I’d mentioned earlier that in my latest trip to Ed’s Coins and Stamps in the Sun-Vet Mall, I had started going backwards in buying back issues of DOOM PATROL, a series that I really adored. The reason for this move is very simple: the next issue that I needed, #103, wasn’t available. I don’t know whether the original collector who had sold this run of books to Ed simply had missed that issue or if it had sold to somebody else in the interim. Either way, it put an enforced gap into the run that I was putting together. Consequently, I decided to start going backwards and picked up issue #99. But I also continued on forward, getting the next available issue, #104. This one was noteworthy in that it contained the genuine no-bull wedding of Elasti-Girl and Mento, which seemed like a big deal (and a strange thing to be doing in an issue #104)
In point of fact, though, the marriage between Rita Farr and Mento was something that the creative team had backed into. The letters page in #98 indicated that “The Bride of the Doom Patrol” would be appearing in the very next issue, but it didn’t show up for another several months. And this is because the creators changed their minds about its outcome. As originally conceived, the story was only going to be the first 13 pages of this issue, the opening chapter, and end with Rita deciding not to go through with it. But it was writer Arnold Drake, editor Murray Boltinoff and artist Bruno Premiani who had a change of heart. Perhaps inspired by the wedding of Reed and Sue in FANTASTIC FOUR, they decided to rethink their plans and to actually go through with the nuptials. This required the team to add an additional chapter to the original story, hence why it took a few issues to turn up.
The lead chapter is almost entirely devoid of a threat or menace, though the Doom Patrol get to perform a few rescues and the like. Rather, the key element in it is character dynamics. It starts with Rita on a slow day unable to get any of her three partners to spend the day with her, as they’re all wrapped up in their own concerns. Suddenly, Rita finds herself being levitated out of the Patrol’s headquarters. This is the work of her sometimes Beau Mento, alias Steve Dayton, one of the richest men in the world who had created a telekinetic helmet and adopted a costumed identity in a bid to win Rita’s heart. The rest of the team follows in pursuit, smashing Mento’s equipment and poised to do the same to Dayton. But Rita tells them off–who she sees isn’t any of their concern. Chagrined, Robotman and Negative Man withdraw–but this doesn’t mean that Dayton has a clear pathway either, as Rita slaps the hell out of him when he tries to kiss her.
And we’ll take a brief pause here for this cool half-page ad promoting the latest SUPERMAN 80 Page Giant, compiling stories related to the Man of Steel’s Fortress of Solitude from across the years. While they were entirely reprint-filled, these 80 Page Giants were a real value for readers of the era in terms of catching up with well-remembered tales from the past.
As the days and weeks go on, Dayton tries a full court press with Rita. And he’s handsome, charming and wealthy, an overwhelming combination. And so her heart begins to soften towards him, and she agrees to marry him. Being good, supportive friends and partners, Larry Trainor and Cliff Steele immediately decide that they need to frame Dayton for some wrongdoing in order to break up the impending union. They arrange for a fake telegram to Dayton to be misdelivered to Rita that indicates that the only reason Dayton is marrying her is so that she can be lured into returning to work for a film studio that he owes. At the last second, Negative Man and Robotman have a change of heart and try to prevent the telegram from being delivered, but they fail completely. Nonetheless, they come clean about their shenanigans–and Rita is so touched by the lengths that they were willing to go to in order to keep her as a part of the team that she immediately calls off the wedding. It’s a complete farce of an ending, so you can see why Drake, Premiani and Boltinoff might have had second thoughts about leaving the story here.
And a pause here between chapters so that we can showcase this METAL MEN house ad dedicated to one of the most overtly racist characters that DC put forward in this period: Egg Fu, a evil Asian caricature who was literally a gigantic egg and who fought Wonder Woman is spotlighted here despite the fact that he isn’t a part of the METAL MEN issue in question. Rather, author Robert Kanigher, who was working on both series, put the mighty robots up against a similar threat, and maybe Kanigher saw an opportunity for cross-promotion. It’s a bit of a nasty moment, especially given that this was published in 1966.
The back half of the issue starts off with a page that slightly puts the lie to the end of the first part. Rita is back with the Doom Patrol, but she’s profoundly depressed. Turns out that she actually does want to marry Mento after all. Dayton, meanwhile, has thrown himself into his work, redesigning his Mento helmet and costume to give them “twice the impact as the old.” Which wasn’t really true–Mento’s new uniform wasn’t as good as his original costume, but what are you going to do. Anyway, armed with his new gear, Mento calls out Robotman and Negative Man, rightly blaming them for busting up his wedding and determined to kick their asses. This turns into a prolonged war between Mento and the Doom Patrol, where each party smashes up stuff belonging to the other and tries to punch out the other in comeuppance.
