Words and pictures, pictures and words
Deep Dives of DC comics
With the famous "The Coyote Gospel" in Animal Man #5, Grant Morrison has directly introduced the idea of levels of existence through fiction, that is, the idea that fiction is the creation of another fiction is the creation of another fiction, which ultimately makes it all real. Morrison writing Animal Man is a story for … Continue reading Animal Man Part 2: Crisis Control
The true genius of Crisis #11 is this: It’s the step in between. We don’t generally see things like this in comic book storytelling. Look at the transition from Flashpoint to the New 52, for example. One minute it was the old universe, the next it was the new. There was no step in between … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 11
Context If Grant Morrison has a primary overriding theme in his work, it's that fiction is real, it simply exists on a different plane of existence than we do. Taken a step further, this means that everything is real, and that we are currently living in something else's fiction. It's metafiction taken to its ultimate … Continue reading Animal Man Part 1: Really Real
I didn’t buy Crisis as it was coming out. I started buying it a year later, only because I’d discovered Who’s Who in the DC Universe and it was referenced repeatedly in every issue. The death toll alone made it sound like the most epic story ever told. I think I was 12 then and … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 10
If you were to point to any single issue in this series and say “here is evidence that Wolfman and Perez were tasked with showcasing as many characters as possible before most of them are erased (have you noticed a theme in these reviews?),” this would be the issue. Because for even the most tried … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 9
Behold, the birth of a super team! Picture it: Firestorm, Firehawk, Vixen, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, Red Tornado, and the Atom (if you want a larger team, you can even add on John Stewart and Blue Devil). The way they come together in Crisis #8 is so great and reads so much like an origin story, … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 8
This is one of the big ones. This is where things get real. But let's start small. I've noticed a trend in comics lately: more words. It's cyclical, I suppose, although the evolution in the past few decades has been fewer words on the page, not more. But more captions and longer speeches appear to … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 7
I love Crisis on Infinite Earths. I think I’ve probably gone into detail as to why that is. I will also admit that it has flaws, a great number of which stem from the fact that this series is trying to do a lot of different things at once. There are times when the pushing … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 6
I admit that this issue is an incredible let down from #4 and, in many ways, it’s totally unnecessary. When I thought back on this series I actually forgot this issue entirely — I went from the events of #4 to the events of #6 in my head. There’s really not a ton of value … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 5
This is where we start getting some forward momentum. We’re building towards the “Big Bad.” The Monitor is gone. And, ultimately, the heroes are failing. But that’s the point. They keep fighting because they are heroes. Even looking ridiculous with that headband, Supergirl shows herself to be a true hero, an inspirational hero. And how … Continue reading Commence Ouroboros: DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Part 4
