#absurdist jokes are the best

[chthonicathenean]

New April Fool’s Joke format just dropped! Post the oldest image you can find on your computer.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

obsessed with their different reactions to being called starcrossed lovers

[aliens-took-my-iwa-chan]

my sister just read the last half of the stranger by camus to me and holy crap-

i need to go back and read the first part of the book at LEAST dont I-

THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER HOLY CRAP ABSURDISM IS SO INTERESTING

[internerdionality]

My wife: Have a kumquat!

Me: What do kumquats taste like?

Wife: They’re citrussy.

Me (picks one up) Huh. Do you peel them?

Wife: Nope!

Me (dubiously bites down): …

Wife: It’s kind of like eating a whole orange?

Me: … Could have said that first…

Wife: I mostly just like making “kum in your mouth” jokes.

Me: Mmhhm. Much like the other context, I will continue to make the jokes without needing the actual sensory experience.

Wife: …

Me: I could even write an elaborate fantastical set up about the kumquats I won’t eat!

[kraymerman]

You know what? The three funniest things in the world are chickens, mini-golf, and the postal services

[bandichree]

I hate that someone can post on smth like "don't talk to me unless it's about the red cube" and like. I want to like it because I love absurdity and fixating on a cube that is red is funny but I have to stop myself because idfk if it's a dogwhistle for something

[homestuckreplay]

Well, it keeps happening! Homestuck has put out its third update in as many days, and this one is SO much fun (I keep saying that, but 'fun' is genuinely the best word to describe this thing so far). I love when Being On The Internet is well represented in stories, and John's computer does this right away. John and his chums having incomprehensible matching usernames, John's filenames for his failed programs, and the 'graphic design is my passion' tier wallpaper are all excellent, but easily my favorite joke in the comic so far is Pesterchum having five generically upbeat and happy mood settings and one Evil Angry Mood Setting.

It was definitely a surprise getting to see a whole conversation between John and turntechGodhead, who I guess is officially our second character! They definitely have a bored and disaffected tone compared to John, like they're trying to keep emotion out of their messages, whereas John is 50% Goofing Around and 50% movie trivia. Once again I haven't seen this movie, and while the conversation explains it well enough that I can follow the joke, I'm still missing some nuance (for example, is John exaggerating or being literal when he says it was the 'fifteenth day in a row' Howie Mandel peed in his juice?)

I LOVE the panel on page 28 where, after just seeing the view from outside John's window, we're flipped around and we see it reflected in John's glasses as the shadow of the window crossbar falls on his face. He's just looking up and smiling hopefully and I find myself wondering again about the title - John seems like a happy kid who enjoys messing around in his room, but is he really stuck at home? We learn in this update that he can leave his room, go downstairs and see his dad, but not necessarily that he can leave the house - maybe something always interrupts him when he tries? Is he gazing at the front yard because it's a magical land he wants to visit but can't? We hear about the importance of the tire swing, but there's no indication that John has ever used it.

That's probably an absolute reach and an absurdist interpretation, particularly as everything on page 30 feels so relatable. The bedroom being both a place John is trapped as well as his only safe space pretty well reflects my experiences being a kid, and ignoring a friend's incessant messages even while strictly not having better things to do is something I still do all the time. John is an easy character to connect to, and manages to be an everyman at the same time as being a distinctly Weird Kid (so far, at least, though he could develop more into one or the other as the comic continues).

Bring on the next pages! I'd love to hear from John's other friends soon!

[lilac-hecox]

Comedy Club AU:

Ian and Anthony are co-owners of The Giggle Hut and have a regular stable of stand up comics that come to perform. The au centers around the group of comedians.

Shayne: Has been in the scene for a long time, struggling for his big break. He lets himself get anxious about performing and it at times affects his ability to pull off a joke in his set, but he's charismatic enough that he's popular and people like when he does costumed character impressions such as The Chosen.

Trevor: A new comedian on the scene and instantly a lot of comparisons to Shayne for no real reason except they are both blonde men. Trevor is a hit right away and it sets up a rivalry of sorts between them. Shayne feels insecure because Trevor is younger and popular and isn't having to work as hard to gain an audience. Trevor really looks up to and admires Shayne but feels intimidated to say anything because he feels frostiness from Shayne.

