CREDIT: Image
Rating: 3/5 – You May Need a Web-Site to Help You Understand this Story.
by ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
For every Grant Morrison Justice League of America or All Star Superman, there’s also the Invisibles and Seaguy. There’s plenty of fans of each, but whereas the earlier mentioned books relate to most fans with their easy to follow narrative, the two latter books pose a challenge to read as parts of the writing are just plain tough to comprehend for some readers. There’s a reason plenty of Morrison books have websites and blogs dedicated to “decoding” the writing. So where does the Nameless fall? Unfortunately, despite an ending that was easy to follow I thought the first three quarters of the book were a lot more challenging and in certain parts I was wondering just what happened.
There’s an asteroid headed to earth and upon that asteroid lies a mark that measures fourteen miles in length and six miles across. A group of people which includes a scientific “billionaut” reach out to the main character, who goes by Nameless, to get his help. Just who this group is and how they’ve found the Nameless is still a mystery, but the Nameless lets us know that the large mark on the asteroid (that happens to look like a triangular symbol for infinity) is a doorway to the anti-verse. The Nameless holds the key to this doorway/asteroid which from the opening pages and the billionaut’s explanation, will bring about nothing but death and misery.
As for the art, Chris Burnham takes Morrison’s ideas and brings them to life and hauntingly so. This duo have worked together before on Batman Inc. so they have a successful history together. The first 12-15 pages of this first issue are a wild and violent ride that includes all sorts of uncanny visuals. It’s here that Burnham’s detailed art looks the best, but it’s also here where the story becomes tough to follow. Fish-men, an ancient civilization, and a dream-like world where words are spelled backwards are just a few of the visuals in the opening pages, all beautifully drawn, but for me less appreciated as I just wasn’t sure what it was I was supposed to be seeing.
I enjoyed the art and the last third of the story hooked me to try at least one more issue, but be warned that the majority of this issue was extremely tough to follow, at least for me. I’m not ashamed to say that this is another Morrison book where I’ll head online to try and find a web-site that will help me make sense of it. That’s a requirement that most casual readers won’t and, it could be argued shouldn’t, have to meet. Based on my respect for the two creators involved I’ll be back for #2, but I’m hoping that I’m better able to follow along and appreciate the story.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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