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We3 eschews Morrison's usual complexity for a rather simple plot (at first). A secret military program uses domesticated animals as weapons - each having been converted into cyborgs with a specific purpose. Our story focusses 0n team We3 - a dog, a cat and a rabbit code named 1,2 and 3 respectively - who have been trained to work together by their human handler Roseanne. Faced with decommissioning, they escape and make their way "Home".
What could have been a touching tale turns into something else. Very much like the grotesque cyborgs in the story Morrisons tale is lost under a ton of allegory and unnecessary hamming. His prose is actually at its most effective when there isn't any. This isn't a backhanded compliment but a reference to the wonderful opening sequence and the escape scene in the first part of the book. There is a synergy to his vision and Quitely's artwork that translates simplistic moments into something bordering inspirational art. They are demanding sequences, with details and nuance crammed into every frame and are intensely rewarding when they come together. However, when there is exposition and conversation, Morrison rarely lets the art breathe. He resorts to unnecessary tropes - evil scientists, evil military, evil establishment, good animals. When the art and the initial moments of the story show such depth and complexity this sort of mustache twirling villainy and sappy sentimentalism feels a little hollow.
Notice a scene in the opening sequence - scientists are leading a senator around the secret establishment, giving him a tour of the research animals. A large colony of rats has been modified into a sentient cyborg organism capable of assembling engines within a period of 48 hours from scrap metal. During the course of explaining their capabilities to the senator, one of the scientists controls a rat with a drill fixed to its head and has it kill another. The carelessness he seems to be displaying with taxpayer money aside, Morrison has to embellish this pointless episode with a toothy grin of pleasure from the said scientist once the deed is done. Why did he have the rats attack each other? Because he's evil, of course. This sort of one dimensional morality is all we see from the humans in the story - the true depth of the bond between humans and animals, sometimes abusive sometimes caring is never examined. The episode itself demonstrates everything that is so wonderful about Grant Morrison and so horrible about him at the same time. His deep imagination, his wonderful approach to science fiction, his truly disturbing vision of the future - are all quite unlike anything else. However, with this we also see tried and tested tropes of villainy and the need to ram the subtlety home with something as jarring as what has already been described. The picture of a cyborg rat colony is horrifying enough. Mr. Morrision seems to underestimate the intelligence of his readers and underlines the event, circles it with a red pen and then draws arrows from all sides of the page pointing towards it. You get the picture, I assume.
When I look back on the book now, it seems a misguided little effort. A rough draft of a much larger epic journey. If Mr. Morrison ever reads this review (LOL!) here's an idea - Make this into a 60 issue series. Intersperse the lives and training of the animals as cyborgs with their lives as domesticated animals. Draw parallells and inferences. Dwell more on the military handlers - not as evil one dimensional characters but as humans doing what they believe is right - no matter the cost. Let them be aware of the cost. What is Roseanne's story? Located in between animals and cyborgs how do these animals interact with their own kind? There is a lot of material here that needs to be allowed to breathe - it could be a wonderful, genre defining series if ever written. I hope it happens.
We 3 is a sad little pastiche as it stands. It has moments of brilliance overwhelmed by Morrison's need to cram as much plot as possible into a hundred odd pages of story. What brilliance it does possess, however, it owes solely to the wonderful artwork from Frank Quitely and how he is so suited to bring to life Morrison's vision. Quitely's art breathes, exudes a brilliance and innovation that seems to synergise with Morrison's confused storytelling and leap out of the page at you. I haven't seen anything like it in a while - including their more recent collaborations like Batman Inc.
While Morrison has all the right ideas and makes the right noises, his approach to storytelling as always been unsubtle - cramming plot and exposition willy nilly over the book until your eyes start to swim with the implausibility of it all. We 3 needs a lot more restraint. And a lot more of those silent choreographed sequences - where Morrisons writing and Quitely's artwork synergise to create something truly beautiful.
What could have been a touching tale turns into something else. Very much like the grotesque cyborgs in the story Morrisons tale is lost under a ton of allegory and unnecessary hamming. His prose is actually at its most effective when there isn't any. This isn't a backhanded compliment but a reference to the wonderful opening sequence and the escape scene in the first part of the book. There is a synergy to his vision and Quitely's artwork that translates simplistic moments into something bordering inspirational art. They are demanding sequences, with details and nuance crammed into every frame and are intensely rewarding when they come together. However, when there is exposition and conversation, Morrison rarely lets the art breathe. He resorts to unnecessary tropes - evil scientists, evil military, evil establishment, good animals. When the art and the initial moments of the story show such depth and complexity this sort of mustache twirling villainy and sappy sentimentalism feels a little hollow.
Notice a scene in the opening sequence - scientists are leading a senator around the secret establishment, giving him a tour of the research animals. A large colony of rats has been modified into a sentient cyborg organism capable of assembling engines within a period of 48 hours from scrap metal. During the course of explaining their capabilities to the senator, one of the scientists controls a rat with a drill fixed to its head and has it kill another. The carelessness he seems to be displaying with taxpayer money aside, Morrison has to embellish this pointless episode with a toothy grin of pleasure from the said scientist once the deed is done. Why did he have the rats attack each other? Because he's evil, of course. This sort of one dimensional morality is all we see from the humans in the story - the true depth of the bond between humans and animals, sometimes abusive sometimes caring is never examined. The episode itself demonstrates everything that is so wonderful about Grant Morrison and so horrible about him at the same time. His deep imagination, his wonderful approach to science fiction, his truly disturbing vision of the future - are all quite unlike anything else. However, with this we also see tried and tested tropes of villainy and the need to ram the subtlety home with something as jarring as what has already been described. The picture of a cyborg rat colony is horrifying enough. Mr. Morrision seems to underestimate the intelligence of his readers and underlines the event, circles it with a red pen and then draws arrows from all sides of the page pointing towards it. You get the picture, I assume.
When I look back on the book now, it seems a misguided little effort. A rough draft of a much larger epic journey. If Mr. Morrison ever reads this review (LOL!) here's an idea - Make this into a 60 issue series. Intersperse the lives and training of the animals as cyborgs with their lives as domesticated animals. Draw parallells and inferences. Dwell more on the military handlers - not as evil one dimensional characters but as humans doing what they believe is right - no matter the cost. Let them be aware of the cost. What is Roseanne's story? Located in between animals and cyborgs how do these animals interact with their own kind? There is a lot of material here that needs to be allowed to breathe - it could be a wonderful, genre defining series if ever written. I hope it happens.
We 3 is a sad little pastiche as it stands. It has moments of brilliance overwhelmed by Morrison's need to cram as much plot as possible into a hundred odd pages of story. What brilliance it does possess, however, it owes solely to the wonderful artwork from Frank Quitely and how he is so suited to bring to life Morrison's vision. Quitely's art breathes, exudes a brilliance and innovation that seems to synergise with Morrison's confused storytelling and leap out of the page at you. I haven't seen anything like it in a while - including their more recent collaborations like Batman Inc.
While Morrison has all the right ideas and makes the right noises, his approach to storytelling as always been unsubtle - cramming plot and exposition willy nilly over the book until your eyes start to swim with the implausibility of it all. We 3 needs a lot more restraint. And a lot more of those silent choreographed sequences - where Morrisons writing and Quitely's artwork synergise to create something truly beautiful.