (NBC's The Blacklist: Redemption) now living in Hoboken, NJ. (He spent 22 years in the same apartment in Brooklyn and just recently moved to Hoboken.)

We reached out to him and, thankfully, he agreed to an interview. 

There were a few ways we could approach this interview -- interview him as Tony the Actor? Interview him as Tony the Creator? Interview him as Tony the Comics Fan? Ultimately, we opted for the latter. (I mean, we ARE a site about DC comics from the eighties, and if the shoe fits...)

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Justin: Emma Vince of Extra.ie gave a really fantastic interview about your transition from being a comic book illustrator to becoming an actor and then coming back to being a comic book illustrator again. You also give some great advice to aspiring comic book creators. What I really find inspiring about your story is that you were forty-something the first time one of your indie comics appeared in The New York Times (which is pretty much one of the highest achievements an indie comics creator could strive for) -- I think this is particularly encouraging because it reaffirms that new doors can open in the comic biz even after your mid-thirties (I realize it's a bit different since you had the skills growing up and never stopped working on them) -- but it shows that there's no 'plateau age' that prevents you from breaking new grounds.

Tony: Yeah, it's a crazy world out there ... the world of the arts! I always tell people that it's a world where anything goes, to a large degree. I drew and wrote my own comics for fun as a kid and as a teen, and back then I thought I'd become a professional comic book artist. Then I got more & more into acting, and found that I preferred acting since it was collaborative and social, whereas drawing means you sitting alone in a room for 8 hours a day, working at a desk. I needed that social component. But during a quiet year when there wasn't much going on with my acting career, I said to myself, "Well, I have a lot of free time (and I was not in a relationship at the time), so maybe now I can give myself the project of making my own comics and giving that a real go."

Three years of doing autobio comics (inspired by those of Harvey Pekar) for fun and for free, as passion projects and creative experiment, led to me getting some press for my comics, which then led to friendships which later led to a potential for my comics to be carried by the New York Times -- which I was extremely thankful for. But I also knew that there was just as much chance that the creative experiments and passion projects could not have gone anywhere substantive at all. The arts -- acting, comics, writing, a LOT of the arts --  are a world where you make things, you do projects you are passionate about, you have a lot of ambition and drive and hustle and networking, and you put your creations out there. You put yourself 'out there' continually, time and time again -- and you hope that the seeds you plant eventually bear some fruit that *might* lead to some success. Just like the scene in True Romance where Patricia Arquette gets relentlessly beat up by James Gandolfini and he gives her the compliment: "You got a lot of heart, kid." The arts will often require that kind of dogged determination from us -- that kind of relentless persistence, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.

Tony's second published indie comic as it appears in a Feb 2018 edition of the New York Times.
Photo source: Tony Wolf

Tony: I have seen comics creators, actors, and artists go from obscure / producing very small indie stuff, to becoming very, VERY successful, over the course of about 6 years. You never know. You really never know. I have seen people rise to great heights and achieve great things because they just NEVER STOPPED making work and putting themselves out there, as creatives. That is very inspiring. When you see peers and friends and acquaintances "make it," that also reminds you that YOU can make it too. It is do-able. It is possible. It is not some unrealistic fantasy. It can actually happen if you put the consistent blood, sweat, and tears in. This usually means YEARS of effort -- during which no apparent results may be evident; certainly not any big results. But things add up over time.... and you never know who is watching & who might be keeping an eye on your work and development, especially in this social media age. That, to me, is inspiring.


Justin: We were browsing through your Instagram trying to find those aforementioned 1989 Batmania panels, and we found a lot of other neat DC sketches and illustrations instead. Based on the things we saw, I'm going to assume that Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing was particularly important to your formative years of comic reading? Same with Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns? Care to talk about what that was like -- growing up and seeing these for the first time on newsstands?

Tony: Yeah, I was an 80s kid .... the 80s were a HUGE era for comics. Lots of dynamic, fresh new voices coming in. I started buying Alan Moore's Swamp Thing around issue 46 (since the earlier issues somehow came off as a bit scary or overly dark / ponderous to my junior high school brain -- like I wasn't quite ready for them yet). But I'd heard so often from comics journalists (reading The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes, and the weekly newsprint paper The Comics Buyers Guide) that Alan Moore was doing something incredible in the pages of Swamp Thing, so I gave it a try. This was just a few issues before Swamp Thing #50 where Moore makes this deep philosophical point about anger and Evil with a capital E .... plus, it had Batman and The Phantom Stranger guest-starring! I was fascinated. The art in Swamp Thing was also unlike anything I'd ever seen before. So then I went back and started buying the back issues, and made sure I eventually acquired everything back to and including Alan Moore's first issue on the title.

Tony Wolf sketches inspired by Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.

Tony: I was buying comics on a regular basis -- every week -- a few years before Frank Miller debuted the first issue of The Dark Knight Returns. It's hard to describe the feeling of what it felt like to buy that as a fresh new product on the stands -- it was something groundbreaking, fascinating, mind-blowing. Visually and in terms of the writing. It packed a visceral impact that we had rarely seen or felt in comics. I also remember the gut-punch of the ending of the first issue of Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli's Daredevil: Born Again story. I remember telling my friends: "So the Kingpin ACTUALLY FINDS OUT Daredevil's secret identity, and frames him, empties his bank accounts, and then BLOWS UP HIS APARTMENT BUILDING?!? And the end of the first issue where all this happens is Matt Murdock standing in the rubble and realizing it has to be the Kingpin that did this to him?!? "It was a nice piece of work, Kingpin... you shouldn't have SIGNED it." " We all completely lost our minds reading that issue for the first time! The sheer guts in doing a story like that. Also, the fact that Marvel even approved a story like that. This was a new level of take-no-prisoners kind of comics storytelling. And Mazzuccelli's art was just sublime, and got even better as that story arc went on. Both creators were in their prime and firing on all cylinders.

Funny enough: I was one of those fans who, when I first started reading & collecting comics, I thought DC was "square" (ex: stories weren't that good, heroes (other than Batman) were too powerful, etc). The Trial of the Flash was happening (Barry Allen) and it looked somber and too depressing. Superman books were lame other than Alan Moore's Last Superman Story. But Crisis On Infinite Earths had exactly the effect on me that DC wanted -- it was really interesting to me, very moving, and cleaned up DC continuity. I immediately started reading George Perez's Wonder Woman, John Byrne's Superman, and Frank Miller's Batman: Year One -- and of course, they were all phenomenal.

