HERO OF THE WEEK: THE CHIEF (DC)Real Name: Dr. Niles Caulder
First Appearance: My Greatest Adventure #80 (June, 1963)
Fight Club Ranking: #DNR
Featured Fights:
- Yet To Be Featured on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths.
Holy Animal-Mineral-Vegetable Man! Doom Patrol is officially next in line to join the ever-expanding television universe of DC Entertainment! Variety reports the thirteen-episode season will spin out of the DC Universe streaming service's upcoming Titans series, to debut in 2019.
You're probably going to hear a lot of the usual talk calling Doom Patrol knock-offs of the Fantastic Four or X-Men variety. Lord knows there are similarities! Stern, wheelchair bound genius (The Chief, Niles Caulder) marshals team of misfits to mentor after they're gifted with weird, body-altering abilities. A stretchy person (Elasti-Girl), a man who no longer feels human (Robotman), a guy who... sorta disappears (Negative Man/Woman)...
The comparisons are there to be made, but truth be told, Doom Patrol are a whole lot weirder than any of their supposed counterparts! Which is what I hope the series will be able to bring to life!
If you've been following casting updates, you may already know the show will spin out of Titans, which isn't the most encouraging starting point. Titans is pitching strong with an aesthetic more comic book than your average TV show, but spawning the Doom Patrol out of a mission from Cyborg sounds a little like the waterboy pitching plays to the senior team! Of course, Beast Boy made his debut in the pages of Doom Patrol, so there's at least a natural link.
Doom Patrol had a suitably quirky renaissance over the last couple of years when Gerard Way's curated line of Young Animal comics brought the book back in a mold inspired by Grant Morrison. Here's hoping the show can at least gravitate toward some of that template. If they're able to bring the weirder aspects of the comics to life, this one could overtake Supergirl as the show to watch!
I'm not counting on a homerun, but the DC Universe streaming service may yet be pitching closer to the die hard comics fan than most of their multimedia. I'm sure when something more substantial emerges we'll be back to talk about it in future editions of Hero of the Week!
[Home] Hero of the Week 05/14: Beta Ray Bill >>
You're probably going to hear a lot of the usual talk calling Doom Patrol knock-offs of the Fantastic Four or X-Men variety. Lord knows there are similarities! Stern, wheelchair bound genius (The Chief, Niles Caulder) marshals team of misfits to mentor after they're gifted with weird, body-altering abilities. A stretchy person (Elasti-Girl), a man who no longer feels human (Robotman), a guy who... sorta disappears (Negative Man/Woman)...
The comparisons are there to be made, but truth be told, Doom Patrol are a whole lot weirder than any of their supposed counterparts! Which is what I hope the series will be able to bring to life!
If you've been following casting updates, you may already know the show will spin out of Titans, which isn't the most encouraging starting point. Titans is pitching strong with an aesthetic more comic book than your average TV show, but spawning the Doom Patrol out of a mission from Cyborg sounds a little like the waterboy pitching plays to the senior team! Of course, Beast Boy made his debut in the pages of Doom Patrol, so there's at least a natural link.
Doom Patrol had a suitably quirky renaissance over the last couple of years when Gerard Way's curated line of Young Animal comics brought the book back in a mold inspired by Grant Morrison. Here's hoping the show can at least gravitate toward some of that template. If they're able to bring the weirder aspects of the comics to life, this one could overtake Supergirl as the show to watch!
I'm not counting on a homerun, but the DC Universe streaming service may yet be pitching closer to the die hard comics fan than most of their multimedia. I'm sure when something more substantial emerges we'll be back to talk about it in future editions of Hero of the Week!
[Home] Hero of the Week 05/14: Beta Ray Bill >>
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