Enigma is, occasionally, an allegory. We have characters called The Enigma, The Head, and, in today's issue, The Truth. Granted, as is revealed in this issue, these are in fact characters from an old short-run comic from the Seventies, but in that cosmic time, just about everything was an allegory. I suppose the question becomes what is Enigma an allegory for? What is the truth, what is the mystery?
This isn't an easy comic. Unlike other metaphysical forays into the superhero genre (thinking here of something like Man-Thing, maybe, back in the Gerber days), this one embraces post-modernity head on, not even remotely denying its awareness of itself as a construct. Everything in this story is construct, and, in true Baudrillardian fashion, we're not entirely certain if there is an original lurking anywhere in the depths of the narrative. And just wait 'til we find out who's narrating the story. Honestly, this is one of those works that needs a really good, solid critical reading. Peter Milligan is a very, very smart writer.
We've not, to this point, seen much to convince us that Enigma is worth including in my month of queer comics. Not to worry. Things get explicit next issue. But then there's that question of what the allegory is trying to communicate. Is this an extended story of someone stepping out of the closet? Interesting idea.
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment