In a world on the brink of collapse, the last of the comic book. The fourissue miniseries is reprinted complete with the. Flex mentallo bears more than a passing resemblance to the character from the insult the made a man out of mac charles atlas ad that used to run in old comic books. Man of muscle mystery was a four issue miniseries written by grant morrison with art by the incredible frank quitley, and was released in 1996. Flex mentallo can also be read as a history of comics in general, not just the silver age. His date of publication is a nod to his first comic book appearance. However, things got weird as mentallo began to hunt down a former colleague in this weeks comic rewind. A few of the heroes in the third issue are a miniature group of bee women with a single mind.
Another story, seemingly set in the real world, is about the hallucenogenic experiences of a comic book writer. Flex mentallo is a superhero who employs the use of his strange power of muscle mystery. So its difficult to reconcile this presentday flex interacting with a wally who looks to be about eight years old, when wally was born in 1941 and died in 1982. Wally had flex go on adventures with several other misfit heroes in. You need to understand comics to read flex mentallo. Flex mentallo, the man of muscle mystery leaps from the pages of grant morrisons highlyacclaimed run on doom patrol and into his own 4issue limited series. History the company was founded by ashley dubois, the son of a wealthy landlord. In the preface for the flex mentallo, grant morrison gave the history of the fictional publisher manly comics.
Flex mentallo is a comic book character created by writer grant morrison and artist richard case in 1990, during their run on doom patrol. Alternatively known as the hero of the beach and the master of muscle mystery, flex is perhaps the most powerful hero to come out of the doom patrol comics, and is certainly one of the most original ideas for a superhero in history created by writer grant morrison and artist. Only after watching the doom patrol fight a splinter cell of the men from n. In the comics wally sage created flex and gave him life. Flex mentallo is, for better or worse, not a traditional comic book, its the comic book as pop art. Flex mentallo doom patrol ally dc comics character. Flex is in part a parody of charles atlas longrunning the insult that made a man out of mac advertisements seen in american comics from the past in 1996, flex mentallo appeared in a selftitled, fourissue miniseries written by morrison and illustrated. The doom patrol vs the bureau of normalcy pt 2 the. Man of muscle mystery reprinted at long last in a handsome hardcover deluxe edition is one of the most sophisticated representations of a drug trip ever written or drawn. He even created his own comic, my greenest adventure. After having been fired for cause after attempting a covert s.
The other characters involved with flex are mostly public domain or parodies of charlton characters filtered through the lens of watchmen. Flex mentallo all the tropes wiki fandom powered by wikia. The golden age, the silver age, the bronzedark age and the new age of superhero comics. The basic idea is that each issue corresponds to an era in comics history. The writer of flex mentallo, grant morrison, is a highly regarded comic book writer known for his somewhat dark and surreal style. Theres been a couple good breakdowns on the web of flex mentallo and its relationship to comics history so look there for a more in depth analysis. Last week on doom patrol, the team joined up with flex mentallo, the hero danny the street had previously suggested via comic book might. Flex mentallo has a threat assessment ranking of 90, marking him as a high threat. Enhanced senses mind control precognition reality alteration superhuman durability superhuman strength telepathy, enhanced senses, mind control, precognition, reality alteration, superhuman durability, superhuman strength, telepathy. A vertigo bonus pinup of flex mentallo by frank quitely. Publication date 20120501 usage attributionnoncommercialshare alike 3. Highly collectible as publication was discontinued based on legal action from charles atlas.
Its four chapters read as a synthesis of one of the comic book ages. This is the bizarre source from which mentallo derives his incredible abilities. This graphic novel is great if you meet the above criteria. It is a mind bending, fourth wall breaking commentary on the darkness that comics had become in the 90s wrapped in a superhero mystery book. Jim shooters affidavit against dc comics over flex mentallo. This 1996 four issue miniseries by grant morrison and frank quitely is an extremely meta comic about comics, superhero comics in particular.
The company produced comics based on atlas, hercules, samson and caligula. This is not a resume of the plot of the comic page by page, but a postconstruction i have dared to elaborate after reading the story three or four times, in different directions and from different angles. It chronicled the exploits of superheroes like flex mentallo, the fact, atomic pile, the zipper, mr. The walking deadconan obrien flex mentallo crossover you didnt know you wanted. Flex mentallo enlightenment through superhero comics. A comic book super teams mindbending classic in a new, deluxe edition. The hardcover deluxe edition opens with flex time, an essay outlining the fictional history of the character flex mentallo. The doom patrol vs the bureau of normalcy pt 3 the ant farm and men from nowhere duration. In his youth, however, wally was like any other adolescent boy fascinated with comic books. Direct sales edition comic book published by dc comics under their vertigo imprint. Mentallo marvin flumm is a fictional supervillain, a mutant appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics. Morrison pays homage in this flex mentallo miniseries to the rich history, or mythology, of comic books and its different ages golden, silver, bronze, and modern.
With reference to queer theory, comic book history and the culture of male bodybuilding, it argues that flex the series, and flex the character, are more fascinating, rich and fundamentally queer for their refusal either of an. The preface gives the history of the fiction comic book publisher manly comics, which supposedly originally published flex until dc comics got the rights to the characters. Flowery atomic heart, script by grant morrison, art by frank quitely. You begin to realise that flex s world is indeed our world, and what we are making. He is usually depicted as using technology to increase his power. He tends to present the fantastic elements of the comic book. Flex mentallo, man of muscle mystery by grant morrison.
An analysis of grant morrison and frank quitelys 1996 vertigo comics miniseries, flex mentallo. The series tells the story of flex mentallo, man of muscle mystery, a superhero brought into the real world by the psychic powers of his creator, wally sage. While the plot hardly sounds elaborate, flex mentallo is easily one of the densest comics by grant morrison and a shining jewel of 1990s superhero comics. Flex mentallo was created by the writer grant morrison. The flex mentallo limited series came out a few years after his first appearance in doom patrol. A near perfect overview of japanese prints, containing some of the greatest masterpieces. Find the value of the vertigo comic flex mentallo miniseries. Flex mentallo, man of muscle mystery, is supposed to be a silver age superhero with a charles atlas superpower that allows him to do, well, anything by flexing his muscles while simultaneously being a parody of a charles atlas advertisement. According to the foreword, wally grew up reading golden age flex mentallo comic books and began writing them himself in 19591963, beginning at the tender age of 18.
Insofar as flex mentallo is about the use of nonordinary states of consciousness to heal psychic trauma and transmute pain and fear into wonder, it is a story about psychedelic psychotherapy. Flex mentallo covers all 4 comic writing periods golden age, silver age, bronze or dark age and modern age. One day, wallace sage would be one of the most powerful psychics in the world. In its appropriation of kitsch objects and ideas, of ideas that. To understand this book, you absolutely have to be widely read in the comic book medium and have a general understanding of the history of comics. Under all the story, there is the subtext of comics as art and the value of super heroes within comics. A each issue corresponds somewhat roughly to a period of development in comics. The story is a commentary on the writing of comics as a whole. Flex mentallo cgc comic book collectors chat boards. Insofar as the structure of the miniseries mirrors and discusses the history of superhero comic books, flex mentallo is, well about comic books. It may not be as smooth of a read as we3 or as emotionally engaging as allstar superman or as actionpacked as jla. The most recent episodes of doom patrol have begun paving the way for the epic introduction of flex mentallo.
The world may seem, as the reader reaches the modern age, a grim and hopeless place. This article explores the fourpart miniseries flex mentallo, written by grant morrison with art by frank quitely, and published by dc comics in 1996. For those not familiar, flex mentallo is a rather obscure, unusual doom patrol character featured on recent episodes of a series on the dc streaming service. His big break into american comics was flex mentallo, a doom patrol spinoff written by fellow glaswegian grant morrison for dc comics vertigo imprint in 1996. Flex mentallo is definitely honored to be considered in this class. Man of muscle mystery the hero of the beach, flex mentallo, was hunting down a faculty x operative who had been leaving bombs in public areas. Morrison is playing a metatextual game with us when he suggests otherwise. Earth 2 or as, uh, mutanty as new xmen, but flex mentallo is the purest distillation of morrison and quitelys comic book energy. I only understood flex mentallo because i previously read grant morrisons book yes, a 400 page book with no pictures. His psychic powers gave life to one of his comic creations, flex mentallo.
The lifechanging sexual climax is a nod to doom patrol tv series. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Who would win a fight between flex mentallo and superman. Man of muscle mystery, by writer grant morrison and artist frank quitely, turns 20 this year.