10 Iconic Comic Book Moments Erased By Stupid Retcons
10. The Chief Disfigures The Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol was never the most popular superhero team. Like the X-Men (who were created the same year), the Doom Patrol was a team of misfits who the rest of the world saw as freaks. Isolated from the rest of the world, the teams founder, Dr. Niles Caulder, had the team channel their bitterness into defending the world. In the late 80s, Grant Morrison was given the task of writing the book, and he broke new ground, incorporating elements of Dadaism, surrealism, and Burroughs-esque story-telling in the book. His run ended with the shocking revelation that Caulder had engineered the accidents that transformed the original Doom Patrol. Years later in 2004, John Byrne collaborated with his former X-Men partner Chris Claremont on a JLA story that re-introduced the Doom Patrol, which was followed by a Doom Patrol comic written and drawn by Byrne. In this new volume, Byrne had discarded the Doom Patrols forty-year history, including Morrisons revelation about Caulders duplicity. Byrnes reboot proved controversial, created some huge continuity gaps (particularly with the origin of Beast Boy), and the series was cancelled with #18. DCs Infinite Crisis crossover later restored all previous Doom Patrol continuity.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
