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Monday, February 18, 2008

Monsieur Mallah (and Brain): Goodbye, Funny Man


He made us laugh. He made us cry. He brought us together as a nation, won us over with his amiable ways and extreme good manners, and made us root for the demise of that annoying Doom Patrol.

But it was the very special relationship Monsieur Mallah had with Brain, a brain in a jar, that really touched our heart. They said it could never work, this relationship between simian and organ floating in a glass case. And yet it did. That was Mallah's gift.

How do I feel about the death of Monsieur Mallah at the hands of Gorilla Grodd in Salvation Run #4? A bunch of emotions. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel just a little bit betrayed. But comics are simply a mirror into the real world, a world where talking gorillas wear berets and get beaten to death by other talking gorillas on strange hostile planets filled with forcibly exiled supervillains.

I'll get over it. Eventually.

14 comments:

  1. Rest well, little soldier.

    Rest well.

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  2. I'd be pretty upset about it if I believed it for even a second.

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  3. I agree with Mister Idiolect on this one. As far as I'm concerned, none of this nonsense "counts."

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  4. I very much hope it isn't true. I usually don't care about comic deaths, up to and including Steve Rogers, but it's rather sad to imagine comics without Monsieur Mallah running around out there with Brain.

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  5. *breaks down crying*

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  6. Which is the "annoying Doom Patrol?" Not the Morrison, right? That was the best Mallah ever.

    And whatever if he's dead. Brain was too good for him anyway.

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  7. "Brain was too good for him anyway."

    umm... Brain also carked it....


    Also, Ms. Superheroine? I wish to ask a question, but cannot find a contact email address to ask it, so will ask it here - I recently read Countdown to Adventure, and am curious to see what your thoughts are in relation to a long lasting rape and pimping scene of a male character in the second half of the issue. I thought it would have received more internet press than it appears to.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for you and many others promoting the problems with evil goings on of characters in the comic book world (there's certainly no lack of it), but surely there should be a gender balance in arguments in relation to said nastiness?

    Just curious...

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  8. I don't read Salvation Run.

    But I loved the Mallah/Brain death in Morrison's Doom Patrol. Wonderful and tragic as they finally reveal their true feelings.

    Besides, that issue quotes The Smiths' song 'Still Ill'.

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  9. The love of gorilla men and cyborg brains never truly dies - it just waits in a secret underground lair to come back and take revenge on us all.

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  10. You can't get more minority than evil gay monkey/brain love, and of course the Powers That Be kill them both.

    And I have no idea if I’m trying to be funny or not. :)

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  11. Do the deaths of The Brain and Monsieur Mallah [aka Pinky] officially count as gay-bashing?? I'm not trying to be sarcastic or funny, it's just an aspect of the story that's no one has brought up.

    As for Salvation Run, I'm a little annoyed by the gratuitous and illogical violence. Psimon gets killed by The Joker in #2 and his partners in the Fatal Five Shimmer and Mammoth do nothing??!?

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  12. Ze gun-totting French accented, gorilla in a beret is not gone forever.

    Amor will bring him back...you just wait...

    As ze gun-totting, French accented, zombie gorilla in a beret.

    ...just letting my imagination run there.

    puff

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  13. Anonymous12:02 AM

    Oh, please. They've died before. Their most romantic moments come right before some tragic scene (Doom Patrol 34, Outsiders...something). Heck, they've been dabbling in cloning; might not have been the Prime duo. Not to mention they are just to strange to get rid of permenantly.

    They're probably just hiding somewhere until DC gives them their own title. Or remakes the Doom Patrol, only without that annoying Mento guy.

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  14. Anonymous1:02 PM

    New Doom Patrol title starting in August, and the writer said Brain and Mallah are going to show up somewhere down the line. YEAH, BOI!

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