SeaGuy! What Did I Just Read?

[atlcane]

I'm really confused. Maybe it is because I was tired while reading the trade Paperback fo the First three issues. Could anybody explain what I just read? While parts of it were entertaining, like Seaguy and Chubby on the boat together stranded in the ocean, I felt like I was on the outside of an inside joke the entire time. Can someone explain the story to me? Thanks.

[Turd_Ferguson]

The whole story (especially the ending) is weird for weird's sake. I am yet to see a good explination of what happened at the end. That doesn't mean it's bad or anything, it's just weird.

[Bat-Mite]

It's not weird for weirdness sake.

It's is incomplete, which explains why it's hard to grasp.

But mostly, it is a story about a superhero trying to have an adventure is a world that hates, rejects and just plain mocks superheroes. It's a world where superheroes are not even allowed to have adventures, and if they let one little superhero have one, they make sure the status quo is as close as it always was when it is over.

What comes after this? I dunno, but I hope it gets published someday.

[RedBaron]

Interesting premise, wonderful world, weird characters, but the pacing was just terrible.

In three issues, you get jumped around so much, with little or no context for the characters and events, that it is just weirdness for weirdness' sake. I get the same vibe from the first issue of Vimanarama too. He seems to like running at breakneck speed through weird things, with half handed explanations and little reflection. In Seaguy, because it is only three issues so far, the story never really comes together.

I enjoyed reading it, and will read any subsequent issues, but when I was following the issues on a monthly basis, it really was frustrating.

[atlcane]

Thank goodness I am not a lone. I doubt I would pick this book up if I saw it on the shelves.

[stealthwise]

Yeah, Morrison's stuff here is not for everyone. At times he seems to be deliberately obtuse and you have to re-read some of it several times to make any sense out of it.

[The Dosadi Experiment]

sweet jesus I'm not the only one here.

I just finished Seaguy myself and I just shrugged because it's just a bumbled mess. The transition between the first and second and third chapter are just non-sensical for the sake of being non-sensical.
It changes direction the very moment a direction has been picked and presented. We're off to discover why the moon cries meteors that are bricks with hieroglyphs on them... no wait, drop that, we're now doing something different without any reason as to why we stopped following the first path.

Reading through reviews of this series it's basically people fawning over the product, giving it rave reviews just because of the name attached and the fact that they probably don't understand it themselves. It's weird, non-sensical, therefore it must be deep and meaningful.

The theme that comes up every so often, is that Morrison wants you to question everything. Which is ironic, as the reviewers who mention this fact are so eager to dismiss their own mind, refuse to question, and just praise it without any concern for questioning the actual product in it's totality.

The only thing that I got from it is that it's one long senseless trip into madness. It's weird for the sake of weird. Seaguy is a pawn, and his insanity is orchestrated from the very first page.

[Paul McEnery]

I'm really confused. Maybe it is because I was tired while reading the trade Paperback fo the First three issues. Could anybody explain what I just read? While parts of it were entertaining, like Seaguy and Chubby on the boat together stranded in the ocean, I felt like I was on the outside of an inside joke the entire time. Can someone explain the story to me? Thanks.
Sure thing.

The book is like a 60s kid's show, because that's what it's like in Seaguy's head, because that's what Mickey Eye wants everyone to think like, because Mickey Eye likes a nice docile society that keeps buying Mickey Eye product (which is why She-Beard's so disgusted with the men around the place), because Sea-Dog made a compact with a butterfly demon years ago to take over the world.

Along with all the heroes, the mysteries of the world are all being tamed and put to use by Mickey Eye (i.e. Sea Dog) to keep the Status Quo shipshape. This extends even as far as the bug on the moon.

Now, this means Seaguy's trip to the moon was all in vain; however, the middle bit with the Xoo means that something out there has escaped Sea Dog / Mickey Eye's power. And Seaguy still has the naive moxie to take on the Gondolier. And She-Beard is still unsettling the balance of power between Sea Dog and Vertzebelion. So there's still everything to play for!

