Is Grant Morrison always this bizarre?

Grant Morrison is... unique.

I have a question for those of you who enjoyed Formerly Known as the Justice League....

What made it work for you? I realize humor is a subjective thing, but it didn't work for me at all and a lot of people loved it. I think Paul enjoyed it a lot. I know at least part of the reason why it didn't work for me, but I'm really curious to hear from those who liked it.

These seem to be Gail's key points, and it's good to have them up front in my head while I review the notion:

My problem arises when:

a) The female characters are shown ONLY as victims or hostages,

b) Female characters with long histories are casually tossed aside while male characters of equal stature don't seem to be at a similar rate,

c) A beloved female character is killed/depowered/tortured/whatever purely for shock value, for the effect it produces on a male character. This is a pretty tiresome ploy no matter what gender the victim is, but I think most will agree it happens to women more than men.

Some of these reactions came up with Tara's death on BtVS. I saw a lot of people make the claim of c) - in essence, "It was wrong to kill Tara just to provoke a reaction in Willow." Except - both women. Sometimes minor characters are on stage because of how they affect the main character. It's a little slippery, but I get the main point.

You should read both of them.

(re: Nightwing/Huntress and Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood Already do. In the indivdual issues. I think the Nightwing/Huntress #2 (or #3, I can't remember) was the first real time that I hunted down an issue to get details on a story (as opposed to completing a run for completion's sake). Of course, at the time I had no idea that they would release a TPB collection of the series. t grumble about DC's "inconsistent" TPB collection policy

In answer to the question about the guest star in BoP - Vixen was once a member of the Justice League when it was based in Detroit (no, really) and later was a member of the Suicide Squad. I believe she has animal powers but am not too familiar with her.

Seaguy is just too weird. I don't even get it. Is Grant Morrison always this bizarre? Is there supposed to be a point?

I always thought that was one of the charms of his work. I haven't read #3 yet, but I do know that Morrison intended for Seaguy to be a lighter read with an emphasis on fun.

(I've read every single stinking V2 Flash issue, and it's all a red blur.)

Yeesh. And aren't you talking about V3? V2 is Barry Allen.

Quick Question--

What is Powers and should I be reading it?

I'm pretty pro-Grant Morrison, but I haven't read Seaguy #3 yet. His last sans-editor project, The Filth, was incoherent (but fun!) on first read, but on subsequent reads, it made more sense as an indictment of comic book writers first (which is, admittedly, a favorite subject of his) and repressed sexuality and official duplicity in society. I suspect that Seaguy is going for the same targets, based on the "be a hero, win the girl" and the "Mickey Eye" themes of the first two.

Yeesh. And aren't you talking about V3? V2 is Barry Allen.

You are correct, sir.

Jeff, I think you're also correct on Vixen's powers, which I should know from both Flash and Suicide Squad.

What is Powers and should I be reading it?

Askye - noir superhero book and yes.

Here's a sneak preview from the new High Hat about it.

This is Powers.

Yes. Go. Buy. Now.

Jeff, what is the Suicide Squad?

sumi - oh, dear. Well, [Edited to add obvious reference.] The Suicide Squad is/was basically the Dirty Dozen, using supervillains rather than dead-end soldiers. They are/were a team of supervillains working for the US under Amanda Waller. They are forced/coerced/bribed to join, with the incentive that they may be released from jail or something like that. There have been many incarnations of the team. Of notice to Bat-fans, Stephanie Brown's (curent Robin/former Spoiler) father, the villain Cluemaster, was a member of the Suicide Squad and died while on the team. Identity Crisis fans should note that Captain Boomerang was a prominent member of the Squad.

There is also a Silver Age team with the name Suicide Squadron, active from WW2 through to the 60s, that are composed of "regular" soldiers rather than supervillains. Don't think about connections too hard, though.

I'm leaving a lot out, but I'm not strong on the back history of some of these groups.