Lightray of the New Gods illustrated by Tony Wolf

Other 80s comics that blew my mind: Walt Simonson's Thor run.... Claremont and a host of artists on X-Men -- Paul Smith, Rick Leonardi, and then the newcomer John Romita Jr. (who I took a while to warm up to, at first). John Byrne writing and drawing both X-Men and Alpha Flight -- I was obsessed with Byrne's output for Marvel at the time. Then Byrne went to DC and did Legends and then took over the Superman titles -- those were fantastic! Plus the burst of indie titles like Nexus, Mage, Concrete .... and I got the first issue (3rd printing, although it was still brand-new at the time) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved that it was such a loving (and detailed) parody of the Frank Miller martial arts style of comics storytelling. So much love went into TMNT. Then you could watch as the creators, Eastman & Laird, realized they had to continue the story of these characters, and they start to experiment and branch out of the ninja stuff to wild wacky stuff like ... Fugitoid!! And alien monsters. haha.

A few DKR-influenced pieces illustrated by Tony Wolf. DKR Grover colored by SirGryphon.

Justin: So, some of the comics that you've published so far are kind of an auto-biographical account of your experiences growing up with comics. You've got an 8-page comic about your memories of the whole 'Call this number to vote if Jason Todd lives or dies' thing, a memoir about your experiences with 1989 Batmania, and a new upcoming project recounting your experiences with collecting and reading comics in the eighties and nineties. I think a lot of us can relate, because comicdom was something we grew up reading and being excited for during the 80s -- while many of our other teen-aged peers may not have shared our interest. It's a bit like "wow, someone else out there who is just like me". You even went the extra step and participated -- especially going so far as to vote on the life or death of a character. What were the other 'big' moments of your comic-loving life?

Panels from "1-800-Dead-Robin". Illustrated by Tony Wolf, colored by Sirgryphon.

Tony: Ah, interesting question. Watching comics come out in the 80s that continually redefined what "comics" could be was just endlessly exciting. You thought you'd seen it all ... and then, here comes this wonderful oddball book called Nexus. THEN you thought you'd seen it all, and here comes the insane Monty Python-style comedy of ... Ambush Bug! Then you see crazy stuff like Boris The Bear from the then-brand new company Dark Horse .... which was a loving parody of all the indie black & white comics coming out back then, skewering and satirizing trends at the time.

I picked up issues 1 and 2 of Matt Wagner's Mage at a Long Island comic book convention. I think the two issues were actually sitting on a 'take these comics for free' table -- that's how NEW they were; they were so small and SO "indie" that they had to give them away for free, as samplers, because no one really knew or cared about Comico Comics (the then-tiny publisher) or who this Matt Wagner guy was. Mage made a HUGE impression on me. Another instance of incredibly bold, creative, innovative, and very personal storytelling, and presented in such a unique way. It grabbed me immediately, and I wrote in to the letters page, and got a signed postcard from Matt Wagner in the early 80s, where he drew Kevin Matchstick on it. I saved it, of course... I still have that postcard.

In the early / mid 80s, when the first Mage series started up from Comico Comics, Matt Wagner ran a really fun letters page. Once it had become clear that the lead character, Kevin Matchstick, was the reincarnation of some iconic hero, I wrote a letter in (an actual handwritten letter, of course! this was the 80s!) joking that maybe Kevin was the reincarnated Alice in Wonderland, since a few of the arcane fantasy and literary references Mirth made sounded (to me) vaguely like Wonderland characters.

Mage postcard from Matt Wagner. Posted with Tony Wolf's permission.

I also wrote a fan letter to Eastman & Laird right after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 came out - - and they wrote me a HAND-WRITTEN letter back! They wrote to me right around the time when TMNT #2 had just been published and #3 was on the way to comics stores. I wrote to them when the comic had just debuted, and I'm sure they were just thrilled that anyone at all was writing to them. I think I lost that letter, and I'm pissed about not having it anymore!! haha.  They drew a sketch of Raphael for me and enclosed it with the letter. I may still be able to find it among old papers; but I think I may have to admit that it's lost at this point. Still, getting a personal handwritten letter from them was so cool -- both then and now. Even if I can't freakin' find it anymore in my possessions! haha.

Justin: I was there and living it, so you don't need to explain it to me -- but to everyone who was too young and totally missed out on 89 Batmania and the 'revival of Batman' to a mainstream audience -- what was that like? what was the long-lasting impact of that?

Tony Wolf as 'Jack Nicholson' Joker for Halloween. Circa 1994.

Tony: The announcement of the Batman movie directed by Tim Burton was really, really incredible --  when we started to see the preview photos coming out in magazine articles, we were all so thankful and stunned: it looked like they were REALLY doing a dramatic, dark version of Batman in live-action, FINALLY! It seemed like Burton and his chosen Batman, Michael Keaton, were pretty serious about the tone.

I remember when the very first trailer came out for the first Burton / Keaton Batman movie. We had a VCR, and I found out when the trailer would be airing (on something like Entertainment Tonight) and I taped it. I watched that trailer obsessively, repeatedly.... using slow-motion to see every scene in detail. I remember being struck by the edit / transition of Keaton saying (as Bruce): "Alfred... let's go shopping." and then it cuts to the wild new design of the Batmobile roaring through the streets. Also, I recall watching that trailer's introduction of Nicholson as the Joker many times... it just showed Nicholson emerging from the shadows with those famous lines, "Jack? Jack ... is DEAD, my friend. You can call me ... Joker!" I loved it. My anticipation for the movie was immense.

Illustrated by Tony Wolf

Tony: I noticed that the movie was opening on June 23, 1989 -- which was a Friday. My graduation ceremony from high school was that exact same date. So I wrote & drew a short comic for my high school newspaper, about me tearing off my graduation robe and running straight from graduation to the movie theater in my home town of Rockville Centre, NY (on Long Island) to see the Batman movie. I made up invitations (as if it was a wedding invitation or something; my high school version of what a fancy invitation might look like) and invited a bunch of friends to go see the movie with me on opening night. Everyone agreed and accepted -- we would all see it on Friday night, together! All my nerdy friends.

The night before the opening of the movie, Thursday night, my friend Jason and I are walking around the small town ... and we pass by the movie theater. We see a sign that is advertising a special EARLY PREVIEW SCREENING of Batman -- this was almost unheard of back then! There was no internet to tell you about an advance screening. We had just stumbled onto it by walking past the theater. It didn't look mobbed, either... so I was severely tempted to just go in and watch it right then. (We walked past about an hour before this special advance screening was about to start.) Jason, ever the level-headed one, said: "Tony, you invited everyone to a big thing tomorrow night where we'll all see the movie *together* for the first time. People might be offended that you saw it a night before without telling anyone. They think we're all going to experience it for the first time together. Maybe you should wait." I saw his point -- but my impatience and sometimes-impulsive nature was too intense. I thought it over and I was like, "I've waited years for this kind of movie. Let's just go in and see it. I'll see it again with everyone tomorrow. I just have to see it now, since we have the opportunity to see it." I couldn't wait. Jason said: "Well, it's your call. I'll go in with you, since I want to see it too - but I want it clear that this was your decision, to go in and see it the night before we're seeing it with everyone. You're the impatient one here; this is on your head." haha. It was like "Let it be known through the ages that it was your impatience and inability to wait; not mine." And so we went in.