Amanda: Always doing sets as different characters, very popular because you never know exactly what character you're getting. She also does a lot of audience interactions and friendly heckling while in character. She is best friends with Shayne and the two often work together and pair well on nights at the club. Amanda is extremely fond of the absurdist comedian Angela.

Angela: Very off the wall absurdist comedy. She's extremely relatable and audiences eat her up. She makes jokes that appeal to almost everyone and always references fellow comedians in her jokes which often kills because she riffs on what the audience is familiar with. She has a big honking crush on Amanda but feels she is out of her league both comedy wise and romantically.

Chanse: MC at the club and often performs mini-sets as musical improv is more his thing, but he does often do some musical comedy at the club, but is also happy to be hosting. Besties with Angela. He also heckles the crowd in a fond but real way. He also uses his sets to throw mini flirtatious jokes at Shayne and Trevor. He has a crush on both of them.

Spencer: Is not at the Hut as much as the other comics, but he performs and kills on the regular. He does a lot of character work and he references the other comedians. Makes an absurd amount of jokes about being gay when he doesn't say one way or another and gives Chanse a shit ton of material to work with in a set devoted to the reasons why Spencer is probably gay.

Tommy: Bartender at the Giggle Hut. He is insanely funny but doesn't think he could perform on stage and Spencer is begging him to try it out. It gets the point where Spencer gets them to set up a mic for Tommy and they banter during one of Spencer's performances and Tommy has the audience crying in laughter.

Pairings/Dynamics:

Shayne/Trevor?? Rivals to lovers type deal?

Shayne/Chanse? Exploration on Shayne's side, maybe happened before he got with Trevor? After? Same time?

Amangela! Two fools who are certain the other doesn't feel the same even though they are obviously crushing on one another.

Spommy: Supportive Spencer and nervous Tommy and mutual respect and flirtation that turns into an actual relationship

Ianthony: BACKGROUND MARRIED CO-OWNER BOSSES OF THE GIGGLE HUT!!!! "our comedian kids are idiots but i love them."

[lexiewrites]

TUA4 Spoilers

I figured out how the subway plotline could have fixed things.

Lila and Five should have taken Klaus and Allison with them. All four of them should have been trapped in the subway.

(I did think that maybe Diego should have been, but I think the CIA fight was worthy, it taught Diego a valuable lesson about being present for his family, and I think that Diego being in the subway was too on the nose.)

You have the four of them on this subway station, and someone gets left behind - Klaus or Allison. They all get lost trying to find each other again, and then find their way back - splitting up and mapping out the subway to compay notes.

Klaus and Allison spend a year trying to find Five and Lila, living out of the trains, and they get to talk. They get to hash out all of the messy trauma that comes with being an addict, sobriety, and living with an addict. How Klaus loves Claire so much, but he's affecting her. How Allison needs to be more present for her. How/why Ray left. Why Allison fucked them all over in S3.

And then Allison and Lila get a moment to talk about shitty marriages and lives that aren't quite what they wanted - Allison and her failed acting career, Lila stuck in suburbia. You have this come-to-god moment for both of them.

Meanwhile, Klaus and Five find Max's Deli because you know the absolute joy Klaus would get from that absurdist place? The jokes. A source of food that isn't subway rats? Amazing.

Then they get back six years later. Haunted and tired and so, so grateful to be back. Ready to fight for whatever they need to. Lila clinging to Diego when he says he misses her.

Allison and Klaus practically sobbing over Claire.

Five trying to reconcile the fact they have to die to fix everything. Klaus looking him dead-on and saying that he has been fighting for decades to save them, and the Five that ripped his way through time wouldn't give up.

Then you can go one of two ways:

Either Five founds the commission to create a 'bubble' where the Hargreeves can live safely without causing the apocalypse, outside of the timeline. They have to leave the kids behind, but they're always watching - and they can visit with them in the subway.

