When I'm not writing about comics, my full-time is as a court/crime reporter. I've written about sexual assault and domestic abuse. About robberies and drugs. And though I live in a small community, I've even written about murder. My job primarily is to inform, and through information, the hope is that some kind of positive change arises. This new comic from Grant Morrison is about taking journalism as an agent of change to a new level, taking the media as an observer and critic to an active participant in the news. The journalism philosophy is completely over the top, and ethics aside, it's supremely entertaining. Morrison offers up a new spin on the Guardian concept here that's surprisingly reminiscent of Warren Ellis's Transmetropolian.
The eccentric owner of The Manhattan Guardian has opted for new kind of newspaper with a new focus. It doesn't only report on crime throughout New York... it helps to fight crime. The paper has an army of Newsboys out there, keeping an eye out for danger, but what it needs now is a champion, a symbol of what it hopes to accomplish. It needs its very own super-hero, and that's where directionless ex-cop Jake Jordan enters the picture. Meanwhile, the subways of Manhattan are terrorized... by pirates?
Cameron Stewart's more cartoony leanings aren't as apparent in his work here. Given how much this book reminded me of Transmet, as noted above, I suppose it's fitting that Stewart's efforts here remind me of the work of Transmet penciller Darick Robertson. Stewart captures the brutality of the subway pirate scenes incredibly well, helping to set this book apart from typical super-hero fare. The artist grants the title character a far more plausible look, abandoning the super-hero spandex for a grounded law-enforcement look. Baumann's colors are muted in the subway scenes, reinforcing the dark, brutal tone of those sequences nicely.
I love how Morrison manages to incorporate the past Guardian and associated elements (The Newsboy Legion) into the script while setting this new version apart completely from what's come before. Jake Jordan is a character who feels lost in his own life, and it's something to which we can all relate. His "job interview" was a convincing sequence as well. It was easy to tell what was going on, but it wasn't so transparent that one would expect the character to see through it as easily as the audience.
No reporter or media agent should do what the Guardian is meant to do here. No newspaper should go to the lengths that the one in this story does. But as journalists, getting involved directly, effecting hands-on change... we all dream about it. I sit in court, and I hear a mistake being made, see a slip in security, and I think about stepping up and saying something, doing something. That's not the job, but it's fun seeing that dream come to life. 10/10
