As you might've guessed from my ongoing series on the sublime insanity that is The Beard Hunter, I'm a fan of Grant Morrison. Some may grouse about his sometimes silly, often obscure style of storytelling, but there's no denying he's written some of the most imaginative and thoughtful stuff out there.
Plus, he's the man behind a lot of my favorite stories, and not just the Doom Patrol run. There's also Kill Your Boyfriend, The Invisibles, Seaguy, We3, Seven Soldiers of Victory and All Star Superman, and a whole bunch of other titles I'm leaving out. A lot of it is fun, most has an underlying theme you have to really think about, and a disturbing number of them end with the reader saying, "Whu ...?"
The guy's deep, is what I'm saying. So consider this my excuse if my description of Vimanarama doesn't do the book justice.
In this three-issue mini-series, an enormous hole has opened beneath the Bradford, England store of a Muslim family. After a baby accidentally opens the gates holding back the evil Fireborn warriors, Ali and Sofia almost as accidentally summon the Ultrahadeen, the Indian avatars of light and love, and the sworn enemies of the Fireborn.
You'd think that'd be enough, right? Oh-ho, not if you're Morrison. It turns out that Sofia is the stranger Ali is supposed to wed in a pre-arranged marriage, AND she's also the reincarnation of the beloved of Prince Ben Rama, the leader of the Ultrahadeen. Or something like that — my head's starting to hurt.
What's important is that Sofia doesn't remember anything about any past lives, and she thinks Ali is kinda dreamy, in a loserly way.
Prince Ben Rama doesn't take this well: Are you prepared for a world where ...
Click, if you're gonna whine about it ...Yeah, I gotta tell you man, that line never works. Now pick yourself up, princess, before you really do something to embarrass yourse ...
Prince Ben Rama, taken down by a dead leaf ... and a broken heart!! That's an emo knockout in anybody's book.
Bahlactus is man enough to cry ... but he won't.
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Like any good Bollywood movie, Vimanarama not only features foliage-on-deity violence; there's also a hot-'n-steamy three-way love scene!
OK, more like two-and-a-quarter.
Panels from Vimanarama #2
Grant Morrison, writer; Philip Bond, artist
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2 comments:
Definitely one of my favorite Morrison books. KNOCKOUT!
Mine too! And the Philip Bond art is a perfect fit — just a great book all around.
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