Whoever heard of a robot going home? 
- — Police Lt. Briar
Doom Patrol #103 is an issue of the series Doom Patrol (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1966.
Synopsis for "The Meteor Man"
80 miles above the Earth, the Meteor Man burst through the side of a rocket, threatening the lives of the Doom Patrol and Mento. The resulting hole was plugged by Cliff's torso (hammered into place by Rita's giant fist), preventing any more oxygen from escaping from the rocket. Larry then sought to land the damage rocket, all the while remembering the events that had led up to that moment.
Professor Randolph Ormsby had joined the Chief and the Doom Patrol on "Operation Shooting Star". Ormsby was a hypochondriac who sneezed and coughed constantly. Mento also joined the group and the rocket took off on its mission to study a giant meteor, which they hoped would help them unlock the secret of Earth's own origin. Larry was worried about the radiation (because of what had happened to him to cause him to turn into Negative Man), but The Chief insisted that the ship was much more heavily shielded than his jet fighter had been. The rocket soon came upon the meteor they were to study and the began taking measurements with their sensitive instruments. Ormsby, manning the "Big Ear" that analyzed cosmic rays, sneezed and accidentally hit the control to full power, which directed the entire stream of cosmic rays from the meteor into him. Before Cliff could turn the device off, Ormsby had changed, growing into a flaming giant with an iron core ... a living meteor. After Cliff failed to restrain him, the "Meteor Man" burst from the rocket. The rocket began shaking tremendously, and seemed to cause a hatch to open. As Mento tried to close it, he found it pushed back out, by none other than Beast Boy (who had stowed away aboard the ship). Beast Boy changed into a large elephant to help stop Cliff from vibrating his way out of the hole he was plugging up. Meanwhile, the Meteor Man had landed on Earth and began a rampage, though it was interrupted by sneezing fits (and now his sneezes caused a fiery fallout). The Doom Patrol landed safely and investigated the damage the giant had caused, finding the word "help" written out in giant smoking letters on the side of a hill, indicating that some part of Ormsby was still in control of the Meteor Man.
The Chief's first plan of attack was to have Larry bomb the Meteor Man with shells filled with carbon-dioxide foam to snuff the creature's flames. It worked temporarily, but started cracking allowing oxygen in to re-ignite the Meteor Man. Cliff then taunted the giant, who chased him and fell into a pit that had been dug by Rita and Mento, who then buried the Meteor Man quickly, hoping to put out his fires and buy them time to find a cure for his condition. The giant still gave off enough heat to make Cliff's feet begin to melt on the ground above his prison, and the heat turned the silicon deposits in the trap to glass, which cracked and exploded with the Meteor Man's next sneeze. The Chief had Larry release Negative Man, who sped to Steve (Mento) Dayton's mansion and retrieved his giant Brain-Wave Transmitter. While they waited for Negative Man to return, Mento created a wall in front of the Meteor Man, which slowed the creature down but also drained the hero. With the Transmitter, Mento's powers were vastly increased and he was able to levitate the giant off the ground, which caused him to shrink and burn out. The Meteor Man, deprived of contact with the ground and iron ore, quickly reverted to Ormsby.
Appearing in "The Meteor Man"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Meteor Man (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mento's Butler
- Mento's Maid
Locations:
- Outer Space
- Unnamed small town
Items:
- Carbon Dioxide Bombs
- High Voltage Transmitter
Vehicles:
- Space Rocket
- Jet Bomber
Synopsis for "No Home for a Robot"
The Chief is still searching for the missing Cliff Steele, who was acting like a criminal because of some loose wires in his robotic head.
Cliff had gone to visit and hopefully hide out at his brother Randy's house. Randy was not sure that Cliff should stay, but his wife Helen welcomed his brother with open arms. Randy did manage to get Cliff to leave, but as he did, Cliff noticed that Randy's house was being cased by a couple of unsavory-looking characters. When Randy left with the two hoods, Cliff followed them to Davis Experimental Industries, where Randy worked. Randy and the thugs walked past numerous top secret weapons and projects, finally stopping and picking up a pair of special jet packs. Cliff also overheard the thugs tell Randy that since he had kept his end up, they would call his house and have his wife released. Once the word was given that Helen was safe, Cliff charged in, but the rocket packs allowed the criminals to easily evade him.
Meanwhile, the Mayor was after Lt. Briar to find the runaway robot, and placed a news story revealing that Dr. Niles Caulder had actually created Robotman in the paper. Cliff had sworn revenge on the man who had put him in his metal body, but he first planned to assist the flying crooks in their robberies, so that Randy wouldn't be implicated if they were captured by the police. Cliff did manage to keep the police off the thugs' trail, and then tracked them back to the experimental factory. There the crooks held Cliff off for awhile using the variety of high-tech weapons, including a powerful laser and a new tank. He captured the men and forced them to call the police and explain that Randy had been forced to work for them.
Briar had set up a trap to destroy Cliff outside the factory, but the Chief's quick thinking alerted him to the problem and he was able to get away. Randy patched Cliff's body up, and Robotman left his brother's home right before Lt. Briar forced his way in to search for the missing robot.
Appearing in "No Home for a Robot"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Randy Steele, Cliff's brother
- Helen Steele, Randy's wife
- Lieutenant Briar, a cop trying to arrest Robotman
Antagonists:
- Two unnamed crooks
Notes
- No Home for a Robot concludes in Doom Patrol #105, part of the Robotman Unchained storyline:
- Doom Patrol Vol 1 100: Robotman -- Wanted Dead or Alive
- Doom Patrol Vol 1 101: The Lonely Giant
- Doom Patrol Vol 1 103: No Home for a Robot
- Doom Patrol Vol 1 105: The Robot-Maker Must Die
Trivia
This issue featured the first appearance of Cliff Steele's brother Randy and his family (who wouldn't return to the fold until the third Doom Patrol series).
- The first feature is printed in two parts:
- Pt. I, The Meteor Man
- Pt. II, The Blazing Behemoth
- This issue is reprinted in Doom Patrol Archives Vol. 3.
See Also