[The Dosadi Experiment]

Sure thing.

The book is like a 60s kid's show, because that's what it's like in Seaguy's head, because that's what Mickey Eye wants everyone to think like, because Mickey Eye likes a nice docile society that keeps buying Mickey Eye product (which is why She-Beard's so disgusted with the men around the place), because Sea-Dog made a compact with a butterfly demon years ago to take over the world.

I followed you all the way until the demon butterfly... was it revealed that the butterfly was a demon who had made a pact with Sea-Dog... because I can't remember anything like that at all. As in, not even a single clue that the butterfly is even remotely a demon or that they made a pact.

Along with all the heroes, the mysteries of the world are all being tamed and put to use by Mickey Eye (i.e. Sea Dog) to keep the Status Quo shipshape. This extends even as far as the bug on the moon.

agreed, that much I could get from it all. Although the difference between the mummy and the bugs was a bit vague, was the mummy a good guy who had decided to rebel against Mickey Eye, or was he never part of Mickey Eye to begin with, or were the bugs behind Mickey Eye?

Now, this means Seaguy's trip to the moon was all in vain; however, the middle bit with the Xoo means that something out there has escaped Sea Dog / Mickey Eye's power. And Seaguy still has the naive moxie to take on the Gondolier. And She-Beard is still unsettling the balance of power between Sea Dog and Vertzebelion. So there's still everything to play for!

but Xoo was later explained as being the creature who attacked the cruise ship. I wonder if Seaguy even remembered Xoo after he left the factory-ship. As Xoo wasn't seen after that, and wasn't mentioned by Seaguy at all if I remember correctly.

And Vertzebelion was the bug and the bugs worked for Mickey Eye? Because the mummy went up against the bug...

gaargh!

[kramden]

The whole story (especially the ending) is weird for weird's sake. I am yet to see a good explination of what happened at the end. That doesn't mean it's bad or anything, it's just weird.

if alot of people dont understand something, its the writers fault. it does mean its bad.im sure you wish you could get your money back.if you could, i know i do...for now on if i dont like something i will not be buying the next issue

[The Dosadi Experiment]

Actually the ending was somewhat understandable if you ask me.

Seaguy is brainwashed and the whole thing starts over again albeit a bit differently.

You find this device used in multiple science fiction movies and novels.

[Paul McEnery]

I followed you all the way until the demon butterfly... was it revealed that the butterfly was a demon who had made a pact with Sea-Dog... because I can't remember anything like that at all. As in, not even a single clue that the butterfly is even remotely a demon or that they made a pact.
Well, maybe I'm just reading into it, but the butterfly is called Vertzebelion, which is definitely demonic as names go. And the "it was all over when we kissed in Madagascar" line spells demonic contract to me. (Small overtone: Dog spelled backwards is... So Sea-Dog is a Poseidon analog? Second small overtone: two similar names: Sea-Dog and Sea-Guy... so if Sea-Dog is a de facto God, then Sea-Guy is a de facto Christ figure? Vertzebelion a Holy Ghost analog?)


agreed, that much I could get from it all. Although the difference between the mummy and the bugs was a bit vague, was the mummy a good guy who had decided to rebel against Mickey Eye, or was he never part of Mickey Eye to begin with, or were the bugs behind Mickey Eye?

Mickey Eye is the global entertainment complex, committed (like Disney) to blanding out every aspect of life while creating an Epcot utopia. The Mummy is neither good nor bad (though the flashback don't make him look like a good guy, exactly), he's just strange. And Mickey Eye has to coopt or castrate the strange.


but Xoo was later explained as being the creature who attacked the cruise ship. I wonder if Seaguy even remembered Xoo after he left the factory-ship. As Xoo wasn't seen after that, and wasn't mentioned by Seaguy at all if I remember correctly.