Or they die. And God is back on her bike, looking unamused to see Klaus again. Sloane and Ben are there, waiting for them. When God tries to kick Klaus out, every single one of them demands he be allowed to stay - all of them or none of them. God is vaguely disgusted but allows it, as long as Klaus stays away from her.

"We had a good run."

That's it. It always needed to come back to messy, flawed assholes doing their goddamn best and being each other's ride or die when shit came to shove.

I'll save my 'Reggie should have told Abigail to go fuck herself, and died in Victor's place' pitch for another post.

[baroque-hashem]

Aside from mocking the world's irrationalities, absurdist humor takes on human irrationalities:

A Jewish woman is wheeling her grandson in a baby carriage. A woman stops her. "What a beautiful baby," she says.

"Ah! This is nothing! You should see his pictures."

The grandmother is guilty of a common failing: an aversion to reality. What matters is not who we truly are, but what image we wish to project. That is why people smile in photographs even when they are sad.

--Jewish Humor: What The Best Jewish Jokes Say About The Jews (1992, p. 56) by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

[walks-the-ages]

anyways gonna make it is own post, too.

You wanna know some themes that are in the 2007 flatland movie?

here's a theme for you about the 2007 flatland movie:

it's fearmongering in the background about vauge enemies in the East or whatever is literally just an example of Ladd Ehlingers xenophobia and militant racism at work!

He views all enemies as having to come from somewhere Outside and Different to himself.

the government of flatland might be bad but "GET A LOAD OF THOSE SCARY FOREIGNERS AM I RIGHT?"

The creator couldn't talk about the politics in the book because to do so would be to attack his own views, so to him they don't exist, and women's biggest enemies is themselves instead of the patriarchy!

Women will literally eat themselves alive out of existence because they're simply 'crazy hysterical women', because to talk about the life of extreme oppression and disdain that would lead to a woman snapping and killing the family that sees her as a shameful object to be feared but not respected is too much like actually talking about systemic oppression and misogyny.

Of course A Sphere is a walking absurdist asshole who murders random protestors without blinking an eye and tortures A Square for fun; to portray him true to his actual source material self as a kind, patient teacher with his own flaws would be Too Deep and wouldn't let you view A Square, the raging racist and misogynist as a poor little meow meow in comparison, now would it?

And of course, the entire film must be absurdist humor, because the alt right calling card is "Its just a joke, lighten up!"

If its ""just"" a haha-funny-movie, then no one should be allowed to criticize it or its creator, because it's all just absurdist humor, "don't look any deeper into the creators politics haha, its just a funny movie haha, can't you take a joke? Are we not allowed to make jokes these days anymore?" etc.

A Sphere can't be a kind, patient mentor trying his best, because that would mean that people who are Higher Up don't look down on The People Below Them; he must be a random absurdist asshole who tortures and kills people without batting an eye because he must be on the same level as the creator and his ilk; to make him kind would mean that A Square and his beliefs and behaviors are wrong and need to be corrected, and if A Square is a racist, ableist queerphobe like he is in the source material.... that would mean that those things are wrong, and you can't preach that when you genuinely believe in so many racist anti-Black and queerphobic conspiracy theories that Republicans had to disavow you and the ad you made in direct support of them because you're so incredibly racist even the top racists were embarassed to be seen with you in public.

[the1975attheirverybest]

Hi lovely just been checking up with your blog and earlier you asked about the ideas for one little scene moments ( btw I loved the one you posted, what I love about your writing is how detailed you are I can see that and feel it in my head love you so much for that seriously ) so I love angst (i'm sorry ) so wanted to send you this. Girl/reader is being done with Matty's unwillingness to understand her pov during a fight and is out of words, gives up and agrees with him without any emotions and this is where it hits him. He then tries to show her he does get it which is hard bc she gave up. i Hope it makes sense sorry that might be a complicated

Omg this is so so so sweettt???? 🥹💗💗💗 and it makes me happy to hear that cuz I often feel like I’m better at writing dialogue than I am at scene-setting, plot, emotions, etc. and it bugs me sometimes hahaha. So this means a lot to me for real 💗💗

anyways, I THINK, I know what you mean. Let me know if this is not it. I’ll be happy to give it a second shot.

