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Happy! #1-4
Happy!
Meet Nick Sax, a corrupt, intoxicated ex-cop turned hit-man, adrift in a stinking twilight world of casual murder, soulless sex, eczema, and betrayal. With a hit gone wrong, a bullet in his side, the cops and the mob on his tail, and a monstrous child killer in a Santa suit on the loose, Nick and his world will be changed forever this Christmas.
By a tiny blue horse called Happy!
Collects issues #1-4 of the mini-series.
By a tiny blue horse called Happy!
Collects issues #1-4 of the mini-series.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
48 people are currently reading
1880 people want to read
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,510 books4,563 followersGrant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews
August 12, 2015
A Christmas Carol!
It’s A Wonderful Life!
Frosty the Snowman!
Now we can add “Happy” to the list of charming, Yule tide classics. This plot point list just makes me want to pour myself an eggnog and hang with Grandma, trimming the Christmas Tree: Hit men, hookers, mobsters, crooked cops, adultery, a staggering body count, violence and gore, a child pornography ring, a psychotic heroin-addicted Santa Claus, a pedophile priest, a whiny kid on a train, a repugnant protagonist and more f-bombs than you’ll hear in a day at any of my family reunions. Heart warming stuff. Just add in a tiny, imaginary blue flying horse named “Happy”, that only, ex-cop, Nick Sax, the main player here can see. Happy, has his work cut out for him trying to get Nick to rescue endangered children. *sigh*
I can see the editors at Image saying: “Grant, write something insane, something crazy”. He pulls out Action Comics, Volume 2. “No, Grant, no capes or cowls. Something noir and gritty, but with a twist.” And, there you have “Happy”, proof that Mr. Morrison needs a long vacation.
There are some dark laughs here, but it’s a concept that just doesn’t hold together well. And I call b.s. on the ending.
It won’t stop here though. Disney will buy the rights to this book. Sign on Bruce Willis as the ex-cop (this will be a real stretch for him). Jettison all the violence. Keep the blue horsey, who will try and convince a gruff, but lovable, Bruce Willis that he should visit his estranged daughter on Christmas. It will rival Jingle All the Way as a go to family classic for the holidays.
This is recommended for those of you who like their reading dark and twisted.
November 24, 2017
Well that was brilliant. A fairly simple but masterly executed iteration of A Christmas Carol, except the redeemed character exists in the seediest city ever. Nick Sax is a low life former detective, now drinker, gambler, and contract killer. He’s surprised by Happy!, a tiny blue horse and imaginary friend, who desperately needs his help. All the while there’s creepy Santa, crooked cops, and mafia bozos. Only those with a deep dark sense of humor need apply.
December 4, 2017
A hitman takes out some brothers and has the mob after him in response. After being sent to the hospital with a gunshot wound, Sax starts seeing a little blue flying horse named Happy. Happy is an imaginary friend after him to save his best friend who's been kidnapped by a demented Santa. So the two of them eventually team up to take on the mob and save Happy's little girl.
Darrick Robertson provides some great art. This almost feels like a Garth Ennis book over a Grant Morrison one.
Darrick Robertson provides some great art. This almost feels like a Garth Ennis book over a Grant Morrison one.
June 25, 2015
Finally someone made a holiday story just for me. Nick Sax used to be a cop with a lovely wife; now he's a bitter, lonely, overweight, alcoholic hitman with a bad case of eczema - you know, you're typical Scrooge in need of a heartwarming reminder about the true spirit of Christmas. That's where Happy the Horse comes in. Happy is your typical holiday helper - a pint-sized, blue cartoon pony with wings that serves as the imaginary friend of a sweet, little girl. Unfortunately, Happy's special friend has been kidnapped by a disgusting pedophile junkie in a Santa suit, and Nick Sax is the only person who can save her because he is the only other person who can see and hear Happy. Too bad for Happy that Nick doesn't seem to give a fuck about one more child rape and murder in this diseased abattoir we mistake for a world with any meaning. What Nick cares about is getting his ass out of town before a diverse array of two-bit criminals, dirty cops, and new age torturers can sink their teeth into his flabby, inflamed flesh. And all because some humbug of a sadistic gangster known only as Mr. Blue thinks that Nick has the password to an account containing a serious hoard of mob money. Oh, and because Nick put a couple of bullets into Mr. Blue's nephew.
