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REVIEW: The Filth Just like yin and yang represent both chaos and order, the tree of life also has a dark side. Though the sephiroths that comprise the tree represent harmony, it’d be naïve to think that these symbols of structure and ascension didn’t have negative opposites. These opposites comprise the unbalanced or ‘dark’ forces in the construct of reality, sometimes referred to as the abyss. But the Filth isn’t so much about living on the dark end of the spectrum as it is to recognize that it exists and understand why it’s there. It’s not about choosing one side over the other but rather about living with both. The Filth isn’t about choosing one pill over another, The Filth IS the pill. The Filth can cause such side effects as elation, Revulsion and transgender erections. We often think of the status quo as evil or oppressive, which it may be, but at the same time, isn’t it also the job of the status quo to maintain the balance between these two dividing forces? The Filth began in 1952, a subliminally social response to the worlds creation of weapons intent on destroying ourselves. The Filth is a cultural immune system but rather then fighting such enemies as a common cold, their battle takes form in protecting humanity from such threats as misogynist power fantasies and the destruction of the Tower. The Crack exists within the Filth and the Filth exists to strengthen the immune system. The Crack is the Where, the Hand are the Who. The Hand is a hive of agents, cabaret scientists, superhuman authors and more whose purpose is to ‘Wipe the arse of the world’. Maintaining a specific balance within a specific system. Greg Feely is a middle aged man whose life revolves around caring for his cat and distractions from his own mundane and dreary existence, most often in the form of pornography. Greg is really a para-personality for Ned Slade, top agent of the Hand. A pseudonym life for Ned to regress to when not saving the world. But Ned has regressed too far, something happened to Ned so dreadful that it caused him to retreat so far into Greg’s life he doesn’t even remember who he truly is, and with two personalities in one body, who can be really sure which is the Real one? Greg’s safe and dismal little world is interrupted when Ned is needed once again to assist the Hand. This time to stop another rogue agent, Spartacus Hughes. Hughes is more then just a man, he’s a virus, and thus a threat to Status Q. But all Ned wants, is to be Greg. Spartacus is in possession of I-LIFE, like goldfish nanotechnology they are a society of microscopic machines that can be used to help advance medical technology or become a dangerous infection. It’s up to Slade to go after Spartacus with a special team consisting of Officer Nil, the agent who retrieved Slade from his life as Greg and Dmitri, a communist assassin chimp. Hideously gorgeous. Like a drunken supermodel puking all Over herself in a 20 thousand dollar purple dress. Greg and his team defeat Spartacus, a man he once knew from his previous duties as Ned Slade, and then promptly quits from The Hand after a dose of the insanity they deal with. But Greg can’t deny who he is and his sense of duty and thus returns to The Hand. Grant referred to Greg as Nemo tending his garden, this becomes exceedingly clear when you return to chapter 3, more on this later. Ned returns to active duty, having to deal with time used as a murder weapon, Anders Klimakks an experimental bio-engineered organism and amnesiac porn star with black jizz, Tex Porneau, hardcore director who rapes Rodeo Drive with giant killer sperm and even the return of Spartacus Hughes who helps turn Libertania, a floating international city into a Marquis De Sade wet dream, dripping off the lips of Timothy Leary. First was a small world of engineered lifeforms, then an international community of mixed faiths, social classes and nationalities. Obviously Spartacus Hughes is working his way up. While Spartacus may be taking centre stage in most of The Hands battles there really is no core villain or ‘anti-person’, but there are people and elements which epitomize a villain type. The type of person with no regard for the value of life of others. Then of course there’s one of my favourites, Max Thunderstone. Self made superhero. You too can become a superhero just like me! The Max Thunderstone way! Max is part of a group of conspirators intent on taking down The Hand, they were even the ones responsible for creating Spartacus Hughes, but in the end Max is ultimately betrayed and lead to his death at the hands of, well, The Hand. For some reason when I think of this character I think of the horse is Picasso’s Guernica. Thrown into a chaotic world beyond his comprehension. Of course Max also had just an absolutely great superpower, both visually and thematically. You’ll have to check it out to see just how well it works.  Following the death of Max, Greg’s past memories return and he realizes he was once Max’s friend. One of the co-conspirators fighting against the Hand even. Ned was the real para-personality all along and Greg is just some poor wanker forced into doing their dirty work. Split between two lives and two opposing sides, this is where the oft mentioned samsara comes in. Sanskrit for ‘the running around’, which refers to the journey of the soul through many incarnations until it is released from it’s past karma. We know now that Greg was responsible for the creation of the Spartacus Hughes virus.Now it’s Greg Feely against the world. The end result is a grand battle with the Hand, Dmitri, mortality and sanity and the revelations exposed in the process. On the surface of this world you’ve got such lovely things, a home, trees, sunlight. But right below you is loads of shit being carried away. The excrement we all produce that is washed away below so as not to taint the beauty above. Following the climax with Mother Dirt, we find Greg Feely digging around in a garbage bin for flowers and finding a Burger King crown. A CROWN. Get it? No? Look it up. Thus we end, garbage pilling up in the streets and wild flowers blooming magnificently. The world is different, the Filth is different, but it’s all still a part of the same system. Remember the Nemo reference? In the Enochian Tarot Nemo represents service, love, compassion, responsibility and dedication to duty. It’s most evident in Greg’s love for his cat but goes beyond that to his role within it all, he takes on both a maternal and paternal role but it is his love and dedication that drives him. The Filth is fairly straightforward but a simple glance will show you that it is a story wrapped in a complex "day-glo" lingerie. Vehicles representing animal totems, anti communication colours, dolphins giving you the finger. It helps if you pay attention but it’s also open for interpretation. For instance I might guess that Man Green/Man Yellow represent mediating and occult intelligence. Or "Go" and "Yield". But then they could just be two blokes enjoying a cup of tea. There is meaning within the Filth, all you have to do, Is Look. And that’s just some of it, I haven’t even mentioned Status Quoram or whose hand holds the pen sunken in the world of the filth. There is no doubt that the Filth is a work of varied complexity and thus is open to interpretation, like having the evidence of a massacre spread out on the table before you, creating a poetic juxtaposition of open wounds and fragmented flesh. Since it is a work open for interpretation, there’s a chance a lot of what I just wrote in this review is completely wrong. Of course you can go read it and then write your own. Though I expect some of you may return to your copies after reading this and perhaps notice something new, something to make you go "Ohhh... I see...". Once you’re willing to understand it, it’s really quite enjoyable. An excellent piece on Grant Morrison's behalf and I can't imagine anyone other then Chris Weston on art chores being able to pull this off. Weston's emotive and detailed art is part of what makes this work so well. Helping capture that expressive vision was Matt Hollingsworth on colours, which is always a good thing. The Invisibles was too “complex” for some people too, but that’s why we have plenty of comics by people who enjoy writing down to them. Not for everyone but for those looking for something to actually READ, the Filth is highly recommended.
 To comment on this article, contact Co-Editor in Chief Jonathan Ellis at ellis@popimage.com  PopImage Forum - Discuss this message at the PopImage forum. E-Mail Us - Send us an e-mail commenting on this article. Grant Morrison.com Crack Comicks.com Chris Weston.com DC Comics.com Reviews Archive - Read past Reviews |
Written By Grant Morrison
