Showcase presents: Doom Patrol vol. 1 TP

La primavera degli amanti della Legione si fa sempre più bollente di novità.
Come già accennato qualche settimana fa poco più che come gossip, l’ottimo J. M. Straczynski sarebbe in procinto di inserire nel mensile di team-up da lui curato, “The Brave and the Bold” (vol. II), ben due storie consecutive con Saturn Girl e soci. Anzi, non “sarebbe”, ma lo “è” senza dubbio: come lo stesso JMS ha confermato ieri, entrando addirittura nei dettagli della trama, in questa intervista al sito Comic Book Resources:

When we last spoke, you said you’ve told DC that by the end of 2010, “The Brave and The Bold” will be somewhere in the top 20 or 30 books and that you have a plan to make that happen. Can you share any details about how this will happen?

Step 1 is to build up the credibility of the book as something other than an oddity. We’ve made some good progress in that area, given the majority of the reviews and attention the book is now getting from critics and the blogosphere.

Step 2 is to start upping the ante, taking some real chances with the storytelling, getting more experimental.

Step 3 is a secret. I’ve talked about it with [DCU Executive Editor] Dan DiDio, and he’s on board. It’s our Manhattan Project, for lack of a better term. If we pull it off, it’ll draw enough attention to bring the book the rest of the way up.

Well, we’ll be waiting to hear more about that. In the meantime, can you tease some of the team-ups that we’ll see in the months ahead?

The next two issues fall into the experimental category.

The first of these features the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Doom Patrol. A crisis sends the Legion back in time to get the right team to pull off the job. They come back to the future to handle it, only to find new and unexpected complications springing up. But they do deal with it. It’s a serious issue with lots of action.

The next issue features the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five, which is set at the same time as the previous issue. In this one, the Legion has learned of the same crisis, and decides to show the Legion that they’re just as capable as anyone else, so they go back in time to get the right team… only to end up per accident with the Inferior Five. Determined to make the best of it, they come back to the future to deal with the problem, and everything they do keeps screwing up what the Legion is doing – so now we learn the source of the constant and unexpected complications. The Legion story is mainly a comedy of errors. It shows how you can take the same basic story and tell it two ways, one serious, one funny. It also lets me play with parallel timelines and narrative structure in ways we really haven’t seen much before.

Even the covers are parallel. The first cover shows the Legion and the Doom Patrol in a victory pose in front of the time bubble, with shadowy figures barely visible on the other side. The second cover shows the Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five posing on the other side of the bubble, with the Legion of Super-Heroes barely visible as shadowy figures on the other side.

That’s what I mean in terms of doing more experimental sorts of stories, and taking chances. It could blow up in my face. Or it could be insanely fun. You never know and honestly, that’s the fun of it.

Stando alle parole dello sceneggiatore di “Babylon 5″, direi che dovremo aspettarci il primo dei due episodi con la Legione per il #34 di “The Brave and the Bold”, in uscita il prossimo maggio. Contemporaneamente, sarà sugli scaffali anche il numero d’esordio del “volume 6″ di Levitz e Cinar: chissà se nei comics shop avranno dello spumante, ce ne sarà bisogno!

Il ruolo di partner dei legionari in questo doppio team-up tocca alla Doom Patrol, probabilmente dipinta nella sua formazione storica, come uscita nel 1963 dalla penna dei creatori Drake, Haney, Premiani e Boltinoff.
Nel corso della gestione di Straczynski, “The Brave and the Bold” ha infatti assunto il taglio di collana di revival: sciolto dalle catene della continuity, lo scriba statunitense è, così, libero di sbizzarrirsi a immaginare incontri e scontri tra i personaggi DC nelle loro incarnazioni più celebri ed iconiche.
L’immagine in alto, che riproduce appunto l’indimenticabile team originale della Doom Patrol, è tratta dalla copertina del loro primo “Showcase presents”, ciccioso paperback che ristampa in versione economica il primo blocco di avventure dei magnifici “freak” guidati dal Dr. Niles Caulder. Ne consiglio a spada tratta l’acquisto, accattatevillo assolutamente!