———

“I just don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect my girlfriend to be on my fuckin side.” Matty huffed, the heat of the argument making his skin feel too warm for him. He looked down at the marble of kitchen island as he sat at the barstool, pushing his half empty cigarette packet around with his finger, and watching it slide from one side to the other. his knees began to bounce as soon as he sat down, the nervous energy flowing through him, but he did his best to avoid looking into her eyes.

“I’m just pointing out that irony has its limits. I’m not saying abandon the entire show-“

“No, not at all. but you ARE saying you wouldn’t enjoy seeing it.” His lips moved before his brain could think, still addressing the sliding cigarette packet, he spoke with a clenched jaw. “‘So, how’s the new tour Matty? Seen the reviews, it looks great!’ ‘Yeah, yeah, thanks, mate. My girlfriend hates it, but hey, at least Rolling Stone thought it was alright.’” She shook her head in disbelief, walking around the kitchen island and towards the fridge to pour herself a glass of water.

“I am, and always will be, you’re biggest fan and you know it.” She grabbed an empty glass off the dish rack, pulling the fridge door open with her free hand.

“Didn’t sound like a fan when Brad asked you what you thought. Sounded like a- a- Twitter troll.”

in the silence, Matty could hear the gulping sound of the water pouring down her throat. She set the now empty glass of water on the marble counter, inches away from his cigarette packet.

In a calmer, more composed tone, she restated the point that she felt she’d been making all day. “I merely pointed out that, as it stands right now, the show feels like it’s more of the same thing. And that if your goal is change, evolution, a female perspective on this whole question of masculinity wouldn’t hurt”

“But that’s the fuckin point!” Finally, the frustration feeling bigger and stronger than his body, Matty stood up, sighing loudly and pulling at his own hair. “To take the thing to his absurdist limit such that it becomes a parody of itself. Besides I refuse to participate in the false dichotomy of male versus female. To fix one you must become more like the other? What kind of bullshit artist do you think I am?”

He finally picked up the cigarette packet and lit one, taking a drag that forced him to stop and breathe in for a moment.

her lips parted, instantly, ready for the rebuttal. Ready to explain to him, for the hundredth time in the past hour, that she wasn’t suggesting what he thinks. That she wanted him to try harder to practice all the things that he theorizes. To ask himself what he’d feel if he were to be vulnerable, without the safety net of a joke, or an act, to fall back on. But as she prepared her next argument, running through her thoughts before she spoke them, the feeling of defeat overwhelmed her. She’s been at this a while. Trying to explain what she meant in different ways. Some gentler, more indirect, leaving it up to Matty to draw his own conclusions, others louder, more blunt, unequivocally disagreeing with him. But Matty was so trapped in his own vision to step outside of himself and entertain an alternative. She took a deep breath, squeezing her lips shut. Then, she exhaled, looking at Matty as his fingers nervously tapped against the marble surface. “okay.” She said simply. “I get it.”

Matty blew the smoke up towards the ceiling. “I’m just saying” he spoke authoritatively, like a lecturer clarifying complex concepts to a room full of novice students. “I know what I’m doing. And I wish I could the sense that you believed in this thing as much as I do.” He finally turned to meet her eyes.

“I do. I believe in it.”

“I trust the audience. They’ll get it. I don’t think they’ll think it’s the same show all over again.” He was doubling down, but the more he spoke, the more he seemed to doubt his own words.