Note Seaguy being fed Xoo in the brainwash section. Also note the ad for Xoo on the final page. Xoo -- Sold out!


And Vertzebelion was the bug and the bugs worked for Mickey Eye? Because the mummy went up against the bug...

gaargh!
Nah. Zullibdig is the bug.

In a way, this is a Prisoner meets the Invisibles book. Bug (Sie Liebdt Dich?) = Barbelith, Xoo = imprisoned magic mirror, Mickey Eye = Gnostic universe. But now with extra kids book silliness, only turned nasty.

[The Dosadi Experiment]

Well, maybe I'm just reading into it, but the butterfly is called Vertzebelion, which is definitely demonic as names go. And the "it was all over when we kissed in Madagascar" line spells demonic contract to me. (Small overtone: Dog spelled backwards is... So Sea-Dog is a Poseidon analog? Second small overtone: two similar names: Sea-Dog and Sea-Guy... so if Sea-Dog is a de facto God, then Sea-Guy is a de facto Christ figure? Vertzebelion a Holy Ghost analog?)

But Sea-Dog sees Sea-guy as a threat, or rather as an element that could do something unpredictable, they aren't friends, they aren't allies. And the Butterfly thing only pops up on the moon, in a very unexpected fashion, all of a sudden its there, and it's almost all-knowing it seems, it's also riddled with dialogue that is non-sensical as it is logical.


Mickey Eye is the global entertainment complex, committed (like Disney) to blanding out every aspect of life while creating an Epcot utopia. The Mummy is neither good nor bad (though the flashback don't make him look like a good guy, exactly), he's just strange. And Mickey Eye has to coopt or castrate the strange.

a less evil version of Disney.


Note Seaguy being fed Xoo in the brainwash section. Also note the ad for Xoo on the final page. Xoo -- Sold out!

Seaguy is being fed Xoo, then escaped WITH Xoo, acknowledges Xoo still as it turns into uber-xoo. Next thing we know, Sea-Guy refers to Xoo as the creature who attacked the cruise ship with no familiarity at all, or any notion of them sharing a history together. But the time-line is pretty clear, get captured with xoo, get forced to eat xoo, note we never see him actually eat xoo, escape with Xoo's help, and then refer to Xoo as a creature who attacked the cruise ship on the news, with no relation being known between him and xoo.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Well, maybe I'm just reading into it, but the butterfly is called Vertzebelion, which is definitely demonic as names go. And the "it was all over when we kissed in Madagascar" line spells demonic contract to me. (Small overtone: Dog spelled backwards is... So Sea-Dog is a Poseidon analog? Second small overtone: two similar names: Sea-Dog and Sea-Guy... so if Sea-Dog is a de facto God, then Sea-Guy is a de facto Christ figure? Vertzebelion a Holy Ghost analog?)

Works for me - I hadn't spotted the butterfly as being that important, but I don't see why not.


Mickey Eye is the global entertainment complex, committed (like Disney) to blanding out every aspect of life while creating an Epcot utopia. The Mummy is neither good nor bad (though the flashback don't make him look like a good guy, exactly), he's just strange. And Mickey Eye has to coopt or castrate the strange.

disney was definetly how I read it - though I saw it as all corporations in general.
I saw the mummy as part of a different culture, which the corporation didn't want to exist.
Sure he was evil, but at least he was different.
They wanted to turn him into another exhibition, somthing for tourists - which has happened to many cultures around the world that aren't from the western world, Americanised is the word commonly used for it - so basically they just wanted to neuter him, and make money from him.
And I saw the giving him sand similar to giving Native cultures plastic beads for their land.

One bit that had me, I wasn't sure if it was a sign that Sea-Guy remembered or at least still had an urge to rebel, or if there was somthing else in there, but at the end Sea-Guy went for the black pieces in chess, when before he'd played as white (even though he always rigged the game).
any theories on that one?

