Brotherhood of Dada

The Brotherhood of Dada is a group of fictional characters in the DC universe. Enemies of the Doom Patrol, the Brotherhood is devoted to all things absurd and bizarre, taking their name from the Dada art movement. Though they would be considered villains by most definitions, the group is not, in reality, evil (hence the decision to rename themselves from the Brotherhood of Evil), but simply aloof; they are perhaps best described as anarchic rogues.The group first appeared in the September 1989 issue of "Doom Patrol", # 26 of the second series. The Brotherhood of Dada was created by Grant Morrison.Citation | last = Jimenez | first = Phil | author-link = Phil Jimenez | contribution = Brotherhood of Dada | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The DC Comics Encyclopedia | pages = 62 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = London | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4119-5]

History

Mister Morden, first name unknown, longed to reform the Brotherhood of Evil. He underwent a series of experiments that turned him into Mr. Nobody, gaining the ability to sap the sanity of other beings. He then traveled far and wide, ultimately gathering together Sleepwalk, who had vast strength only when sleepwalking; Frenzy, a large, garishly-dressed dyslexic Jamaican man who could transform into a whirling cyclone; Fog, who could absorb humans into his being when in his gaseous form; and the Quiz, a Japanese woman who literally had "every superpower you haven't thought of yet" and who wore a hazmat suit at all times due to her pathological fear of dirt.Citation | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = Doom Patrol | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia | pages = 61-63 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = New York | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015]

The Brotherhood stole a magical painting and used it to transport Paris into an alternate universe. Their plan was foiled by the Doom Patrol, but they chose to remain in the strange alternate realm.

Later, Mr. Nobody escaped from the painting with the help of four members of his new Brotherhood: Agent "!", who could blend into any crowd; Alias the Blur, the ghost of a mirror that can eat time; Number None, everything that goes wrong in a person's day; and the Love Glove, whose power depends on what glove he wears. They stole the bicycle of Albert Hofmann, and used its lysergic resonance to power Mr Nobody's presidential campaign. However, the US Government sent another super-powered agent after them. Despite the best efforts of the Doom Patrol, the Brotherhood members were killed and the painting destroyed, presumably killing the members who had elected to remain there. The only member left is the Toy, who was late for the meeting.

In "Infinite Crisis", members of Brotherhood of Dada joined the Society headed by Alexander Luthor. ["Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files"]

Members of the First Brotherhood

The Fog

Byron Shelley gained the ability to turn into a psychedelic death cloud capable of absorbing people. The people he absorbed could still communicate, and the voices started to drive him mad. After he absorbed Doom Patrol member Crazy Jane, she and her multiple personalities traumatized the people inside him.

Frenzy

Lloyd Malcolm Jefferson was an illiterate man whose mother had abandoned him. He wore a garish outfit covered with symbols, a top hat with a green flower, and two bicycle wheels on his back. He could turn into a living cyclone.

Sleepwalk

Holly McKenzie was a British girl who had tremendous power, but only when she was asleep. To avoid waking, she took sleeping pills and wore headphones that played Barry Manilow. She had the outlines of two faces painted around her eyes.

The Quiz

A Japanese woman with a fear of dirt, The Quiz had every power you hadn't thought of. To make her lose a power, you had to shout out its name. Because of her fear of dirt, she wore a long gown/gas mask that was decorated with question marks similar to the Riddler's outfit. The powers she exhibited were: flight, mimicking appearances, turning people to glass, turning back time, dematerialization, making things large, turning people into toilets filled with flowers, and the power to make escape-proof spirit jars.

Members of the Second Brotherhood

Agent "!"

Known otherwise only as "Malcolm," a homeless man who dressed in a garish outfit decorated with exclamation marks (possibly referencing his predecessor, the Quiz) drawn back to reveal his chest is actually a gilded cage containing a miniature jet with bird-like feet. Despite his odd appearance, he "comes as no surprise," which allows him and anyone around him to be unnoticed or any attacks made by them to be seemingly out of nowhere. He mentions his desire to find the element of surprise, which may mean that his powers of "stealth" are not what he wants; Malcolm finds the element at last when dying during the final battle between the Brotherhood and the government.

Alias the Blur

Ilse Krauss, an actress, falls in love with her own reflection. As she gets older, the reflection changes, and Ilse's madness drives her to believe that her reflective lover had been kidnapped and replaced; in retaliation, she scars the mirror with battery acid, before shooting herself. Ilse is left in a coma on life support in a Bremen hospital. The dead, destroyed mirror ends up in a junkyard before eventually it is awoken by the dream-vibrations of Mister Nobody; Alias the Blur awakens, a fractured monster-ghost with the ability to eat time. Alias the Blur follows Mister Nobody on the campaign trail to win the presidency before the battle with John Dandy, when it was freed of its tortured existence and Ilse finally died.

Number None

Number None, also known as the Secret Identity, is neither a specific person or thing. Number None is anything or anyone that can get in your way. As Mister Nobody put it, "Everybody and everything, at some time or another, is Number None." It first appears as a door that Agent ! walks into, signaling its joining of the New New New Brotherhood of Dada. It is never officially killed, because it is unclear if it can be.

The Love Glove

Bobby Carmichael is obsessed with the Sixties, a spends much of his time hanging around in record shops or going out to clubs until one night, when he experiences a wet dream about the "Glove Tree," a mysterious tree with gloves instead of leaves. Upon waking from the dream, he finds his arms gone, but in place of his right hand is a hovering red glove with a gritty texture. It is the Love Glove from which he takes his name, and he can use it like a normal arm, but can also extend the distance beyond arm's length. The glove grants Bobby the ability to revisit the Glove Tree through a day-glo space vortex, and use any of the left-handed gloves on it. Some of the other gloves used are the Shove Glove, which possesses enormous strength, and the Techno Glove, which grants him mechanical knowledge and expertise.

The Toy

The Toy is the only member of the Brotherhood of Dada left alive. She was late (as always) to the rally where her teammates were killed. Her origin and powers are unknown, but she has a distinctive look: the lower half of her face is locked behind something similar to Hannibal Lecter's mask, only combined with a Mister Potato Head. A set of plastic lips have been affixed to the mask, and a set of toothbrushes have been grafted on as ears. She wears a shirt that says "Play with Me" under a vest with pronounced shoulderpads.

References