Doom Patrol #5 - DC

Well last issue Blackest Night reared it's ugly . . very ugly, head on Oolong Island. The kids spend most of this issue fighting dead versions of themselves . . or their loved ones. Larry ends up taking out Negative Woman, but it takes both of their negative energies colliding to achieve the results. So he can't do that trick again. The Black-holed face guy helps to protect the Chief, but he still gets his legs taken off in the process. And a large portion of Oolong island is destroyed when the Black Lanterns bring a tidal-wave down upon it. Cale and all of her Chiefs of Staff are starting to regret their decision to let the Metal Men take up residence here. They really do seem to be a magnet for trouble. Anyways, Niles gets an idea, and with the islands tech help the Doom Patrol lures the Black Lanterns into a portal made from boom-tube technology, and the transport all their dead counterparts and team-mates to parts unknown. But in the end the Chief finally succumbs to his injuries. Keith Giffen and Justiniano bring us this chapter of the story. I thought it was classic Doom Patrol . . fighting in the face of adversity even though they know, in the end, there's really no way that they're going to win this one. And they still haven't. They've just removed the problem. In the back-up story, Will and Tin are still fight the incredulous mannequins, the Clique. Keith Giffen and JM Dematteis write this story with their usual hilarity. The Clique is hell-bent on taking over the world, but first . . they'd planned on having a day of shopping and make-overs. That is until Will and Tin interrupted them. So now . . now Will has to be their personal shopper, because of the lack of help after their skirmish. Eventually he gets the rest of the Metal Men to show up so that he doesn't get killed. But Platinum, Tina, is more concerned that he's cavorting with 3 previously unknown females. The story ends with her knocking one of their heads off, and the Clique revealing several hidden weapons in their various limbs. It was a fun story, if slightly obnoxious. But still humorous. Unfortunately Kevin Maguire does not do the art this issue, but Tim Levins fills in for him. All in all I thought this was an interesting issue. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the Black Lanterns story-line, but that's only because I'm starting to get tired of them. I'm tired of the 'heroes' simply reacting to the threat and not coming up with an offensive plan, yet. But these are still 2 of my favorite groups.