Words:
Panel One: Traditional.
Panel 2: Grant Morrison.
Panels 3-5: A portion of “Asleep,” as performed by the Smiths (composed by Morrissey/Marr), and incorporated by Grant Morrison.
Panel 7: Alan Moore.
Title by Danny the Street.
Images:
Panel 1: Tyrone Power / Alex Toth.
Panel 6: Richard Case.
This work comprises my entire adolescence: Superman No. 423 (“Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow,” by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, George Pérez, Kurt Schaffenberger, Todd Klein, and Gene D’Angelo) (1986) to Doom Patrol No. 63 (“The Empire of Chairs,” by Grant Morrison, Richard Case, John Workman, and Daniel Vozzo) (1993).
This post was greatly inspired by Greg’s excellent two-part analysis at Comics Should be Good of what works compose the magnum opera of comics, and by the comment by SteveNS reminding me of the Doom Patrol story.
This is swell! I’ve been coping with a serious Doom Patrol jones lately, and am frustrated that the trades from the Morrison era aren’t coming any quicker. (I also bought the last issue of the Byrne reboot, just for larfs. It was awful). This piece really beautifully captures that strange blend of the mundane and the totally bizarre that made Morrison’s DP so strange and even subversive. And Moore’s “imaginary” end for Superman was really better than anything else anyone has ever imagined for him since…
I love this. And, aren’t the words in panels 3-5 also the last lines of “Asleep” by the Smiths (last song on Louder than Bombs)?
Ohmygosh. I never, ever got that. Kicker, you’re absolutely right!! I never caught the phrase, or the implication. The song also dovetails perfectly with the terrible sequence of events undergone by Kay Challis (“Crazy Jane”) in the so-called normal world.
Wow. I’m flabbergasted! When that story came out—in ‘93—I’d likely heard of the Smiths, and I knew of Morrissey, but I would have never known the lyrics. Thanks so much for picking up on that!
If the comic author knew the lyrics and wove them into both the text and the storyline events…...damn, that’s cool and crafty.
He totally did. He has multiple characters that were based on pop tunes (for instance, “Driver 8”). Basically, the setting involves a character from the comic who has been banished by an enemy into the worst possible place: that is to say, here in our world. All her dreams of superheroes and absurdity and talking chairs are confronted in the sanitarium she’s in as something that she needs to be “cured” of.
Note to Sally: Please discuss possible plaigarism issues, though.
Aw, now—that’s not plagiarism. That’s homage.
Yeah, I agree with Prof, especially if the author has already established his conceit of using pop-music motifs & characters, etc. in his storylines.
Is it homage? I like the “Easter eggs” Morrison was known for—another character was a bad-guy named “The Butterfly Collector,” which I always assumed was after the song by The Jam—but I worry about it because it’s not with attribution. At what part does homage stop and swipe begin?
Hey! We have that chair on far right! (The “well…” panel.) It’s super-dope, if I may brag about our chair. If you don’t all have one, go get it [ed. note: at Target]; it’s remarkably comfortable.
This post also reminds me of Randy Hostetler’s “Happily Ever After,” where he layers of stories, from different people, on top of on another. Very cool, gorjus, and I don’t get comics.