Doomsday +1 #3
Published and © by Charlton, November 1975
Title: “The Peace Keepers”
Synopsis: Giant cyborgs charged with maintaining galactic peace come to investigate the Earth – and initially find humanity wanting.
Writer: Joe Gill
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Byrne
Review: This “all new” Charlton series doesn’t actually offer much in the way of new with this thinly disguised retread of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Of course, there’s a bit of a twist given that nuclear Armageddon has already occurred on this Earth. Oh, and there’s a thawed-out, primitive Goth warrior running around, vacillating between brutal attacks and philosophical musings. The ’70s were weird that way. The art, from a young John Byrne, continues to show more potential than polish. Yet, despite its shortcomings, Doomsday +1 #3 remains a fun outing.
Grade: B
Second opinion: “(Doomsday +1 is) all great fun if you’re under 10, but Joe Gill’s scripts are far too basic to engage an older readership, and it’s left to John Byrne’s crude but engaging art to carry the day.” – The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition), 2003
Cool factor: Byrne + Robots = Cool. This has long been a comic-book rule. (Hey, where have we heard that before?)
Not-so-cool factor: To level this series up, the creative team is going to have to find a new twist for the post-apocalyptic template.
Notable: This issue is reprinted, with interior panels used as a new cover, as Doomsday +1 #9.
Character quotable: “Let us examine the planet that can cause such eloquence in a savage … .” – One of the Peace Keepers, keeping an open mind
Editor’s note: This review was written May 7, 2021.
