Cover Story - Top 10 Silver Age Doom Patrol Covers

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The Doom Patrol, the world’s strangest heroes, have you ever heard of these folks?  I’d bet not for most folks though I honestly have no idea how comic booky my readership is.  Regardless, even as a fan of the Patrol they’ve always been a pretty firmly entrenched C-level property in the backlog of DC Comics superheroes which makes their upcoming streaming show on DC Universe, produced by Greg Berlanti, a real surprise- but a good surprise like twins or a tax rebate.  

To celebrate their ascendance to the small screen and the fact the Doom Patrol show actually looks pretty good and very well cast (putting it ahead of its contemporary Titans) I thought we’d look back at the top 10 Doom Patrol comic covers, specifically drawing from the Silver Age version of the team in the ‘50s and ‘60s because they had the superior cover artwork (sorry fans of the ‘80s Morrison series, I won’t apologize to fans of the John Byrne 2000s comic as I’m unconvinced such people exist but I’m sure we’ll end up talking about that series sooner or later.) 

10.

This isn’t the best cover on the list but my god if it isn’t the MOST ‘60s cover I’ve ever seen.  Let’s start at the top with that weird checkerboard pattern backing up the amazing logo design (love the purple letter backdrop and weird neon sign-style to the word ‘Patrol.’)  That checkerboard was a signature of DC Comic covers in the ‘60s and is known affectionately as “Go-Go Chex” which is one of the greatest facts I’ve ever learned (you’ll also notice I incorporated it in my logo design for Panel Vision.)  The circular character portraits are also pretty emblematic of the decade, especially for group comics.  Back in the ‘60s and even into the ‘70s books would often feature a “roll call” on the inside cover listing everyone who would appear in the book, this still happens sometimes now with event comics but it’s unfortunately rare. 

On to the main content of this cover, I absolutely love the design of this weird energy brain beast.  Believe it or not, this will not be the only evil brain in a jar on this list though he absolutely has the most cartoonish face ever.  The color work on his energy body is also really well done as you couldn’t achieve a gradient as easily in the time so they go with this stark differentiation between white, orange, and yellow.  Incidentally, if there are some Titans fans in the audience this is what Beast Boy originally looked like when he first appeared as the son of Elasti-Girl and Mento, adopted son that is.  I have no idea who ‘Galtry’ is in the bottom right-hand corner or why he looks like a cartoon dumb guy but I can’t imagine context would really enhance this image. 

9.

This is actually a very strange mix of components for a Silver Age cover.  Outwardly it has some of the standard elements of the time, the simplistic backgrounds, big flashy captions, speech balloons, a shocking scene meant to entice browsers at magazine racks.  The big change from the covers of the time is the scale of the image.  Most covers of the ‘50s and ‘60s would try and scale down the heroes to get as many full body shots into frame as possible, that’s part of why you can always see all of Batman and Superman in their various Silver Age covers.  

Something like this, where the heroes make up the bulk of the cover space and even have to contort a little to fit, with the Chief not even able to fit fully into frame, is a really different take that’s more reminiscent of the ‘70s style of cover you’d see pioneered in Spider-Man comics.  It works really well here, I especially like the look of shock on Robot Man’s face even though he’s, you know, a robot and completely immune to bullets.  Also, the stilted yet evocative dialogue on display here is a good example of how Silver Age stuff can etch its mark on comics going forward. 

8.

This is another interesting example of Doom Patrol’s more experimental perspective.  A lot of this came from the fact Doom Patrol, even for the time, wasn’t a huge hit for DC so it was allowed to do its own weird thing.  It was also a lot closer in conception to a Marvel comic.  DC books of the ‘60s were mostly just straight power fantasies or whimsical tales whereas the Marvel method was about subverting fantasies, turning powers into curses like with the Thing, Spider-Man, or the X-Men.  The Doom Patrol’s powers were definitely intended to be curses only they had a rogues gallery drawn and stylistic pallet drawn from the high concept weirdness of the DC mold rather than Marvel’s slightly more grounded styles.

All that adds up to covers like this amazing weirdness, where the Mutant Master (who has an amazing design with that eye for a head) is drawn full scale but our heroes still don't have their full body in the shot.  The use of shading on the Mutant Master blast is really bold here and works very well, I also love the foreground being this ruined city he’s rampaging through.  With the magenta background, it creates a really nice visual that’s clear and distinct despite having A LOT of action going on at once, also that energy line does a great job bisecting the scene and drawing the eye. 

7.

Really creative monster design is absolutely going to be a theme of this list but I think Kranus here might be an all-time best for his amazing ability to launch his disembodied parts at people.  That’s such a weird power I never would’ve even thought of it, also his cape is held on by little skull clasps, which is absolutely the height of fashion.  I do really wonder if that diamond tipped lightning scepter is part of his normal form and hand-shooting attack or if this is a special adjustment to deal with Negative Man and the energy being that resides within him.  

Actually, a minor detail I do thoroughly appreciate is the way the flying body segments are still attached to the main body via wiring, that’s a neat little addition and actually makes sense.  This is also a good example of effectively using color to balance a scene, in particular, that pea-green background.  Normally I don’t like flat background colors but with how dominant Kranus’ silver/purple scheme is and all the yellow caption boxes sticking with a simple, softer color for the background was absolutely a good call. 