Tony Wolf illustration of classic Batman costume. Circa 1994.

Tony: I loved the movie; Jason was pretty entertained by it too.... but I was the far-more-comics-obsessed person, out of the two of us, so I went on a lot about how much I loved it. So the next night, we see it with the group, and as we walked into the official opening night showing, I fessed up and admitted that I had made the decision to see it the previous night. My friend Mark was like "What? You said you'd wait for us! Noooo!!" -- exactly what Jason had predicted the reaction would be. I was like "I'm happy to see it again; it's really good!" But my friends felt at least a little annoyed that I broke the 'code' by seeing it early and only telling them as we walked into the Graduation Day screening.

Years go by, and the same old friends -- Jason and Mark and I -- are going to see the opening night of the first Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale Batman movie, Batman Begins. We're talking and waiting on line at the Manhattan movie theater. Mark gets a gleam in his eye, looks at me, "You know what I love about Batman, as a character? It's about vengeance." We're looking at him, and I'm not sure where he's going with this. He said "It's about vengeance for a wrong that happened many years ago." I'm still not getting where he's going with this. Jason is just watching and sort of smiling. Mark then says: "Hey, remember how you saw the first Batman movie a night early, and how annoyed I was for years about that?" And I, sheepishly said, "Yeah." He says "Well, VENGEANCE is MINE!! Because I saw it last week at an advance screening! It took me 16 years, but I finally got you back!!" We all laughed - he was right. He got me good .... Vengeance was indeed his. A friend of his who I knew was in the entertainment industry, and had invited him to an early preview screening. "That was the longest grudge I ever held," Mark said. The circle was now complete.

Etrigan the Demon illustrated by Tony Wolf

Justin: I'm also seeing the influence of the Death of Superman in your instagram art. How did the Death of Superman impact you?

Tony: I totally loved the Superman stories of the 80s (post-Crisis), and once John Byrne left the books, I didn't follow them much. However, during college I picked up what was one of Dan Jurgens & Art Thibert's first issues of Adventures of Superman (where Hank Henshaw debuts), and I was hooked again. Over the next few years, I watched Dan Jurgens shape the Superman books --- along with Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Butch Guide, Jon Bogdanove, Jerry Ordway, Marv Wolfman, and more talented creators -- into something truly special again.

illustrated by Tony Wolf, colored by SirGryphon

Tony: The Death of Superman storyline was handled so well -- I was buying every issue as they hit the stands. At first I was very leery about this whole "now there are 4 Supermen; which one - if any - is the real one?" storyline, but they handled it exceptionally. I always say that the actual death -- Doomsday showing up and bludgeoning Superman to death -- is actually the least interesting part, for me. The two months of comics *after* his death, where the writers got a chance to show how the death of The Man of Steel affected everyone in the entire world, and his supporting cast, were real magic. Quiet, reflective, truly sad books with not a lot of super-villainy or slugfests.

Cyborg Superman illustrated by Tony Wolf

Tony: I remember one of Roger Stern's issues was especially moving and very simple / poignant. The funeral of Superman being patterned after the funeral of JFK was genius. And young people like me saw the title of the story arc: "Funeral For A Friend" -- and may been inspired, as I was, to seek out the very cool Elton Song the arc was named after. :) It wasn't an easy thing to dangle the "Which of these 4 Supermen is our Clark?" storyline and pull it off / make it work, but they really did. And once the real Superman *did* come back, it felt like a truly satisfying ending. Satisfying endings are NOT easy to pull off, especially when you've built your story up so much.

Superman illustrated by Tony Wolf

Tony: Also, speaking as an artist, for a long time, it felt like the art team of Dan Jurgens penciling and Brett Breeding inking was an amazing art team comparable to John Byrne and Terry Austin. Just perfectly matched. It was amazing to see their work come in each month.

As Superman Red / Superman Blue, it was a silly story idea that DC and the team did their best to do a more "legitimate" version of. You've probably heard the jokes (all true) that the colorist used to say at each annual creators' summit meeting "Let's do Superman Red / Superman Blue!" and they would all laugh and say to him "Maybe next year." Then they eventually felt they should actually do it -- based on the absurd 1950s storyline. Starting off with the now-infamous Electric Blue Superman was a good move -- and I find myself still not sure whether I hate or love Electric Blue Supes. But one thing is for sure: they did their best to tell a strong story with that version of Superman, and one of my writing heroes, Grant Morrison, managed to make him work really feel in his JLA run.

Superman Blue by Tony Wolf

Tony: I remember thinking at the time, "I see that they're kind of writing Superman Red as the more impulsive one, and Superman Blue as the more logical / cool-headed one" (once he split into 2), but they didn't really take that far enough in the writing. Anyone remember the Millenium Giants storyline, which ended with Superman Red & Blue being fused back into one Superman? Not many people remember it or talk about it, because it was a mostly forgettable popcorn-movie storyline which had, as its sole focus, the goal of getting us back to Regular-Flavor- (Classic) Superman.


Justin: I saw a few LoSH commissions in your instagram. Every DC fan I've ever met either loves the LoSH or hates em. Where do you stand?

Andromeda and Triplicate Girl illustrations by Tony Wolf, colored by SirGryphon.

Tony: I do love The Legion of Super-Heroes .... I really dug the Legion comics of the mid-80s, especially the ones that introduced us to the art of Chris Sprouse, Jeff Moy, and the amazing Stuart Immonen! Steve Lightle also had some terrific art, as well as Greg LaRocque. John Byrne's Superman / Superboy Legion story when he first took over the Superman titles helped ease me into it, although I certainly knew who the Legion characters were. I also really enjoyed Mark Waid & Barry Kitson's Legion reboot in the 90s, until it ran out of steam.

Early Lightning Lad origin illustrated by Tony Wolf and colored by Tom Gryphon.

Tony: I was asked to do some Legion commission art by a friend a few years ago, and had a blast doing it. I even ended up doing a bonus free gift where I did an homage to the Curt Swan origin of Lightning Lad. And a few years before that, I did a drawing for the late Seth Kushner which was an homage to the first appearance of the Legion (the cover where they are evaluating Superboy, as to whether they let him into the Legion), for his autobio collection of stories about his dating life, called SCHMUCK. That was a lot of fun to do.

illustrated by Tony Wolf, colored by the late Seth Kushner

Tony: LONG LIVE THE LEGION! Also, as a kid, I read a lot of the 1970s DC digests reprinting a bunch of old 60s and 70s Legion stories, which were fun (and often bizarre). And it was fun when Geoff Johns wrote a Legion episode for the Smallville TV show a while back.

Justin: What kind of impact did Vertigo comics have on your formative comics reading years?

