‘Doom Patrol’ Carves Its Own Weird, Niche Geometry Out of the DC Universe

So given that Doom Patrol started off with meta-narration from Mr. Nobody played by Alan Tuydk, do you think that I can get a little meta with the review? Wait, I’m already doing it aren’t I? I guess it is time to talk about the latest entry in the DC Universe library…

This Friday, February 15, you’re going to meet the Doom Patrol on their own terms in their own TV series. Now, we met some of the members in the backdoor pilot in Titans and most of them will look familiar. Rita Farr / Elasti-Girl (April Bowlby), Larry Trainor / Negative Man (Voiced by Matt Bomer, physically portrayed by Matthew Zuk), Cliff Steele / Robotman (Voiced by Brendan Fraser, physically portrayed by Riley Shananhan), and Dr. Niles Caulder / The Chief (Timothy Dalton). The first thing you’re going to notice is that despite taking place in the “present” and at a similar time to Titans, there are absolutely no references to Titans. Despite an accelerated depiction of all of the years between the early 80’s to 2019, we don’t see Beast Boy at all which is odd to say the least but probably not the oddest thing about the series. Seriously though, I need more Beast Boy in my media. Ryan Potter as Beast Boy was probably my favorite part of the show. His interactions with the rest of the Doom Patrol was a highlight, and I know Gar made a proper exit to join up with his new crew, but I think it’s a missed opportunity. New to the cast is the big bad and narrator, Mr. Nobody, and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), anoth…