Multiversity

[Trout]

Spoilers. Seriously, spoilers for issue one of Multiversity, written by Grant Morrison.


[spoiler]Zenith Phase III, anyone?[/spoiler] I'm amazed by this. It's exactly why I've been complaining about Slaine for years.

I've always loved Morrison's work but I fear the shark has been jumped. But it's only a superhero comic. I expect I could just not buy it.

[The Adventurer]

Strange reaction. Because I actually enjoyed this first issue a lot. Lots of Crisis on Infinite Earths vibes.


It's definitely better then Slaine. Come on now

[Frank]

[spoiler]Zenith Phase III, anyone?[/spoiler]

Are there story/character specific parallels, or is it just full of the crossover event genre tropes [spoiler]Zenith Phase III[/spoiler] was referencing? I'd hadn't read Crisis On Infinite Earths when I first read [spoiler]Phase III[/spoiler] (and still haven't), so to me it just read like a piss-take of superheroes.

To this day, whenever a US comic writer or reader drops the name Crisis into a conversation, I wonder what Super Barrio or Dougie and Ivor have to do with the topic under discussion.

[Professor Bear]

The thing to remember is that your opinions are irrelevant as this comic is immune to criticism because it has one or two decent ideas that haven't been used in a comic in a few months - or at least in a comic from DC featuring a big corporation's intellectual properties (if you don't count that one currently coming out weekly from DC and the cosmic books from Marvel like New Avengers, F4, Thor, etc).  Those few ideas, even if they don't really go together, thus excuse the unoriginality of all the rest of it, even that major bit of the plot where a Superman analogue sits down to dissect a comic book on the internet just like Geoff Johns did years ago with Superboy Prime and was decried as a hack - now a genius like Morrison is doing it, it's actually original and fresh.

There, I have saved you all from having to read all the gushing reviews for this.  You've seen all this before, especially if you're an Alan Moore fan from 1984.

[Trout]

I'm going to re-read it, but it bothered me that it was so similar.

[spoiler]Heroes are gathered from parallel dimensions to fight ultimate evil. Already some worlds have fallen, amid terrible tortures. Only one hero escaped to tell the tale.[/spoiler]

[Frank]

[spoiler]Heroes are gathered from parallel dimensions to fight ultimate evil. Already some worlds have fallen, amid terrible tortures. Only one hero escaped to tell the tale.[/spoiler]

Aye, that sounds similar enough to warrant comparisons. I suppose you could argue that now, before US Morrison afficianados are given the opportunity to pick up [spoiler]Zenith Phase III[/spoiler] for $10, is the time to start strip mining his sophomore work for ideas. The order in which you experience books, films, or music really does influence your perceptions of whether one is ripping off the other, even if you know one was created first (see all those Dredd/Raid comparisons in reviews).

You could construe it as a spoiler of what US readers will perceive as the most significant component of Rebellion's re-release of Morrison's work for 2000ad.

[Professor Bear]

A helpful overview of much of the continuity-wank in the first issue: http://comicsalliance.com/multiversity-dc-comics-grant-morrison-annotations-part-1/

[Art]

[spoiler]Heroes are gathered from parallel dimensions to fight ultimate evil. Already some worlds have fallen, amid terrible tortures. Only one hero escaped to tell the tale.[/spoiler]

Crisis on Infinite Earths would be the template for both, really - it's very well trod ground for Morrison, who has Doom Patrol style villains ending the world every other story he does.

I'm enjoying it a lot so far though.

[BPP]

Arse-crackingly dull and boring. The propulsion through the story was deeply un-engaging, the 'turning up at the end of a fight' totally interest-defeating and the plethora of new/old/variant characters meant not having anything invested in any of them. Smelt fishy, like fan-service. 

[Colin YNWA]

Pretty good fun.

It was stand fare for G'Mozz, while you might well feel its tired and worn (well I did), I wonder how much of that is intended. Having read his Batman run one of the major themes was its all happened before and will all happen again. The cyclic world of comics. Therefore its not too much of a surprise that his last major work for DC - well setting aside his other long lost work that Wonder Woman book - so DCU then, is derivative of his first major DC story, [spoiler]Zenith Phase III a reworking of Crisis on Infinite Earths with British comic characters[/spoiler]... I worry a little about how accurate my dates are there but in my mind that's the right order?

If that's what he's doing it could all be very clever. The trouble is at the moment it reads like a comic we've read one hundred times before, all be it a very good comic we've read a hundred times before. Lets see how we go, I love me G'Mozz, with a love that is unhealthy and impure, so I have faith in him and look forward to seeing how this develops.

[Trout]

Yeah, I agree, Colin. I don't think it's actually bad, just familiar. I felt kind of cheated but I'll stick with it and see where it goes.

Mind you, Doom Patrol buys him a lot of patience from me. Fucking incredible book.

[Link Prime]

I genuinely hadn't intended on picking this up, but read it due to a kind digital donation from my cousin at the weekend.
I wasn't blown away, and it did indeed have a bit of a Zenith flavour.
Strong artwork though, and it had some (to be expected) nice Morrison touches.

I was instantly reminded of The Lloigor by the series villains- seems like someone over at Bleedin' Hack was too; http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/08/25/is-the-big-bad-of-multiversity-the-big-bad-of-zenith/

[Link Prime]

*META* Double Post

I'm sure most of ye have noticed already, but Comixology have a huge sale on corresponding with the release of Multiversity.
Classics like Crisis, Kingdom Come, Final Crisis, Red Son etc.

I picked up a few Elseworlds graphic novels I hadn't read for €0.89 each- Gotham by Gaslight, Red Rain, In Darkest Night & Justice Riders.

Bargain.

[Art]

Every time Morrison does an apocalypse or introduces weird multi-dimensional creatures he's ripping off his Zoids run. :-)

[JamesC]

I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure how original it all is but it was certainly worth the cover price and it looks like things are going to get much wackier before it ends.
I really like President Superman and would buy the comic just for him.