All-New Doop #5 (of 5) Review

Doop’s pursuit of Kitty Pryde has led him to a minor mental meltdown, and released an unknown horror from the backwaters of his mind.  Are you ready for… MAMA DOOP?  Your Major Spoilers review of All-New Doop #5 awaits!

ALL-NEW DOOP #5
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Federico Santagati and David LaFuente
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

Previously in All-New Doop:  “There is a green potato-looking thing who lives with the X-Men…  After summoning his mama from across the margins, Doop learned a terrible secret: He wasn’t created by film director Ingmar Bergman!  The revelation sent Doop into a full-on freak out, and only his X-buddies Wolverine and Tike Alicar could help him out of it!”

IS IT GONNA GET WEIRD?

We open in a hospital in Sweden, as Doop’s mother (who is basically Doop with green boobs and dreadlocks) is putting the serious beat down on Wolverine.  (This story takes place several months ago, in the margins of the big ‘Children Of The Atom’ crossover, for those paying attention to Wolverine’s sorta dying this week.)  Doop’s mental instability has led to dozens of Doop-like creatures spreading throughout the X-Universe, threatening to overwhelm all the mutants, leading Kitty Pryde to phase her way into Doop’s marginal dimension.  As with any Milligan book, there’s some subtext there that is either fun or creepy (or both), and when Kitty finally discovers the real Doop she…

…kisses the bajeezus out of him?  She entreats the green one to take her away from it all, and Doop…

… I…  It involves a Humphrey Bogart impression.  I’m still grinning like an idiot about it.  You kinda had to be there.

YEAH, IT GOT WEIRD

Artwise, this is a really strange issue, befitting its main character, but LaFuente and Santagati are closing up the tale, and are a bit more linear in their work than in previous issues.  The Kitty Pryde makeout sequence is quite a sight, and the rest of the issue has impressive art moments such as Wolverine’s future son stabbing Daddy in the gut.  The secret of Doop’s parentage is revealed in this issue, but the real treat comes in the wrap-up of the weird lumpy guy and the X-Men’s girl genius.  The romantic subplot is given a satisfying, and even sweet closure here, and Doop uses his abilities as a “marginal” character to make sure than none of the story’s events are remembered by the main cast, but I still like the way this miniseries brings all our events to a close.  I’m bothered by the fact that this book wasn’t (to my memory, anyway) initially a miniseries, but even five issues of Peter Milligan weirdness are better than no Doop comics at all.  With Marvel taking such storytelling risks lately, it’s nice to see attention to the extensive catalogue of characters rather than DC’s “All Superman/Batman, All The Time” stratagem.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A NICE WRAP-UP

When it comes to the Doop, you’re either the kind of person who knows you like weird stuff, and are probably already interested, or you think the whole concept is ludicrous, and have no interest at all.  If you’re one of the latter, though, you’re missing quite a ride.  All-New Doop #5 brings the series to a close with a bizarrely touching, visually interesting last chapter, breaking my heart just a little and earning 3 out of 5 stars overall…