Doom Patrol #5

The Good: While the cover is decidedly boring compared to he previous two, there's some very subtle symbolism concerning the placement of characters that becomes apparent by the end of the issue brilliantly.
The characters get some great development and showcasing here; the Doom Patrol are really given time to shine. Everyone gets little moments to further flesh out their personalities. Special mention goes to Fever and Negative Man. Fever really showcases her empathy, without being over dramatic or annoying. Negative Man demonstrates various moments of insight that shows that he's not the shallow airhead he pretends to be. He makes some of the most intelligent decisions in this issue, and really made me warm up to him a bit.
Because this is 'Doom Patrol,' it's not something every hero can handle. Only the Doom Patrol can handle Doom Patrol threats. Case in point in this issue where Jost's Doom Patrol, made up of more experienced and known heroes, Justice League type guys. And they go in, guns a blazing as they're used to, and it comes back to bite them in the ass. Hard. The 'real' Doom Patrol tries to take control of this fight, but Jost's Patrol looks down on them, when in the end it's the 'real' Doom Patrol who are far more effective, thus proving that they are in fact the 'real' Doom Patrol. Doom Patrol should ALWAYS be made partially of brand new character. The Doom Patrol is practically the definition of a cult appeal superhero comic.
The story is DEFINITELY weird. There's a lot of overt strangeness, with some good subtle strangeness thrown in for good measure. It may not be as deep and metaphorical as Morrison's, but frankly, it's pretty strange, and that's enough.
And while the story itself is strange enough, the real kicker comes at the end. The issue ends with a huge bizarre shocker, and that really solidifies this as Doom Patrol. This series has finally reached the point where it is definitely weird enough to join the hallowed halls of Doom Patrol greatness.
Speaking of the story, the villains have some incredibly awesome and varied designs. I was absolutely blown away by how cool Nao Yut looked, and his demons certainly weren't any slouches either, and despite how little the others did, they still had designs that were so well thought out that there wasn't any overlap at all in their designs, yet there was clearly some sort of unifying theme. There were other little touches in the edges of some panesl, and the wild ambient symbols in the rituals, and the random words in some other language... This comic just looked so cool.
While, despite the weirdness, the story is still fairly straightforward, there's some very specifically noted loose threads that make this still a bit of a mystery. This is very clearly set up to be something to get back to later in the series, and I can't wait. There's enough here to keep me guessing.
 
The Bad: While I do like the hidden symbolism in the cover, overall its just not as clever and well laid out as the last 2, which were incredible. It mostly looks like a pretty standard action pose cover.
 
In Conclusion: 5/5
I might be a little generous with that score, but I have to give this issue props for really kicking things into gear, and showing just what that last spark you need to be a real Doom Patrol comic. It had awaesome awesome villains in awesome awesome combat, a story that's pretty odd compared to the norm, and ending that's pretty shocking due to its seeming out-of-left-field nature even though its pretty cleverly foreshadowed, great character depth and emotion, and the defining qualities of a Doom Patrol comic. I've been really enjoying this series, but this issue especially really kicked things into full gear. If you enjoyed this series decently but were waiting for it to be a 'true' Doom Patrol series, THIS is where it really happens.