Saving the day by saving monsters has its unexpected downsides, and a billionaire idiot is about to exploit ’em all. Your Major Spoilers review of Unstoppable Doom Patrol #5 from DC Comics awaits!

UNSTOPPABLE DOOM PATROL #5

Writer: Dennis Culver
Artist: Chris Burnham
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Editor
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 23, 2023

Previously in Unstoppable Doom Patrol: The World’s Strangest Superheroes versus Anytown, USA! Just as everyone feared, the Doom Patrol have lost control and are now attacking the idyllic small town of New Poplar, Illinois. As these unstoppable monsters rampage, a new superhero must rise to stop them… Enter Metawoman! But who is she, and what is her terrible secret? Only one person has the answers: the team’s former chief, Dr. Niles Caulder!

“CATASTROPHE THEORY IS A FLAWED IDEA”

In the small town of New Poplar, Illinois, things are about to get explode-y, as Robotman and Elasti-Woman arrive in the mood for property damage. In the wake of revelations about the corrupt Metagen Corporation, Mento has dispatched the big guns to cause a distraction while The Chief, The Degenerate, and Niles “The Old Chief” Caulder infiltrate Metagen’s secret underground labs. Mento’s concern is that the company is actually exacerbating the creation of new metahumans, in the hopes of harnessing their powers as living weapons. Of course, he didn’t realize that the entire thing was a trap. Brian McClane, the billionaire idiot owner of Metagen has been using his own psychics to cloud Mento’s psionic powers, in the hopes that he can make an offer they can’t refuse. Or, at the very least, an offer that Dr. Caulder can’t refuse, in the form of a highly lucrative job collaborating in the creation of new metahumans and the perfecting of superpowers on demand.

MADE-TO-ORDER DESIGNER SUPERHUMANS

McClane is another in a series of oligarch villains based in part on the Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world, and in keeping with that archetype, he’s overconfident, short-sighted, and brings about his own downfall through hubris. He gets away from the Doom Patrol, including the one that his company created, but also tips his hand about his plan. As the issue ends, Peacemaker and his jackbooted thugs have arrived to clean up McClane’s mess, Metagen’s newest superhuman has burst like Tetsuo Shima, and Chris Burnham gets to show once more how good a draftsman he is. The details of the art are perhaps my favorite part, such as the shattering windows when Elasti-Girl lands, or the plastering of Metagen’s logo all over everything. After several issues of off-beat character examination, though, the pivot to action feels a little bit oddly paced, and feels like it somehow bogs down my favorite parts of Unstoppable Doom Patrol. The strangeness baked into Doom Patrol stories is often the best part, and I’m hoping that the last two issues of the series can keep that in focus as they wrap up the Metagen arc.

BOTTOM LINE: THE ONLY LASTING EFFECT OF LAZARUS PLANET

DC’s ever-stacking roster of chaotic event comics means that the Lazarus Planet crossover that birthed the premise of Unstoppable Doom Patrol #5 seems like five years ago, but it’s still fresh in these pages, and the natural extension of “new super-powered folks equals new exploitable resources” is fun, wrapping up to 3 out of 5 stars overall. It would be exciting to see these creators get to explore more of the new Doom Patrol’s world after this miniseries ends.

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