An impending beginning and an unfortunate ending.
I’ll be back to “1980s Indie Talk” in short order, but first I wanted to note a couple of things:
First, old internet pal Matt D. Wilson (whose melodious voice you hear every week on War Rocket Ajax) is raising funds to publish a new comic, Imposter Syndicate, via Zoop. Matt’s a good guy, the comic sounds interesting, the art by Rodrigo Vargas looks great, and I’ve already thrown in my support by pledging for the retailer multi-copy bundle!
Second, I am sorry to relate that writer Rachel Pollack is reportedly near the end of her life, and as a result folks are talking a lot about her tenure writing Doom Patrol. She was put in the presumably thankless position of following Grant Morrison on the title, and at the time I didn’t quite warm to her work right away, though certain individual issues (the Codpiece!) were a hoot. However, my plan had been to give her run a reconsideration, as I’ve been in the process of reorganizing my collection at home and have set aside my Doom Patrols as a whole for perusal.
However, I hope people don’t forget the absolutely wild mini-series she wrote for DC’s short-lived Helix imprint, Time Breakers.
It’s an imaginative time travel adventure, and it’s a shame we didn’t get more than just this. Well worth seeking out, though it may be a little hard to find now. It’s not on DC’s digital app, so hunt through those back issue bins and bargain boxes, folks! I can’t even remember if there was a trade paperback for this. But find her comics if you can.
DC recently released an omnibus edition of Pollack’s Doom Patrol, so at least that should be easy to find.
Anyway, I’m sorry to hear Pollack is about to leave us…I hope she’s still capable of knowing about all the outpouring of love and appreciation for the work she’s done.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking/talking about Rachel a lot lately too. I did not appreciate her Doom Patrol run as much as I should have at the time, but rereading it in 2020 (minus the last few issues, which I either didn’t buy or have been lost in the years since), it really holds up. And hits home for me (obviously) in ways it didn’t at the time–I get more of the jokes now, for one thing.
I’m really glad her run is back in print, and I wish DC would reprint Time Breakers! Those issues I cannot find!
There was also Pollack’s run on New Gods, as far as her comic work. I’ve known of people who disliked her Doom Patrol who had praise for her New Gods.
I guess my experience with her Doom Patrol run is similar to most. I thought it was a poor rip-off of Morrison at the time. I later reread it and got more from it. I still find it uneven in places, but it is very much worth reading and isn’t as similar to Morrison’s run as most everyone (myself included) seemed to think at the time. Time Breakers was an outstanding series.
Of course, she had an entire career outside of comic books writing genre fiction, and I’d recommend hunting down some of her novels and short stories. The short story “Angel Baby” (1982) is haunting.
Not to mention her many, many books on Tarot and philosophy. (Remember, she helped design the Vertigo Tarot deck!)
“Richard Bonk”
We need more people with sound effects for names!
“Rachel Pollack”
Geezus, that sucks. I’m not very familiar with her work. I imagine following Morrison on Doom Patrol would be like following Alan Moore on Swamp Thing, Frank Miller on Daredevil, or John Bryne on Fantastic Four.