Tony: Vertigo was a big deal for me in the 80s; at first I was a little wary of it and didn't quite understand the concept. I remember seeing early Grant Morrison Invisibles covers by Brian Bolland and thinking "those are really well-drawn, but it seems like they're just trying to be so weird and avant-garde for the sake of being avant-garde." It was too much for my junior high school brain to comprehend at that point, haha. But I kept hearing how great The Invisibles was -- I just felt innately that I wasn't ready for it yet. The first Vertigo series that hooked me in was Neil Gaiman's Sandman -- I'd been hearing for months about how great this new Sandman series was, but again, the weird Dave McKean covers just seemed to bizarre to Young Tony. Eventually, DC was touting issue 8 of Sandman as a convenient jumping-on point for new readers, and I tried it out. It was indeed very good. It had a special insert section about Death of The Endless teaching you how to use a condom. haha. I was a pretty geeky / square kid, but at the same time I wasn't really in need of sex ed at that point. Still, I remember thinking "This Dave McKean guy (he drew the condom / sex ed insert) can really draw well! He doesn't just do weird photo collage covers!" haha. Once Sandman hooked me into that story tone and sensibility, I then started looking into other fare that was either literally Vertigo or DC Comics that were effectively Vertigo, like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing and Grant Morrison's Animal Man. Eventually they made Swamp Thing into a Vertigo title -- same thing with Doom Patrol, I believe.

Neil Gaiman illustrated by Tony Wolf.

Tony: I got into Animal Man by Grant Morrison and that was another HUGE gateway for me into another kind of comics storytelling. I then scooped up every single Grant Morrison Doom Patrol that existed -- this was when I was in college, and I loved it. It was crazy, but yet it worked. It was so experimental, and yet actually formed coherent, truly entertaining stories. Grant Morrison became my favorite comics writer, and I got to interview him at Midtown Comics in NYC for a podcast I co-hosted years ago, called The Action Room. Here's that video -- it was great to meet him.

I also remember being really impressed with the art of Duncan Fegredo, in early Vertigo titles, and I still follow his work. Ditto John Paul Leon.

Note Negative Spirit/Rebus on the drawing board.
Self portrait (à la Jack Kirby) illustrated by Tony Wolf, colored by George Folz

Justin: Did you or are you currently writing a comic about dealing with anxiety? How did comics help with coping with anxiety (if at all)?

Tony: Yes, I was asked a few years ago by some indie creators I admire & respect to do a short story comic for an all-autobio anthology called Sweaty Palms --  I have (as many creatives do) a history of some clinical depression and anxiety, and at first I was nervous or hesitant about doing a story about it. But I realized it was life giving me an opportunity to express myself and it was a good creative / writing challenge.... so I decided to take on the challenge. I figured a short 6-page story should be a good length. I went through a few drafts in terms of how to tell it, and the editors of Sweaty Palms were helpful in guiding me through it. I decided to try to tell it like 'the bullet points of the experience', like a Powerpoint presentation, but not nearly as boring as that, hopefully. haha. I'd certainly read a ton of auto-bio comics about depression and anxiety, and one of my goals was to not tread the same ground as many creators had done already. It was a good challenge and I feel happy with the result. The comic was also run online by Heidi MacDonald at The Beat.

illustrated by Tony Wolf

Tony: As cliché as it sounds, I figured if my comic can help one person feel a little less alone, it's worth it. I didn't get into the methods and means I used to get better in the comic, because that's a lot more personal and it would take another several pages to do that justice. (The short answer to that is: many years of therapy, and some medication to help me through the worst of it.) In the comic itself, I played a bit with the idea of using certain comic book moments as metaphor for what I was going through: Steve Ditko's Dr. Strange exploring the magical realms, Matt Murdock spending "Endless stolen hours at the bag" from the Miller / Mazzuccelli's Born Again Daredevil story, and Neal Adams' 70s Superman cover of Superman breaking through Kryptonite chains on his chest. And the final page of my story is a tribute of sorts to the iconic Norman Rockwell portrait of himself drawing, with the 'camera' at his back, as we see him at his drawing table. I drew the Greenpoint apartment I was living in at the time I did the story.

illustrated by Tony Wolf

Justin: What are you allowed to tell us about your new auto-bio indie comic on your memories of growing up with eighties and nineties comics?

Tony: This new comic is due to debut (hopefully) by November 2018. My buddy and frequent collaborator Tom Gryphon aka SirGryphon will be coloring it, and I'm so excited to work with him again. He colored my 1-800-DEAD-ROBIN comic about my voting to kill Jason Todd, and he's done cover colors for my 'Greenpoint of View' comics (and also colored my New York Times comic about squab earlier this year , as well as the 4-page comic history I did about The Secret Origin of Midtown Comics).

panels from Tony's upcoming 'secret' project, illustrated by Tony Wolf and colored by SirGryphon

Tony: This comic is set to be 16 pages, and I'm on page 11 right now. I'm keeping the contents of this story very secret, but we can say that it is in the tradition of 1-800-DEAD-ROBIN in that it's part autobio, part comics history, about iconic and historic moments in 80s comics, with some 90s stuff thrown in there as well. It's also told through the lens of me being a comics fan in junior high school and high school.

I've had this story in mind for years -- ever since I did "Dead Robin" -- and it's very personal / a crazy labor of love. I've got a topic to cover that I have never really seen written about much, outside of geeky blogs, and as with "Dead Robin," I am writing it like a documentary: geeks will hopefully appreciate it, but I am writing it in such a way that even if you don't give a crap about comics, you will find this interesting and educational. I like writing about how specific moments in pop culture are indicative of social change or somehow mark trends in society. Maybe I was a little too into how Adrian Veidt (in Watchmen) felt he could predict and analyze social trends by watching all those televisions at once. haha. The other goal with this comic is inform a wider audience about key moments and design elements in comics I feel are underappreciated and never discussed outside of our geeky world.

illustrated by Tony Wolf

Tony: One thing I have learned from my 5 years making comics in earnest attempting to be a pro: Do your weird passion project and then trust that it will find a home. Don't wait for a publisher, or a book deal, or for someone to buy your art -- make the art that you are passionate about, and trust that it will find a home. I did a weird, random comic about my favorite ice cream, and was lucky enough that -- as a result of my doing my autobio Harvey Pekar-esque comics for free, for fun, as a passion project and a creative experiment, for 2 1/2 years -- my comics up til that point had gotten enough press and ended up leading to relationships, connections, and geek friendships, that this oddball comic about my favorite ice cream dessert was published by The New York Times. Here it is -- free to read online: about the Italian ice cream dessert the tartufo.  (This piece was colored by Jeremy Nguyen, who I met when I was starting to do comics, and who is now a regular New Yorker cartoonist.)

