Scan barcode
A review by dantastic
The Multiversity by Grant Morrison
5.0
The Gentry are encroaching on the Multiverse and Nix Uotan, last of the Monitors, must assemble a force of the mightiest beings of the 52 worlds to stop them!
Okay, that's the bare bones of the plot but it's hard to write a teaser for this level of insanity.
Grant Morrison and I don't have the best track record. I loved All-Star Superman but Final Crisis did nothing for me. I either wind up loving their work or not knowing what the fuck is going on. The Multiversity is some crazy shit but it's coherent, awesome crazy shit. Grant Morrison is a DC historian and The Multiversity hits most of the stops on the map.
The story is bookended by Nix Uotan's plight against the Gentry, creatures from outside the local multiverse. The rest of the book is done in one tales set on different worlds in the multiverse. Without spoiling too much, Doc Fate's retro future 1940s, Pax Americana's Watchmen-like take on the Charlton characters, and Thunderworld's tales of Captain Marvel were easily my favorites. The stories were written so that any of them could be the starting point of a new title for DC. Of course, they have yet to take advantage of any of them in favor of churning out more Superman and Batman.
Grant Morrison always throws big ideas around and may be the heir of Jack Kirby in that regard. Hints of untold stories lie on every page. Each of the earths visited feels lived in and not just whipped up for one issue. Nuggets of DC history are focused through Morrison's lens and worked into something different. It's a Crisis made up of individual crises.
Easter eggs abound, from Enemy Ace being the one to discover Superman's rocket to Dino-Cop, the Savage Dragon analogue that gets a surprising amount of screen time. It's been a long time since Ultra The Multi-Alien has been seen. I might have to dig out Who's Who to identify some of the characters when I inevitably reread this.
The Multiversity is Grant Morrison's psychotic love letter/ransom note to the DC multiverse and comics in general. Five out of five stars.
Okay, that's the bare bones of the plot but it's hard to write a teaser for this level of insanity.
Grant Morrison and I don't have the best track record. I loved All-Star Superman but Final Crisis did nothing for me. I either wind up loving their work or not knowing what the fuck is going on. The Multiversity is some crazy shit but it's coherent, awesome crazy shit. Grant Morrison is a DC historian and The Multiversity hits most of the stops on the map.
The story is bookended by Nix Uotan's plight against the Gentry, creatures from outside the local multiverse. The rest of the book is done in one tales set on different worlds in the multiverse. Without spoiling too much, Doc Fate's retro future 1940s, Pax Americana's Watchmen-like take on the Charlton characters, and Thunderworld's tales of Captain Marvel were easily my favorites. The stories were written so that any of them could be the starting point of a new title for DC. Of course, they have yet to take advantage of any of them in favor of churning out more Superman and Batman.
Grant Morrison always throws big ideas around and may be the heir of Jack Kirby in that regard. Hints of untold stories lie on every page. Each of the earths visited feels lived in and not just whipped up for one issue. Nuggets of DC history are focused through Morrison's lens and worked into something different. It's a Crisis made up of individual crises.
Easter eggs abound, from Enemy Ace being the one to discover Superman's rocket to Dino-Cop, the Savage Dragon analogue that gets a surprising amount of screen time. It's been a long time since Ultra The Multi-Alien has been seen. I might have to dig out Who's Who to identify some of the characters when I inevitably reread this.
The Multiversity is Grant Morrison's psychotic love letter/ransom note to the DC multiverse and comics in general. Five out of five stars.