Some bits to the book were confusing, but I personally felt I was closer to completly understanding what Morrison was going for in a first reading of his book than ever before (between the lines and such - often I'm left feeling there's an exra layer I'm not getting, but not this time, unless Paul's holy trinity analogy comes into play)

And as it cost me AUS$12 (probably under 6 bucks US), then I really wouldn't of cared if I was completly baffled - the art alone would've made up for it (didn't anyone else think the art was superb?)

[Mr.Smith]

i'm with funky - the art was superb! regardless of how much sense you could take from the story the writing and art were in perfect harmony - i never once thought anything looked out of place or other than intended in grants mind.

i picked up the seaguy trade last friday and preceded to be engrossed with a mad grin for the 40-odd minutes that i sat poring over it! wonderful stuff - though i was extremely confused by some events come the end!

the input in this thread has helped me clear up in my own mind some of my confusion, so thanks for that!

Regardless of any puzzlement it was great read and worth the few quid that it cost several times over for the way in grabbed me, sucked me in and keep me enthralled! far to few comics even come close to doing that!

[miss5050]

funny point-
You get used to flying fish which cannot swim...it is normal
dark side of moon is ok as well
and then you realized u've been brainwashed :p

seaguy w/o neoprene+glasses looks like kenny w/o cape

[Tobias March]

One bit that had me, I wasn't sure if it was a sign that Sea-Guy remembered or at least still had an urge to rebel, or if there was somthing else in there, but at the end Sea-Guy went for the black pieces in chess, when before he'd played as white (even though he always rigged the game).
any theories on that one?


I always interpreted it more as a hopeful nudge on Morrison's part to intrigue us enough that we'd want to find out what happens next. Which I do. I rully, rully, loik, totally do :D

[The Crime Dentist]

I didn't think it was hard to grasp at all - the whole thing was pretty straightforward until the second half of the final issue. And even then, it's just that it hasn't been explained what's happened yet. Odds are he's hallucinating, either from being stung in Atlantis, from the forget-me pie he was fed by the Mickey Eye guys, or from starvation while he's stuck in the chocolate sea. Then at the end he's recaptured and brainwashed, apparently with no memory of what's happened. The purpose of the bug, and why it was on the moon hasn't yet been revealed.

[Tobias March]

It was a giant bug on the moon! What's to understand? ;)

No I see it as something 'strange', which is not allowed to exist unexploited in the world of Mickey-Eye.

[Stephane Garrelie]

I'm really confused. Maybe it is because I was tired while reading the trade Paperback fo the First three issues. Could anybody explain what I just read? While parts of it were entertaining, like Seaguy and Chubby on the boat together stranded in the ocean, I felt like I was on the outside of an inside joke the entire time. Can someone explain the story to me? Thanks.
I've read the first issues back then. Not the best Morrison comicbook ever... far from that. Read Doom Patrol, or the invisibles, it's faaaaaar better :o

[Nikita]

I just read the Seaguy trade and I was a bit confused as well. (so confused in fact, I started my own thread about it in the DC forum instead of looking here first....duh)

I kind of liked it but I'm not sure why. :confused:

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

I always interpreted it more as a hopeful nudge on Morrison's part to intrigue us enough that we'd want to find out what happens next. Which I do. I rully, rully, loik, totally do :D

Is there going to be more?

I thought it was a complete story - at the end the status quo was slowly starting to unravel - Sea Guy picked the black chess piece, there was a change - one so small that even Mickey Eye (and possibly even Sea Guy) didn't notice, yet a change none the less - and so we know what comes next - or at least what could come next.

I just read the Seaguy trade and I was a bit confused as well. (so confused in fact, I started my own thread about it in the DC forum instead of looking here first....duh)

I kind of liked it but I'm not sure why.

Well did some of the views thrown around here help at all, or do they seem off the mark to you?

