DC/Young Animal: Milk Wars by Steve Orlando

DC/Young Animal: Milk Wars Reviews

• 
  Chad

  This was the first time I've felt Gerard Way has met the weirdness of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol series head on. It felt like an extension of that run. I think the difference is that the story is not only weird but coherent for the first time, and really, quite simple. An evil corporation called Retcon has brainwashed the world in various scenarios throughout each one shot through the power of milk. It not only does a body good, but also whitewashes the mind. I felt they really captured the spirit of those early 90's Vertigo comics with this crossover. Way also uses this to introduce some major changes to the Doom Patrol. If you like weird superhero comics, give this a whirl. You don't even to have read the previous Young Animal books.
  
  Received a review copy from DC and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
• 
  Lyn

  Let me just say this, first of all Swamp Thing will make any comic better, and second of all, if Swamp Thing says “burn me” as in take a toke of what I’m offering here, yes, I’m in.
  
  I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. No Swamp Thing, no third star.
  
  Yes this is wildly original and different, maybe too different.
  
  Reminiscent of Ira Levin’s 1972 novel the Stepford Wives, Retconn is an evil corporation that has turned wholesome milk into a mind capturing substance that steals your soul under the guise of happiness. DC heroes Wonder Woman has been lured into believing she is Wonder Wife and Batman has become a priest of the new world order. An imperfect copy of Superman is Milkman Man and he’s the enforcer of this imperfect perfection. Doom Patrol is there and THANK GOD, Swamp Thing.
  
  Maybe I would have understood it more if I knew the Young Animal imprint characters better, but the crossover was just too weird.
  
  Yes this is a subtle and clever social and political satire with meaningful commentary mixed in, breaking the fourth wall to have some fun with intellectual property discussion, but just too weird.
  
  
• 
  James DeSantis

  What in the fuck?
  
  That was probably my thought process 80% of the time here. So Milkman Man (Not a typo) is on a rampage. His quite little town of peacefulness is breaking down and it's up to all the Young Animal characters to come save the day. So this story starts with Doom Patrol and ends with them but inbetween get Shade, Mother Panic, and Cave all being a part of the overall storyline to stop our favorite heroes from being stuck in the retacon world.
  
  Good: It's very vibrant, craazy, and fun. It's never boring, that's for sure, and some of the solo stories are great. I loved the one with Mother Panic and Priest Batman. Also the ending was wacky as shit but I kind of loved it.
  
  Bad: The Shade Storyline was pretty bad, and the pacing was uneven to tell the truth. Also, very confusing if never read any of the single character storylines.
  
  Overall fun and crazy with a little topping of silly but it works. It's not great all the time, and some weak moments, but overall worth checking out. A 3 out of 5.
• 
  Dan

  When the first issue of the Milk Wars came out I grabbed it out of curiosity but wasn’t really anticipating much. We’re in the middle of DC’s great Metal, White Knight, and Doomsday Clock stories. But once I read the first issue I was amazed by the depth and meta commentary to such a degree that it has to be said DC is going through somewhat of a renaissance as of late (well the weird copycat new heroes they just came out with are still up in the air for a moment, but I digress...).
  
  Despite the duel titles of each of the five parts this story is firmly within the Young Animal imprint as most the stories revolve around each of its title characters. So all this to prepare you: it’s weird.
  
  The story itself is about a inter-dimensional “reality estate” corporation called Retcon that is trying to homogenize earth to sell off. The first part introduces everything, next three gets all the other characters to the third act, and the last part closes the story.
  
  But what makes this story so great is that it has a lot of meta commentary on creativity, sanitation of art, playing it safe, corporations over controlling nature, companies trying to “milk” a property for everything they can, trying to reboot everything, redeeming characters, feminism, and a lot more.
  
  Theres all kinds of fascinating pokes at the comic creators own company. In one part a characters cuss words are constantly edited out because it’s a shared title with batman (a general audience title). The main character bemoans this censorship and can’t wait till thing “get back to normal.” In another scene there’s literally a character being sacrificed and “stretched” to a cross with the “DC” logo on the nails being hammered in. The ending is also serves as a sort of jolt of creativity to open up new horizons.
  
