So, the new 'Rama interview with Grant Morrison is up. I haven't read the whole thing yet. I'll get to it. But I just couldn't get past this statement:
Sonny’s appearance in the book is an early clue as to what’s really going down behind the scenes.
...
The presence of Sonny Sumo on ’New Earth’ is another big red flag that something is going wrong with the machinery of the entire Multiverse.
Really? Seriously? I'm pretty sure that a large majority of the people reading your story, Mr. Morrison, have no idea that Sonny Sumo ever existed before you wrote him in this issue. How one can call the use of an obscure character "another big red flag" without breaking out in giggles when they try to say it is beyond me, personally.
Of course, all of this will be rendered moot by Grant Morrison being the man behind the Libra mask. Who will care about what was indecipherable when they see him write himself into a story again.
Posts
I'm so glad you mentioned that article. I did not realize until reading the article that Sonny's appearance was important. I really thought it was a scene meant to introduce Mister Miracle.
ReplyDeleteEven worse though, it's bad enough that the DC solicits are spoiling major plot points, but now so is Grant.
R-
Yeah, Grant doesn't really seem to be going for the new reader audience here. In fact he seems to have gone for the completely confusing and complex approach, as opposed to Secret Invasion's extremely simple and brainless approach.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in the middle might have been nice :)
I haven't rad the interview yet, I'll save it till I am at work tomorrow, so I can get some good time wasting in :)
I well and truly do not understand how Final Crisis is being read as overly complex. In truth, it seems to be the most easily accessible of any of the "Crisis" titles to date.
ReplyDeleteJohnny, maybe complex isn't the way to express it. He includes characters that he doesn't introduce properly (Terrible Turpin was never named in the whole first issue) and has bits he feels are hugely important that a large majority of the audience wouldn't get (Sonny Sumo).
ReplyDeleteI don't remember offhand if Turpin's name is used in FC1, but the character beats seemed self-explanatory enough to me- an aging, rough-edged, morally grey cop,who takes perhaps too much pleasure in inflicting violence, and may be coming unglued. While knowing more about Turpin's history offers little easter-eggs for the fans, I'm not sure what more we _need_ to know to make the character work.
ReplyDeleteAs for Sonny Sumo, I had never heard of him until FC got ramped up, but GM's comment just struck me as the kind of thing that again, offers something for the diehards, but isn't necessary for the story as told so far.
I mean, _Watchmen_ holds up, whether or not you know anything about Captain Atom or the Question, but knowing the references enriches the experience.
Yeah...Watchmen holds up...BECAUSE MOORE PROPERLY INTRODUCES HIS CHARACTERS. You can't gloss over that.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Morrison quote says that Sonny Sumo's presence on our Earth is supposed to be another big red flag that there's something really wrong.
Sorry, but BIG RED FLAGS aren't "easter eggs" meant to give die-hards another level of enjoyment.