Gather your whole family around the fire this Christmas Eve and regale them with this yuletide charmer about redemption, the importance of family and the true meaning of Christmas: enacting bloody vengeance upon those who feed on depravity.
This is a quick read from the sometimes spotty but never dull Scott, Grant Morrison, and features great, gritty artwork by Darick Robertson. It's a wild dark comedy with an abundance of plot and concepts that all manages to work for me. Sure, this may be an offbeat, deranged story featuring child pornographers and a psycho in a beetle costume that murders hookers with a hammer (to name just a few of the merry souls who make up Happy's lively cast), but it is also a simple, sincere tale that manages to find a little heart beneath all the piss and shit and vomit and blood that we human wretches idiotically crawl through, day after day, every day, as it always has been, and always will be.
Gather your whole family around the fire this Christmas Eve and regale them with this yuletide charmer about redemption, the importance of family and the true meaning of Christmas: enacting bloody vengeance upon those who feed on depravity.
This is a quick read from the sometimes spotty but never dull Scott, Grant Morrison, and features great, gritty artwork by Darick Robertson. It's a wild dark comedy with an abundance of plot and concepts that all manages to work for me. Sure, this may be an offbeat, deranged story featuring child pornographers and a psycho in a beetle costume that murders hookers with a hammer (to name just a few of the merry souls who make up Happy's lively cast), but it is also a simple, sincere tale that manages to find a little heart beneath all the piss and shit and vomit and blood that we human wretches idiotically crawl through, day after day, every day, as it always has been, and always will be.
August 10, 2016
A unique profane Holiday/Crime/Comedy. About as straight forward as anything Morrison has ever done. Short and the ending was abrupt but not bad.
December 25, 2017
⭑⭑⭑I try to make it a tradition every holiday season to read a book that can inspire a bit of holiday cheer. And because I've really gotten into reading comics this year, to get in the Yuletide spirit, I thought I'd read Happy!, a graphic novel by Grant Morrison about a disgraced former cop turned shitty hitman, who is visited by a little blue cartoon-donkey-unicorn-pegasus-thing named Happy that wants his help in saving a kidnapped little girl.
It seemed like Morrison had full freedom here and decided to write the most anti-Christmas book ever, one in which our hero is an asshole killer with eczema, Santa Clause is a drugged-out rapist, the police are worse than the killers, and the only shining light is a cartoon horse with wings, who always manages to stay positive.
If you're looking to read a strange, profane little book of PITCH-black comic redemption this holiday season, look right here.
It seemed like Morrison had full freedom here and decided to write the most anti-Christmas book ever, one in which our hero is an asshole killer with eczema, Santa Clause is a drugged-out rapist, the police are worse than the killers, and the only shining light is a cartoon horse with wings, who always manages to stay positive.
If you're looking to read a strange, profane little book of PITCH-black comic redemption this holiday season, look right here.
November 28, 2018
So I spent a hour or so reading interviews from Grant Morrison on other writers. He seems to have a issue with a lot of other high profile writers. However, the funniest one was with Mark Millar. Not sure what happened to break their friendship but Grant is NOT a fan of Mark Millar AT all. Grant goes as far as to say if he sees Millar again he's hoping he's going 100 Mph. Fucked up huh?
So why am I saying all this? Happy! reminds me of a Mark Millar story BIG time with a little bit more social commentary on the subject matter of life.
Happy is about a used to be cop having a really shitty life. After losing everything, including his wife, he goes on murdering bad people. However, he has a heart attack on a mission and then this little blue dude named Happy comes and tells him he needs his help. The two go through hell together trying to find this Santa Clause who's kidnapping kids to fuck them and kill them.