I'm also working on another short story comic -- a 7-page history comic (with only a tiny element of auto-bio in it) about an underappreciated, unsung moment in New York City history, which also doesn't have a home yet, but which I spent months researching and which I think could find a home somewhere like The Atlantic or The New Yorker. I plan on having it water-colored by a terrific New Jersey / Hoboken painter named Morgan McCue.


Justin: Tony, I absolutely adore your work and your 'auto-bio indie comix' vibe really resonates with me. (I was always a Harvey Pekar fan, and fans reminiscing about comic book memories is my kryptonite.) I noticed some mock-up covers for a Tales from the Wolf collected edition. Is that happening? I'd totally buy into that...

illustrated by Tony Wolf, colored by SirGryphon

Tony: This is the cover for a planned eventual paperback collection of all my comics thus far. There is no publisher yet, and no kickstarter - - I did the cover because it's something I'd like to manifest / materialize, either through one of the indie publishers I've worked with, or a larger publisher. I trust that a collection of my work will happen in it's due time; in its right time, when the stars align. Tom Gryphon (aka SirGryphon) did an excellent job on the colors for this cover. I had the idea to do the homage to the famous Tales From The Crypt cover layouts, and had a blast drawing it.

Justin: Thanks so much for chatting with us, Tony.

Do you want to see more of Tony's work? Does he sound familiar to you? Maybe you recognized his name from a film? Or maybe you just want to find out when his next project is seeing publication? Find more of Tony Wolf at tonywolfactor.com.  

Superman and E.T. illustrated by Tony Wolf

On our radar: Grant Morrison on Green Lantern

I can't remember the last time I *really* cared about Green Lantern. I think it was during 1994's Emerald Twilight saga -- Superman had died, Batman's back had been broken -- and now it looked like there were some drastic changes planned for Hal Jordan. It was a pretty exciting time for DC comics; everything was 'up in the air' now and anything could happen. [Of course, in hindsight, we're realizing that DC was pulling out all the stops to compete with Marvel, Image and Valiant comics for the comic reading market. Still... comic buyers had options for days.]

Hal snaps and takes out the GLC, stealing their power rings. By today's standard, this is a pretty 'ho hum' scene, but let me tell you -- back in 1994 -- this was a direction you never expected the story to go. Panel from Green Lantern #49 (1994). Art by Fred Haynes, Romeo Tanghal and Dennis Cramer.

Since 1994, a lot has happened with Green Lantern: the introduction of Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan becoming the Spectre, Brightest Day and Blackest Night, War of Light, Green Lantern: Rebirth, a 2011 live-action Green Lantern film, a Green Lantern animated series, the introduction of new Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz,... yet none of this was enticing enough to make me want to pick up a Green Lantern comic. To wit: It always felt like I was jumping into the middle of an epic storyline, and I didn't feel like reading up on years of GL history to play 'catch up'. [This isn't to say that Green Lantern fans haven't been happy with all of this -- because I really can't speak for that -- this is just a bit of insight into my own personal comic book buying rationale.]

The Green Lantern I always envision.
Panel from Green Lantern #174 (1984).
Art by Dave Gibbons.

I've always had a familiarity with Green Lantern -- he was a character I grew up with (thank you, Saturday morning Super Friends cartoon and Super Powers Collection action figures), and his potential for bizarre high-concept sci-fi stories is unlimited (aka: he's an intergalactic cop who patrols the stars with a magic ring) -- which is exactly what I'm hoping Morrison brings to the table.

Needless to say, Grant Morrison relaunches are things I follow with great interest. His track record has shown a knack for revitalizing a title and improving its readership (see: Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Kid Eternity, All-Star Superman, Batman, JLA, New X-Men,...etc).

Panels from Animal Man #2 (1988). Art by Chag Truog and Doug Hazlewood.

It's noteworthy that DC is shaking up its Green Lantern creative teams -- bringing in Dan Jurgens to write the Green Lanterns title starting with issue #50 (which I imagine run concurrent to the new Morrison-written Green Lantern series being released in Nov 2018). I'm really expecting some great things from these new creative lineups and will be watching this series with interest.


-Justin

Andy Belanger: Deadlines and DDTs

When I attend a comic convention, I typically make a beeline to any comic pros who wrote or drew for DC comics during the 1980s and early 90s. Once I've exhausted those avenues, I typically enjoy walking around the con snapping pics of cosplayers and making conversation with any comic book fans -- after all, the whole event is about fandom. I tend to zero in on late Generation Xers or Millennials (so basically, people around my age). I figure that if they're around my age and are attending a comic convention, then they probably grew up absorbing the same pop culture I did, and hence we've got a few things we can reminisce about and get some sort of discourse going.

All this to say, during 2018's Ottawa Comiccon, I stumbled into Andy Belanger totally by accident as I was walking by his table in artist's alley and caught a glimpse of his Swamp Thing print and decided to ask him about it. After a few pleasantries were exchanged, I realized I NEEDED to interview this gentleman. Here is the conversation that ensued:

Andy Belanger at 2018 Ottawa Comiccon. Photo by Justin Francoeur

Justin: So which comics did you grow up reading?

Andy: So, when I was a kid -- and you're talking about comics in the 80s (which was when I got into comics) -- I grew up in a town called Kitchener–Waterloo that's about an hour west of Toronto. There was a second-hand bookstore there called KW Books and they had shelves and shelves with, like, thousands of comics for sale at, like, a quarter a piece. You know what I mean? Like from ten cents to a quarter. I would just buy TONS of them, but I was mostly concerned with monster comics.

From DC, it was Creature Commandos and GI Robot. From Marvel, it was Tomb of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein and Werewolf by Night. And then I would buy Batman. I was always into Batman when I was that age. And those were the books I was into at that age.

Weird War Tales #93 (1980) & Weird War Tales #113 (1982)

Justin: So you would've been a big Universal Studios Monsters fan when you were younger?

Andy: Oh yeah -- massively. So the libraries in Ontario used to sell these orange books -- they were square and had an orange cover -- and they were based on all the Universal Horror films. They were a picture book with words describing what happened in the horror movie. I've been collecting them, since. I actually order them off ebay from old libraries to recollect these orange books -- and they're filled with old black-and-white film stills from the movies. From there, that's what really spawned me into loving monster comics and making monster comics and that kinda stuff.

Andy Belanger's Universal Studios Monster book collection. photo source: Andy Belanger.

Justin: So then you're not so much into the superhero fare, but more into monsters ?

Andy: Well, I'm into superheroes NOW -- I got into superheroes later. After I was sort of into that stuff, I got into [Mark] Bagley's run of Spider-Man and I also got into Thor quite a bit. Around 10 or 11 years old I discovered Heavy Metal Magazine, and from then on ALL superheroes were gone and it was just European -- like Moebius and [Milo] Manara.

Justin: I think it's a common feeling that if you've been reading a specific type of comic for a while, they start to seem slightly formulaic and predictable, and you start getting bored and want to venture out and look for something different...

Andy: Yeah, and I always felt that the European art that you'd get in Heavy Metal was miles better. When I became a comic book artist I didn't understand that an American artist will do 200 to 300 pages a year, whereas a European artist does 40 paintings. SO there's a big difference. Anyways, that was the stuff I was into in the eighties. I'm still an 80s freak -- y'know -- I love the Predator comics, the Aliens comics, the Predator vs Aliens comics, all that stuff from Dark Horse comics.

Justin: The Aliens film franchise... rank the movies.

Andy: The last one was the worst one of the bunch, I think. I preferred Alien Vs Predator to the newest Aliens film. Aliens: Covenant was one of the WORST Aliens films ever made -- everything that had to do with Michael Fassbender (Andy starts punching the table) filled me with rage. The level of stupidity of the characters surrounding HIS character FILLED me with rage. My problem with Prometheus and Aliens: Covenant is the stupidity of the people in it -- they're just TOO dumb. Like, you can't be a scientist and take your helmet off on a strange planet. If I know more about science than the scientists in your movie, you've got a problem. And I can suspend disbelief better than anybody, but that stuff -- I just had NO sympathy for those films. Guys petting a 'space snake' -- "don't worry -- I'm just going to PET it". What?! What?! For me, literally, I think they just keep getting worse with every movie they make -- save Alien 4, because I think Alien vs Predator was a BETTER film than Alien 4.

The comic books are different -- those Aliens and Predator comics (from Dark Horse) I loved when I was a kid. Terminator, Robocop,... I had ALL that stuff.

Andy Belanger Batman '66 art

Andy: I miss magazines, dude. I miss going to the store and picking up Fangoria. I used to go to second-hand bookstores looking for Famous Monsters magazines. Even modern ones like Juxtapose and Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal Magazine is making a comeback, but they're pretty much in comic book stores only. I've worked for them twice last year: I did a story with Grant Morrison, and I did a story [in Heavy Metal #284] with Donny C. Cates and Duncan Trussell.

I used to work for DC quite a bit on Swamp Thing with Scott Snyder, so I would go to the DC parties in New York and Grant [Morrison] would be there and we'd chat. Very cool guy. He's funny. Like, he had me howling. I was on the ground laughing.

Justin: How did you land that Swamp Thing gig?

Andy: It was crazy. Becky Cloonan did some of it (and Becky and I worked together at the time) and Scott liked my art, too. So I did part of the annual, and I did a few issues after that -- but they were all really rush jobs.

Andy Belanger Swamp Thing art. 

Justin: But you knew your Swamp Thing already? You knew this history of the character?

Andy: Well yeah, I knew how to do monster stuff.

Justin: But this was New 52 Swamp Thing, so I guess the previous history didn't matter that much anyway... Did you give much story input to Snyder? Or were you more or less the guy who laid out the panels and the pacing?

Andy: That time Snyder gave pretty bare-bones scripts -- because he was doing a lot of the writing after.

Justin: So the 'Marvel Method', in which he gives you a general idea of the story, let's you illustrate it, and he fills in the words afterwards?

Andy: Well, not completely, because he did include dialogue, but for my first time working with Scott I felt it was a bit more like the Marvel Method.

Andy Belanger Poison Ivy, Swamp Thing and Deadman art

Andy: Following Swamp Thing I went to Image Comics. I started Southern Cross with Image... and I've been working on that for three years. Last year I did two stories for Heavy Metal Magazine (under the new Morrison revamp). I do WWE comics for BOOM studios... because I'm a pro-wrestler.

Justin: What?! Really?! Who are you? What's your wrestler name?

Andy: 'The Animal' Bob Anger is my wrestling name -- my alter ego, if you will. And I wrestle for IWS.

Andy Belanger as 'The Animal' Bob Anger. Photo source: Photo © André Lemelin

Justin: I was just wondering about that. You're more fit than most comic book artists...

Andy: yeah... I have to be. Being a wrestler is INSANE. My trainer, Big Magic, is training us -- it's NXE training. Now I'm on this huge health kick, I've lost crazy amounts of weight. I'm in better shape now than I was when I was 25. I'm 40.

It's the most fun I've ever had. I've got a wrestling mask like a luchador. It's nuts. My instagram is mostly art, but if you go to my Facebook, specifically, it's mostly wrestling pics.

I'm in a tag team... my character is a lot like George 'The Animal' Steele. I'm biting people. I've chewed turnbuckles apart. I come out on a chain. I do all that stuff. They bring me out on a chain.

Justin: My guilty pleasure -- on a Friday night when it's too late to go out and do anything, and it's too early for me to go to sleep -- is to search youtube for old WWF wrestling footage from the 80s.

Andy: 80s wrestling is the greatest wrestling of all time. Not only in WWE, but the smaller versions like AWA. That stuff is amazing! Bruiser Brody matches!

Justin: I stopped following wrestling just before The Undertaker started. I can't remember why I dropped it -- maybe I was into something else? But all my memories are of Hulk Hogan and the Rock n' Wrestle era. That's what I grew up with.

Andy: Yeah, that's the BEST stuff. That's my favorite stuff, yeah. When I think about wrestling... I mean, I'm a wrestling STUDENT now. I go through the history, I go through everything, but 80s is still always my favorite.

Justin: So you're a pro-wrestler? Is that your day job?

Andy: Comics is my day job... I'm considered a professional wrestler, but it doesn't bring in enough money. If I want to make money as a professional wrestler, I'd have to travel A LOT. I have a baby and I'm 40 -- I'm not willing to travel a lot. So, I just like wrestling in Montreal and Ottawa. I've wrestled here, in Ottawa, twice.

Andy Belanger tagging in Mike Sciascia, Photo source: Photo © André Lemelin

Justin: Has it ever happened that you had to throw down with someone in a bar?

Andy: Like a fight? No. People don't fight me in bars. Since I've moved to Montreal 6 years ago and started wrestling, I think I've almost gotten into 5 bar fights, but it's because I'll stand up (while they're picking on a friend of mine) and they'll just back down. I'll bring out 'The Animal' personae and everything deescalates.

I've been in wrestling matches where the matches turn into a fight.

Justin: For real?

Andy: Yeah, and you don't know what to do. A guy will mess up a move and get really angry and starting punching your face for real.

Justin: What do you do with that?

Andy: I didn't know what to do -- I just acted professional. I continued looking after him -- being gentle -- well, it's not gentle because you're fighting. But I just wanted to be professional and I didn't want to hurt him. And that's the way I took it. But next time that happens I'm going to beat the crap out of them. (laughs)

Justin: Have you gotten badly injured in the ring?