[Ultraman Max]

I was on a Morrison kick when I bought the trade of this a couple months back, buying back issues of Doom Patrol and his Animal Man trades. Mostly because soap-opera realism tends to bore me to tears and also because I rather like weird, trippy stuff. Of the 2 (out of 3) recent Morrison vertigo mini's that I've read, I personally prefered Vinamarama, which was one of the best comics I've read in a long time.

Seaguy was fun though, I liked the last issue with the immortal mummy and the moon pyramid especially, but it seemed to me that the series was a metaphor about consumerism and pop culture destroying man's desire for adventure and heroism. The sequence after he's captured and they use TV to brainwash him in the last issue sort of solidified that belief for me.

[Jack Destruct]

When I finished the trade I was pretty confused as well, but I guess I was closer to the mark than I thought. I mean I recognised the Disney connection (duh), and thus the theme of corporate domination, and I also realised that Seaguy's desire to adventure was out of place in the world he inhabited.
So I guess, either a) the other pieces would have fallen into place on a second reading, or b) Grant kept some of the story elements brief (or completely unseen) for the sake of telling his complete tale in 3 neat issues.

And I really doubt that Seaguy would come back, any theme's Grant wanted to explore he could do with another character/title. As far as I'm concerned, Seaguy did all he was meant to do, and the ending was there to put a smirk on our faces as we realise that Seaguy is destined to carry on with his misadventures again and again, the ending wasn't there to leave the series open for a 'sequel.'

Just some thoughts.

[CaptMagellan]

But Sea-Dog sees Sea-guy as a threat, or rather as an element that could do something unpredictable, they aren't friends, they aren't allies. And the Butterfly thing only pops up on the moon, in a very unexpected fashion, all of a sudden its there, and it's almost all-knowing it seems, it's also riddled with dialogue that is non-sensical as it is logical.


This is where the Gnostic interpretation comes in. Sea-Dog represents a god who is a totalitarian demiurge, not an all loving divine being. This is reinforced by the butterfly.

Also, he's pulling upon Thelemic Aeon 'myths' again with the ending of the Aeon of Osiris and the beginning of the Aeon of Horus. The father/son conflict as the old "Empire" tries to hold on to it's power against the rebellious liberation of the son.

Seaguy made perfect sense. It was a classic poetic myth (think Vedic or Sumerian style), mixed with "The Prisoner" and 60s Kid show style symbolism.

[Bruce Wayne Jr.]

Thanks for the clear up, Magellan.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and am surprised more people don't recognize it as a send-up.

[The Dosadi Experiment]

This is where the Gnostic interpretation comes in. Sea-Dog represents a god who is a totalitarian demiurge, not an all loving divine being. This is reinforced by the butterfly.

Also, he's pulling upon Thelemic Aeon 'myths' again with the ending of the Aeon of Osiris and the beginning of the Aeon of Horus. The father/son conflict as the old "Empire" tries to hold on to it's power against the rebellious liberation of the son.

Seaguy made perfect sense. It was a classic poetic myth (think Vedic or Sumerian style), mixed with "The Prisoner" and 60s Kid show style symbolism.

and that my friends is just going a tad too far in order to fill in the gaps. Using this method every last piece of Austen's porn comics can be described as stories that delve into the human psyche, which bring up freudian imagery and theory, and that break down social structures in the blink of an eye, creating a twisted society not unlike that of the children's society in Lord of Flies.

It explores the boundaries of how we as human beings connect to eachother on a physical level, and how this connection is part of a meta-physical sensation.

It is reminiscent of the tales of ancient Greek mythology, and ties into the Egyptian rites of fertility and how those two ancient civilizations viewed the topic of sexuality. These views conflict with modern society's view of the topic and by showing the a combination of interpretations of the actions on a sexual level, Austen manages to delve into the sociological need for taboo and our desire to overcome taboo. He pulls the reader into a soul-searching and confrontational quest for self, demands that the readers confronts both views and how he relates to those views.

but really, it's just a bunch of chicks having hardcore anal sex.