Good: Pacing is a breeze. There's hardly a moment to breath. Even the flashbacks are quick and right to the point. The murdering sprees are nasty but that's the point. The dialogue could be really funny at times too. I liked Happy a lot, he cracked me up.
Bad: The story is filled with fucks more than just about any comic I've seen. This is why I think it reads like a Mark Millar book but even more cursing somehow. Also, it's ending just happens, very quickly.
This is actually a really fun book in my opinion. While not amazing it's super fun and worth checking out for something different than the average Morrison clusterfuck mindfuck book. A 3.5 out of 5.
So why am I saying all this? Happy! reminds me of a Mark Millar story BIG time with a little bit more social commentary on the subject matter of life.
Happy is about a used to be cop having a really shitty life. After losing everything, including his wife, he goes on murdering bad people. However, he has a heart attack on a mission and then this little blue dude named Happy comes and tells him he needs his help. The two go through hell together trying to find this Santa Clause who's kidnapping kids to fuck them and kill them.
Good: Pacing is a breeze. There's hardly a moment to breath. Even the flashbacks are quick and right to the point. The murdering sprees are nasty but that's the point. The dialogue could be really funny at times too. I liked Happy a lot, he cracked me up.
Bad: The story is filled with fucks more than just about any comic I've seen. This is why I think it reads like a Mark Millar book but even more cursing somehow. Also, it's ending just happens, very quickly.
This is actually a really fun book in my opinion. While not amazing it's super fun and worth checking out for something different than the average Morrison clusterfuck mindfuck book. A 3.5 out of 5.
April 17, 2013
Really enjoyed this Christmas Carol-esque, guns and unicorns tale of a world-weary cop, his imaginary (or is it?) friend, and a sadistic Santa. Morrison and Robertson knock out an entertaining mini-series. Full review here!
January 12, 2018
Βαθμολογία: 7/10
Πριν κάτι μέρες πέτυχα σ'ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο το συγκεκριμένο κόμικ και το τσίμπησα δίχως δεύτερη σκέψη. Έκδοση της Image, Grant Morrison στο εξώφυλλο (δεν θυμάμαι να έχω διαβάσει πολλά έργα του, αλλά είναι μεγάλο όνομα στο χώρο), πολύ ωραίο σχέδιο, και συν τοις άλλοις η βάση για μια καινούργια σειρά, που μου τράβηξε αμέσως την προσοχή και έχω σκοπό να τη δω στο μέλλον (α, και με κόστος μόνο πέντε ευρώ!). Χμ, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ενθουσιάστηκα κιόλας. Η βασική ιδέα μου άρεσε και είναι σίγουρα κάτι το διαφορετικό στο είδος. Όμως η εκτέλεση μου φάνηκε έτσι κι έτσι. Κάπως βιαστική σε ορισμένα σημεία, ίσως και λιγάκι εξεζητημένη. Πολύ ανούσιο βρισίδι και μαυρίλα, που από ένα σημείο και μετά με κούρασαν κάπως. Νομίζω χρειάζονταν παραπάνω σελίδες για να απλωθεί πιο στρωτά η ιστορία, αλλά και να γίνει καλύτερη ανάπτυξη του πρωταγωνιστή, που από την μια είναι ενδιαφέρων και από την άλλη αντιπαθητικός. Το σχέδιο μου άρεσε και σίγουρα είναι από τα πιο δυνατά "χαρτιά" του κόμικ. Υπάρχουν κάμποσες σκηνές γραφικής βίας και είναι πολύ ωραία και δυναμικά σχεδιασμένες. Τέλος, μου άρεσε πολύ και ο χρωματισμός. Γενικά είναι ένα καλούτσικο κόμικ, όχι όμως για όλα τα γούστα! Θα του έβαζα τριάμισι αστεράκια στο Goodreads, αλλά μιας και δεν υπάρχει τέτοια δυνατότητα, θα το φιλοδωρήσω με τρία.
