The Multiversity!

I pretty much stopped buying new mainstream comic books in 2007 after forty years of dutiful allegiance to some combination of Marvel and DC with a few Indy breaks thrown in. The dollar to entertainment ratio in the mainstream Marvel and DC books was becoming unsustainable and frankly the incessant rebooting allowed me to comfortably sever my longstanding following of venerable storylines and characters. But just as I was adamant that I wouldn't slavishly follow any comic book company again, so was I adamant that such a decision would not blind me to something which seemed especially tasty when it hit the stands. And that was certainly the case with The Multiversity. 

I was already a tremendous fan of Grant Morrison from his stellar run on JLA, so anything he hit the road with got my attention if not my money. The Multiversity with its wild abandon and ferocious support of alternate universes was just my cup of tea. Also it featured my beloved Charlton "Action Heroes" all duded up in their Watchmen-like finest in one of the issues. I bought that one when the series was rolling out and made up my mind then and there that I'd get the collected edition. I did and read immediately, though I think this is the first time I've discussed it here.  The first installment of the framework two-parter is a lusty introduction filled to the top with Morrison invention as well as some almost familiar faces. That rough and tumble Captain Carrot is a hoot and a half. 

In between the two frame stories there are several one-shots which nonetheless tie into the main plot. The device is a metatextual one in that it is by means of comic books themselves that the myriad universes within the vast multiverse communicate. Just as Barry Allen was inspired by the comic book adventures of Jay Garrick in the role of the Flash, so in this storyline comics serve as a means of coummnication as well as other things.  In Society of Super-Heroes we get a tasty pulp version of a superteam with members Doc Fate, The Atom, Immortal Man, Abin Sur the Green Lantern and Lady Blackhawk and her all female flight wing. They fight the predations of Vandal Savage who invades from another universe. All of this handsomely drawn by Chris Sprouse. 

The struggle then shifts to another universe in which heroism has fallen on hard times thanks to the valiant efforts of the previous generation which made the world safe. With the work of the superhero made obsolete on "Earth-Me",  the sons and daughters of the super types are given great power but no responsibility and live wasted lives filled with  self-aggrandizement in the form of feckless fashion, pointless parties, and endless gossip. The world of The Just as they dub themselves is much too much like our own world for my tastes. 

Pax Americana is what brought me to this wonderful project and it is the best of the lot. On this universe the Charlton heroes such as Blue Beetle and Nightshade fight for the benefit of the world and the United States. The President of the United States carries a powerful secret concerning the number "8" and when his bodyguard The Peacemaker shoots him down, we must learn what that secret is. Captain Atom is the only hero with powers and these make him aloof from mankind, able as he is to see the future as well as the past and present. Frank Quitely artwork in this story is simply magnificent.

Almost as good looking is Cameron's Stewart's artwork on Thunderworld Adventures which features Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family as they battle the latest scheme from the deadly Dr.Sivana. And if you think one Sivana was bad wait until you behold a veritable legion of Sivanas from across the multiverse drawn together for the ultimate evil plot. 

The Multiversity Guidebook is the most peculiar of the entries, being at once an adventure story featuring a science fiction of Batman come to a world in which little kid versions of the DC heroes prevail. We also meet Kamandi and his gang as they seek the answers in their own universe. In the middle of this book though is a map of the sprawling Multiverse as well as a guidebook to each of its "52" individual components. It's a whopping fun read this one is. 

Much more grim is Mastermen, the story of a universe in which the Nazis come into possession of the power of Superman thanks to a little rocket ship from Krypton. We see Hitler at his most primitive and we behold a world shaped according to his mad desires which lives for generations though Uncle Sam and his Freedom Fighters do eventually rise up to challenge their overlords. The artwork by Jim Lee is very well suited to this adrenaline-laced misadventure. 

Ultra Comics is the weirdest of the weird in that the comic book is also the hero. We've seen this comic appear in other universes and is presumed to be haunted. It's at once the means by which we encounter the adventure between its cover and the hero who proceeds with that adventure. It's as if Morrison as writing a sentient comic book in real time. It's weird but as drawn by Greg Mahnke quite handsomely done. 

The amazing saga wraps up in The Multiversity #2 which brings the story to a close of sorts as the enemy The Gentry are confronted as is their master. Heroes from across the broad Multiverse are drawn together to battle the menace and by the end we meet a new super team called "Justice Incarnate". It's a fund and rather exciting ending if one typically dense with Morrison's blend of text and meta-text. I heartily recommend The Multiversity -- you've never read anything quite like it before. I promise. 

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