[CaptMagellan]

and that my friends is just going a tad too far in order to fill in the gaps.

Except that Morrison continually explores these same themes (especially the gnostic and aeon of Horus ones) in titles such as "The Invisibles," "Marvel Boy," "The Filth," etc., explains them in interviews, has listed his source material for some of them in letter columns, in the stories themselves, and explores the experiential aspects in his non-fiction 'how to' magical writing.

The idea that Morrison is pulling from those ideas and sources is as apparent as J. M. Dematteis' continual exploration of the teachings of Meher Baba in his.

And for some people, just as annoying.

[Jack Destruct]

and that my friends is just going a tad too far in order to fill in the gaps.

Whilst in this instance I think CaptMagellan has a good point, you're right, postmodernist theory has given us the ability to explain, analyse and dissect any given text in a thousand different ways... and out of those 1000 ways, each one makes perfect sense if you simply let yourself buy into it.

Good thing or not, it's a fact.

Seaguy made perfect sense. It was a classic poetic myth (think Vedic or Sumerian style), mixed with "The Prisoner" and 60s Kid show style symbolism.

I always hear people (including Grant himself in interviews and in the invisibles) talking about The Prisoner, but I've got no idea WTF it is. I guess it was before my time (or maybe just out-of-bounds on my christian parents TV set).

[CaptMagellan]

I always hear people (including Grant himself in interviews and in the invisibles) talking about The Prisoner, but I've got no idea WTF it is. I guess it was before my time (or maybe just out-of-bounds on my christian parents TV set).

The Prisoner was a 60s British TV show consisting of 17 episodes - all of which are available on DVD now.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner

[Jack Destruct]

Alright, thanks for the link. I'll have to keep an eye out for the DVD sometime. I figure I should probably watch it merely for the number of time's GM refers to it.

67 was definately before my time...

[CaptMagellan]

If you are a Netflix member you can even rent it there...

http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=60030743&trkid=181026

[Nikita]

Well did some of the views thrown around here help at all, or do they seem off the mark to you?



Can you at least explain the ending? That really had me scratching my head.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Can you at least explain the ending? That really had me scratching my head.

Well, to quote Paul Mcenery from earlier in the thread:

Along with all the heroes, the mysteries of the world are all being tamed and put to use by Mickey Eye (i.e. Sea Dog) to keep the Status Quo shipshape. This extends even as far as the bug on the moon.

Now, this means Seaguy's trip to the moon was all in vain; however, the middle bit with the Xoo means that something out there has escaped Sea Dog / Mickey Eye's power. And Seaguy still has the naive moxie to take on the Gondolier. And She-Beard is still unsettling the balance of power between Sea Dog and Vertzebelion. So there's still everything to play for!
__________________

and as I said about the last page:

I thought it was a complete story - at the end the status quo was slowly starting to unravel - Sea Guy picked the black chess piece, there was a change - one so small that even Mickey Eye (and possibly even Sea Guy) didn't notice, yet a change none the less - and so we know what comes next - or at least what could come next.


If this doesn't do it for you, which scene in particular is giving you grief?
Or where abouts do you lose your way with it?

[The Dosadi Experiment]

My take on the whole thing:

The world is robbed of new experiences, everything has been discovered, explained, catalogued, issued and exploited. Mickey Eye is the keeper of the world the way it is. Like some dominant power out to keep people locked in a state of eternal stagnation and repetition. Don't think, just go through the motions and deceive yourself that it's all new. Keep the people down by keeping them in an eternal state of bliss and ignorance.

SeaGuy is the archetypical human, with the human need to explore and experience for the sake of doing so. He's curious, and he wants to escape the stagnant world.

But he'll always fail, because he has no real power, and he's part of Mickey Eye against his wishes, and against his knowing. He's too blind to see the manipulations of Mickey Eye. But still, he's destined to always break out of the world around him.