6.

Now, see, this is actually an example of some pretty subpar color balancing.  The amber sky and blue water absolutely do not fit together, assuming that light blue background area is even supposed to be water- I can’t tell without any detail.  Additionally, the pea green color of the logo is far too soft against the harsher amber, which also bleeds into the caption boxes far too easily.  However, all that is forgiven for the amazing image of Elasti-Girl turning into a giant crystal version of herself.  

Her power is size changing so she’s naturally able to grow that big but the crystal change is totally unique and reminds me of Superman’s villain Bizarro, an imperfect duplicate of Superman.  It’s such a creepy and evocative visual, someone turned to harsh geometric crystal.  I also like the line of soldiers and police at the page’s bottom drawn using more perspective and foreshortening even as the rest of the cover fits more naturally into Silver Age styles.  Actually, the point of view here trying to create the flow of a hill is incredibly unique for its time even if it doesn’t quite work on the whole. 

5.

We’re nearing the absolute pinnacle of the pioneering perspective and foreshortening work in the Doom Patrol comics here with this incredible cover.  It’s amazing how the addition of one simple element like the studs on the flattening rollers can take this visual from fairly standard cartoon fair to bizarrely evocative and extremely memorable.  We’ve all seen characters get flattened like this in a cartoon medium but the way Robot Man has been stretched out here and turned into Swiss cheese is just such a weird approach it basically demands you pay attention to it like any good Silver Age cover should.  

Also, the color balance, which is much more important with large perspective images like this, is back on point.  The silver and gold of the machine and robot parts form the bulk of the scene while the green and pink of the backsplash create a really good complement to it.  All 4 colors are working together instead of clashing or bleeding into each other and there’s a firm divide between the foreground and backdrop.  Even the blue floor looks better as a way to highlight the red of Negative Man and Elasti-Girl’s costumes. 

4.

This is absolutely the MOST Silver Age cover of the bunch- the background that’s half present and half clear void, the way it’s working to get everyone in the show while also looking as ridiculous as possible, a villain themed after clocks whose face is a giant clock and whose name is Doctor Tyme.  Even the coloring backs this up as it creates a weird Technicolor rainbow palette that doesn’t exactly clash but it in no way complements itself.  The yellow of the hourglass sand goes with the amber of the ground to create a natural split to the blue sky and Elasti-Girl’s red dress gives the whole thing a wash of primary color that’s balanced nicely against Doctor Tyme’s green costume.  

Also, I really love that Doctor Tyme’s eyebrows are clock hands and that his mouth seems to be full of gears?  Honestly, this guy’s villain design might be too weird, he’s bizarre enough to be memorable but a little too weird to actually come together naturally- especially the fact he seems to be wearing slacks and a tie modeled after a grandfather clock bell. 

3.

Now that is a memorable Silver Age villain.  Meet Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, a man with the power to transform any part of his body into any animal, vegetable, or mineral.  It’s the wackiest concept I’ve ever heard of and easily one of the best visuals I’ve ever seen in the entire comics medium.  The second you lay eyes on half of a dude’s face turning into a ferocious T-Rex it’s one of those things you’re never going to forget.  He even has the power to get around the T-Rex arm probably by summoning those diamond-looking forearms and giant diamond foot.  

It’s seriously a ferociously creative idea that’s wonderfully executed here in the style of a classic Silver Age cover.  You’ve got the central action, basically no background but a block color that avoids clashing well, and the heroes even scaled down so you can fit them all on the page in full.  They even threw in some weird movement lines around Animal-Vegetable-Mineral man just to sweeten the pot. 

2.

Again, I can’t stress enough what a bizarre and experimental approach to perspective these covers were for the time.  You just didn’t see this kind of point of view in the ‘50s and ‘60s, hell you rarely see this kind of perspective even now.  The idea of setting the villain mostly out of frame aside for his leering face is such an out of left field move but it absolutely works here.  Much the same way they’ve placed each of the heroes in a unique trap to fit their ability but don’t show us the trap in full, trusting the reader to grasp what we’re seeing without needing every link in Robot Man’s chain.  

What’s more, the traps are all curiously basic in a very evocative way, like the giant chains and iron maiden contraption. Combined with the red background the whole scene is weirdly hellish for a Silver age comic, even more so with the unhinged look in the villain’s eye.  Normally in death traps you expect something elaborate or themed or even just more mechanically built around trapping the heroes but not here, they’re just entombed in this dark red chamber with that giant sneering monster. 

1.

Didn’t I promise you another brain in a jar before we were done?  This is the Brain and his ape ally/lover Monsieur Mallah, the talking gorilla.  It has been said by Julius Schwartz, one of the titans of the medium, that apes on comics sell comics and this cover is no exception because it’s absolutely great.  It’s got that same trick of foreshortening to make the characters so large they can’t be seen in full without making them indistinguishable, thus giving the cover a sense of scale and action that avoids the more picture book look of some other Silver Age stuff.  

The color work is superb, using the monochrome of the surveillance screen to balance against the red background and green superhero costumes with that bright yellow text popping off the cover.  Everything about it comes together perfectly as a vision that was ahead of its time in technique and style while still featuring a robot, a mummy, a brain in a jar, and a talking ape because comics are just the raddest. 

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