Unstoppable Doom Patrol #5: Akira Meets The Dawn of DC

After a brief hiatus for DC’s Knight Terrors event, the regularly scheduled Dawn of DC books are slowly trickling back into circulation. Thankfully, that means that Unstoppable Doom Patrol is also back, with Unstoppable Doom Patrol #5 jumping right back into the swing of things. This issue very much captures the team aspect of the book, highlighting the abilities of a few different members of the team while they investigate a metagene mystery. Even though it was originally solicited as a six-issue mini-series, Unstoppable Doom Patrol was upgraded with a bonus issue, making this issue feel like a solid place to jump into the action for those who missed out on the earlier set-up. 

After a special guest artist for Unstoppable Doom Patrol #4, Chris Burnham returns in all his glory. Burnham draws a wide variety of pages for this issue, with some featuring the closed quarter interactions between Niles Caulder, The Chief, and Degenerate, and others being widespread action segments as the rest of The Doom Patrol fight the forces in the city above. This dynamic spread of artistic talent gives the issue an excellent pacing, with the dichotomy of the action and exposition building to a poignant ending.

Brian Reber’s color’s help accentuate the niche art style of Burnham, while also giving this issue a more cinematic feel. Towards the beginning of the issue, Niles, The Chief, and Degenerate are walking through an underground tunnel, where they are using a lantern as a source of light. Reber’s colors here are stellar, genuinely highlighting the characters in what feels like an authentic manner. The colors reflect the varying levels of light that are emanating from the lantern, giving this section a particular feeling of life which is contrasted by the science fiction nature of the title. Overall, this section is exemplary of the talent that Reber brings to this series.

Dennis Culver’s blend of humor and drama continue to give this series its signature flair here. The story crafted for this issue also continues the strong social message of the powerful effects of group healing and finding strength through learning to overcome a great tragedy. Whereas the previous issues focused on worldbuilding and establishing the current roster of the Doom Patrol, Culver pivots this narrative to further capture the threats that the team faces. While there is a fair share of punching bad guys, the meat of the issue revolves around Niles Caulder and how his work has been bastardized by a clandestine organization who aim to use the increased amount of metahumans to their advantage. The Doom Patrol are genuinely fighting to see a world of greater acceptance while these groups, funded by the US government, are too focused on their own self interests to care how people’s lives are being ruined. There is definitely a strong parallel to the real word, with the comparisons to how prejudices are taken advantage of by the overarching government coming across as all too real. 

As advertised on the cover, Unstoppable Doom Patrol #5 introduces Metawoman. Spoilers for the issue, but Metawoman ultimately dies almost immediately after she attempts to confront the Doom Patrol in combat. Her death is a clear reference to the anime/manga Akira, when Tetsuo starts to become deformed towards the climax of the narrative. This was a fun reference mainly due to Burnham’s depiction of the event, with Culver’s writing keeping everything as the status quo. This was definitely a gruesome part of the comic, but a fun reference for sure.

Rounding off this issue are the letters from the Eisner nominated Pat Brosseau. Brosseau continues to give this series a great flow, using unique speech bubbles for certain characters to add a sense of tone. The issue jumps around alot, yet Brosseau keeps a consistency on every page that adds to the excellent pacing from Culver and Burnham. Issues like this make it easy to see why Brosseau is one of the best in the business.