Andy: Oh yeah! Of course! My first 'table' -- I took the wood, snapped back and slashed my face open... it cut my lips open. I broke a rib. I got a REALLY bad black eye in one of my matches... on my own. I had a flag, and I was waving this Canadian Flag (as The Animal) and there was a piece of doweling on it that whipped around and hit me in the eyeball -- before the match. My eye went blood red, blood was pouring out of my face, and I had to do the match. Under my mask was just blood pouring out of me and it was my own fault -- I did it to myself. Actually, I broke my rib myself -- I tripped over my own feet and landed on the rope. Most of the stuff you do as injury sometimes ends up being really small that you did yourself... by accident. But I'm very careful at my age. I don't let people pile-drive me or do anything involving my neck.

Andy Belanger Superman and Batman (with Bane) art

And this was my interview with Andy Belanger. And...whether you're a Swamp Thing fan or wrestling fan... you now realize why I NEEDED to interview him. Andy was super polite and easily the funnest interview I had all weekend at that the 2018 Ottawa Comiccon. Do go up to talk to Andy if you see him at a comiccon, he's a pretty stand-up guy and easy to chat with. 




The above wrestling photos were taken by André Lemelin, and André can be reached at info@andrelemelin.com. Photo © André Lemelin | The photos can not be passed on to a third party, nor sold, exchanged, reproduced, marketed, modified or cropped unless a written authorization by the photographer. | The use of the photos by the user is equivalent to the acceptance of the above conditions. | info@andrelemelin.com

Young Animal's Doom Patrol -- one year later

Welcome to our third installment on our series of reviews about the *new* Young Animal imprint from DC comics. The first review about Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye can be read here, and a Shade the Changing Girl review can be read here. By the time you read this, Young Animal's Doom Patrol #1 will have been released a bit more than a year ago (hence the 'one year later' bit added to the title of this article) and is already involved in a new Justice League America/Doom Patrol cross-over. 

Doom Patrol v6 #1 - Babs Tarr variant cover

There's a few reasons you might be checking out this article:

1) You've been hearing things about the new Young Animal Doom Patrol series, have no prior knowledge of Doom Patrol, are mildly interested and want to see what other readers/reviewers have to say about it. To you, this article may make or break your decision to pursue this further.

2) You've already a fan of this series, and are curious what other people are thinking.

3) You have very vivid memories of Grant Morrison/Richard Case's run on Doom Patrol from the late 80s/early 90s. You actually consider the Morrison/Case run as the apex of the Doom Patrol's comic book career, and don't believe anything could ever come close to touching that.

If you're in category #1, well, that's a lot of pressure on us. If you're in category #2, there ain't no shame in that and keep on reading. If you're in category #3,... I can totally emphasize. This is exactly the frame-of-mind we came from when writing this review. A better title would've been "Young Animal's Doom Patrol -- how does it compare to Grant Morrison's Vertigo Doom Patrol?"

Admittedly, it's a little pretentious of me to state that the Morrison/Case run was the *best* version of Doom Patrol ever. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy the occasional re-read of the Drake/Haney/Premiani Silver Age stories, and am a big fan of the 1980's Kupperberg/Lightle revival -- but the Morrison/Case run brought a whole new level of weird and interesting to the title, so much so that it's difficult to stop reading once you start.

Doom Patrol v2 #63 (1993) - art by Richard Case

Stating that the Richard/Case Doom Patrol run is the BEST RUN EVER isn't necessarily unfounded, neither. For a series with two Harvey Award nominations (1990 - best writer, 1992 - best continuing or limited series), the Doom Patrol has never achieved the critical acclaim and success as it had during it's Vertigo years. To be exact, since the Vertigo run ended, no Doom Patrol re-launch series has lasted more than 2 years. Why? Our friend Paul Hix, over at the Waiting For Doom (WFD) podcast, summed it up best:

"Volume 3 was a new cast and new villains. It probably suffered for not being Vertigo-ish. The book had a great artist (Tan Eng Huat) who’s art looked amazing but probably was ahead of his time in the mix of other art of the day. Mike [podcast co-host] and I love it and think it is way underrated." (note: published in 2001, lasted 22 issues)

"Volume 4 was almost entirely universally rejected by DP fans because it was continuity-agnostic and [John] Byrne was in decline as a source of imagination. I was a Doom Patrol fan and I never bought an issue at the time because from reviews I could immediately see it had no regard for the rich history of the characters, and was replacing this with something far less imaginative and far less interesting. Byrne said it was [Dan] Didio’s suggestion to do so, but I take that with a huge bag of salt." (note: published in 2004, lasted 18 issues)

"Volume 5 was well regarded, but all sales were slipping. I bought the early issues then switched to trades. When the 3rd trade never came I gathered up the issues I’d missed after the run ended. Getting 22 issues was an achievement at that time, I’d say." (note: published in 2009, lasted 22 issues)

To date, it would seem that Byrne's 2004 Doom Patrol relaunch has been the most 'misunderstood' by fans.

Which brings us to Young Animal's new Doom Patrol relaunch (or, as I like to call it: 'Doom Patrol volume 6'). In the effort of keeping this review totally unbiased, I'm proud to announce that I've managed to go spoiler-free since this relaunch had been announced back in 2016 -- which really wasn't easy considering this series seems to already have a HUGE twitter fan following and updates get retweeted A LOT.

Right out of the gate, I'm going to declare that I had high hopes for this project (and the Young Animal imprint in general) due to Gerard Way's involvement. If you didn't already know, Way is best known for being a singer/songwriter/musician in the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance, has already authored an Eisner Award-winning comic book series (Dark Horse's The Umbrella Academy), and grew up reading and loving the same 'edgier' comics that I did (ex: Dark Horse's Grendel Tales, Vertigo's Doom Patrol) -- so really, how could this go wrong? Also, did we mention he's pals with Grant Morrison*?

*yes, that's Grant Morrison in My Chemical Romance's 'Na Na Na' music video.

Gerard Way press release photo 2014 -- warnerbrosrecords.com

[How old is Gerard Way, anyways? *checks* Holy crap, he's 5 years older than me! I totally thought he was a decade younger.]

All to say, the prospect of 'fresh, young talent' looking at this team with a new perspective may just be the shot in the arm the Doom Patrol need -- not to mention that a younger, newer audience might start looking at these books (because Gerard Way brings instant street cred).

And yes, we have Gerard Way to thank for the new Young Animal imprint. Gerard Way recounts the birth of the Young Animal imprint in his brainstorming session with Jim Lee and Dan DiDio at the Burbank DC comics offices (from Afterword in Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye TPB vol 1: Going Underground):

"It's a really amazing meeting, and the energy in the room is fully charged. We talk about DOOM PATROL first -- I explain that the version of DOOM PATROL I was working on was something entirely different from what was going on in more mainstream books, and that I wasn't sure where DOOM PATROL sat in that universe. I felt that if DOOM PATROL came out on its own, it would feel pretty lonely. It felt like it needed a movement behind it -- the next wave of weird.  At this point, Jim says "imprint", and we start rolling, we start talking about other characters." 

