Danny the Street
| Danny the Street | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Doom Patrol #35 (August 1990) |
| Created by |
Grant Morrison Richard Case |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations |
Doom Patrol Teen Titans |
| Notable aliases | Danny the World, Danny the Brick, Danny the Island, Danny the Alley, Danny the Ambulance |
| Abilities | Teleportation |
Danny the Street is a fictional character in the DC Universe; a living, sentient piece of urban geography who can magically and seamlessly place himself in any urban landscape at will without any disruption to the surrounding environment and freely interact with any other sapient being through various forms of visual printing he can generate at will in his proximity.
He was created by Grant Morrison and Richard Case and first appeared in Doom Patrol #35 (August 1990).[1] His name is a pun on female impersonator Danny La Rue, as "La Rue" is French for "The Street".[2]
Fictional character biography
Danny is an actual street. A sentient and sapient stretch of roadway, he has long served as a home and haven for the strange and dispossessed. A super hero of sorts, Danny does possess several super powers, the most notable being teleportation. He is also able to integrate himself into a city's geography without causing any damage or disturbance; roads and buildings simply make room for him. He does this mostly at night, when no one is looking. Danny travels the globe, and sometimes beyond, happily looking for folks in need of shelter and friendship. Thus, it is possible to turn a corner on the way to work, and find oneself walking down Danny's pleasantly unfamiliar roadway.
Danny is an unusually flamboyant personality, having the mannerisms of an extremely camp homosexual male. Danny cross-dresses: his sidewalks are lined with typically masculine stores (e.g. gun shops and sporting goods stores) which are decorated with frilly pink curtains and lace. While Danny cannot speak in any normal sense of the term, he communicates with his residents via such means as signs in windows, type-written messages and letters formed out of manhole vapors or broken glass shards. He speaks English, heavily flavored with Polari, a largely antiquated form of slang spoken among British subcultures including some homosexuals. "Bona to vada" ("Good to see you") is his favorite way of greeting friends. His personality is based, at least partially, on British drag performer Danny La Rue.
Danny is kind and compassionate, and slow to anger. If pushed past his considerable limits, though, his wrath can be a terrible thing.
Danny first came in contact with the Doom Patrol when he and his residents were attacked by Darren Jones and the Men From N.O.W.H.E.R.E.[1] Jones' obsession with normalcy, and with enforcing his own "50s sit-com" worldview made Danny an obvious target. The struggle took Danny to downtown New York City, where the Doom Patrol investigated the disturbance. They worked hard to protect Danny and his residents, but it was ultimately the members of Danny the Street's Perpetual Cabaret that defeated Jones.
Danny has been a home to many oddities. In addition to the Doom Patrol and the Perpetual Cabaret, Danny housed Flex Mentallo, protecting the oddball hero during a mental breakdown following his first and only failure.
Danny was once able to teleport into the complicated, city-like environment of the Pentagon.
Evolving
Eventually, Danny left the DC Universe, and inhabited an alternate Earth. Pledging to protect and nurture the needy of all dimensions, he became Danny the World. Danny's friend, former Doom Patrol member Crazy Jane, later became a resident of Danny the World.[3]
In the pages of Teen Titans, during the One Year Later time-shift event in the DC Universe, a portal to Danny was seen in Dayton Manor; Crazy Jane was also seen through the portal.[4]
Danny was leveled in Doom Patrol #7 by Mister Somebody Enterprises. Crazy Jane managed to escape the destruction and fled to Oolong Island, carrying with her a brick taken from one of Danny's buildings, now carrying all of Danny's sentience, effectively making him Danny the Brick.[5]
The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Danny is re-introduced in Teen Titans #3 (January 2012).[6] Danny becomes a full member of the team and as a teenager himself, he performs spying work for Red Robin.
During the cross-over event "The Culling", Danny is presumed dead by the group. They find that he did not die, and is on a mysterious island with them in Teen Titans #10, but he later dies during the strain of returning the rest of the group back to civilization. However, it was suggested he survived, only as "Danny the Alley".
Rebirth
Danny shows up in DC Rebirth in Gerard Way's iteration of the Doom Patrol. Danny is revealed to have been reverted to Danny the Brick and is now only able to make words appear on his surface. Danny the Brick tours around the universe being carried by Crazy Jane. Danny the Brick and Crazy Jane then meet a man named "D", who uses Danny to kill a god. After this. Danny is able to become Danny the World; however, Danny does not pick up outcasts, but instead creates his own citizens.
Danny makes his comic book character Casey "Space Case" Brinke from Danny Comics become real to see what she would be like on earth. Danny later contacts Casey because he is being hunted by the Vectra, an evil alien race that wants to use him to make meat for cheap fast food restaurants, and wants her to reassemble the Doom Patrol.[7] He contacts her by becoming Danny the Ambulance. Casey and the Doom Patrol save Danny World and defeat the Vectra, and he becomes a member of the new team.[8]
While Danny is acting as Danny the Ambulance he still runs the ever growing Danny World.
References
- 1 2 Doom Patrol Vol. 2 #35 (Aug. 1990)
- ↑ Callahan, Timothy (2007). Grant Morrison: The Early Years. Lulu.com. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-615-14087-2.
- ↑ Irvine, Alex (2008). "Doom Patrol". In Dougall, Alastair. The Vertigo Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 61–63. ISBN 0-7566-4122-5. OCLC 213309015.
- ↑ Teen Titans (3rd Series) #32, 35-37 (See here for more.), Accessed December 20, 2007
- ↑ Doom Patrol #8
- ↑ Teen Titans #4: A Writer Makes Fun of His Artist in Print: see Booth's comment: "That was done to draw attention to Danny the Street. Who just teleported Bart and Solstice there from Antarctica. He showed up at the end of issue 3, and will appear again in issue 7 (I’m drawing him right now)." Accessed 3 January 2012.
- ↑ Doom Patrol #1
- ↑ Doom Patrol #5