Review of Supergods by Grant Morrison
By: Luna Lupine
Ever wanna know how you can get booted from Myth Master's lair? Bring to his attention his cat, Mr. Whiskers is well… dead. While I got exiled from the place where most do not return alive, something that Myth Master asked brought up a memory that I had not thought about for the last six years.
What was the question, you ask?
What was the worst book I ever read. Now, I quickly answered "Supergods : What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human," and briefly chatted about it. But on the walk from his lair (which I was promised a limo ride home, by the way), I got to thinking about why I detested that book as much as I did.
I mean to be fair, I read the book before I even knew who Grant Morrision was, so it wasn't based on that. So I did the dumbest thing someone could think of (I blame it on the Myth Master). I decided to re-read the book, again, to be fair I was only twenty-four when I read it, so I could see things in a different light.
Okay, here we go.
First, I had to drop fifteen bucks just to pick up a digital copy. So, we start with him analyzing Batman and Superman and their significance (on what you ask, well I'm not sure), then he takes a left hand turn and tells a story about the writers and artists who were responsible in building the superhero market and continues with a figurative point that we see today.
I'm into my second paragraph of this review and I am already wiped. Seriously! But, the show must go on, as Morrison certainly does in his two hundred paged content of printed words.
So after that there is the author's version of the story of superheroes, which was a collection of comic book events and paired with their associated characters. I've been in the world of comic books since I was three, and while I felt that this list is basically common nerd knowledge, but if you are not you might find interesting. But, he covered events like Identity Crisis, Blackest Night or Civil War (the first one, yeah there are two now, really), but does not go into a deep analysis and leaves it kinda flat causing the events to feel pointless.
I will say that Grant Morrison does go into a little bit of back story on the Golden and Silver age of comic books, but again, does not offer really any insight into it. As I finished that part of the book I sat there and wondered what was his motivation in inputting these eras into his two hundred pages of printed words or than to fill space, which it read like that was in fact the intent.
But, what he really sold to the reader was his experience in the comic book field, and how he was pissed off toward Marvel Comics. There was quite a few passages that made me want to claw his eyes out as he expressed disdain toward the fans (yeah, you know, the people who pays his bills and allows him to partake in a copious amount of illegal drugs). Speaking of drugs, I think he gets into a drug induced rambling about his love/hate feelings he has for mastermind English Author, Alan Moore. I read that part, and I honestly thought: That f*cker is gonna get sued, if Moore ever reads this.
One of the stupidest parts of the book was all about his drug experiences, as he talks about how he utilizes this substance abuse to create the stuff he's known for (like hey kids, I did drugs and now I'm a comic book rock star and you can too). Oh! And he says that he believes what are in his comic books, like for reals, his version of the Gospel!
It's interesting, because he uses the same sloppy, confusing and directionless writing that he is know for in his comic books. But, in this medium he isn't so lucky as it is proof that even a crappy writer can still look good if you have a artist to carry the weight. Well, Grant, there is no artist here to save your butt this time and utterly fails in this two hundred paged content of printed words (I refuse to call it a book).
Afterward, I sat in my reading chair staring at the iPad, and just blanked out at the cover and then it hit me: Morrison does not ever tell us how superheroes can teach us about being human beings. That's the title of the stinking publication! So six years ago I hated, this two hundred paged content of printed words and today, I really hated this heaping pile of printed word vomit!
So, I have to give it a rating. Personally, I would give it a zero, but, the boss sent it back to me and said that I had to give it something. Okay, fine. For Grant Morrison's Supergods : What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us about Being Human, I generously award it a half of a star Well that is it for me, and I noticed the girls are making their way into the house. There must be a full moon tonight, perhaps I will pay the Myth Master a lovingly visit.
and say that I really, really, want my fifteen bucks back!