How has the DC universe fictioned itself?
February 19, 2010 9:36 PM Subscribe
There seems to be a long-form project by several writers to break DC Comics' fourth wall in a fundamental, structural way. What are some of the things that make the DC universe fictional-within-itself, and is there a sort of goal in mind?
I'm relatively new to DC comics, having grown up Marvel, but I'm seeing more and more things that make me think DC's more archetypal focus has allowed some of their writers (particularly Grant Morrison) to turn 'fiction' into a kind of physical law of that universe, like gravity. Can anyone clarify for me what's going on, and show me the plots, characters, and tropes that illustrate it?
Things I've already come across:
* I've read Gaiman's Sandman backwards and forwards (doing an English paper on it)
* Morrison's Animal Man
* I hear Superboy punched reality?
* Batman of Zur-en-arrh as a backup personality
Thanks!
I'm relatively new to DC comics, having grown up Marvel, but I'm seeing more and more things that make me think DC's more archetypal focus has allowed some of their writers (particularly Grant Morrison) to turn 'fiction' into a kind of physical law of that universe, like gravity. Can anyone clarify for me what's going on, and show me the plots, characters, and tropes that illustrate it?
Things I've already come across:
* I've read Gaiman's Sandman backwards and forwards (doing an English paper on it)
* Morrison's Animal Man
* I hear Superboy punched reality?
* Batman of Zur-en-arrh as a backup personality
Thanks!
I'm certainly no expert on this subject, being a recent comic convert myself. However, it seems to me that especially more recently, DC has made a real effort to establish all of their characters within one world - with all story lines and realities converging and existing within one universe. A friend has been introducing me to the whole plot line, and I think I grasp it to a certain extent. Here are the books in the order that I was given them:
Animal Man (which is one of my favs. That encounter in Limbo is important)
Seven Soldiers of Destiny
Batman RIP
52
Final Crisis
These are a little Morrison heavy, particularly because I'm doing research for a project on Morrison. However, as you mention, he seems to play the most with the concept of fiction/reality.
Also, if you haven't already, you should read The Invisibles. You might like the concept of the Fiction Suit.
posted by bloody_bonnie at 10:46 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Animal Man (which is one of my favs. That encounter in Limbo is important)
Seven Soldiers of Destiny
Batman RIP
52
Final Crisis
These are a little Morrison heavy, particularly because I'm doing research for a project on Morrison. However, as you mention, he seems to play the most with the concept of fiction/reality.
Also, if you haven't already, you should read The Invisibles. You might like the concept of the Fiction Suit.
posted by bloody_bonnie at 10:46 PM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: In Morrison's JLA, he has a story in which a villain counts on the fact that the JLA always win as a basic rule of their universe. His JLA Classified (leading into Seven Soldiers) features an "infant universe" which is a world without superheroes, aka our world. In All Star Superman, Superman creates this world, which contains Jerry Siegel, who creates our version of Superman.
DC's creation stories always feature a pair of hands, which would well be argued are an artists'. A Green Lantern story features Krona going back to witness the creation of life and seeing a huge pair of hands. Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis use this motif as well (both in segments drawn by George Perez).
Final Crisis tells Morrison's version of the DC creation myth, which is that the universe began as a blank page onto which the stories intruded. Much of this is explained in the Superman Beyond 2-issue tie-in, which I believe is collected in the hardcover. Morrison's stuff can be a little manic and sometimes dense, but well worth the work. I think many people didn't like Final Crisis because they didn't bother to try to understand it (and quite likely it wasn't friendly enough to new readers, with many characters you might now know). Online annotations at http://geniusboyfiremellon.blogspot.com/ , http://finalcrisisannotations.blogspot.com/ , and http://funnybookbabylon.com/ help.
Part of Morrison's philosophy is that fiction and reality in ways indistinguishable. Superman will exist longer than any human will. True stories and fictional stories over longer periods of time because equally as true in myths and legends.
In Morrison's Batman, he attempts to reconcile Batman's entire publishing history into one lifetime. Since the 80s writers have shunned the zany Batman stories of the 50s. Morrison instead recasts them as fever dreams and hallucinations from being drugged by villains. His idea is that all of these stories told since 1939 have all really happened to Bruce Wayne, and questions what psychological toll that would take on someone, having all these crazy things happen. Batman RIP is what this all leads up to. See above-linked pages for more, esp. Tim Callahan's.
