The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1232: Kid Eternity (1991) #3, 1991

A few thoughts upon finishing this series.

1. I think that the covers would make an awesome and particularly horrifying triptych to hang in the basement. Perhaps I need to grab a copy of this series in trade so that I can hang the pictures.

2. As with Junk Culture, there's a revelation of Philip K. Dick levels here that completely rewrites the Kid's history. Mr. Morrison likes to do this to old concepts (see Doom Patrol #57). It's a very useful device to unseat a hero from years of complacency, or a to bring something intriguing to a character that has lost its edge. He does similar things with the Seven Soldiers series. Just as the myths from which they derive changed and shifted constantly, so too must the superheroes, in order that they reflect the society within which they are being created.

3. I took on a new project with my comics.

(2.5. I might actually get back to my read through of Mark Waid's Flash, as well!)

I've taken all of the stories set in the DCU proper that Grant Morrison wrote and have come up with a chronology for them. I'm reading his entire take on the DCU from the beginning (for me, Action Comics v.2 #1) to the end (again, for me, All-Star Superman #12), using the various stories he tells of Superman as a fulcrum. It's slow-going, as I'm trying to take notes on each part. But I'd forgotten that this series takes place in the DCU, and features Dr. Fate's old nemeses, The Lords of Chaos. At one point in today's issue, one of the Lords notes that the Kid's mission to erect "chaospheres" around the planet has been in an effort to force humanity's evolution. The proof of its working is said to be the beginning of the age of superheroes. It feels like this story is taking place very early in the DCU (indeed, Morrison wrote it not too long after the new Earth of Crisis came about, and needed some historical tweaking).

A pretty good read, beautiful (though also awful) to look at, but certainly not amongst Morrison's best works. You can see inklings of the things he's going to start working out in The Invisibles, for sure, so an important early attempt at these ideas, most specifically his idea of the Supercontext.

Another interesting thing is that there's a woman whose story we keep witnessing throughout the series, and she's writing a book on urban legends. It just so happens that I'm reading a book that's almost identical to the one she is writing, down to some of the chapter headings. I get the feeling Mr. Morrison may have glanced at it in researching this series.

More to come...