  This whole story was weird and surprisingly layered. A lot of thought and creativity went into this to tell readers something about art and creativity.
  
  Every part isn’t perfect (multiple writers) but the beginning and end were very strong. For the shear thought and execution I’ll give it a five for me
• 
  Molly™☺

  60% | C+ | Good
  
  "We won't have you and your creative hair colours disturbing our neighbours"
  
  

  An evil corporation called RetCo, the power of milk and brainwashed superheroes makes for one wild ride

  
  
  Do you ever read something and think 'what the fuck was that'? Usually, I give a plot summary, but half of the time I didn't really know what was happening so I wouldn't be able to do this storyline justice. This book is so wacky and weird that I'm not sure how I feel about it. There are some funny moments and one-liners, and The Trinity are, well...Milkman man, Father Bruce and Wonder Wife each have their own, focused storylines, the best of which is probably Bruce's, and the weirdest Diana's. I'm not all too familiar with Young Animal (save for maybe Doom Patrol), and that's where the fatal flaw comes in. In order to get the most out of this, being familiar with DC's Young Animal seems to be a must. If you want to go on a unique journey and not understand what's happening, this is probably the book for you.
• 
  Alan

  Hell, after finishing this I'm astonished any mainstream comic book publisher had the guts to go ahead with this story. It is, in some ways, a criticism of most of the big money makers in this pretty small industry. At the same time, it gladdens my heart to see DC's Young Animal line embrace what made Vertigo great at its height.
  
  They set out to tell a good story. The story has a message, especially in the first and fifth installments, but above all this is a good story.
  
  You want to read a tale where you get an idea of how homogenized comic book characters could become if the corporate bean counters had their way? This is it. This tale takes on the concept of franchises, fan fiction, and everything that ties both fan fiction and franchise IP together.
  
  And, it does so without gratuitous sex and violence. I'm not a prude but sometimes those two are used as easy vehicle to get in satire, or for shock value (yeah, you Mark Millar, and arguably Garth Ennis).
  
  So, what I'm saying in brief is-
  
  Read This.
• 
  Wing Kee

  To love 'Milk Wars' is to fully embrace the manifesto of the Young Animal line.
  
  World: The art is beautiful, from Quietly's covers to the multiple artists for each 5 books in the series, it is a visual feast of the weird, odd, quirky and the other. The art is not normal, the biggest example being the Shade issue, it's different and the art really informs the odd and unorthodox nature of the event, it's a visual feast. The world building, where do I start? It's a meta textual, fringe, middle finger to the established cliches and tropes of the genre and an embrace for the other and the odd. The premise of the world is odd and the main villain is just as much. I am being vague because the world needs to be experienced to fully enjoy it. If you like different this world is it.
  
  Story: The story is suppose to be odd, it's suppose to be structured differently and not take cues from what's expected and normal or in the case of this event 'homogenized' this is a celebration of the other, the weird the odd and the different. It's interesting that I read this around the same time of watching Guillermo Del Toro's 'The Shape of Water' because both of these stories have exactly the same meta textual theme and the idea of embracing the weird and the other and it's a beautiful beautiful thing. I don't think this is a spoiler as all advertisement for this crossover has been focused on the three beautiful covers by Quietly and the 'homogenized' Trinity of Milkman Man, Faster Bruce, and Wonder Wife and it's this very over the top hyper focus on that time period that allows for this fantastic story to express it's voice in a very distinct way. Each issue may follow the same theme for 'Milk Wars' but each at it's core is about each of the Trinity and what each archetype represents and it's a call at them. I won't go into each cause that would spoil each Trinity for you but what each stand for is interesting and how it's twisted the most fun. I am rambling and ducking and weaving to avoid spoilers but man I have to much to say if you read the books, it's sooo good.
  
  Characters: This series takes existing achetypes and dives deep into what makes them what they are. This is not a look internally like Miller's Dark Knight books but rather a meta and external look at these iconic characters and what their message and image represents and how they are perceived and our reaction as readers. It's interesting and beautifully written. I've not talked about all the Young Animal books cause there's too much to talk about, there's the beautiful realization and embracing of the weird of all these characters and some truly out there concepts that change the status quo of these characters (Shade, Cliff, and Violet get huge status quo changing things). These characters and their depth and the focus on each of them in each issue are the core of the message and manifesto of this 'Milk Wars' and so tied into the story that it would be impossible to have this story without this beautifully weird group of characters.
  