(spoiler) Morrison's Flex Mentallo (very hard to find in print) is about a group of heroes who flee a dying universe by becoming fictional characters in ours (though this story isn't part of DC's continuity per se).
posted by davextreme at 5:29 AM on February 20, 2010 [2 favorites]
DC's creation stories always feature a pair of hands, which would well be argued are an artists'. A Green Lantern story features Krona going back to witness the creation of life and seeing a huge pair of hands. Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis use this motif as well (both in segments drawn by George Perez).
Final Crisis tells Morrison's version of the DC creation myth, which is that the universe began as a blank page onto which the stories intruded. Much of this is explained in the Superman Beyond 2-issue tie-in, which I believe is collected in the hardcover. Morrison's stuff can be a little manic and sometimes dense, but well worth the work. I think many people didn't like Final Crisis because they didn't bother to try to understand it (and quite likely it wasn't friendly enough to new readers, with many characters you might now know). Online annotations at http://geniusboyfiremellon.blogspot.com/ , http://finalcrisisannotations.blogspot.com/ , and http://funnybookbabylon.com/ help.
Part of Morrison's philosophy is that fiction and reality in ways indistinguishable. Superman will exist longer than any human will. True stories and fictional stories over longer periods of time because equally as true in myths and legends.
In Morrison's Batman, he attempts to reconcile Batman's entire publishing history into one lifetime. Since the 80s writers have shunned the zany Batman stories of the 50s. Morrison instead recasts them as fever dreams and hallucinations from being drugged by villains. His idea is that all of these stories told since 1939 have all really happened to Bruce Wayne, and questions what psychological toll that would take on someone, having all these crazy things happen. Batman RIP is what this all leads up to. See above-linked pages for more, esp. Tim Callahan's.
(spoiler) Morrison's Flex Mentallo (very hard to find in print) is about a group of heroes who flee a dying universe by becoming fictional characters in ours (though this story isn't part of DC's continuity per se).
posted by davextreme at 5:29 AM on February 20, 2010 [2 favorites]
Another recent DC comic you should pick up is Booster Gold. After 52, Booster has turned into a sort of continuity cop for the DC universe. He travels through time to make sure things happen the way they were supposed to, sort of cleaning up loose threads and the like. It doesn't get as meta as Animal Man, but there is a strong sense of there being One True Continuity with Booster as a tool to keep it together.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:10 AM on February 20, 2010
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:10 AM on February 20, 2010
The universe as a multiverse, science weighs in . . .
posted by geekyguy at 10:01 AM on February 20, 2010
posted by geekyguy at 10:01 AM on February 20, 2010
Response by poster: Excellent, Hypertime is definitely the kind of thing I'm curious about, though I'm not surprised to see it's apparently been quashed by editorial.
And those are some great leads, davextreme. I'll follow up on Final Crisis.
Is there anybody I should be looking for in particular, aside from Morrison and Mark Waid?
posted by Dandeson Coates, Sec'y at 10:15 AM on February 20, 2010
And those are some great leads, davextreme. I'll follow up on Final Crisis.
Is there anybody I should be looking for in particular, aside from Morrison and Mark Waid?
posted by Dandeson Coates, Sec'y at 10:15 AM on February 20, 2010
As far as I've been able to tell, the main engine of DC's metafictional experiments is Grant Morrison. There have also been scattered reports of Morrison wanting to make the DC universe "sentient."
posted by lekvar at 1:49 PM on February 20, 2010
posted by lekvar at 1:49 PM on February 20, 2010
Morrison has been the key driver, but he's been inspiring some of his coworkers to metafiction lately. Brian Azzarello's Dr 13: Architecture and Morality stars a set of obscure characters on a quest to justify their existence to the godlike Architects of the Universe (the chief of whom turns out to be bald and Scottish).
More recently, the not-usually-meta Geoff Johns did a two-issue story (mentioned obliquely by WCityMike) in which Superboy Prime storms the offices of DC Comics to force them to reverse his downward character spiral. Thoughts on free will and the cheapness of superheroic death ensue.
Both of those stories have a bit of a winking, elbow-in-the-ribs quality that Morrison doesn't bother with, but they show he's having some effect.
posted by ormondsacker at 3:43 PM on February 20, 2010
More recently, the not-usually-meta Geoff Johns did a two-issue story (mentioned obliquely by WCityMike) in which Superboy Prime storms the offices of DC Comics to force them to reverse his downward character spiral. Thoughts on free will and the cheapness of superheroic death ensue.
Both of those stories have a bit of a winking, elbow-in-the-ribs quality that Morrison doesn't bother with, but they show he's having some effect.
posted by ormondsacker at 3:43 PM on February 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 9:56 PM on February 19, 2010