Review: HAPPY #1

HAPPY #1: Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Darick Robertson

Published by Image Comics.

On Sale: September 26th

Price: $2.99

Every Christmas, you and your family unwrap presents, drink eggnog, and sit comfortably on the couch and enjoy A Christmas Story. Let me inform you now, Happy #1 does not read as a warm Christmas story. Instead, Grant Morrison tells us a story that usually winds up on your local newspaper’s front cover. Happy is Grant Morrison’s newest and most twisted creative owned book.

In most comic books, there is a mix of characters: the good and the evil. In Happy #1, that certainly isn’t the case. Besides Happy, every character is either corrupt, evil, or simply a dirt bag. The main character is Nick Sax. All we know is that he was once the best cop in his department, and now he is a drugged out dirt bag and a pretty decent hit-man.

After Nick kills four scumbags, has a heartache, gets arrested, wakes up in the hospital, he meets his new partner (Happy, the blue horse). By the way, Happy mentions that he is Haley’s imaginary friend and they need to save her. By the end of the issue, Nick Sax is cornered in his hospital room while a group of people dressed up as doctors go after him and plan to torture him because he holds a secret that killed everyone else that knew it.

Every time I read a Grant Morrison book, I am either impressed or bored. I am always impressed by Batman Incorporated and I am often bored by Final Crisis. With this book, I was intrigued. I like the premise, and Roberston’s art gets two thumbs up. As we are all aware, comic books do not tend to be realistic. Besides Morrison’s creation of Happy, this story is pretty realistic: everyone’s seen their very own drunken Santa Claus, there is always a creepy pervert fucking a prostitute, and once in a while, there is a good cop gone bad story.

My only problem is that this issue was too fast of a read. A bunch of people were shot and then the rest of the issue takes place in the hospital. Morrison did do a great job introducing Nick Sax, Happy, and the rest of the supporting cast. However, this issue was full of gun shots, death, and a long hospital scene. Even though this issue was successful in making me want to buy the next one, issue 2 needs more story and less “bang bang”.



Nerdi Rating: 8.5/10