Seaguy
Encyclopedia
Seaguy is a three-volume comic book
miniseries
written by Grant Morrison
with art by Cameron Stewart
and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics
. The first volume of Seaguy was released in three issues beginning on May 19, 2004. The second volume, Slaves of Mickey Eye, was released in three issues beginning April 1, 2009. The third and final volume, Seaguy Eternal is yet to be published.
The story revolves around Seaguy, an unpowered superhero
in a scuba suit
, and his best friend and sidekick
Chubby Da Choona, a talking, cigar
-smoking tuna
fish.
, "I had the idea to develop Seaguy into a weapon I could use to fight back against the trendy and unconvincing 'bad-ass' cynicism of current comics, most of which are produced by the most un-'bad-ass' men you can possibly imagine". Morrison believes that in this fashion the work represents a new vanguard in the development of comics. He expressed similar sentiments about Zenith
, one of the earliest series he worked on, when he said that it "was a reaction against torment superheroes."
Seaguy was planned as a trilogy, the second and third volumes were to be entitled "The Slaves of Mickey Eye" and "Seaguy Eternal" respectively, but due to the lower-than-expected sales of the comic, it was thought that the sequels were unlikely to be published. In 2006, a fan reported to a comics rumor column that Morrison was holding DC Comics'
52
weekly limited series for ransom. He reportedly offered to help write the series as long as they allowed him to go forward on the Seaguy sequel.
In April 2008 Morrison stated that both sequels would go ahead and gave an overview of the ideas he has about the different parts:
The first sequel, Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, was released on April 1, 2009 by DC Comics/Vertigo.
Morrison has expanded on the broader themes:
playing chess with Death
, watching Mickey Eye (a cartoon
show about an all-seeing, all-knowing, psychopathic eye
, and an obvious spoof on Mickey Mouse
) and going to the Mickey Eye amusement park
. He constantly expresses his wish to go on adventures and impress a beautiful beard
ed warrior woman named She-Beard but he never seems to get around to it because he's told the world doesn't need heroes anymore. However, when Seaguy and Chubby discover that a new food staple called Xoo is sentient, they decide to protect it from evil forces and bring it home.
Seaguy exists in a seemingly perfect world in which all the super-heroes no longer save lives or do much of everything except ride the rides at the Mickey Eye amusement park. It is public knowledge that all the evil in the world was finally destroyed after a powerful entity called the Anti-Dad was destroyed by all the super-heroes, effectively leaving the heroes without jobs. The style of the book is equal parts dark tragedy
and light-hearted whimsy as the main character travels from one adventure to the other, but with each adventure becoming more tragic than the one before it, until Seaguy discovers the secret history of the moon.
:
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...
miniseries
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
written by 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...
with art by Cameron Stewart
Cameron Stewart
Cameron Stewart is an Eisner Award and Shuster Award-winning and Eagle Award and Harvey Award-nominated Canadian comic book artist who has worked for DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse Comics.-Biography:...
and published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics
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...
. The first volume of Seaguy was released in three issues beginning on May 19, 2004. The second volume, Slaves of Mickey Eye, was released in three issues beginning April 1, 2009. The third and final volume, Seaguy Eternal is yet to be published.
The story revolves around Seaguy, an unpowered superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
in a scuba suit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
, and his best friend and sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
Chubby Da Choona, a talking, cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
-smoking tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
fish.
Publication history
Morrison has expressed on various occasions that Seaguy represents a deliberate effort to move away from conventions of the current era of comicsModern Age of Comic Books
The Modern Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period in the history of mainstream American comic books generally considered to last from the mid-1980s until present day...
, "I had the idea to develop Seaguy into a weapon I could use to fight back against the trendy and unconvincing 'bad-ass' cynicism of current comics, most of which are produced by the most un-'bad-ass' men you can possibly imagine". Morrison believes that in this fashion the work represents a new vanguard in the development of comics. He expressed similar sentiments about Zenith
Zenith (comics)
Zenith is a British superhero, who appeared in the science fiction comic 2000 AD. Created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Steve Yeowell, with original character designs by Brendan McCarthy, he first appeared in 2000 AD #536 .Shallow and sarcastic, Zenith was a distinctly Generation X superhero...
, one of the earliest series he worked on, when he said that it "was a reaction against torment superheroes."
Seaguy was planned as a trilogy, the second and third volumes were to be entitled "The Slaves of Mickey Eye" and "Seaguy Eternal" respectively, but due to the lower-than-expected sales of the comic, it was thought that the sequels were unlikely to be published. In 2006, a fan reported to a comics rumor column that Morrison was holding DC Comics'
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...
52
52 (comics)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...
weekly limited series for ransom. He reportedly offered to help write the series as long as they allowed him to go forward on the Seaguy sequel.
In April 2008 Morrison stated that both sequels would go ahead and gave an overview of the ideas he has about the different parts:
The first sequel, Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, was released on April 1, 2009 by DC Comics/Vertigo.
Morrison has expanded on the broader themes:
Plot
Seaguy is a super-hero who has never really had an adventure and spends his days in New VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
playing chess with Death
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death , who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play...
, watching Mickey Eye (a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
show about an all-seeing, all-knowing, psychopathic eye
Eye
Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement...
, and an obvious spoof on Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
) and going to the Mickey Eye amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
. He constantly expresses his wish to go on adventures and impress a beautiful beard
Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...
ed warrior woman named She-Beard but he never seems to get around to it because he's told the world doesn't need heroes anymore. However, when Seaguy and Chubby discover that a new food staple called Xoo is sentient, they decide to protect it from evil forces and bring it home.
Seaguy exists in a seemingly perfect world in which all the super-heroes no longer save lives or do much of everything except ride the rides at the Mickey Eye amusement park. It is public knowledge that all the evil in the world was finally destroyed after a powerful entity called the Anti-Dad was destroyed by all the super-heroes, effectively leaving the heroes without jobs. The style of the book is equal parts dark tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
and light-hearted whimsy as the main character travels from one adventure to the other, but with each adventure becoming more tragic than the one before it, until Seaguy discovers the secret history of the moon.
Collected editions
The first volume has been collected into a trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
:
- Seaguy (104 pages, 2005, ISBN 1-4012-0494-5)
External links
- Seaguy interview with Cameron Stewart, Comiccon
- Review of the trade at Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
- Seaguy TPB review by Jeffery Klaehn at Graphic Novel Reporter, March 2009
- Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye Spanish Review @ kopodo