There's a dreamy, surrealist quality to the splash of the Legion hovering just outside of Earth while it gets torn apart by the black hole. It evokes the Silver Age's free-spirited approach to rendering fantastical scenes in a good way (more on how the Silver Age homage doesn't work later.) Maybe it's a silly thing to focus on, too, but the part where Robotman gets in trouble for checking Saturn Girl out was a fun moment. It was definitely fit Cliff's characterization as simple blue collar guy who's in over his head in these fantastic scenarios.
The Bad
I realize this is supposed to be a throwback to simpler stories from the Silver Age, but it comes off as hokey rather than charming. The Legion, for one, seem awfully calm about their entire planet being destroyed and then they just show up in the Doom Patrol's living room, basically. There were a lot of quips throughout this issue and most of them fell flat, and, even though I'm sure it had to be tongue-in-cheek, the cliffhanger seemed almost intentionally uninteresting. Come back next month to find out where the pink kooshball came from and why Dr. Caulder's day was so bad? Seriously? Also, I like Saiz's art usually, but I think he was having trouble with the hopelessly-dated costumes here. The DP and the Legion really did look like they were wearing ill-fitting pajamas.
The Verdict - 2/5
Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but I wasn't feeling the retro romp this issue is supposed to be. JMS and Saiz have done much better work, but it seems like they were phoning it in, here. This does feel like a Silver Age comic, but more like the kind that would be goofed on in some snarky column.