He's a product of his environment. He exists because Mickey Eye exists, and he exists because he's human, and there will always be people who jump the mold and escape the mundane world and society.

Honestly, Frank Herbert did the theme a thousand times better.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

But he'll always fail, because he has no real power, and he's part of Mickey Eye against his wishes, and against his knowing. He's too blind to see the manipulations of Mickey Eye. But still, he's destined to always break out of the world around him.

He's a product of his environment. He exists because Mickey Eye exists, and he exists because he's human, and there will always be people who jump the mold and escape the mundane world and society.


But he did make changes - the Xoo is loose, and at the end he changed chess colours when playing against death/the gondilier.

[Nikita]

Finally...I finally understand. I was reading your most recent posts and something finally clicked in my empty head. lol. Thankyou, thankyou! That's makes the story even more enjoyable for me now that I finally understand it a little better. :)

[shawnh]

I recently read and greatly enjoyed this. I think I understood most of it except for the parts that I didn't. :) Like why Lotharius/Seadog keeps Seaguy around, if he emobdies the human need for adventure and he wants to end that. Maybe it means more to him to crush it under his boot heel than destroy it. If Chubby also came from Lotharius, why did he do that? Why are some Mickey Eyes stuffing people in sacks in the sewers? What does that represent? And what is the butterfly? The kisses seems to imply that it willingly gave Lotharius whatever he needed to do this.

I hoped the chess pieces meant a hopeful ending, but I was dismayed to realize it could be that's he's just winking at us because death can't tell black from white so it doesn't matter what pieces he chooses. (remember, in the first game Seaguy moved death's black nurse piece and he didn't notice) Something about Seaguy's attitude, the way he said the word "Da Fug," and the fact he isn't speaking to his new sidekick makes me hope for more than that, though.

There were a lot of cryptic lines that seemed to be loaded with double meanings in this:

Death on the game: But ... it seems so pointless. The rules so arbitrary.

The educated man's chicken. Chicken little was right, and that seems pretty grim. And there are actually things falling from the sky.

"You looked away, Lotharius," from the butterfly definitely seems to back up the idea that Lotharius is sort of the Gnostic god of this world.

[celluloid_droid]

I see Seaguy as being a superhero version of some of the Knights of the Round Table Stories. It follows very true the story of Gawain and the Green Knight. It's comic, it's maddash, he does things that basically have no finality and in the end, it's revealed it's a big joke.

[Reggie Swats]

I'm really confused. Maybe it is because I was tired while reading the trade Paperback fo the First three issues. Could anybody explain what I just read? While parts of it were entertaining, like Seaguy and Chubby on the boat together stranded in the ocean, I felt like I was on the outside of an inside joke the entire time. Can someone explain the story to me? Thanks.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I stopped buying this mini just before the last issue because of the reasons you stated. I've felt the same way about most of Morrisons self-contained miniseries; The Filth frustrated me to no end. Maybe I wasn't paying attention at the right moments, but... man, he gives me headache sometimes.

Still, his work on X-Men is my all-time favorite in that rather large universe, so he is obviously not without talent. The "inside joke" angle seems to make more sense.

[shawnh]

I sometimes think the only way to ever full understand "everything" in Morrison's comics would be to get a list of all the books on magic and things like that he's read and read those. Then do hours of interviews with him until you have enough information to do a detailed biography of his life. Some of the stuff he writes about doesn't seem universal, it seems very particular to his personal experiences. He's said in interviews he incorporates stuff from his life into his books as a sort of magic ritual he feels impacts his own life, like making his depression a JLA villain or writing lots of sex and adventures for King Mob because he realized when he was putting the character through hell, he (Grant) was suffering in real life through some weird connection.

[stealthwise]

I got the trade and read this again over the past week. It's really quite good, in a non-direct, manic way.

[unkiedev]

Everyone had some great interpretations. Lots of stuff in there I never thought of.

