Review: Seaguy – Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 (of 3)

Or – “It’s By Grant Morrison.  You Have Been Warned…”

The original Seaguy limited series came at a time when I was experimenting with my comic input, trying weird stuff to see if any of it interested me, and the stream of consciousness bizarreness of the maritime hero intrigued me.  Morrison’s avant garde ramblings combined with the slick art to give an experience unlike any other.  Seaguy is decidedly NOT ultra-cool, nor is it in any way “badass” or gritty.  Needless to say, the experience was effective, and while I didn’t fully process all of it at first, I came away feeling like I’d had a fulfilling reading experience.  I never expected the proposed Seaguy sequel to ever get produced, so you can imagine my surprise when this showed up in the Previews… 

Previously, on Seaguy:  Some time in the future, the world is a seeming utopia, a world created by strange corporate forces.  Seaguy is one of the final superheroes in existence, one who has never fought a villain or encountered an adventure.  Alongside his friend, Chubby the Choona (a floating tunafish in a sailor’s hat) he discovers that things are not as idyllic as they seem.  When a new foodstuff turns out to be a living creature called Xoo, Seaguy backs into an adventure trying to protect the new lifeform from being exploited and eaten.  In so doing, they find that their favorite television character, Mickey Eye, is nothing but a tool of the evil companies, used to keep people under control, they find out that the moon is part of an overarching plot (of some sort) and Chubby is killed.  The series ended with Seaguy’s mind wiped by the evil Mickey Eye, left to play chess with the embodiment of death (who for some reason is a Gondolier) with a new sidekick: a creepy talking parrot named Lucky.  (Rumor has it that Morrison used Seaguy as a chip while negotiating to write 52, agreeing to do it only if DC would commit to the sequels he had planned for the character…) 

We open with Seaguy, wistfully staring into his aquarium, where the skeleton of his pet goldfish, Claudette, lies, while an extremely disturbing episode of Mickey Eye plays in the background.  Lucky the Parrot tries to keep Seaguy happy, but SG tries to escape him.  “We’re all out of monkey butter and xoo milk and… there are no more bony things,” prevaricates Seaguy in an attempt to get away from Lucky.  The parrot has other ideas, though.  “You know how scared I get, all on my lonesome, Seaguy,” says his “pal,” and clearly Seaguy remembers something.  They set out for the store anyway, a clearly crushed Seaguy realizing there is no escape.  Across town, his associate/possible love interest, She-Beard the barbarian cannot pay her rent, challening her landlord to a fight.  Rather than fight her, the landlord (another associate of Seaguy’s called the old Seadog) sets off for Mickey Eye amusement park, revealing himself to be head of Mickey Eye security.

Seaguy finds himself faced with Death again, who challenges him to play chess, but Seaguy isn’t interested.  “You never win, and I’m bored.  I’m not scared of you.”  Death wonders if he shouldn’t be scared, and reminds Seaguy that he took Chubby, and maybe he should be more afraid.  Just as Seaguy starts to wonder about what Death is doing, Mickey Eye security arrives and takes Death into custody.  Seaguy starts to question his life again, and Lucky sidetracks him with a guilt trip, causing Lucky to stalk away in disgust.  Seaguy encounters several strange types, and ends up in a mad scientists lab, looking about “cryptosaurs,” combination dinosaur/machines of unknown origin.  Mickey Eye security shows up again to take Seaguy in, killing Lucky (who reveals himself to be working for Mickey Eye) and putting Seaguy in the looney bin.  Visited by the shade of Chubby Da Choona, Seaguy starts to remember his past, just as three guys dressed just like him arrive to bust him out…

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, yet, but I’m intrigued.  I think I may be in a minority, but reading this issue didn’t leave me confused in a “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” manner, but instead in a “puzzle that I don’t quite have all the clues to unravel” manner.  The issue has beautiful art going for it, as Cameron Stewart nails every page, switching from pathos to sillness to sheer terror and back with ease.  Seaguy is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, with a slice of avocado and red pesto hummus sauce, and I liked the hell out of it.  Granted, being one of the few who remembers the original series probably works in my favor, but the book entertained the hell out of me.  Seaguy’s return is a long overdue winner, and Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 earns a strange-but-still-wonderful 3.5 out of 5 stars.  I expect great things out of this series, and I recommend it to anyone who has an open mind and a sense of the bizarre.