Scissormen
Encyclopedia
In the DC
comic book
Doom Patrol
, the Scissormen are a fictional race of beings that come from the metafiction
al city of Orqwith.
The authors of the book of Orqwith (and Grant Morrison
, writer of the comic) based the Scissormen on The Tailor from The Tale of Little Suck-a-Thumb in the children's picture book Struwwelpeter
. They function as Orqwith's answer to the Spanish Inquisition
, attacking non-fictional entities in the 'real' world. They attack using the large scissors they have in place of hands which they use to literally cut people out of reality, leaving a white outline where they were, much like cutting a picture out of a magazine.
The Scissormen are clothed in red and black, and have featureless faces apparently covered in the same material. They speak in a seemingly random series of words when they talk, resembling dada
poetry, created by cutting up text and rearranging its constituent words in a random order. Morrison got these suggestions from his word processor's spell check feature. They are shaped like men but when struck hard enough they are defeated and seem to leave behind nothing but cloth. They were finally destroyed along with Orqwith when the story was destroyed by a contradiction revealed in the solution to a variation on a traditional riddle.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
, the Scissormen are a fictional race of beings that come from the metafiction
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
al city of Orqwith.
The authors of the book of Orqwith (and Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
, writer of the comic) based the Scissormen on The Tailor from The Tale of Little Suck-a-Thumb in the children's picture book Struwwelpeter
Struwwelpeter
Der Struwwelpeter is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the...
. They function as Orqwith's answer to the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
, attacking non-fictional entities in the 'real' world. They attack using the large scissors they have in place of hands which they use to literally cut people out of reality, leaving a white outline where they were, much like cutting a picture out of a magazine.
The Scissormen are clothed in red and black, and have featureless faces apparently covered in the same material. They speak in a seemingly random series of words when they talk, resembling dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
poetry, created by cutting up text and rearranging its constituent words in a random order. Morrison got these suggestions from his word processor's spell check feature. They are shaped like men but when struck hard enough they are defeated and seem to leave behind nothing but cloth. They were finally destroyed along with Orqwith when the story was destroyed by a contradiction revealed in the solution to a variation on a traditional riddle.