How Doom Patrol's New Comic Draws Inspiration From The TV Show - Exclusive
The Doom Patrol are back together in "Unstoppable Doom Patrol," by Dennis Culver, Chris Burnham, and Brian Reber, as the fan-favorite group of tortured heroes form again in the new miniseries. The latest version of the team features some of the most iconic members, including Robotman, Elasti-Woman, Crazy Jane, and Negative Man. They are joined by new characters Degenerate and Beast Girl for the six-issue affair.
The series will feature the Doom Patrol trying to clean up the mess caused by the recent "Lazarus Planet" event, when a magical volcano erupted and transformed many people across the globe into metahumans. "Unstoppable Doom Patrol" takes the group of oddball heroes in an exciting new direction, and Dennis Culver explained in an exclusive interview with Looper how the comic drew inspiration from many sources, including HBO Max's "Doom Patrol" series. He explained that he is a "huge fan" of the show because of how much heart is put into the adaptation.
How did the show inspire Unstoppable Doom Patrol?
Dennis Culver mentioned that he was particularly impressed with how the HBO Max show adapted Grant Morrison and Richard Case's run of "Doom Patrol." Culver said the live-action series was nothing but a benefit for the creative team, as it gave the audience a voice for the characters. He added it was important that the comic felt like the TV show, explaining, "I didn't know at the time that we were developing it that the 'Doom Patrol' TV show was coming to an end, but I knew it was coming back. I wanted it to smell like the same thing while it's not exactly the same thing, because it's a little more action-driven and stuff. But we definitely want fans of the show to check out the comic."
He also mentioned that his run and the show actually ended up focusing on a similar villain: "Even where the show's heading — again, speaking of fun coincidences — we didn't know what was coming up in that comic. It's funny that season [has] focused suddenly on Immortus. We've definitely got General Immortus in our run."
Did the comic pull anything directly from the show?
The upcoming "Unstoppable Doom Patrol" #3 will even pull something from the live-action series, as Dennis Culver mentioned a road trip between Robotman and Negative Man that will feature a similar muscle car that appeared in the most recent season. He told artist Chris Burnham that the car from the series would make a perfect reference.
Culver stated how important it was that the comic was connected to the show and that fans of it would enjoy the book, saying, "It's a lot of really neat things. We're definitely surfing the same brainwave when it comes to 'Doom Patrol.' Fans of the show and fans of the comics [are] going to love this book. Also, 'Doom Patrol”s never been firmly planted in the DC Universe like this. What makes that interesting to me as a writer is there's a lot of new territory that you wouldn't think would be available. [...] That's super fun to play with because we're getting to explore the DC universe with these characters who, over the 60 years, haven't spent a lot of time there."
The Doom Patrol hasn't starred in a DC Comics series since Gerard Way and Nick Derington's arc for Young Animal a few years ago, making them primed for an exciting new run.
Fans of the "Doom Patrol" series can look for shared similarities in "Unstoppable Doom Patrol" #1, by Dennis Culver, Chris Burnham, and Brian Reber, which is available in comic book shops on March 28.