If you're reading between the lines here, you're probably recognizing that the Doom Patrol paved the way for Mother Panic, Shade the Changing Girl and Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye -- and you'd be correct.

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This is a review of the Doom Patrol v1: Brick By Brick TPB -- which collects the first six issues of volume 6, along with promotional art and variant covers for the series.

I'm going to do my absolute best to keep this completely objective and unbiased review spoiler-free, but I should probably mention that I had to read this TPB twice; once because it was so damned good and flew by so fast, and the second time to analyse why I liked it so much. Sometimes it's not enough to just say something is 'good', and you need to explain/understand why it's so good.

The majority of the first issue deals with the introduction of a new character (who will most likely be joining the team). This isn't anything new; every creative team working on a new Doom Patrol series seems to either want to add their own newly-created characters into the mix [see: Fever, Freak, Kid Slick, Faith, Grunt, and Nudge] or add an obscure DC character that nobody has really thought about in a while [see: Metamorpho, Doctor Light, Bumblebee, Vox, Elongated Man, and Ambush Bug].

Since you can't seem to have a Doom Patrol without a Cliff Steele/Robotman (he's in every incarnation of the team), Robotman makes an appearance -- and once he does, everything starts to come together and it starts to feel like a Doom Patrol adventure.

The big 'Robotman reveal' from issue #1 in a scene that kinda reminds me of the opening sequence from 1983's Return of the Jedi. Props to Nick Derington and his versatile penciling skillz for giving this sequence some variety.

The first issue also needs to set the momentum for the series -- typically by presenting some sort of ominous mystery that will keep the reader interested in checking out the next issue. Thankfully, Doom Patrol v6 #1 does exactly that. The pacing in issue #1 is a little choppy (it's obvious that the creative team is trying to set up subplots for a bigger storyline) but everything will make sense by issue #6. I promise.

As a bonus, for any 'continuity sticklers' out there, I'm happy to announce that volume 6 follows the events of volume 5 [aka: Keith Giffen's Doom Patrol -- on Oolong Island]:

so these panels pretty much confirm that previous Doom Patrol continuity wasn't washed away

Issue #2 re-introduces even more former members of the original Doom Patrol, including one who hasn't been seen since he starred in his own 1996 mini-series. [I don't know why I'm trying to keep this a secret, they're all right there on the front cover of the TPB.]  From here on, the story picks up and moves at a very quick pace: villains are revealed, Doom Patrol members have origins explained, there's a healthy dose of weirdness, mysteries are resolved, and the team is reunited with another long-lost member.

Something BIG about this series is that it just oozes 'pop culture cool'. I couldn't even get past the cover of the first issue before spotting something that I sort of recognized:

cover of Doom Patrol v6 #1 (left), 1967's Velvet Underground & Nico vinyl LP album cover (right)

The entire series is filled with imagery like this; homages to things from the 1970/1980s -- nostalgia that breeds familiarity. This is like crack to an 80s pop culture nerd like me. Some of these are really obvious and in-your-face (ex: parody of Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 cover in Doom Patrol v6 #3), while some of them are way more subtle and are going to drive you nuts trying to figure what they're referencing.

The cover of Doom Patrol v6 #4 appears to be referencing a classic Burger King ad I can't seem to find on google image search. In the meanwhile, I'll just stick a screenshot from a 1980s Burger King TV ad so you get the idea.



This... looks familiar. I can't 'place' this, but it seems to remind me of a cover of a book I remember reading. Do any of our readers know?

Admittedly, some are a bit easier to recognize that others:

 

page from Doom Patrol v6 #3 (left), cover of 1937's Detective Comics #1 (right)

This resembles the Teddy Ruxpin toy I owned as a kid, just way slimier:

panels from Doom Patrol v6 #4

Hey, any Morrison/Case Doom Patrol fans remember this map?

If not, dig out your copy of Doom Patrol v2 #30 "Going Underground" ;)

So, all this to say, there's a lot of visual treats in here to keep you paying attention. (I'm sure there were plenty that went completely over my head, too.) As far as pacing goes, Gerard Way's writing brings a lot to the table: it's not always linear, and sometimes there are non sequitur (albeit humorous) interludes, but it's entertaining and full of twists and turns that seem to tie up into a neat little bow by the end.

was there a point to this page? not sure, but I enjoyed it nonetheless

As a whole package, the Doom Patrol is weird and quirky -- but that's the best possible scenario. Doom Patrol, done correctly, needs to be really frickin' weird. Or, more accurately, if Doom Patrol isn't weird, you're doing it wrong.

Anytime a *new* Doom Patrol series is launched, I tend to approach with hesitation and the first thing I take a look at is the team roster. Often, a team book's roster can make or break the series. Putting the band back together (so to speak), was a clever move on behalf of the creative team. In my mind's eye, the Morrison/Case Doom Patrol team was the *best* team. The Doom Patrol NEED to be a crew of reluctant heroes shanghaied into a situation where they're forced to save the world. [They can't be battling petty street crime, either. It needs to be a threat of Eldritch horror proportions.] The Chief NEEDS to be engineering some sort of scheme from the background. Negative Man NEEDS to somehow be involved. Robotman NEEDS to be wanting to punch stuff. All the while, it needs to have a bit of humor and not take itself too seriously.


Grant Morrison (via the Chief) described the spirit of the Doom Patrol best in Doom Patrol v2 #22:

A lot of interesting and entertaining stuff happens in the span of six issues -- and it's enough to make you feel a little sorry that the TPB only collects the first six issues (and not all ten issues) of the sixth volume. Nick Derington's art is gorgeous, Tamra Bonvillain's colors pop, and Gerard Way weaves an enthralling tale filled with a healthy dose of weirdness, nods to previous Doom Patrol continuity and fistfights.

So, to conclude, yeah I think that this new Young Animal Doom Patrol sticks to the spirit of the Vertigo Doom Patrol, and if you're a fan of the Grant Morrison/Richard Case run you will definitely get a kick out of this.

I'm having trouble deciding whether I should recommend buying the TPB, or tracking down the individual issues. While the TPB has all six issues (and variant covers and promo art) in a collected edition, the singles issues have previews of the other Young Animal titles (including Michael Allred's Bug! The Adventures of Forager!), the extra Who's Who entries, and Brandon Bird's brilliant 'Bane's Coloring Corner'. Tough call, really.

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Big thanks to Paul Hix of the Waiting For Doom podcast -- a great bunch of guys who love nothing more than talking about the Doom Patrol. You can find them on facebook and twitter.


If you liked this article, you might enjoy our interview with Steve Lightle about why he left the 1987 Doom Patrol series.