I think Seaguy is about how much fun comic books could be if we stripped away our adult minds and expectaions and just had fun. Almost every page has twenty great ideas and new characters. Seaguy is a comic book creator having a blast telling the age-old tale of rebellion. Mickey Eye represents the stale comic book world that creators can't get out of because it's all we the reader want to buy.

They need to collect We 3, Seaguy and Vinnramma into ONE trade so people can see how imaginative, spontaneous, touching and versatile the medium really is!

I don't doubt it is also about all the other things mentioned on this board: Magic/Hero Myths/ Consumerism/Nothing at all/Weirdness, but for my money it's about the shortage of innovation in comic books.

[Jack Destruct]

I think Seaguy is about how much fun comic books could be if we stripped away our adult minds and expectaions and just had fun.

Well, I think we've already decided that there are a lot of layers in any GM work, and it definately sounds like you could be on to something.

He could have even been challenging expectations of, and presuppositions about, his own work by writing (and having it illustrated) in a style dissimilar to most of his existing work.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Well, I think we've already decided that there are a lot of layers in any GM work, and it definately sounds like you could be on to something.


I'm a big fan of his theory actually.

Especially as Morrison then went on to do Seven Soldiers - which I haven't read yet, but from what I've heard it sounds like he's just trying to make the most entertaining comics possible.

(the just making it fun angle works for Vinamarama as well I think. I mean that really was a basic, uncomplicated story - it just had a great colourful and crazy coat of paint put on it. Made it a lot more fun than it (maybe) had any right to be).

[The Sentry]

Quote from Grant Morrison :

"I'm hoping the prose stuff will be the next continuation of where I want to go. The comics audience is becoming more and more compressed and unpleasant. It's really sad. After I did 'Seaguy' and so many people said they didn't get it, I felt completely exasperated. 'Seaguy' is based on medieval quest literature which always has the young hero setting out and he has his companion who gets killed, the questing beast, but many of my readers seem to now be unaware of storytelling structures beyond the Hollywood three-act, and the literalism is so rife that nobody seems to be able to deal with symbolic content anymore. It's strange. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is the schizophrenic can't process metaphor. If you say to a schizophrenic 'a rolling stone gathers no moss' he takes it utterly literally! He doesn't see it as having any kind of secondary meaning. My thesis is that everybody's gone kind of schizophrenic, which also explains the rise of reality TV. Because people cannot deal with a symbolic approach anymore-they have to see the 'real deal.' And the real deal is incoherent and it lacks catharsis or dramatic structure."

[miss5050]

well that explains everything
imho he should stop smoking stuff :D
or we should start ? :confused:

[PatrickG]

No. It makes sense to me at least.

And Grant was more or less only on most of the drugs when he wrote JLA and Skrull Kill Krew.

His more "incoherent" stuff was written stone cold sober.

[The Sentry]

Doom Patrol was written drug free, but Invisibles and Flex Mentallo were written entirely while on drugs.

[miss5050]

hey, I'm not saying he is not right...
but noone will convince me, that he did that with clear mind :D

[unkiedev]

See?! I told you guys it was all about Ice Cream....

What were we talking about?

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Doom Patrol was written drug free, but Invisibles and Flex Mentallo were written entirely while on drugs.

Marvel Boy also - or at least conceived on it.

There was an amusing Come In Alone column at CBR by Ellis, where he interviewed Morrison about the creation of Marvel Boy.
Ellis told of the night at a con when he went up to Morrisons room to see if he wanted to go out for a drink, and Morrison answered the door with a blanket over his head, giggling and muttering about having solved the answers to the world.
Morrison went on to list the drugs he had mixed that night.


Morrison does make a good point about comic fans though - go read Brett Easton Ellis' novel Glamorama.
It's a head trip enough as a novel, I don't think you'd ever hear the end of the whinging if somebody did that in comics.