With the recent release of the hardcover collection of Grant Morrison's all-but-forgotten 'Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery' four-issue miniseries, I felt it imperative to discuss this comic at length so that those new to Morrison's work (or to comics in general) would come to regard 'Flex Mentallo' as a classic of modern sequential art.
First appearing in the pages of DC Comics' 'Doom Patrol' series in 1991, the character Flex Mentallo, was created by writer Grant Morrison as a parody of Charles Atlas' "Make a Man out of Mac" advertisements which proliferated in the pages of comic books since the 1940's. Flex's origins differ in slight but radical ways: instead of receiving the how-to book from Charles Atlas Ltd., he receives a glowing book from a cloaked and shadowy figure in an alleyway, who subsequently disappears in a puff of smoke; from the book, 'Mac' learns of the "Muscle Mystery" and becomes Flex Mentallo, with the ability to warp reality by flexing his muscles. Due to his initial hubris, Flex fails in an early attempt to save the world and eventually forgets who he is and takes up residence on a travelling sentient transvestite street. In a later harrowing adventure in 'Doom Patrol', Flex attempts to change the Pentagon into a circle using his Muscle Mystery abilities. On top of all this, it turns out that Flex was a fictional character brought to life by a 9-year old psychic boy named, Wally Sage. This is just the tip of the iceberg into the weird worlds Grant Morrison creates.
In 1996, Grant Morrison teamed up with artist Frank Quietly (this pairing would later find critical success with their books 'We3' and 'All-Star Superman') to create a four-issue miniseries featuring Flex Mentallo. This series goes even further away from traditional superhero narrative than 'Doom Patrol', focusing not on good guy vs. bad guy, but on faith in heroes and our ability to transcend current conceptions of reality vs. confusing pessimism and despair as 'reality'. Heavy stuff, no?
To achieve this grandiose play, Morrison and Quietly pair the stories of Flex Mentallo, a superhero in a world where that doesn't mean much and no one cares, with that of Wally Sage, a 30-something washed up musician who overdoses on paracetamol, hallucinogens, and other drugs, awaiting death as he talks to a Samaritan. The lines between the two stories blend and blur as Flex continues on to save his world from collapsing and as Wally's drugs kick in and his recollections of his life grow deeper.
'Flex' is also about Grant Morrison's own life (as elaborated upon in his autobiography/treatise on superheroes, 'Super Gods'), taking many instances from his childhood, especially pertaining to his influence by comic books, superheroes, and growing up in Thatcher-Era England, and weaving them in with Wally Sage's own past. Through dreamlike narratives and pictorials, Wally reveals a life, from a scary yet creative childhood through sexually-frustrated adolescence to disillusioned adulthood, that mirrors Sage's understanding of the superhero's purpose (or lack thereof) in humanity's existence.
Ultimately, at the heart of the story, throbs Morrison's mantra, "If we emulate our heroes, we will become our heroes."
Interestingly, this is the first time that this miniseries has been republished since it appeared on the stands. The owners of Charles Atlas Ltd. blocked the reprinting due to what it claimed was copyright infringement on their product. It was only within the last year or so that a court order declared 'Flex Mentallo' to be parody and thus exempt from any legal actions against it. This edition was 'recolored' and has garnered some criticism from which, but it behooves you to read this book at all costs!
If you do not, then REALITY DIES AT DAWN!
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