Πριν κάτι μέρες πέτυχα σ'ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο το συγκεκριμένο κόμικ και το τσίμπησα δίχως δεύτερη σκέψη. Έκδοση της Image, Grant Morrison στο εξώφυλλο (δεν θυμάμαι να έχω διαβάσει πολλά έργα του, αλλά είναι μεγάλο όνομα στο χώρο), πολύ ωραίο σχέδιο, και συν τοις άλλοις η βάση για μια καινούργια σειρά, που μου τράβηξε αμέσως την προσοχή και έχω σκοπό να τη δω στο μέλλον (α, και με κόστος μόνο πέντε ευρώ!). Χμ, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ενθουσιάστηκα κιόλας. Η βασική ιδέα μου άρεσε και είναι σίγουρα κάτι το διαφορετικό στο είδος. Όμως η εκτέλεση μου φάνηκε έτσι κι έτσι. Κάπως βιαστική σε ορισμένα σημεία, ίσως και λιγάκι εξεζητημένη. Πολύ ανούσιο βρισίδι και μαυρίλα, που από ένα σημείο και μετά με κούρασαν κάπως. Νομίζω χρειάζονταν παραπάνω σελίδες για να απλωθεί πιο στρωτά η ιστορία, αλλά και να γίνει καλύτερη ανάπτυξη του πρωταγωνιστή, που από την μια είναι ενδιαφέρων και από την άλλη αντιπαθητικός. Το σχέδιο μου άρεσε και σίγουρα είναι από τα πιο δυνατά "χαρτιά" του κόμικ. Υπάρχουν κάμποσες σκηνές γραφικής βίας και είναι πολύ ωραία και δυναμικά σχεδιασμένες. Τέλος, μου άρεσε πολύ και ο χρωματισμός. Γενικά είναι ένα καλούτσικο κόμικ, όχι όμως για όλα τα γούστα! Θα του έβαζα τριάμισι αστεράκια στο Goodreads, αλλά μιας και δεν υπάρχει τέτοια δυνατότητα, θα το φιλοδωρήσω με τρία.
April 6, 2013
**WARNING -- GRAPHIC LANGUAGE USED IN THE REVIEW BELOW**
If you are not familiar with the genre of graphic novels, this is probably not the place for you to start. This is not a comic book. This is a dark, dirty, depressing, distressing, gruesome, gritty, gory story that can actually make you laugh and maybe even feel a little good. Really.
Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, and I'm starting to sound like the type of person I used to complain about, but really...do we really need a constant barrage of "fuck" in our literature ... even our graphic novels? This one crossed the line and over-did it. I was beginning to think that David Mamet might be embarrassed by the number of fuck-bombs here.
I mean...we get it. Right? These are low-life scum and this is how low-life scum talk. I know it's true. I hear it too often on the streets and in the stores. I know it's how people talk. But if it were used once or twice, i think we'd still get the picture and it wouldn't take away from the story.
So...back to the review... I was ready to give up and not read any further because I don't care to associate with the low-life scum who talk like this and I don't really enjoy reading about low-life scum who talk with such cursing, when there suddenly appeared a cartoon blue pony/unicorn. Yeah, for real.
And suddenly I get it. When you want to contrast sappy cartoon happiness with scum, you want extremes, and Grant Morrison gives it to us in puking, blood-bath bucket-fulls.
Only our sleazy anti-hero can see the My Little Pony Wannabee, and our happiness-embodied cartoon (named "Happy") saves our anti-hero's life and tries to get him, in turn, to help save a little girl's life. It's kind of a brilliant story, and it's the kind of story that can only be told as a graphic novel (with thanks, in large part, to artist Darick Robertson). Even another visual medium (film or television) would likely ruin either the uber-dark reality world of Nick Sax, or the cutesy cute world of Happy the Fucking Hors-icorn.
The were a couple of twists in the story, one which I should have seen coming, but didn't.
If you like the genre, or know Grant Morrison's work, then you're sure to enjoy this. If you aren't familiar with graphic novels, go read a few before you come to this one...but do come to this one when you're ready.
If you are not familiar with the genre of graphic novels, this is probably not the place for you to start. This is not a comic book. This is a dark, dirty, depressing, distressing, gruesome, gritty, gory story that can actually make you laugh and maybe even feel a little good. Really.
Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, and I'm starting to sound like the type of person I used to complain about, but really...do we really need a constant barrage of "fuck" in our literature ... even our graphic novels? This one crossed the line and over-did it. I was beginning to think that David Mamet might be embarrassed by the number of fuck-bombs here.
I mean...we get it. Right? These are low-life scum and this is how low-life scum talk. I know it's true. I hear it too often on the streets and in the stores. I know it's how people talk. But if it were used once or twice, i think we'd still get the picture and it wouldn't take away from the story.
So...back to the review... I was ready to give up and not read any further because I don't care to associate with the low-life scum who talk like this and I don't really enjoy reading about low-life scum who talk with such cursing, when there suddenly appeared a cartoon blue pony/unicorn. Yeah, for real.
And suddenly I get it. When you want to contrast sappy cartoon happiness with scum, you want extremes, and Grant Morrison gives it to us in puking, blood-bath bucket-fulls.
Only our sleazy anti-hero can see the My Little Pony Wannabee, and our happiness-embodied cartoon (named "Happy") saves our anti-hero's life and tries to get him, in turn, to help save a little girl's life. It's kind of a brilliant story, and it's the kind of story that can only be told as a graphic novel (with thanks, in large part, to artist Darick Robertson). Even another visual medium (film or television) would likely ruin either the uber-dark reality world of Nick Sax, or the cutesy cute world of Happy the Fucking Hors-icorn.
The were a couple of twists in the story, one which I should have seen coming, but didn't.
If you like the genre, or know Grant Morrison's work, then you're sure to enjoy this. If you aren't familiar with graphic novels, go read a few before you come to this one...but do come to this one when you're ready.
December 22, 2017
Alright so I would just like to point something out. A little blue, comedic, flying animal that talks a lot, it has wings even though the kind of animal it is doesn’t usually have wings and is named Happy. I’m pretty much 90% sure Morrison has seen and/or read Fairy Tail.
What’s it about?
Nick is an ex-cop, now a killer and is in some trouble. He ended up in the hospital and thinks he’s seeing things when a little blue, flying, talking horse shows up. The horse’s name is Happy, he’s the imaginary friend of a little girl who’s been kidnapped. Now Nick has to decide if he will follow the little blue horse or just think of it as a hallucination. Oh, and it takes place at Christmas time so expect some festive stuff.
Pros:
The story is pretty interesting.
The art is possibly the highlight here! The art is absolutely amazing and every panel looks almost perfect!
The action scenes are great.
This book is very unpredictable, I had no idea what was coming!
This book isn’t quite as hilarious as I hoped but it was still pretty humorous at times.
There’s some dark but good social commentary that I wasn’t expecting.
Cons:
At first I wasn’t liking this book because of a few things, one being how unclear the story is at first. It becomes more clear fortunately but at first I had no idea what was going on.
The characters aren’t very interesting.
The dialogue is pretty bad. There’s a few good lines but most of it’s very cheesy and a lot of it tries too hard to be edgy (example: “That’s my brothers, you f***ing c**t! F***ing f***ing c**t!” is one line of dialogue and that’s not even 15 pages into this book). Not a fan of that at all.
The ending is slightly confusing.
Overall:
Good book. I was just expecting a fun little story about this cartoony horse and an ex-detective looking for a girl at Christmas time which it sort of is but it’s a lot more dark and twisted than you’d think... but it works. This is an entertaining book and I definitely look forward to seeing how Syfy does with the TV show (I don’t have cable so I have to wait, oh well, I still got to read the comic).
4/5
What’s it about?
Nick is an ex-cop, now a killer and is in some trouble. He ended up in the hospital and thinks he’s seeing things when a little blue, flying, talking horse shows up. The horse’s name is Happy, he’s the imaginary friend of a little girl who’s been kidnapped. Now Nick has to decide if he will follow the little blue horse or just think of it as a hallucination. Oh, and it takes place at Christmas time so expect some festive stuff.
Pros:
The story is pretty interesting.
