Mystery Play (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jon J. Muth (Author), Jon. J. Muth (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563891891
• ISBN-13: 978-1563891892
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,127 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating graphic novel., July 19, 2000

By	Ross Binder (Sioux City, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mystery Play: A Graphic Novel (Hardcover)

THE MYSTERY PLAY, written by the pheonomenally talented Grant Morrison and painted by the equally brilliant Jon J Muth, opens with the murder of God, or, rather, the murder of an actor playing the part of God in "The Mystery Play," the titular play performed annually in a small town. An eccentric detective from the city comes to investigate the murder, only to find that the answers he seeks lie far deeper than he may be willing to dig.

It's not hyperbole to say that Grant Morrison is one of the finest, most brilliant minds to ever write comics. His work on DOOM PATROL, ANIMAL MAN, and THE INVISIBLES is extraordinary and so far ahead of the majority of comics in terms of intelligence, originality, innovation, and pure storytelling genius that it's almost pathetic to read most non-Morrison-written comics. Hell, even some of his "lesser" masterpieces like FLEX MENTALLO, KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND, and, yes, THE MYSTERY PLAY blow most other comics out of the water. Simply put, Morrison is great.

And THE MYSTERY PLAY just so happens to be one of his finest short works (the aforementioned DOOM PATROL, ANIMAL MAN, and THE INVISIBLES being some of his excellent longer works) and one of the best graphic novels in the medium's history. On the surface, it appears to be a fairly complicated but not terribly deep murder mystery -- a man is killed in a small town and a detective comes out to investigate. However, the brilliance of THE MYSTERY PLAY lies in what is under this somewhat mundane surface. Beneath the "simple" murder mystery veneer lay dozens of clevor allegories, symbols, allusions, and metaphors. In short, loads and loads of depth -- this comic requires considerable patience to read and it requires that the reader be willing to plumb its considerable depths again and again, because there will always be something new, something fascinating for he/she to stumble upon.

Jon J Muth's haunting painted artwork provides a stunningly realistic vision of Morrison's story, but there's enough of a hint of something more unusual, something more surreal, something almost supernatural at the edges of his artwork that this artwork transcends mere photorealism. Many of the book's dreamlike images will no doubt stick with you long after you close it and set it down.

THE MYSTERY PLAY is a story full of subtle details and small nuances, and it's allegories, symbolism, metaphors, and allusions wrap around and through each other in so many breathtaking ways that the end result bears more resemblance to the literary equivalent of a knotted-up ball of yarn. Yet the fun lies in unwrapping and untying this ball of yarn, trying desperately to reach the core. Chances are, you never will -- this enigma of a comic will doubtless continue to puzzle you until you die. If you're in the mood to truly see comics as art, to see a work of art more mature, more sophisticated, and more complex than virtually anything in most other mediums, you simply must read Morrison and Muth's THE MYSTERY PLAY. It's a subtle, unsettling, moody, complex, multi-layered masterpiece that will leave you thinking long into the night.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair, January 15, 2002

By	Mauricio Hernández (Bogota, Cundinamarca Colombia) - See all my reviews

This, like Arkham Asylum, is not Morrisson's best. It still is good though, though it is not very clear what happened, why the murder. Mabye inferring and guessing are parts of his intentions but that is simply nothing for me. The story has fantastic high points... and parts impossible to understand. I know people tend to get all excited about not understanding, thinking that the writer is very clever and that that is the reason we do not underdstand, but no I don't think that is an ablity I think it is very easy to write something no one can understand and give it an aura of mistery. Some people, like with Arkham Asylum, are blown away by the art, which is fantastic. But great art does not make a great story, never has and never will. Still, the characters are well created and the atmosphere and dialogues some times are very good.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Morrison's best story, but still a worthwhile read, February 17, 2008

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Comic writer extraordinairre Grant Morrison (The Filth, Doom Patrol, New X-Men, JLA; come on, you know the list by now) weaves an interesting, often thought provoking tale with The Mystery Play; in which an actor playing God in a town play is murdered, and the investigation led by a mysterious detective which follows. Without giving too much away, Morrison presents a setting and characters which are not what any of them seem to be, and the final result ends up being a twisty thriller that may not rank up there with Morrison's best work for DC/Vertigo, but is a worthwhile read nevertheless. The real star of The Mystery Play is the starkly painted artwork by Jon J. Muth, which helps make this graphic novel all the more haunting. All in all, The Mystery Play is a dark and somewhat moving excursion from the great Grant Morrison, and even though it doesn't come close to the amazing works he's crafted in the past, it is still definitely worth a look for Morrison and/or Vertigo fans.