But something doesn’t smell right about all of this, and it’s right about this time that the story lets us in on what’s really going on. Having seen the discord between the Patrol and Mento, the team’s old foes the Brotherhood of Evil and Garguax teamed up to take advantage of it. It wasn’t Mento who called out the DP, it was Madame Rouge, using her shape-shifting powers to impersonate Dayton and Garguax’s super-science to mimic his telekinetic helmet. Their objective was to draw the two sides into a conflict that would weaken both and then step in and mop up on everybody. Which is pretty much exactly what happens, up to a point. See, thing is, Cliff, Larry and Dayton all realized that they were being manipulated and faked their battle. But Elasti-Girl, having been injured earlier, is unaware of this, and she winds up clobbering Mento for real. The only thing that turns the tide as the Brotherhood shows up is the chief foraying out once more in his weapons-laden Action Chair.
As I mentioned earlier, this was 1966 and the British Invasion was in full force. So it’s no great surprise that DC gave a full page spotlight to plugging its latest teen comedy series SWING WITH SCOOTER. The lead character was a teen musician from across the pond who relocates to the United States and gets involved with a whole regular cast of local characters pretty much straight from teen comic central casting. It was a fun strip, but one that lost a bit of its distinctiveness as time went on and the focus on faux-Beatlemania was referenced less and less.
Anyway, the Doom Patrol runs off the Brotherhood, Mento and Elasti-Girl reconcile, and the wedding now goes ahead as planned. It’s attended by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, the Teen Titans (whom Premiani makes look about ten years old) and Drake’s character Super-Hip from his BOB HOPE comics. And in the final panels, it becomes clear that for all that Rita is now married, she isn’t for a second thinking about giving up her life as a super-heroine to become a stay-at-home wife, much to her new husband’s chagrin. This is a better ending than the original, but still feels a bit truncated. This issue is overall a bit slapdash, which makes sense given that the back half was bolted onto the front midway through the process. Also, perhaps nothing more says 1966 and the rise of the camp movement in the DC books than this final house ad for CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN introducing Villo, the World’s Vilest Villain. It’s absurdly over-the-top and not quite meant to be taken seriously.
After the Patrol Postscripts letters page, the issue wraps up with another Direct Currents checklist of books soon to be on sale. And it gives a decent sense of the DC line at this moment, though not nearly all of it. It plugs an awful lot of Superman/Superboy plus Aquaman and Batman while also spotlighting two war series (CAPTAIN STORM, OUT ARMY AT WAR), a science fiction title (STRANGE ADVENTURES) and a historical western (TOMAHAWK)
Actually, just like that Metal Men ad says, Egg Fu’s robot twin, Dr. Yes, DOES appear in that issue, complete with the same racist tropes Egg Fu had.
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I really like Bruno Premiani’s work on Doom Patrol but that last panel of Mento yelling is unintentionally horrifying.
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I have to agree with you about the last panel, cause you would think Elasti-Girl’s new husband would be racing after her to help out. But then again he only became Mento to get her and not help other people, Tony Stark he isn’t.
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Clean, elegant artwork. Reminds me a bit of later Paul Smith, or early 1990’s John Calimee (“Nexus” fill-ins, “Alpha Flight”
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I loved Calimee on Alpha Flight and yes, it’s like he improved on Premiani’s style.
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Larry and Cliff behave abominably in trying to bust up the wedding, even if they have a change of heart. But that’s what made this book fun. I liked it (and still do) way better than you. But as a shy, sheltered boy, I was one of the cats suffocating in squaresville as that one house ad mentions. I looked at that and some of the other ads that year here: https://atomicjunkshop.com/more-advertising-from-dcs-silver-age/
It’s not surprising the Direct Currents is Super-Family heavy — he was still the big dog at this point.
And yeah, Egg Fu (and Dr. Yes) are both insanely racist and just an insane concept. “You know who’d make a great Wonder Woman foe? An evil Chi-Com giant egg with mustaches like tentacles!” Curiously, he’s referenced in an episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show a few years later.
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I also recall John Byrne sort of bringing that horrid villain back during his “go” at Wonder Woman. Much like Hank Pym’s slapping Janet, I wish we could turn back the clock and make it so this character never existed.