“yeah, you’re right. I think they’ll get it.”

she walked in a semi-circle, around Matty’s body, retrieving her empty glass. It still held on to some of the coolness from the water that had left it. She set the glass down in the sink, turning on her heels and walking out of the kitchen without sparing him a second glance.

she felt foolish that this had even turned into an argument. She was certain that normal couple had communication issues, or argued about whose family they should spend the holidays with or whose turn it is to do certain chores, not, the limits of irony is performance art or Matty’s fear of and simultaneous desire for sincere self expression. The thing is, she knew that to their relationship, this is a communication issue. It was important to Matty that she be a fan of his artistic choices because his work is who he is. She often looked at what he did and saw him. Saw the way his mind works, how he feels about important parts of his life, what he’s proud of, what he’s afraid of, what he loves or hates, what he wants to change. She got to know him this way. To her, his inability to concede to her judgment wasn’t just a difference in aesthetic theory, it was an unwillingness to relinquish control over the argument. He wasn’t even trying to put himself in her shoes and see things her way. he felt attacked by her criticism of something that came directly from the depths of his mind and heart, and his response what to push back. She’s been lost in thought, so she had no idea when Matty had appeared in the living room doorway. His head cocked to the side, his gaze downcast. “Do- do you really think there isn’t enough honesty in the new show?” His tone was inquisitive now rather than accusatory. hesitantly, he walked towards her on the couch, one step at a time.

“the shows fine, Matty.” She looked right through him, at the wall behind him.

“it’s important to me that you like it.”

“I do. I like it.”

matty clicked his tongue. “Please, don’t be like that.”

She looked directly into his eyes, this time, and he could see her anger. “Like what, Matty? Supportive! I thought that’s all you wanted from your girlfriend. Well, here I am. Being supportive.”

He stopped inches away from her, dropping to his knees and hopping to be at eye level with her waist. He placed his hands into her lap, palms down, gripping the tops of her legs desperately. “I want- I need to - need you to be proud of me.” He rested his head against her knees, begging for physical intimacy to bridge the emotional gap that had formed like a chasm between them.

reluctantly, her hands found their way to his hair, caressing it lightly, a sign of compromise. Meeting in the middle. “I do want you to be supportive.” He spoke into her legs. “I’m being supportive. I’ll be supportive.”

He shook his head, his curls moving around her fingers. “No, not like that. I think- I think you were being supportive before. By pushing me to be better. I don’t want a cheerleader, I want you.” hid hand reached over his head and grabbed her wrist. “I love when you argue with me. Please never stop arguing with me.” Pulling his head off of her, he leaned over and kissed her hands. “Please promise me?”

[quirkwizard]

I missed you! Guess I need to work on my aim! 🥁I was wondering what kind of quirks a comedian character would use?

Greetings oh great QuirkWizard… I have a request for your services… what original quirks have you made do you believe would be best for pranking people? I got the idea because I felt like Headspace would be perfect if you just wanted to mess with your friends so what else do you have in mind for harmless pranks? TY!

I'm doing these together since they cover such similar fields. And while I've already done Quirks for a jester, there are still plenty of other options. For this, I'll ignore the Quirks "Apathy" and "Antagony" since those only really work as a pair.

Grit: Physical comedy can be a real pain to do. So a power that lets the user exert and take far more damage then a normal person would be able to handle would be perfect for that kind of genre.

Tailor Made: This would be great for any kind of improvisational comedy or impression based comedy. You can just dress up to look like whomever you want. That or just make some crazy outfit.

Modeled: I mean, puppets can be funny, right? If not that, then at least you can design your own partner in a double act to look and do whatever you want. Which might just be more creepy then a regular dummy, but that may just be me.

Lagging: This fits with the more absurdist side of things. With how the user can rubber band themselves around or delay effects done by their body, they effectively can act like a cartoon character with how bizarrely they interact with the world.

Pocket: This one is perfect for prop based comedy. You can pull whatever you want out of your little hiding space while the other half of the portal is somewhere on your person. Now pull out that giant mallet from under your hat and get to work.

Hindsight: A lot of comedy is based around making commentary about the world around you. Being able to tell where and how someone mess things up would be a major boon, especially with something like stand up.

Air Waves/Reverb: Sound can make for some great emphasis in comedy, whether it be adding in sound effects to play up a joke or doing a comedic song to convey a point. I mean, you could literally do your own rim shot with these two. It's too perfect to pass up.

Mirror Trick/Transparency: These two would be amazing for comedy of pretty much any kind. You would be able to trick and flabbergast some many people in so many ways with invisible items and forming large scale illusions. The options are as endless as they are hilarious.

