"Freaks"
Writer/Artist: John Byrne, Doug Hazelwood(i), Alex Bleyaert(c)
Publisher: DC
This issue of Doom Patrol is downright audacious. Byrne ignores utterly the continuity of the current Outsiders series, and quite frankly, I cannot care less. I don't read The Outsiders. The concept of that particular team book never appealed to me and neither did the writer or the characters.
Byrne as if The Outsiders did not exist rescues Metamorpho from obscurity, and how does he do this? He returns Metamorpho to his roots. To be sure, he is not the first to do this. Mike Barr and Keith Giffin also explored and extrapolated from Metamorpho's history, but that was ten years ago, and thanks to DC's disregard for its own continuity none of it counts anymore anyhow. So once again, don't blame Byrne for throwing out for instance the marriage of Sapphire and Java. That was snuffed out far before Doom Patrol.
The reason why anybody cared about the Element Man, and his backup adventures was not because of his powers nor even the smashing artwork of Ramona Fradon; though without a doubt her skill was an influence. What drew readers into the Metamorpho adventures was the bizarre quadrangle between Sapphire Stagg, her father Simon Stagg, Java literally a Neanderthal in a three-piece suit and of course Rex Mason, Metamorpho. Once writers left that sphere, the star character quickly lost depth.
Byrne reintroduces the relationships in Doom Patrol, and there's a certain fittingness to the whole affair. Doom Patrol was always a fan favorite title. It was not the flagship like Justice League of America. Likewise, Metamorpho was not an A-list super-hero. You can in fact argue that he like the Doom Patrol was not really a super-hero at all but a trouble-shooter and adventurer. Neither he or the Doom Patrol for instance went on patrol. They didn't fight common crimes, and any major crimes thwarted were more of a side effect of their investigations into bizarre phenomena.
Ultimately, the plot to this issue is Metamorpho versus the Doom Patrol. Now, if you don't like the simplicity of such a plot, go elsewhere. The basics of the plot allows Byrne and his many readers to enjoy the full artistic extent of Metamorpho's element-based powers as well as the characters of Ramona Fradon being imagined in the Byrne style--which in itself offers intrinsic and aesthetic value.
Apart from the main plot, Byrne informs the reader about the whereabouts of Grunt, Nudge and Vortex. This is less interesting when compared to the main plot, but how could it possibly be more intriguing, visually or in written form, than Metamorpho versus the Doom Patrol?
Byrne's solution to Negative Man's problem brought up last issue is a neat twist, but it too pales by comparison to the lion's share of the story. Really though, that's exactly what you want from any genre. The central plot should be fascinating, and the sub-plots while enticing should not distract you from the core of the story.
Doom Patrol continues to be a thoroughly entertaining and artistically pleasurable adventure book that features characters for whom you care and instigates those feelings through more than mere nostalgia.
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