Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 Review

As our followers know, one way to get the Revolution’s attention is to have Grant Morrison’s name on a comic book. Seaguy is lesser known than many of the books he has written. When you team up Morrison with Cameron Stewart, you are in for a treat.

In an interview Morrison said to think of this series as Seaguy in his teenage years. If it is anything like the first Seaguy series, this should be a surrealistic treat.

Creative Team
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Cameron Stewart

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

The story begins with Seaguy talking to his friend Lucky El Lorro the parrot. Seaguy is upset that they went on vacation and forgot their pet fish. It is now a skeleton.

Lucky is watching a television show about a half animal on a stick. Seaguy comments that it sounds familiar. He wants to go to the grocery store by himself but Lucky objects. A closeup shows a very sinister looking Lucky telling Seaguy not to go without his pal. He reluctantly agrees.

As they walk down the street, the pair is being watched by She-Beard (imagine Red Sonja with a beard). Seaguy spent the first series trying to win her love. Now she is being propositioned by her landlord, Seadog. She rejects him by drawing her sword and Seadog leaves.

Seadog takes a walk in the park. A butterfly speaks to him. It tells him that the eye is pleased with the changes he is implementing in the city. Seadog says that She-Beard does not suspect anything. He looks across the bridge to Mickey Eye’s funland.

Seaguy and Lucky come upon Death. Death wants to play him in chess. Seaguy says he always beats Death. Now it is just boring to play against him. Death reminds Seaguy that he got Seaguy’s best friend-Chubby da Choona.

Chubby is now Death’s pal. Seaguy wants to know where he is. Death says he is behind Seaguy. Seaguy does not fall for that line.

Seaguy wants to know why Death would be playing chess on a street corner. Suddenly, two of Mickey Eye’s guards show up and take Death away.

Lucky and Seaguy have a discussion about why Seaguy has been sad since the death of Chubby.

Seaguy meets up with Doc Hero and Doc’s arch villain Prof. Niltoid. Niltoid is working for Mickey Eye. Prof takes him to see his secret collection of Cryptosaurs. They are skeletons of dinosaurs mixed with car parts.

Lucky shows up and attacks the Professor.  Lucky tells Seaguy that he snitched to his bosses at I-Pol (Mickey Eye’s police force).  Seaguy is arrested. They just want to make sure that Seaguy was not interfered with.

I-Pol, led by Seadog, does not want Seaguy thinking subversive thoughts. Lucky has a change of heart and attacks the guards. Seadog stops him. Then Seadog forces Seaguy to eat a piece of Forget-Me-Pie. Seadog then kills Lucky.

Seaguy wakes up in a “Home for the Bewildered”. He is being force fed. A group of psychologists discuss how mad Seaguy has become. Other heroes who are being held captive agree that they have seen the ghost of Chubby.

They look at the window and Chubby appears. Seaguy can’t believe that Chubby is alive. Chubby replies that he is dead. Chubby says that is no big deal when Seaguy hears what he has to tell him. Chubby puts Seaguy’s memories back into his head.

Seadog says that Seaguy must not be allowed to remember. He has the home flooded with gas.

Seaguy says that he sees his double and there are three of him. Three men in Seaguy suits are there to bust him out.

Commentary

The Good: The combination of Cameron Stewart’s clean cut art and Grant Morrison’s surrealistic script are perfect for each other. Morrison tells a deep story about the way we look at the world. If the world is the perfect place they claim it is, Mickey Eye would not need a police force that makes people forget things.

Chubby was one of my favorite characters in the first series. It will be interesting to see if he appears in the rest of the issues. Just the thought of the ghost of a flying fish who likes to smoke a cigar and wear a sailor’s hat stays in your memories. The expressions that Stewart gives Chubby are amazing.

Steve Gerber and Philip K. Dick would have loved the Seaguy stories. I would not be surprised to hear that part of the inspiration for this series is Gerber and Jack Kirby’s Destroyer Duck. It has the same anti-corporation spin that is still relevant today. If you are not familiar with Gerber or Dick, google them. Both were great writers.

The Bad: As you can tell, this story does not make much sense when it is summarized. To have a better chance to understand it you need to read the first series.

Overall: If you like Morrison (especially his Doom Patrol), this is a great series. If Morrison is not the type of writer you like then definitely avoid this issue. Even though I like it, Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye will not appeal to everyone. Recommended with reservations.