Happy! #2 (Image)

writer: Grant Morrison
artist: Darick Robertson

It's important to note that as bad as Nick Sax's day is, it could easily be worse.  Grant Morrison starts the second issue of this mini-series with a strong suggestion that some very bad men had some very bad ideas in store for him, and that it's a good thing that he was lucid enough to escape.

"Lucid" may not be the first word Nick uses to describe himself at the moment.  He escaped mostly thanks to the fact that he's currently being visited by Happy, a magical blue pony that floats in the air and only he can see.  He spends the issue trying to convince himself that Happy is just a delusion, getting himself into some pretty hot water (again) during a card game when Happy calls his bluff.

With this issue, I think I've figured out an interpretation of Happy that might make sense to long-term fans of Morrison.  It's essentially the Bat-Mite story he never got to tell.  Bat-Mite is a curiously of Batman lore, an imp Morrison used during "R.I.P." while the Dark Knight's mind was compromised.  Bat-Mite presents a challenge to any writer who prefers to write a serious Batman (unless you're Grant Morrison) because he's a pretty silly character.

What Happy does is finally explore the dynamic between a character very much set in the world of serious comics, who's gotten himself into a situation he may only be able to survive by relying on the least likely support imaginable.  To someone like Nick Sax, Happy must be something of a nightmare.  Except he's learning to accept this peculiar little friend as an ally.

Darick Robertson has just concluded The Boys along with Garth Ennis.  There was at least one initial episode in my past where I publicly struggled with the existence of The Boys, its nihilistic interpretation of superheroes, and I dragged Robertson's name into my reaction.  At the time I wasn't all that familiar with him.  By the time he participated in 52, which remains my favorite comic book of all-time, I had to reconcile my opinion of his abilities, or rather my previous underestimation of them.  To his fans, of course even questioning it would always have sounded pretty stupid.  The man has an established career on notable books (including Transmetropolitan).  Needless to say his work in Happy! is impeccable, and indeed just Robertson's depiction of Happy makes him an inspired choice, if there are many other readers like myself who thought they knew his instincts.  I'd just like to get that out of the way, in case I've got residual bad karma.