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That would be better for all the world, though I admit he does exercise a train-wreck fascination.
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Wikipedia says Post-Crisis Egg Fu [ Wonder Woman Vol.2 #128 ( December 1997 ) ] is an early twentieth-century super computer who was rediscovered and turned into one of many carnival attractions along Gateway City’s Oceanside boardwalk, despite public protests that the attraction is racially insensitive. Infinite Crisis version of Egg Fu: Chang Tzu, an agent of Apokolips. In 52 [ 52#25 ], Chang and Bruno Mannheim kidnap many scientists and forcibly recruit them into Chang’s “Science Squad” based on Oolong Island. Chang has a large, egg-shaped body with facial features and cracked skin, mounted in a spider-legged chair for mobility. He is equipped with small prosthetic hands and hidden weapons ( They left out no mustache ) — looks like they dropped the Egg Fu for the third version and just call him Chang Tzu.
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Looking at Egg Fu’s Wikipedia made think of Spragg [ Journey into Mystery#68 ( May 1961 ) 1st story –Spragg Conqueror of the Human Race! ].
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Hearing of Spragg, John, once again brings a certain John Byrne back into this thread as he brought that same “living mountain” back when he returned to She-Hulk. I don’t recall the exact issue, but it was in the early 90’s. Wild Marvel “monster” character and yes, somewhat reminiscent visually of the far more offensive Egg Fu.
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Fun as it is, this issue of Doom Patrol seems a few cranberries shy of a full Thanksgiving dinner. Continuing this seasonal analogy, it doesn’t lack for appetizers with the on and off again romance between Elasti-Girl & Mento. Nor are the sides lacking courtesy of the rivalry with Negative Man & Robotman versus Mento. The addition of Gargaux and those other delightfully dorky villains make a wonderful gravy to touch up everything. But the main dish of the turkey is drastically undercooked, as demonstrated with the rushed wedding. And, as everyone knows, an undercooked bird diminishes everything else about a Thanksgiving dinner.
But enough about a holiday several weeks away. My big question is didn’t Doom Patrol copy the X-Men? Can we talk about that? (I’m joking! I thoroughly enjoyed the insightful discussion this past week on that very topic. But given that we’re talking again about this wonderful team, I simply couldn’t help myself.)
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Please provide a link to that discussion of the X-men vs. Doom Patrol. I’d like to educate myself on that debate.
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This is the link to last week’s Doom Patrol #99 review. Again, I want to emphasize that this was a fascinating discussion. https://tombrevoort.com/2026/11/01/bhoc-doom-patrol-99/
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I’m satisfied now that the similarities between the Doom Patrol and the X-Men was just an interesting coincidence.
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Half the fun of these silver age reprints are the house ads and also ran strips. Example: Henry Boltinoff’s “Cap’s Hobby Hints” which reflect an interest in pushing hobbies on kids… possibly because Aurora models and kits were a major advertiser for National Comics (DC) during this period. I really enjoy looking for these tips, as they a born of this age and the inventive ingenuity of kids. Unfortunately, many of the tips do not survive the passage of time, but some do. Wish someone would collect them all in a trade paperback.
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Just took a look on Google and I found out that there are a couple of DC Finest volumes reprinting the entire original Doom Patrol run. So, if anyone wants to read those issues, they’re now available in relatively affordable collections.
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You can see so strongly in this issue that Arnold Drake wants to write a book like FF, because he feels the appeal of it — but he also doesn’t fully get it, so the result is awkward and abrupt. Right from that first panel, where Negative Man just rattles through that speech like a high-school kid trying to act in a play, going through two different emotional states and a wad of exposition all in one hurried balloon. It’s not like it’s a bad moment; it’s just that Drake and Premiani don’t know how to stage it naturalistically, or at least as naturalistically as Kirby and Lee would.
And that one panel is symptomatic of the whole issue, where emotions are rushed through and exposition babbled out, without much thought given to presentation. It’s a DC Silver Age book trying to be a Marvel book while staying a DC book at the same time. I didn’t know that the story was initially supposed to end with Rita ditching Mento, but it results in another abrupt emotional swing, and then that last panel is another (admittedly funny) rush through a clogged-up line of dialogue or two to get to the end.
But I love it anyway. It’s…to use a word from a later era, adorkable. That the book could turn on a time and rush off herky-jerky in another direction was part of its charm, and that it did it so straight-facedly just intensified the effect.
