I have been debating whether or not to review this comic. DC does mutliverse story arcs every so often, and I can’t say I’ve ever really got into them. When Morrison was announced as the writer, I figured it would be confusing and a hassle to read (Final Crisis) . However a friend of mine raved abut it after reading so I got my own copy. I’m glad I did. If you’re even vaguely into comics then I really recommend reading The Multiversity.
So what is it about?
Short answer? Everything comic book.
Slightly Longer answer? Evil villains called The Gentry are going around destroying the various earths in DC world (DC have 52!) and a team of super heroes are called from across the multiverse to the multiversity!
To be honest with you, I can give a long run down of the comic but there’s a better place for that. David Uzumeri does a great article (here) on annotations, which if you have read this comic, I think you should read. It helped me understand everything a little more (because this comic sure gets crazy). I don’t want to do that though, I’ve not read much DC and I’m very behind on what’s happening in any of the worlds.
Despite this however, I can tell you that I truly enjoyed this comic. Yes, Morrison is known to go a bit overboard and complicated and cryptic. He’s actually surprisingly simple and calm for this however, by which I mean, I didn’t get lost. Everything was still crazy, but not, you need a map to navigate crazy.
I think what I loved the most about this comic is how it was both gruesomely dark and also hilariously comic. One moment you have comic heroes who’s faces are melting, souls are being sucked out and despair all over – next you have sassy Captain Carrot pointing out the obvious with his glorious line “Who else wants to argue with cartoon physics?” Don’t know who Captain Carrot is? Doesn’t matter, you’ll love him after this.
It’s a great homage to Marvel too. I like meta things, who doesn’t? It’s all about inside jokes and know-how, but DC have done a great job tipping their hats to marvel heroes also. Quoting Uzumeri ” The Future Family are the Fantastic Four; Bug is Spider-Man; the G-Men are the X-Men; Stuntmaster is Daredevil; and the Behemoth, well, he’s the Hulk as a giant blue baby with an actual diaper on.”
The comic is filled a ridiculous number of things that made me fangirl into my panties. So many crazy concepts things, little nods here and there and a really captivating plot. I want to know what happens. The next issues however are all standalone stories based on different earths. We won’t know the conclusion until the end. It feels so long away. It’s frustrating since The Multiversity had been drawn and finished nearly a year ago! I guess it says a lot by how excited I am.
If you have a chance, I really do think it’s worth picking up. I haven’t followed DC much recently, and certainly not much of the new 52. I didn’t get confused, the plot was engaging and the characters likeable. I’m looking forward to reading it all. It’s probably got me back into western comics, and if that doesn’t say how well I think of it, then I don’t know what does!