[forthegothicheroine]

Horror novel recommendations

@allthestoriescantbelies​ asked for horror novel recommendations, so I thought I’d throw one together to post on the blog! Largely focused on non-gothic stuff since I’ve already made a gothic lit list over here.

As a general warning, all horror books listed here will have potentially triggering material. If you want more specific trigger warnings, you can ask me or see if people have listed them on goodreads or storygraph.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix: I know you’ve read this, but I’m putting it on the list because it is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, about a teenage girl in trouble and the only other girl willing to help her. I’m told the movie makes it much more straightforwardly comic rather than horror-with-jokes, which disappoints me. I’m a big fan of Hendrix in general, though I know you (and plenty of others!) find him hit-or-miss.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris: Another one I believe you’ve read, but for reference, it’s the best serial killer thriller I’ve ever read. Francis Dolarhyde is a much more interesting character than Hannibal Lecter, I will die on this hill.

We Will All Go Down Together by Gemma Files: Centuries ago, the Five Family Coven made a deal with the Fairy Queen, and their descendants have been doomed ever since. I could have just as easily recommended Files’ book Experimental Film- if you like one, read the other as well.

The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan: A schizophrenic woman has two different memories of her ex-girlfriend and the horror that followed her- was she a werewolf, a mermaid, or were both memories wrong? This is Kiernan at her most heartfelt and most accessible; if you like this and want to try her grosser stuff, read The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski: A haunted house in a haunted film in a haunted memoir, written in a work of visual art. I won’t blame anyone who bounces off this, but give it a try!

Carrie by Stephen King: If you’re only going to read one Stephen King, make it either Carrie or Misery. I don’t feel like any film adaptations have captured all the aspects of this tragedy about a girl who deserved a better life and the town who didn’t save her while there was still a chance, including the epistolary format.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: This novella was followed up by Into the Drowning Deep, but I found Rolling in the Deep much scarier. It’s brisk and high-tension to watch a semi-fake documentary team put together, piece by piece, just what the monsters are that pursue them.

Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge: The Great Pumpkin, but scary! Seriously, though, if you are willing to accept the concept of a boy with a pumpkin head and a knife and a yearly child sacrifice, this is short and a lot of fun.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: Just an elk killed when some kids were blowing off steam. Just an elk damning the rest of their lives. (Jones’s My Heart is a Chainsaw was too sad for me to recommend as a favorite, but I am curious about the sequel.)

The Wolfen by Whitley Striber: I wanted to include a good werewolf novel on this list, and The Wolfen wins by far for interesting creature design. (The runner up was The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan.)

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson: A very atypical entry on this list, closer to Twin Peaks than your average thriller. A rural town is turned into a capitalist police state when a slick salesman comes to see what they’ll allow him to do. It turns out, it’s a lot.

The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale: The only “splatterpunk” I’ve ever loved, this is an absurdist nightmare about a southern drive-in crowd who get stuck in a world with only the movie screens and each other, turning into literal and figurative monsters. Usually published with the sequel, since both are short, though I didn’t like the latter as much. If you like it, read one of Lansdale’s short story collections.

As always, reblog with suggestions of your own!

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

If they made a TF2 tv show/web series I think it’d be cool if it was like Simpsons Treehouse of Horror style, where it’s a bunch of like one-off shorts that may or may not be canon. Cause TF2 having a consistent canon would lowkey be hard to pull off

