Nameless #1

[history79]

"You know how on True Detective Matthew McConaughey’s character, [Rustin] Cohle, says humans need to stop reproducing because we’re just creating more horror in the universe? All that material comes from The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, a philosophical treatise on pessimism by Thomas Ligotti, the horror writer who suffers from anhedonia. Ligotti, along with Ray Brassier, a Scottish philosopher who wrote a book called Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction, is at the popular forefront of this new wave of pessimist, nihilist, or “speculative realist” thinking. Annihilator was heavily informed by these writers, and a lot of my interest in their work bled off into Nameless in a different way. It’s our contribution to the New Bleak, and we’re very excited about it. I wanted to know if my own optimism could stand up to the bleakest, most pessimistic, most corrosive ideas about the pointlessness and horror of being alive and self-aware in an entropic universe. I like dredging the darkest, sludgiest part of the well for misery that I can transform into poetry and humor, you know?"

- Grant Morrison




9 pages of 27

Comments

[captainbellman]

This book was a churning mess of high-concept horror, a bizarre crossover between "Event Horizon", "Alien" and "The Haunting of Hill House". It disturbed and somewhat sickened me, but I liked it.

This is an apt time to post it, I believe, because it feels like Garth Ennis' "Walk Through Hell" is essentially an imitation of this at worst, a response at best - and I believe "Nameless" will come out the stronger book of the two.

[mastermahan]

I read this just the other week, and thought it worked. It's thoroughly creepy and disturbing, with some horrific images and concepts. What happens with the drones - brrrrrrr.

Mind you, I couldn't begin to explain what actually happened in it, since we keep seeing the same events in radically different contexts. But did it scare me? Yes.

[deathcrist2000]

Also fitting given the recent decision outpour of Crossed Scans on the site. (Seriously, there are images in this comic that scream "I am writing Crossed.")

[captainbellman]

Though in all fairness, if you read Morrison's "The Filth" (published in 2002), you'll find that he was dabbling in the 'humans as deranged, sadistic hedonist herd animals' trope years before "Crossed" was a burst blood vessel in Garth Ennis' eye...

[informationgeek]

Oh yeah, I remember reading and reviewing this book. Not a fan. I mean, I really dont like Chris Burnham's artwork in the tiniest bit (he's Frank Quitely lite), but Morrison's writing just leaves no impression on me. It's just a lot of things being thrown at my face, dry as hell dialogue, and no real reason to care at all.

It's not as garbage as Arkham Aslyum was or up it's on ass like Batman Inc., but Nameless is just a whole lot of blah. In fact, I forgot this thing existed until this was posted.

[deathcrist2000]

Ah yes, Grant Morrison's second attempt at writing Crossed (the first was that issue of Batman Inc set in the future fighting the Joker virus). Easily the second best part of Morrison's "But what if I'm wrong" trilogy.