  I love this event, it's odd, it's different and embraces the other. If you go into this expecting a manifesto meta book of the odd but still want a normal story structure you have the wrong mindset. If you go in waiting for a brain bending insane illogical all over the place ride that embraces the fringe you will love the hell out of this event.
  
  Onward to the next book!
  
  *read individual issues*
• 
  Brunò

  English/Spanish review:
  
  Umm. I really wanted to read this. I like the Doom Patrol a lot but I can't stand reading it since every single time cos I get a headache cos it's so fucking confusing. This wasn't the case. Well,a bit but I finally got what was happening.
  
  Milk Wars,apart from being strange is a crossover to present the characters of the Young Animal stamp to the common DC reader. It does a good job with some of the characters,others not so much since I don't know what they're powers or motivations were.
  
  
  
  The plot's fucking weird as usual with the Doom Patrol. I expected the same stupidness,it was,on the surface but I was surprised to see it's a political and social satire about correction. Crazy DC went on with it. Would love to see something like that more often.
  I wasn't a fan of some stories since it was really hard to get what the fuck was going on. My fave one was the one with Batman since with all that weirdness there was one not crazy character that helped pick up what's going on.
  
  
  
  Art's amazing. Loved the colour palette and the changing between artists through each issue. The designs for the Trinity made me want to read it so,great job with the cover.
  
  I had much fun with this. If DP books were a bit more chill with their weirdness like this one did and I could pick up what's going on more often I may be able to read it more.
  
  Español:
  
  Umm. Tenía muchas ganas de leer esto. Me gusta mucho Doom Patrol pero no soporto leerlo seguido porque me duele la cabeza al ser tan raro. Este no fue el caso. Bueno,un poco pero finalmente entendí lo que estaba pasando.
  
  Milk Wars,aparte de ser extraño es un crossover para presentar los personajes de la estampilla Young Animal al lector común de DC. Presenta bien a algunos de los personajes,otros no tanto mucho ya que no sé cuáles eran sus poderes o motivaciones.
  
  
  
  La trama es rarísima como siempre con Doom Patrol. Esperaba la misma estupidez,y sí,en la superficie pero me sorprendió ver que es una sátira política y social sobre la corrección. Raro que DC sacó esto. Me encantaría ver algo así usualmente.
  No soy fan de algunas historias ya que era muy difícil entender qué mierda estaba pasando,al final las entendes,pero siempre te cuesta un dolor de cabeza. Mi favorito fue el de Batman, ya que con todas esas rarezas había un personaje que no estaba loco y ayudó a entender lo que estaba pasando.
  
  
  
  El arte es muy zarpado. Me encantó la paleta de colores y el cambio entre artistas en cada número. Los diseños de Trinity me dieron ganas de leer este libro,gran trabajo con la portada.
  
  Me divertí mucho con esto. Si los libros de DP fueran un poco más relajados con su rareza como este y pudiera cazar lo que sucede con más frecuencia,podría leerlo más.
  
  
• 
  Shannon Appelcline

  This book's biggest problem is that it's a particularly ill-conceived crossover. You see it's the story of heroes suddenly trapped in a Retconned reality where everything is different. They have to figure that out and break free and then get a Cybernetic-eye telegram from Cave Carson and decide to go fight the Retconn Corporation itself. Oh, and there's always mind-control milk as a major plot element.
  
  Innately, that core concept is flawed because none of the authors produce Retconns that are that interesting. (The possible exception? Shade/Wonder Woman, which has her being Wonder Housewife.) And the pacing in all the books is horrible: there just isn't enough story to stretch out over the extended comic issues. But the big, big problem is that we see that same stupid, wrung-out story four times!!!
  