Yeahhhh that's what I'm also kinda saying! The mainline comic is The only attempt at a linear story tf2 has been given and they didn't even finish it LMAO. I've talked before about what a "campaign mode" might look like for tf2, a game built fundamentally around NOT having a campaign to complete or any sort of story to tell. Expiration Date is a one-off short, and I think it works best that way. Although I don't reaaaally worry about the "canon" of an absurdist comedy property that constantly contradicts its own "canon" anyway, I DO think a series of very episodic 15-minute shorts would be the best way to do tf2 supplementary material in video form. Expiration Date is actually like a REALLY good short, probably better of a short than people give it credit for, and when I imagine any hypothetical future shorts, I imagine them in a similar format. The team is thrust into some kind of wacky situation, the episode focuses on a certain character or relationship between characters (like how Expiration Date focuses on Scout and Spy), there's some kind of fight with references to the gameplay so nerds can go That's the thing! From my game!, and everything is resolved by the end of the episode. Tf2 characters are like, exceptionally versatile (because of that non-linear nature of the game I talked about) and can thrive in basically any situation you put them into. I don't want a big-budget Netflix show like Arcane with crazy Spiderverse animation or whatever. I want thirty more Expiration Dates about Medic and Engie's experiments or about Sniper and Demo going treasure hunting in the desert or about Pauling's vacation days or 15 straight minutes of jokes about Heavy and his gun. I want tf2 shorts that feel like tf2 goddammit!

[ultra-kek]

Is it true you don't like anything from Grant Morrison, or just the man himself at all?

I don't think I've mentioned my thoughts on Grant Morrison here but I do really love Grant Morrison's early DC work, in particular Animal Man being one of my favorite comics of all time, but I find their later work to be so terrible that I consider it my least favorite comics of all time. I blame this on the running themes of Metatextuality and a sort of reconstructivist ideology in Morrison's work that has ended up completely antithetical to what i desire from comics.

While the absurdist ruminations on the nature of fiction in Animal Man made for an amazing and radical sort of comic that deconstructed a lot about both superheroes and the relationship between fiction and reality, over time their work fell into what to me feels like just very shallow and uninteresting narratives that frequently fall into the same traps as like, redditors and youtube theorists, where it doesn't really have that much to say beyond "woah... this is a work of fiction and we're breaking the fourth wall!!!!!1111" and "superheroes are actually super cool and should never be criticized". The top examples i can think of are their Batman run, which brought back several concepts but in ways that felt shallow (was it really that necessary to bring back the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh as an edgy violent alternate personality?), meanspirited (Son of the Demon being brought into canon, but retconning Bruce and Talia's loving relationship to... that.), or even offensive (if you're going to make a modern version of the Batmen of all Nations, even if you're going to be rewriting them to attempt to make more realistic and progressive incarnations of them is it really necessary to keep the more offensive designs, and redesign others to be even more offensive? I don't think they had people of color on hand for that stuff...). Meanwhile there's the multiverse stuff that I just really can't bring myself to care about, that kind of thing is already really boring for me personally and though Morrison tries to make more meaningful narrative in them that narrative is just "Aren't superheroes really epic and cool?"

There's also the fact that regardless of being nonbinary Morrison hasn't really had the best track record when it comes to depicting minority groups. I already mentioned the Batmen of all Nations but there's them turning Talia into a misogynistic and somewhat racist stereotype, and Professor Pyg, who's Buffalo Bill-type queercoding is so offensive that I genuinely can't stomach it as a character. This is more controversial, but I feel this even about A Serious House on Serious Earth, both in the character of Mad Dog but also in the comic's general depiction of Batman's rogues' gallery not as characters of their own but as caricatures of mental illness existing primarily as foils for Batman's personal conflicts, which bled into the comics and kind of became a defining part of Batman as a franchise and its frequent usage of psychological themes.

Morrison also has a particularly unfortunate flaw in that theyre kind of... redditbrained. They're famous for their personal theory on the ending of the Killing Joke of how it actually represents Batman finally breaking his one rule and killing the Joker, despite how the comic very clearly frames the moment as the one last moment of understanding the two will ever have. There's also Morrison's idea of all Batman media being true, and justifying it as the sillier parts of Batman being caused by... him and Robin being on drugs. They've literally said that.

My main like, ideological opposition to Morrison though is in their reconstructivist themes and the way they place superheroes as like gods to be aspired to. I certainly fall closer to Moore when it comes to my perspective on comics and while I don't think they're beyond salvation Morrison simply isn't doing them any favors. I just don't want to see comics about how epic Batman and Superman are or whatever, I want to see more radical stuff that breaks down superhero comics as a whole. By all means I like seeing the weird reinvention of old concepts, but being so stuck in the past is just kind of, stupid.