Nameless

The journey is more important than the destination in this occult SF mind-bender from Morrison (Doom Patrol), a writer who knows his way around mind-benders. A man known only as Nameless is on the run through city streets, fleeing from lizard-like creatures with an item called the Dream Key in his possession. The story jumps from place to place with confusing intention, and disparate narratives%E2%80%94a space mission to stop an asteroid from colliding with Earth, a haunted house s%C3%A9ance featuring the luminaries of the occult world%E2%80%94trade places in alarming succession, their scenes linked by the appearance of appropriately gross celestial monsters. This is one of those rare comics where the author's afterword is immensely helpful, providing some fascinating method to the muddle. Covering his thematic influences and analyzing Burnham's layouts as an effort to break away from the cinema's stranglehold on comics, Morrison provides an intriguing springboard to not only a second reading, but further investigations into the areas of his obsessions. (Mar.)