  The fifth and final issue is better, because it finally resolves the repetitive story, and it has big, big repercussions for Doom Patrol, which makes this an almost must-read for that comic. But it's a painful must-read.
• 
  Marcela

  As with all things Young Animal, this is spectacularly weird, and definitely not for everyone. But if weird comics are your thing, read the Young Animal titles. Then, if you've got a working familiarity with the currently-active DC Comics superhero roster, come back to this. It's work, and there is a somewhat limited audience that lands in the middle of that Venn diagram, but man oh man, is this worth it.
• 
  H. Givens

  I liked this more than the Grant Morrison stories other reviewers are comparing it to, I thought it it held together better and actually made a statement instead of just spiraling around its own references until it's meaningless. But I went into it not knowing any of the Young Animal characters and that was a bad decision, I wasn't invested so the emotional moments and reveals meant nothing to me.
• 
  RG

  Id loved the latest doom patrol volumes by Way but this was just all over the place. Sometimes I had no idea what was going on.
• 
  Cass Winters

  What a strange little series. We get to meet the Young Animal imprint characters alongside some messed up versions of our classic DC faves throughout. This was the weirdest series ever, but also one that kept me engaged. While the narrative sometimes felt disjointed, it still is just an entertaining little comic romp. Comics are meant to be fun and this sure the heck is.
• 
  Angel Torres

  For me, this is a 3.5 ⭐ series. It's fun, weird, intriguing and very original, but it also fails to fulfill it's own promise.
  
  The concept and ideas are amazing, it just needed a bit more crafting in the development and extra time in the oven for the rhythm and timing.
• 
  Adam Stone

  I couldn't force myself to finish this. It's kind of a Grant Morrison writes a silver-age story but gets sidetracked and forgets to have fun with it. It's a very self-aware and meta imagining of the Rebirth DC Universe colliding with the Young Animal imprint.
  
  I recommend it only to people who think Seaguy is a game changing work of genius.
• 
  Alex E

  You know that if it takes the combined efforts of the Doom Patrol, Cave Carson, Shade the Changing Girl, and Batman and the Outsiders to defeat a villain, the villain is going to be weird. Very weird.
  
  In Milk Wars, Gerard Way does his best version of Grant Morrison, but with his own spin on things. He employs much of the same types of tactics: Highly strange and mysterious villain(s), obtuse writing, likable heroes, and a penchant for dynamic splash pages. However, I think Way does a very smart thing by dialing back on all these elements a bit to make the plot more cohesive and easy for us to decipher. Where Grant Morrison would keep us in the dark for as long as possible until the end (usually), Way gives us a lighter version of that, allowing us to piece together the story and understand what is happening much easily.
  
  The villains are the corporation of "Retconn", who take characters or personalities and "reboot" them in order to "milk" their value as much as possible. And in order to keep them integrated into their new rebooted life, they drink mind controlling milk, which keeps them satiated. The aforementioned teams and personalities have to free Batman and Wonder Woman from the effects of milk, and defeat a rebooted version of Superman named Milkman Man, who only knows his rebooted life and nothing more.
  
  I think this was really a great read, filled to the brim with metaphor and allusion. It was a fun exploration and commentary on the comic book industry, and their frequent practice of rebooting characters without fully accounting for their past lives/history. When you treat the characters as real, which Way and Morrison do, then you view these types of reboots as a cruel and unjust practice -giving us the antagonistic plot of the book. On top of that, we have the amazing art team of Nick Derington, Dale Eaglesham, Aco and more, and you have yourself a good looking and entertaining book.
  
  Highly recommended for fans of the Young Animal imprint, or fans of Morrison-esque type stories.
• 
  Akshay

  This was a most conundrum inducing story/event/crossover for me as a comic reader generally and as a DC comic reader specifically.
  
  It was fun. But it was a bit dull.
  It was interesting and different. But it was kind of cheesy and derivative.
  It had great characters and dynamic moments. It had really convoluted and boring moments.
  It was quirky and amusing. It was plain silly.
  
  In the end: It was definitely more innovative and pushing into new territory than the average DC comic, which is why despite the above, it gets a positive rating from me.
  
