This is a review of the second (and, to date, final) Seaguy arc, Slaves of Mickey Eye, but the image is of issue #1 because DC haven’t collected the three issue storyline into a book - and I can see why! In addition to Seaguy being one of Grant Morrison’s more obscure, lowest-selling titles, Slaves of Mickey Eye unfortunately isn’t very good.
Seaguy - simply a dude in a scuba outfit - lives in a whacky world filled with talking animals, skeletons and barbarians. The villain is a Popeye-looking chap and the love interest is - why not? - a female bearded barbarian warrior! Haunted by the ghost of his best bud, Chubby Da Choona (a giant cigar-chomping talking tuna), Seaguy struggles to remember his purpose in life which probably has something to do with the mind parasite called Mickey Eye infecting everyone!
Like the first book, Seaguy is a title that remains heavily influenced by the superb Patrick McGoohan ‘60s TV show, The Prisoner - and if you’re a fan of Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, or Alan Moore, do check out that show to not only see how it moulded the kind of comics these guys write, but because it’s also a brilliant, original show.
This time around though, it’s Morrison just doing more of the same things he did in the first Seaguy. The craziness and paranoid themes feel uninspired and Mickey Eye is just a clone of DC’s Brother Eye (though maybe that’s deliberate and Seaguy is part of Morrison/DC’s Multiverse - like Mickey Eye is this universe’s Brother Eye, Seaguy is this universe’s Aquaman?).
Morrison retreads familiar themes from his other books - consumerism/conformity is bad, stay true to yourself especially if you’re weird, think for yourselves - which are rendered very obviously in a tedious Futurama-esque plotline. I couldn’t have been less interested in the evil land developer and brainwashing people stuff.
Cameron Stewart’s art is awesome and the matador sequence was funny with Seaguy dressing the bull in lingerie for some reason! Mostly though Slaves of Mickey Eye was bad and is rightly forgotten. That said, if you’re a Morrison fan and enjoy his barmier efforts, the first Seaguy book is great fun and well worth a read - just don’t bother with the disappointing sequel.
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