It’s a wonderful vision of hell stuffed with good ideas, but Kid Eternity left me unsatisfied.

I wanted to like this book. It’s the re-publication of the three-comic series from the early 1990s. Each comic was divided into two cantos. And it’s written by Grant Morrison, one of my favorite graphic authors, and the concept of a journey through his vision of hell sounded awesome. The basic premise is a tour through hell to resolve a crisis — there is a slight nod to Dante’s Inferno. All signs point to me having a massive uncontrollable nerd-gasm. But I never climaxed.

The story didn’t ring true. At various points throughout the reading my mind wandered off. It was difficult to focus on anything specific because the artwork was intentionally vague at critical moments. During the first canto the blurry lines and sketchy dialogue are intriguing and spur you on. By canto four, however, I was ready for something concrete to sink my teeth into and never got it.

Conceptually, the book is done really well. The artwork, when clear, is great. Hell is well defined and interesting. Most of the really terrifying ideas (like tortured teddy bears, psycho-responsive tortures to create personalized horrors, etc.) are explained in dialogue exposition. Overall, though, Kid Eternity never pulls itself together.

When I finished my reading I set the book down, reflected a moment and said, “That was cool.” And it was. But cool doesn’t cut it anymore. I at least need an attempt to transcend from cool to sublime and Kid Eternity doesn’t have it.

 

Just Fantastic appears the second and fourth Wednesday every month.

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