Ah, the turmoil of disaffected youth!

And so Mr. Morrison begins his deconstruction of the Marvel Universe. And maybe this is exactly what that universe needed. MARVEL BOY is Grant doing what he does best. Overblown and stylized, but working on a very personal level, too. Noh-Varr - the Marvel Boy of the story - has had his world abruptly taken away from him. He's powerful and he's pissed. And Grant's always had a passion for angry young men.

Marvel Boy is an ultra-powered take on another very personal Grant creation: Jack Frost from THE INVISIBLES. Like Jack's lost brother (they actually look quite alike) Noh-Varr's up against a world that sucks, that killed his crewmates and girlfriend, that doesn't want or understand him - and he just happens to be one of the most powerful people on it. And, as in the very first issue of THE INVISIBLES, Noh-Varr intends to let the world know it, as he carves his philosophy across the NYC landscape: "F You".

Morrison borrows from Marvel Universe lore (as well as DC and others) to pepper his stew. The giant, blobby, green Supreme Intelligence (or one Supreme Intelligence?) - played well with the conflicted opinions of an entire race collected in one conscious - becomes a cool mentor figure. The villain looks exactly like the original Iron Man. And there are Captain Marvel bits from both Marvel and DC. Morrison even does a new take on the Kree, implying that they're ancestry might be from insects (where Noh-Varr gets some of his powers).

The artwork by J.G. Jones is beautiful, with hints of Moebius here and there (particularly in Noh-Varr's costume). The colors are lush, the story over-the-top but compelling.

Unfortunately, the finale - like so much of Grant's recent work - is utterly overwhelmed by excess. I remain clueless as to what's really going on. I still don't know if this is the Marvel Universe or a parallel universe. Hundreds of plot strings are left hanging. (Though he sets up a sequel quite nicely. If Noh-Varr is Marvel's version of Aztek I'm sure we'll be seeing him harassing our favorite mutants.)

But honestly, I get the impression that our creator could really care less whether any of it makes sense or not. Clearly, he revels in the absurdity, the mayhem, the special effects. And that's great...to a point. But for me it's not enough. In DOOM PATROL, in THE INVISIBLES, things were stylized, absurd - but they served a higher purpose. They were rooted in humanity, universality. You could relate to Jack Frost and Robotman. You did. The wall hangings were extra.

In MARVEL BOY, Grant reminds us just how effective he is with disenfranchised teens. So, yes, he probably is the perfect writer for the X-MEN.

But note to Grant: More teen, less special effects.

Stay tuned.

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Alex Bernstein is a screenwriter and a regular contributor to PopImage

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