The art is possibly the highlight here! The art is absolutely amazing and every panel looks almost perfect!
The action scenes are great.
This book is very unpredictable, I had no idea what was coming!
This book isn’t quite as hilarious as I hoped but it was still pretty humorous at times.
There’s some dark but good social commentary that I wasn’t expecting.
Cons:
At first I wasn’t liking this book because of a few things, one being how unclear the story is at first. It becomes more clear fortunately but at first I had no idea what was going on.
The characters aren’t very interesting.
The dialogue is pretty bad. There’s a few good lines but most of it’s very cheesy and a lot of it tries too hard to be edgy (example: “That’s my brothers, you f***ing c**t! F***ing f***ing c**t!” is one line of dialogue and that’s not even 15 pages into this book). Not a fan of that at all.
The ending is slightly confusing.
Overall:
Good book. I was just expecting a fun little story about this cartoony horse and an ex-detective looking for a girl at Christmas time which it sort of is but it’s a lot more dark and twisted than you’d think... but it works. This is an entertaining book and I definitely look forward to seeing how Syfy does with the TV show (I don’t have cable so I have to wait, oh well, I still got to read the comic).
4/5
May 31, 2018
Simple and Violent.
World: The art is solid, it’s gritty, it’s dirty and that’s the world that this creative team wants to create. Happy is a large jarring difference to the world and that’s meant to be and I enjoyed that. The world building here is simple, it’s a mob story in a corrupt city, that’s all that really matters.
Story: Basic in premise and execution with the added coloring of Happy being in the story. It’s a basic revenge and redemption tale that hard boiled has been churning out since forever and this is the same…there’s just a blue unicorn in it. It moves fast, the emotions are basic and fun and the violence is a lot and sudden. It’s hard boiled.
Characters: You know I’ve already forgotten the main character’s name, it’s that inconsequential. I know Happy and he’s fun and he plays well off of the ex-cop killer guy but that’s about it. There are snippets of character development especially in issue 3 to justify where he is now but that’s about it. It’s okay, it serves the story.
A basic violent revenge tale that has a blue unicorn in it.
Onward to the next book!
World: The art is solid, it’s gritty, it’s dirty and that’s the world that this creative team wants to create. Happy is a large jarring difference to the world and that’s meant to be and I enjoyed that. The world building here is simple, it’s a mob story in a corrupt city, that’s all that really matters.
Story: Basic in premise and execution with the added coloring of Happy being in the story. It’s a basic revenge and redemption tale that hard boiled has been churning out since forever and this is the same…there’s just a blue unicorn in it. It moves fast, the emotions are basic and fun and the violence is a lot and sudden. It’s hard boiled.
Characters: You know I’ve already forgotten the main character’s name, it’s that inconsequential. I know Happy and he’s fun and he plays well off of the ex-cop killer guy but that’s about it. There are snippets of character development especially in issue 3 to justify where he is now but that’s about it. It’s okay, it serves the story.
A basic violent revenge tale that has a blue unicorn in it.
Onward to the next book!
July 12, 2020
3.75⭐️ weird and wacky. I'd loved the tv series and Morrison's work on Batman so I had to check this out.
November 3, 2017
Comics were never like this! Happy! Is a gritty noir crime graphic novel complete with corrupt cops, hit men, winos, exploding pacemakers, go go dancers, bad santas, adulterers, mobsters, kidnappers, gunfire, poker games, and all kinds of general coarseness and nastiness. And, of course, a little winged blue horse that gives it just enough humor to cut the darkness. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a copy for review.
April 26, 2016
I like that this was an attempt to be light-hearted by Morrison and the fact it is short kept him from revisiting the usual themes, but the ending was too abrupt and didn't translate very well.
February 7, 2018
dement, trebuie să văd serialul!
March 28, 2016
Not a bad little comic. This is Morrison at his most accessible, meaning you don't need a Masters in Literature to know what the hell he's talking about here, ala some of those issues of The Invisibles. It's dark, violent and funny, and coupled with Darick Robertson's artwork, the book feels more like a Garth Ennis story than a Grant Morrison one. A recommend if you want your Christmas stories to come with a some edge.
