The Doom Patrol are as awesome as they’re obscure. Generally relegated to the outer echelons of the DC Universe, they’re the company’s weirdest superhero team, generally composed of psychologically and physically screwed up individuals who spend as much time battling their personal demons as they do supervillains.
Originally billed as the “World’s Strangest Heroes,” they made their debut in 1963 and proceeded to have all sorts of whacked out adventures. Now, courtesy of the below Tweet from Geoff Johns, it looks as though they’re finally making a live-action appearance in the upcoming Titans TV show.
The #Titans are getting some company… pic.twitter.com/KAkK7Gc4gA
— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) February 9, 2018
As yet, there’s no word on which members of the team will appear, though I think it’s safe to say that mainstays like Robotman (the brain of a race car driver stuck in a clunky metal body), Negative Man (after being exposed to radiation finds that a superheroic ‘negative spirit’ periodically emerges from his body) and Chief (has a beard, is often secretly up to something sinister) will appear.
I really hope they’ll take inspiration from my favorite Doom Patrol run, too – Grant Morrison’s early 90s take on the characters that went way beyond weird and into straight-up Dada-esque surrealism. This period saw the team take in the multiple personality sufferer Crazy Jane (each personality has its own superpower), do battle with villains like The Quiz (he has every power you haven’t thought of), journey into ‘The Painting That Ate Paris,’ and take up residence on a sentient, teleporting, transvestite street called Danny. It was awesome.
Perhaps mainstream television audiences simply aren’t ready for this level of weirdness (I doubt the Teen Titans are, either, to be honest), but if you’re going to use the Doom Patrol, you have to be prepared to grapple with some pretty whacked out concepts.
Titans will debut on DC’s new digital service at some point later this year.