Grant Morrison's MULTIVERSITY #2 reviewed

MULTIVERSITY #2: The end is here and Harbinger, who is in charge of the AI for the House of Heroes checks out what is happening with the Multiverse. On Earth 13, Etrigan, the Super-Demon frees his associates and they battle vampire soldiers from another universe. On the Rock of Sivana, Splattercore Sivana and Funny Animal Sivana have made it so Vampire Sivana and the Blood League of Earth 43 can conquer Earth 13, but Sivanais killed by Fate and a spell causes the Blood League to start craving coffee. Splattercore Sivana and Funny Animal head to Earth 18 where they find a dead Old West Sivana. Moments later, Splattercore gets shot by the Justice Riders’ El Diablo. Hell is breaking loose throughout the Multiverse. On the House of Heroes, the Transmatter Cubes are summoning superheroes from across the Multiverse to help but they need Harbinger’s help but she is being attacked by Hellmachine. The Nth Metal Hawkman of Earth 44 to accuses Volt and Quark of being spies for Hellmachine and they reveal themselves as robots, and then shut themselves down. Hawkman says that they can be saved by the Multiversity Guidebook #1 Atomic Knight Batman carries with him.

Meanwhile, on Earth 8, a group from the Hall of Heroes are battling Nix Uotan, the Superjudge. Superman of Earth 23 tries to talk Superjudge out of his plan and he responds by cutting off Captain Carrot’s head, but he keeps fighting. He has ten minutes to get his head back or he dies. Mister Stubbs finds the head while explaining the is part of Uotan’s plan. Thunderer starts a rainstorm which allows Aquawoman to stab Superjudge in the eye. In the Hall of Heroes, Harbinger's memory of the multiverse is being destroyed, but the Guidebook map allows her to recover. The Marvel Family from Earth 5 throw the Rock of Sivana at Hellmachine, causing him to lose his grip and fall into the Bleed, where he is immediately mugged by one of the local Things That Should Not Be. On Earth 8, Red Racer puts Captain Carrot’s head back onto his body and then has Racer speed read through the collection of comics to solve the mystery of  Superjudge. Mr Stubbs and Captain Carrot explain that Uotan is actually trapped in a forcefield, not causing it. Red Racer re-appears with an army of speedsters, taking Superjudge down with a punch combined from all of them. Nix Uotan emerges from what was Superjudge while Machinehead realizes the cube is a gateway to anywhere. The Gentry emerges from the cube as Harbinger sends the entire House of Heroes to Earth 8, with Thunderer leading the way and defeating the Gentry. Superman finds himself on Earth 7 in front of the throne of the Empty Hand, surrounded by multiple versions of Gentry members. He says his Gentry, filled by the energy from Multiverse-2, will continue to make the Oblivion Engine, and they will not meet again until Empty Hand feels the time is right. Back at the House of Heroes, Superman proposes they form a super-guardian force. They congratulate Nix Uotan for helping to defeat the Gentry. Dino-Cop asks if there a way to repay their debt, and says there is one way. Nix Uotan is back in his apartment where this all began with his landlady demanding the rent. He reaches into his pocket and pays her the eight hundred dollars that wasn’t there an hour ago.

I have nothing else to say except that this may either be Grant Morrison’s masterpiece or his most confusing piece ever. This thing goes in so many directions, touches on so many places in the Mutliverse, goes down roads you never thought you would see and then slingshots you back out the other end so you can just sit and wonder what you just read. I read this thing three times and I’m sure I STILL missed things. Ivan Reis turns in an amazing job on the art, as he has tons of characters to draw. This things is a beautiful masterpiece that needs to be read with all chapters and all in one sitting, kind of like how I read THE STAND. Maybe then I’ll let you know if it represents genius or madness.