Seaguy

"I want Seaguy to remain as my statement about life and death and the universe."

 - Grant Morrison.

A tall order, to say the least. And somewhat vague. And yet, having read both the original three-issue series (2004) and its sequel Slaves of Mickey Eye (2009) it makes total and complete sense to me.

Whether it does (or might) for you depends on your reaction to the following panels from the 1st and 2nd pages of the very first issue:

Are you a) intrigued by the familiar-yet-strange imagery? b) too busy marveling at the artwork by Cameron Stewart to have read the words yet? or c) annoyed?

If "c," it's best to stop right there, as things will not become any more linear.

If "a" or "b," though, then you're in for a real treat. Feel free to proceed with no worry of spoiling anything. It really isn't the type of thing learning about beforehand (or seeing any screencaps) can ruin. The best analogy is Dali or Miro or David Lynch. You can have the imagery and themes of their work described to you beforehand, but you won't "get it" until you see the work itself. Same goes for the sequential order that Morrison and Stewart (as aided and abetted by colorist extraordinaire Dave Stewart, no relation) arranged for us.

I'll try and confine my own remarks to the captions. All of the text below (except where indicated) is from this review. Except any direct Morrison quotations, which come from this interview. 

"Did you ever get the feeling that everything worth doing has already been done? That there are no more adventures to be had in this factory-farmed, mass-produced, flat-cultured world? Well, that's how the titular hero feels every day in Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart's Seaguy.

"Not everything is perfect in Comfort Zone 7, however, as a series of unexpected occurrences send Seaguy and his best pal Chubby Da Choona - 

- on an adventure to save a new friend, prove worthy of a would-be girlfriend, and discovery the mystery of the moon meteorites."

 

She-Beard. Like Seaguy, she was born to an age unwilling to and incapable of her ambitions.

"Seaguy's world is one supposedly in its "happily ever after" age, where all the villains have been defeated and all the heroes have retired."

"The world has become so homogenized and safe that even Death Himself, once a terrifying and awe-inspiring figure, is relegated to the role of lowly gondolier and Seaguy’s black/white color-blind chess opponent."

"Many comics fans see Seaguy as an indictment of modern superhero comics' brand-centeredness (...) The gigantic double splash page flashback to the last great superhero battle against "Anti-Dad" is an obvious homage to the final battle of Crisis on Infinite Earths versus the Anti-Monitor."

This backstory is very important to the thematic concerns of Seaguy, but we purposefully get very little information about it.

Here, Doc Hero - one of the few survivors from the Age of Heroes and seen in the splash above in the bottom right of the picture - is rebooted for the new generation.

"Everyone knows the world's made of science and history" is a great line.

 

"Seaguy is a commentary on the Disneyfication of modern culture and the Powers-that-be's attempts to homogenize and commodify anything and everything." 

Along these lines, Seaguy speaks Esperanto, i.e. that constructed-to-be-universal language invented by L.L. Zemnhof and used by the cast in the movie Incubus.

"Everyone spends their days laughing and playing in Mickey Eye Amusement Park, and their nights watching The Mickey Eye Show - "

The cumulative effect of all this can only be mass depression.

 

" - while eating dinner made from a mysterious pink foodstuff called Xoo."

"The Powers-that-be created a general purpose foodstuff from which they make every good available at supermarkets, further cementing their complete control over the population."

 

 

The above refers only to the first mini-series. As for its sequel, Morrison says:

"One of the things we wanted to do with Seaguy (was) a whole human life in three books. The very first time we see him, there's this hand of Death playing chess with him and Death says, It's your move, Seaguy."

Here it is again.

"It's kind of like being born. The first thing that happens when you're born is that you're going to die. The first book is very much a child's eye view of everything. He's quite naive. And he's got these weird, little animal companions beside him. But he slowly learns. he grows up a little bit. By the time we get to the second book, this is punk rock Seaguy."

 

 

 

"This is a guy who has made it through the sensations of society without getting brainwashed. They tried to hold him down. He wants to be a hero in a world that doesn't need heroes. It is about the next phase of his life, his teenage years (...) and the final book will be the adult take on the whole concept."

 

Morrison continues:

"I had the idea to develop Seaguy into a weapon I could use to fight back against the trendy and unconvincing 'bad-ass' cynicism of current comics, most of which are produced by the most un-'bad-ass' men you can possibly imagine. In the current climate, it seemed like an act of rebellion to produce work that was almost embarrassingly dripping with tender and awkward feelings."

Morrison has spoken of the third part of the trilogy (which is, as of this writing, presently being illustrated by Cameron Stewart) as "kind of a conspiracy story. Something like Watchmen or The Prisoner."

Can't wait.