Sunday Comics: The Filth

The Filth, by Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, And Gary Erskine

 

Format: Graphic Novel originally published as 12 issues.

Content Rating: R, for...well, everything. Seriously, anything you can imagine affecting a work's content rating? Probably here. Keep this far, far out of reach of children.

Plot: Greg Feely isn't sure that he's Greg Feely. The Hand, also known as The Filth, keep insisting he's Agent Ned Slade, who works for them--a group of dimension-hopping technicolor garbage men. The Filth works in the background of our consciousnesses to eliminate "unpersons"--people that, by all accounts, should not exist, and if they are allowed to continue to will disrupt reality more than is good for humanity. As Greg/Ned gets involved deeper in his work and the questions about his seeming dual identity grow more persistent, many surprising facts about the nature of The Filth as an organization are revealed...and Greg/Ned isn't all that sure he's comfortable with either side of the war he's fighting.
At the same time, the entire story/universe/plot is also a metaphor for the human body going about its daily unseen business.

Thoughts: Remember back in my Joker special, when I said that pretty much Grant Morrison was going to be involved in was going to be weird? This book makes that seem like an understatement. This is one of the weirdest anythings I've ever read, let alone graphic novels, but it's precisely that weirdness that keeps me coming back to it every so often. It's very creative and stands alone, wearing its oddity like a big purple hat. I'm not entirely sure I understand all of it, and there's something in there to make pretty much anyone uncomfortable at some point, but (and I realize this will sound rather upturned-nose film-school-student, so forgive me) I'm not sure it's something that's meant to be understood in a full entireity and discomfort/disorientation is one of its prominent themes. So really, what we're dealing with here is a prime (perhaps the current primest) example of comics-form metafiction (at least in terms of metafiction that doesn't deal with comics itself all that much. For that we have Animal Man, which, surprise surprise, was also a Grant Morrison thing). So if you want something that will confuse you in what is perhaps a good way but you're not entirely sure, and don't mind being a little discomforted, go take a peek at The Filth.

[Holden Out.]