Review # 15: "Wolverine and the X-Men 17"

Conspicuous by its absence in the AvX Companion, "Wolverine and the X-Men" #17 was a gap I absolutely had to fill because of one character and one character alone: Doop.

A green blob who could do well in a Slimer lookalike contest, Doop was created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred for their controversial-yet-brilliant re-launch of X-Force which later became X-Statix. He was cast as the strange, alien language-speaking videographer of the attention-craving superhero celebs, however mysterious aspects of his life were hinted at. We found out he was friends with Wolverine; we found out that he had discreetly killed several people; we found out that an entire hellish dimension exists within his body; we found out he can hold his own in a battle with Thor.

Oh, and in his spare time the spud bangs anything that moves... and a few things that don't.

So it was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser to say the least when Doop suddenly appeared manning the reception desk at the Jean Grey Institute. He made several funny cameos - sleeping in most of them - and would communicate through Doopspeak, often to seduce the adult women on campus. With Doop, though, there is more than meets the eye and it was only a matter of time until the curtain was pulled back.

Sure enough, Marvel brought Allred in for a one-shot to draw Doop as only he can, pairing him up with regular writer Jason Aaron to produce one of the funniest damn comics I've ever read. It's revealed that Logan had brought the green blob in to keep his ear to the ground and stop threats to the school before they even happen. So, off Doop goes battling a team of Nazi bowlers and sleeping with half of a school board. What follows is a relentless chain of hilarious events as Doop moves from one taxing situation to another with surprising cameos from Sabretooth, Deadpool, Satan and HOWARD THE DUCK along the way. As a finale, he attacks an internet-trolling nun.

Aaron and Allred pack a lot into 20 pop art-style pages. I already thought Aaron's writing was funny when needed, but this is several levels above the norm. Also, I love seeing these characters in Allred's oft-unappreciated nouveau-retro style. These two make a hell of a team and a Doop miniseries would be a Godsend.

Rating: 9.5/10

Now go spend 130 bucks on the X-Statix omnibus and read that too.