  The comic was a great idea - DC's Young Animals line has been doing a great job with titles like Mother Panic, Shade and Doom Patrol and this series made me want to try out Cave Carson and anything else they bring in this line.
  With these stranger-than-normal titles and their corner of the world as the base, we got to see our mainstream trio of Batman-Wonder Woman-Superman (DC's Holy Trinity) being drawn into a weird-ass adventure the likes of which they probably would NEVER get to do in the main DCU.
  THAT made this a fun book. The concept of the Milk and the people behind the scenes orchestrating it all (no spoilers here!) and the way they were woven into the universe as a whole - I REALLY liked the concepts.
  And the characters all felt interesting and had their own voices and stood out almost across the board.
  BUT, something about the execution, the moments, the way it all played out... I don't know if it could have been done better, would it being longer/shorter a storyline have helped? I can't guess at this point what it was that kept a story that on the one hand felt like it SHOULD have been a bigger deal and had way more impact fun-wise but on the other hand despite all the high concepts and big-heroes and action, felt... decidedly middle of the road in the end.
  
  Nope. I take that back, let me rephrase that.
  This book was not overwhelming as some big events and nonsense tends to be (which was great!), it wasn't underwhelming and banal/cliched/derivative either - strangely this is a book that actually was just simply.. Whelming.
  I actually, honestly have no other way to describe it.
  
  Read it for something different and for some quirkiness and such and definitely if you're a fan of the Young Animals line - but I'm sad to say that despite all it's got going for it, this is not a must read for almost anyone.
• 
  Oliver Hodson

  Just love it. It's a thread thru Morrison's work from doom patrol, seven soldiers of victory and final crisis to just reinvent things and trust that readers can understand what's going on from a thematic knowledge of superheros rather than requiring an 'in-continuity' understanding.
  
  It also argues against the reboot and for the possibility of multiple story streams, character/IP death/retirement and just going back to Morrison's x-men fanboy trolling, urging everyone to just get laid, or at the very least just reset to enjoy reading comics.
  
  Sometimes it's a bit heavy handed but it does enough work to establish the satirical envrionment and rules for the humor and drama to work.
  
  The use of Wonder Woman here, the most prominent of the 'trinity' used, is wonderfully redolent with meaning and her send up 'wonder wife' is used effectively to muse on the problems with wonder woman's characterisation and the lack of imagination creaotrs have often displayed when using her. Seemingly intractible problems are faced and dealt with head on and I feel that there is more creative freedom and possibility available here for Wonder Woman than any other incarnation.
  
  I have mentioned Morrison twice and Way not yet. Gerard Way is the necessary person to play with the DC characters with the elan that Morrison did and it is necessary to prove that it is not just Morrison who can do it, so that the spirit of what is being done with the DCU here can spread and become a bit more of a template for creators, as much as we might always have supes and batman.
• 
  Brendan

  4.5
  
  Gerard Way brings more of the Doom Patrol into this crossover of the Young Imprint characters and DC universe. It's nice to see the label gain recognition into the larger universe, it's a great sign for the quality Way and the other writers have injected into the label.
  
  Why the 4.5?
  
  I liked the story and it was a nice addition to the label. I personally don't want another team-up with the DC world, just the label would've been cool. The added mixture of writers and artists aren't the greatest and some of the core styles were stripped out. I'm eager to continue with the universe and Eternity Girl's inclusion here was a nice touch for the next spin-off.
• 
  Venus Maneater

  Where heros familiar and new fight against everything we want them to be.
  
  They will be here for us, but they won't be perfect. They'll be human and flawed and weird.
  
  The weirdness stacks up high and all comes clattering down in the very end. I'll probably need to go over the entire Young Animal run once more to make more sense of it, but I feel like I kinda get it.
  
  However flawed the Young Animal runs are, they all come together nicely in this book. I'd advice any fan of DC to read this, if only for the insanely beautiful spreads it contains.
• 
  Ron

  DC has decided to go Retro! Well, sort of, in a manner of speaking. Part of the Expanded Multiverse has been "homogenized" by Retconn with the aid of Milkman Man and other transformed super heroes. The Doom Patrol and Cave Carson are some of the semi-forgotten super heroes that join the normal lineup. If you do not mind a bit of silliness, You are likely to enjoy Milk Wars!
• 
  J.R.

  Meh. This is one of those books that could have been spectacular, and even delivers some really great moments (for example: "There's something in my eye." - Cave Carson). But its a bit too disjointed to be constantly great.
• 
  Cassandra

  Gerard has no problem bringing a ton of originality to his art.
• 
  Owen Townend

  A superheroic fight against intolerant lactose. Strange but refreshing.
  
