Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol

Name: Doom Patrol
Universe: Earth-1
First Appearance: My Greatest Adventure #80

History:
The original Doom Patrol was a team of super-powered self-styled "misfits" that was organized by their "Chief," Dr. Niles Caulder, to battle and defeat menaces to humanity.

Confined to a wheelchair, Caulder decided to form a team of super-powered beings, the Doom Patrol, based at his Midway City mansion, whom he would direct in opposing the criminal mastermind General Immortus and other such menaces.

One of Caulder’s recruits was Rita Farr, who became Elasti-Girl. Farr was an actress whom strange gases had given the ability to grow and shrink in size.

Another was test pilot Larry Trainor, who had become radioactive as a result of exposure to unknown solar radiation. The Chief designed the special bandages that Trainor wore to shield others from his radiation. Trainor could now release from his body a being of pure energy called Negative Man.

The third was sportsman Cliff Steele, whose body was destroyed in a racing car accident. Caulder transplanted his brain into a robot body, and thus Steele became Robotman.

All three regarded themselves as misfits and freaks, but Caulder gave them new purpose in life as members of his Doom Patrol.

The four official members of the Doom Patrol were at times joined by two allies. One was a young boy named Garfield Logan, who had gained the power to transform himself into any animal. The Doom Patrol called him Beast Boy, but Logan later joined the Teen Titans under the name Changeling. Billionaire scientist Steve Dayton designed a helmet that gave him telekinetic and illusion-casting abilities. When he wore it, he called himself Mento. Dayton eventually married Farr, and the two of them adopted the orphaned Logan.

The Doom Patrol’s most implacable nemeses were the members of the original Brotherhood of Evil, led by the mysterious disembodied Brain. The Brain had altered the mind and body of the beautiful Parisian actress Laura DeMille to turn her into the evil, super-powered Madame Rouge, a member of the Brotherhood. Caulder and Rouge felt a growing attraction for each other, and Caulder eventually succeeded in restoring her original personality. However, the Brotherhood used scientific means to force DeMille’s evil Madame Rouge persona back to the surface. Caught between the Brain’s influence and her love for Caulder, DeMille’s mind snapped.

Once again the evil Madame Rouge, DeMille joined forces with former Nazi submarine commander Captain Zahl, who had his own score to settle with Caulder. They captured the Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman, and Zahl informed them that unless the Doom Patrol allowed themselves to be killed, he would blow up the small village of Codsville, Maine, with its population of fourteen. The four Doom Patrol members courageously agreed to sacrifice their lives to save the villagers. Over Madame Rouge’s protests, Zahl blew up the land where the Doom Patrol was standing.

The only known survivor is Robotman. Years later, he and the Changeling avenged the others’ deaths when they fought Madame Rouge and Zahl, who both died in the encounter. Today Robotman is a member of the new Doom Patrol, which was organized by Caulder’s wife Arani, who is also known as Celsius.


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