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Dennis Culver is the writer of DC Comics’ upcoming new series Unstoppable Doom Patrol, drawn by Chris Burnham and coloured by Brian Reber. But that doesn’t stop him drawing a cover himself. And makes a much better job of it than Mark Millar and Donny Cates have.
As well as Mister Negative, Robot Man, and Elasti-Girl, he also gave details of the three new characters seen in the art so far in his newsletter, but revealing that one isn’t new at all, it’s just a brand new look for Crazy Jane. “Jane aka Crazy Jane is a metahuman with Dissociative Identity Disorder that 64 distinct alternate identities who each have their own superpower. We introduce a new alter called THE CHIEF who now leads the team.”
Crazy Jane was created by Grant Morrison and Richard Case for Doom Patrol in 1989 as a dissociative identity disorder character, each alter having their own super powers, and is based on Truddi Chase, whose autobiography, When Rabbit Howls, Morrison was reading while writing the series. Jane is portrayed by Diane Guerrero, Skye Roberts, and Leela Owen in the TV series Doom Patrol on HBO.
Then we have Beast Girl. “a young metahuman whose powers have not only caused changes in her appearance but let her influence the primal instincts of those around her sending them into fight or flight responses among other things. Beast Girl is very enthusiastic about becoming a superhero. You’re going to love her.”
And finally Degenerate. “When DEGENERATE’S powers are triggered he begins to devolve becoming more and more powerful as he loses more and more of his humanity. He doesn’t immediately fit in with the rest of the team. You’re going to love to hate him.”
Talking about the series, he also says “From my POV, there is one giant pillar in the DCU and that is all the characters associated with the JUSTICE LEAGUE including the core members and their books along with the heroes of the JUSTICE SOCIETY who inspired them and then their proteges in TITANS. The DOOM PATROL has never been a part of that and they no longer think their methods of doing things work. After the events of LAZARUS PLANET there are more metahumans than ever but very few will become superheroes. Most will end up in places like Arkham Asylum where they will slowly fall through the cracks of society and become outcasts. At best some of them will end up guinea pigs for places like S.T.A.R. LABS and at worse weapons for the government in programs like TASK FORCE X aka the SUICIDE SQUAD. The Doom Patrol offers an alternative to a very broken system and this will put them in conflict with the rest of the superhero community.”
The new Unstoppable Doom Patrol will first appear in the upcoming Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate in February with a ten-page story, before the new series launches in March.
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