  Having read a few DC comic events in my time, I have come to find them thrilling in the moment but formulaic in the long run. Milk Wars, however, bucks this trend by being metaphysically silly throughout.
  
  To condense the multi-layered plot into a mere paragraph, a malevolent 'reality estate' agent named Retconn has determined to transform the likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman into squeaky-clean American stereotypes (i.e. Milkman-man, Father Bruce and Wonder Wife) through a mind-altering milk, in the hopes of making Earth Prime a more universally marketable product. Fortunately there remain some proud nonconformist heroes to save the day, including Doom Patrol, Mother Panic, Shade, the Changing Girl, and Cave Carson and his Cybernetic Eye.
  
  Milk Wars was in fact a way for DC Comics to lend their popularity and credibility to their latest imprint Young Animal. Writer and musician Gerard Way gathered together a motley crew of writers and artists who are keen to explore the more psychedelic side of the DC Universe. As it turns out, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm drawn to.
  
  While I came into Milk Wars cold and struggled to fathom these established outlier heroes and their stories so far, I did eventually ease into the gleeful madness and had a lot of fun. The artwork kept me more engaged even while the writing became a little too esoteric for my taste. Aco and Ty Templeton particularly impressed me with their bold physicality and dynamic panel design. As for the writers, I liked the groundwork laid by Steve Orlando and Gerard Way, the momentum of Jody Houser and the zany humour of Jon Rivera.
  
  Milk Wars isn't the kind of superhero comic every reader will gulp down but I reckon it is udderly brilliant in its lateral storytelling. If you've enjoyed Way's Umbrella Academy or Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the full collection) then I think you'll get something out of Milk Wars. Strong teeth and healthy bones, if nothing else.
• 
  Joshua Adam Bain

  After the end of Gerrard Way's Doom Patrol I was a bit disheartened by the lack of a big ending, but alas it wasn't the end as Milk Wars in a lot of ways the conclusion to the series. Although I wish Doom Patrol continued as a series cause it was brilliant in Ways hands.
  
  And you know what? I enjoyed the hell out of it. Was it perfect? Nope! But was it satisfying? Hell yes! The main downside here is that multiple titles means multiple writers. If Way had written the whole thing, it would have been great. Most of the books have a nice feel and flow well. The weakest link would have to have been the Shade issue. It was weird, which is fine when your reading a book called Milk Wars, but it was weird in a way that was a bit incoherent.
  
  I think having one artist for the whole thing would have made it much more cohesive imo. And if I had my pick it would be Nick Derington who was the artist on Doom Patrol, and for the epilogue of Milk Wars. His art is seriously to die for. So damn nice to look at.
  
  Overall this was great. Gerrard Way has an apparent love for Grant Morrison, so it has his quirky, out of the box flavour, but it never feels like a carbon copy.
  
  If you want a build up to this book I'd suggest reading Doom Patrol Vol 2: NADA first.
• 
  Patrick

  I don't know if I'm in the target audience or not. Full disclosure, I'm not familiar with any of Young Animal or the current JLA run. So I came in completely cold.
  
  And while it did often fascinate me, it didn't really entertain me much beyond that. In fact, a few of the later issues felt like a chore that I had to do rather than being a fun ride.
• 
  Shane Stanis

  Chrises on Infinite Earths
  
  I’ve been told that reading this before reading any of the Young Animal that came before might not have been the best idea. Still, I’m not convinced it would have helped much. Would it really explain the udders in the living room?
  
  Read for the best super being name, Milkman Man, the best bad guy corp name, Retconn, and a whole lot of nonsense.
• 
  Will Brown

  A crazy, zany Doom Patrol story that crosses over with the books being published under the Young Animal imprint (Cave Carson, Mother Panic, and Shade). If you’ve been keeping up with Gerard Way’s Doom Patrol this is a must read and a nice introduction to the other books as well.
• 
  gray (my.rainbow.bookshelf)

  Weird and wild and a whole of fun! I also really loved how this set up the evolved versions of the og series and introduced Eternity Girl :)
• 
  Aaron Esthelm

  Style wise it's a 5 but the way it flowed for some reason was super hard for me to follow and the conversations felt disjointed and long