Written By: Paul Kupperberg
Art By: Keith Giffen, Sal Trapani, Gene D’Angelo and Ben Oda
Price: $0.60
Cover Date: December 1982
*Spoilers ahead,
score at the bottom*NEGATIVE WOMAN GOES BERSERK!
Last week, TVLine.com reported that actor Stephanie Corneliussen was cast as Valentina Vostok in
the new CW television show Legends of
Tomorrow! Wow! That means a member of the Doom Patrol is going to be on a
television show, and that makes me very happy. To celebrate, I’ve decided to
review issue number 52 of DC Comics
Presents where Superman meets the NEW Doom Patrol! Look, it’s complicated,
okay? The original Doom Patrol died at the end of their run in 1968 but a new
one showed up in the late seventies for three issues of a revived DC Showcase
magazine with the team depicted in this issue that came out five years later.
Then, Grant Morrison took over and…just head to Wikipedia if you want to know the
strange story of the Doom Patrol or listen to the fine fellows at the Waiting For Doom podcast. If you want to
know what I think of this particular comic book, read on!
It seems a New Jersey power plant has gone kablooie and is emitting
dangerous levels of Kirby Krackle. Superman swoops into action, saves
everyone’s lives and sucks all the fire up because he’s Superman, damn it. This
exposes the cause of the power plants overheating, a charged black stripe with
a human shape at its leading edge that zips around at the speed of light and
destroys shit. It passes through Superman, infusing him with more Kirby Krackle
which I understand isn’t fatal but can leave one feeling woozy. The mysterious
stripe gets away so Superman takes off for work at Galaxy News because
Kryptonians gotta eat, too.
While at work we see, via monitors, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen
preparing to cover a nameless parade for WGBS News. I assume it’s an analog of
the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade since it includes giant balloons of popular cartoon
characters like…Judge Dredd and David Sim’s Cerebus? We see Metropolis’
District Attorney, also nameless, in the VIP stands at the parade, when
suddenly Ambush Bug appears from nowhere and throws him off the stands, killing
the D.A. instantly! Whoa! It’s the debut of Ambush Bug folks! We all know who
Ambush Bug is, right? Because we all read my swell review of Stocking Stuffer #1 from a few weeks
ago, right? Riight? Ah, to hell with
youse.
Clark busts open his Brooks Brothers shirt and takes off to the
parade grounds, but then he’s intercepted by the same crackling stripe that
wrecked that power plant earlier in the issue! It must screw with his inner ear
a little because Superman goes unconscious and plummets to the ground. This is
observed by two figures in shadow who quickly reveal themselves to be two
members of the NEW Doom Patrol: Joshua Clay aka Tempest, and Arani Desai aka
Celsius. They’re on the scene, they tell us, because the mysterious
stuff-wrecking stripe is actually Negative Woman, the weird, ethereal energy
that has infused fellow member Valentina Vostok—more on her later!
While Supes is taking a nap, Ambush Bug pops up again and announces
his intentions as a villain, but then he has to teleport away quickly as Cliff
Steele aka Robotman busts through the wall in an attempt to grab him. Hear,
hear, the gang’s all here! Cliff takes off after Negative Woman while telling
Lois she can catch him at Studio 54, which pisses her off because she’s just
sort of annoyed at everything in this issue. Meanwhile, across town, Arani and
Joshua wake up Superman and attempt to enlist his aid, when Ambush Bug pops in
and makes it seem like the Doom Patrol are in league with him, then vanishes
off to parts unknown. It’s a pretty good prank, when you think about it.
Superman is about to knock their blocks off when Cliff Steele walks on to the
scene. Supes recognizes Cliff, who then tells the story of Valentina Vostok.
Clip and save the panel below!
Having heard the skinny on Negative Woman, Superman sets his sights
on Ambush Bug. Using his microscopic vision, he examines one of the strange
bugs that always seem to hover in the wake of Ambush Bug’s teleportations, and
discovers that they are…teleportation devices! From there, it’s nothing for him
to disable all of the robot bugs, so when Robotman goes to clock Ambush in the
jaw, Buggy finds he can’t ‘port outta there and gets knocked cold. Then Supes
takes off to get a lead-lined case to contain Negative Woman, and saves the day
pretty quickly after that. Hooray! Only one District Attorney dead and tens of
millions of dollars in property damage. Most successful Thanksgiving Day parade
ever!
Though this is clearly some of Keith Giffen’s earlier work, it’s
still pretty good and definitely gets the job done in conveying the action.
This is a great book, not only does it feature a team-up between Superman and
the NEW Doom Patrol, but it also introduces Ambush Bug to the world and sets
forth a new status quo for Valentina Vostok where she will need to contain
Negative Woman by being wrapped in treated bandages, just like Larry Trainor
did for the original Negative Man. There’s a touching epilogue where we see Val
is none too happy about this. This story even contains a running gag where
Jimmy Olsen is rushing to the scene to photograph the action but keeps getting
covered by deflating parade balloons. This issue is jam-packed with story and
action, and for sixty cents it was probably a great time in 1982. It’s a pretty
dang good time now, though I don’t think you’ll find it for sixty cents
anymore.
Bits and
Pieces:
I enjoyed the heck out of this comic and it’s got plenty going for
it. The art is very good and the characterizations are interesting right down
to Lois Lane who probably has five or six panels in the whole story. You get
the introduction of Ambush Bug, a condensed origin for every member of the Doom
Patrol, and—oh yeah! Superman! All for sixty cents! What can you get for sixty
cents these days, a sip from a cup of coffee? I don’t think this would ever go
down as anyone’s most favorite comic book ever, but it’s a pleasure to read and
that’s about as good as you can expect from your four-color superhero fodder.
7.5/10
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