And the real changes this kind of thing wrought, for all its abruptness and artificiality, were fascinating. Rita and Mento’s marriage, and their later adopting of Beast Boy, provided ongoing character drama and subplot threads that enlivened the series for months. In FF terms it was as if Sue had married Namor and then stayed with the FF, bickering with Namor while rushing off to FF adventures.
It was just…always surprising, always interesting, with real emotional changes and developments happening under that dorky surface. And it had a talking gorilla, too!
What a fun series.
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Agreed. I didn’t read this series until just the last decade or so, but, wow: It’s fun and crazy and zany and a bit uncomfortably odd at times, and so trying to be (as you sort of say) both DC and Marvel of the period at the same time. There are worse things one could do; It’s very clear to me why it is still so well-regarded, and not just for nostalgic reasons. This was truly a different kind of a book and has remained so, while influencing many other great things in a similar vein.
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Not a bad story. Far less fighting among the team, and in this case I think there were good reasons for it. However:
The guest list for the wedding is a bit eclectic, with the big three, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, but also, Flash, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Robin and…Super-Hip?
Steve Dayton getting married with his Mento helmet on?
As for the final panel, while Steve’s “I sure did show her who’s boss, didn’t I?” is cringeworthy (and foreshadowing), I find it really funny that the Doom Patrol thinks they needs to check out the bomb scare on the plane with Superman right there.
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Superman very courteously did not want to do any super-deeds in someone else’s feature.
I love the line “I sure showed her who’s boss,” because it tells the DP reader what he wants to know: that Rita’s not going to desert the heroic antics of her “freak brothers in law” for a life of bringing Dayton his slippers.
Also, even though it’s correct to point out a lot of the plot-holes here, even a quick read has me liking all the dialogue Drake wrote for Rita. There’s a definite attempt, however successful one thinks it is, to view the superhero avocation from a feminine perspective. Yet it’s not an overly sentimentalized perspective, since Rita is by turns wistful, angry, indignant (with her partners) and reflective (before she decides to accept the proposal). Not to knock Lee and Kirby for the sake of some “feminist ethic,” but neither of them seemed able to make up their minds as to whether Sue Storm was a courageous heroine or a sob sister. I’m sure Drake also wrote a fair amount of dopey dialogue for Rita, but he did that with most of the characters. He even stuck an analogue of the Chief into his PLASTIC MAN and had the saintly scientist exchange brickbats with Gordon Trueblood.
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Very courteous of Superman.
Despite buying the first three archives of the Doom Patrol I’m not a fan of the title. However, I do think Rita is well written, and in my opinion is the most well-balanced member of the team.
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My guess is that Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash were primarily there as tag-a-longs to their mentors, not to spotlight their association in Teen Ttians. I’ve read that Arnold Drake was a bud of Bob Haney, though, so a little hype for both TITANS and AQUAMAN would have been appropriate. (Beast Boy wouldn’t meet the Titans, including Aqualad, till a few months later in ’66.)
Curiously re the wedding thing: on GCD the wedding of Aquaman and Mera is the last issue that attributes the writing to Mera’s creator Jack Miller. Then there’s a half dozen issues with no writer credit until we reach AQUAMAN #25, which credits Haney. Some of the unattributed stories read like Miller and some, more like Haney.
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A shame that the invites to Aquaman, Mera, and Aqualad appear to have gotten lost in the Gulf Stream…or perhaps Topo ate them.
Somewhat more understandable if they didn’t want to invite Green Arrow, but that meant Speedy got the invite shaft, as well, as it were.
Jokes aside: is this the first appearance of Gar in a panel with his future teammates? I would think so…
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This gets me to wondering about superhero comic book weddings: what’s the sequence?
I assume Reed and Sue were first?
Aquaman and Mera not far behind?
Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Silver Age) show up already married.
Rita and Steve next? Or prior to the Hawks?
Ralph and Sue show up married next?
Barry and Iris and Ray and Jean (sigh) are both later, for sure.
Wanda and Vision (along with Swordsman and Mantls) are MUCH later. Anyone else in the Marvel books before this? Did Namor marry Dorma before she was killed, or were they “just” betrothed?
Bruce Wayne was engaged at least two times I can recall, from the early days…
Who am I leaving out/forgetting?
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If you include villains, Huntress I and Sportsmater get hitched sometime before they show up in BRAVE AND BOLD, fighting Starman and Black Canary.
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