Let's Read THE FILTH by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston
By Zack Quaintance — At last, it has come to this — we are preparing to read The Filth by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston. You see, over the past year and change (or maybe longer…what is time?), myself and Comics Bookcase Senior Staff Writer d. emerson eddy have been marching through all the comics written by Grant Morrison, in near chronological order with a few deviations.
To refresh your memories, we’ve done Doom Patrol to Flex Mentallo, we did The Invisibles, we did their Marvel work, and then most recently we went back and read Zenith. Now we are planning to read The Filth, all 13 issues of it. I know this is one of Morrison’s more polarizing works, but at the same time, I’m excited to read it. Artist Chris Weston is fantastic, and I’m also told these comics are in some ways a culmination of ideas Morrison has been playing with going back to Zenith.
Moreover, I am nothing if not a compulsively into completionism.
Filth by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston
So, that friends is why we’re reading The Filth by Grant Morrison and Chris Weston. This is one of the easier books to lay out a read for, seeing as it proceeds in easy order from The Filth #1 to The Filth #13. I’m using The Filth Deluxe Edition, which you can purchase via the link below:
The last item of note, is that this read will start on Monday, April 11. We’re reading one issue per day, and myself and d. will be tweeting about each issue, marking those tweets with the hashtag, #ParaPersonality. As always, I will sporadically update the space below with Tweets from that read…
WEEK ONE, The Filth #1 - The Filth #5
Are you ready to get filthy?
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 11, 2022
I've said previously that The Filth is probably my least favourite Morrison project. Even less beloved than Skrull Kill Krew. Will this read through be any different? Probably not. But I do still so love the artwork.#ParaPersonality
also, so far just floored by the artwork in this comic, every page here was interesting and engaging, even the ones with talking monkey fart jokes (especially the ones with…)
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 12, 2022
(w) Grant Morrison, (a) Chris Weston, (i) Gary Erskine, (c) Matt Hollingsworth, and (l) Clem Robins pic.twitter.com/5pHXI9tf7X
The Filth #3: A fairly bleak issue that feels at first like an abrupt shift in the plot but slowly refocuses on things that are more familiar. Whereas some other morrison comics have had brief commentary on trends in comics, this series feels brimming with it. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/OUTQ93m1L8
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 13, 2022
Slade gets stuck in The Crack with all of the shit and the piss that falls through from society. In The Filth #4 from Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins.#ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/UygOjYzWli
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 14, 2022
🤷♂️ Sex. Death. This is one of the issues that loses me, but probably not for the reasons that you'd think. The Filth #5 is brought to you by Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins. With sexy results?#ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/ZPMBFFrbk8
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 15, 2022
WEEK TWO, The Filth #6 - The Filth #10
The Anders saga reaches climax. Tony's a sick little kitty. Greg gets arrested. Fun for the whole family in The Filth #6 from Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/9NRQOm4j54
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 18, 2022
The Filth #7: the eighth wonder of the world is apparently a floating cruise ship where there is no democracy and people are beholden to a big hierarchy, basically a floating metaphor for america…played in alternating scenes with the president being brutalized. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/murlozM1nM
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 20, 2022
The Filth #8: some truly excellent set pieces in this issue, which explains a little more of our concept, delivers a conflict with the big bad (I think?), and ends in a place that has me totally guessing at what is coming next #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/5tEnF82IYI
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 21, 2022
The Filth #9: this issue had some absolutely fantastic art, even relative to the rest of this series, which is really saying something. some of the splashes here — nixonsphere, giant hand — could have looked so ridiculous without an artist this good #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/nOADGA9ME1
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 21, 2022
The rise and fall of Max Thunderstone, agoraphobic superhero, man made god. In The Filth #10 from Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/fZJH5eF4Ah
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 22, 2022
WEEK THREE, The Filth #10 - The Filth #13
Everything goes to shit in The Filth #11. ExistenZial threats. Bad moods. Angry monkeys. Mass hysteria. Cats and dogs living together. From Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins.#ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/0actw5NWva
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 25, 2022
Everything slides further into the shit. Reality isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The Filth #12 from Grant Morrison, Chris Weston, Gary Erskine, Hi-Fi, and Clem Robins shows that superheroes brought to the "real world" are assholes. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/j97HX11xXQ
— d. emerson eddy (@93418) April 28, 2022
The Filth #13: And here we are at the end. Really blown away by the artwork in this finale, as I have been for this entire series, but this issue really encapsulates how great the Weston/Erskine art was…versatile, imaginative, detailed. Just fantastic. #ParaPersonality pic.twitter.com/PU6hI9lGkZ
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) April 30, 2022
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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.