The Multiversity: Ultra Comics

writer: Grant Morrison

artist: Doug Mahnke

Honestly, the only thing you need to know about this particular edition of The Multiversity is that Grant Morrison is addressing his well-know proclivity for breaking the fourth wall.  This is the full-on meta issue.

At one point, he has some social media comments embedded:

"Same Old, Same Old Pretentious SYMBOLISM."

"Yet ANOTHER comic-about-comics treatise retreading the SAME tired themes."

"How about a simple adventure story for once?"

As far as the last comment goes, certainly Thunderworld would fit that one, or even Mastermen (the Evil Superman version of Crisis On Infinite Earths), or even Society of Super-Heroes (so, about half of The Multiversity, really).  But because this is Grant Morrison; everyone expects this from him.

Structurally it tries to be clever but isn't really, and probably that's intentional, because Pax Americana was also intentionally clever (on several levels) and quite successfully so.

It's slightly disappointing, though, insofar as for the first handful of pages, Morrison succeeds in tricking the reader into having a more interactive relationship with the story than a typical comic will (read: any comic not written by Grant Morrison), remarking how characters think in the voice of the reader, or a correct estimation of when the reader is likely to prepare turning the page, or of course the matter of turning the page at all.  (These techniques are spread throughout the issue, but the heaviest concentration comes early.)

But then it just becomes a story.  I would have tried a little harder to make the whole experience cyclical, personally, given that the issue starts out with the main character reporting that he's actually come back from the end of the story.  How does that solve things?  Well, obviously, comics are a fairly easy medium to experience again, reaching the end of the issue and then starting over again.  Some can be read in a matter of minutes, and some readers will reread several times in one sitting.

Come to think of it, that's exactly what Grayson: Futures End did.  So that would've been nice to see here as well.  At least we have the art of Doug Mahnke to keep us company.

Maybe the whole point really is Morrison goosing readers.  The joke is that there really isn't a joke this time.