February 3, 2018
A kidnapped girl's imaginary friend comes to life seeking help from a disgraced cop turned hitman.
But there are more twists to the fact.
The annoying blue horse kinda reminded me of Shrek's donkey.
Overall, Happy! is fast paced, straight to the point and entertaining.
I was quite surprised that I enjoyed it.
But there are more twists to the fact.
The annoying blue horse kinda reminded me of Shrek's donkey.
Overall, Happy! is fast paced, straight to the point and entertaining.
I was quite surprised that I enjoyed it.
March 7, 2018
The book felt like a cross between Mark Millar and Garth Ennis stories. Thought I would enjoy it but everything seemed rushed and the lack of character development really put me off.
June 21, 2018
Este cómic me lo prestó mi amigo y comicólogo Ramón Fernández al enterarse que me había gustado mucho la adaptación a serie de televisión (la puedes ver en Netflix). Al terminarlo valoré todavía más la serie, pues respeta la esencia del cómic (humor negro, violencia gráfica) y lo que añade no se siente forzado, al contrario. Además, paradójicamente, debido al formato televisivo le da tiempo para desarrollar mejor al protagonista, Nick Sax, y Happy, el extraño bicho azul, brilla muchísimo más. Si te gustan los cómics, sabes que Morrison es garantía; si no, te servirá como un buen complemento si, al igual que yo, amaste la serie.
January 14, 2017
3.5 stars
Nick is a beaten down, but well trained ex cop who starts hallucinating and seeing a blue flying unicorn named "Happy". Happy is actually an imaginary friend and is there to lead him to find a girl named Hailey who has been kidnapped. I liked this graphic novel a lot especially for the action and artwork. The language was a bit much but overall it was an exciting Mini-series. It was also great seeing Santa Claus get his ass kicked and getting beaten up by imaginary friends. Only Grant Morrison could write about that and still make it good!
Nick is a beaten down, but well trained ex cop who starts hallucinating and seeing a blue flying unicorn named "Happy". Happy is actually an imaginary friend and is there to lead him to find a girl named Hailey who has been kidnapped. I liked this graphic novel a lot especially for the action and artwork. The language was a bit much but overall it was an exciting Mini-series. It was also great seeing Santa Claus get his ass kicked and getting beaten up by imaginary friends. Only Grant Morrison could write about that and still make it good!
April 24, 2015
Short & sweet. A 4-issue mini-series that's pretty straightforward for Morrison (no "meta-" angle, no need to use drugs to understand the story), and the art style by Darick Robertson is a good fit with the storyline: Gritty & dark. And something else makes this stand apart from most of Morrison's other work: a happy ending (of sorts).
Definitely for a mature audience, what with the non-stop F-Bombs and graphic violence, with a slew of unsavory characters, bent cops, ubiquitous mob presence.
Definitely for a mature audience, what with the non-stop F-Bombs and graphic violence, with a slew of unsavory characters, bent cops, ubiquitous mob presence.
Read
December 2, 2017Ahead of the TV adaptation, with Chris Meloni and Patton Oswalt perfectly cast as the fucked-up ex-cop hitman and the talking blue horse, a new deluxe edition of Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s gruesome festive fable. It’s had a few extra pages added - something of which, as a buyer of single comics, I always disapprove. Not that I spotted them, mind; I did when Morrison and Quitely’s We3 got the equivalent treatment a few years back, but then I’d reread that more times in the interim, because it’s an absolute classic of the medium. Whereas Happy! being more of an entertaining curiosity, I’ve not revisited it since its original release, starting five years ago. And my thoughts then – https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... – still apply. Though Edelweiss, in a nicely festive touch, did ensure this ARC would last into December before self-destructing, so at least this time I got to read the whole story during the festive season. The main thing I’d add is a realisation that for all its edginess, the journey through foul-mouthed filth and despair to redemption is really the archetypal Christmas story, isn’t it? A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life - these too showed monsters and hopelessness, by the standards of their day, before pulling everything around at the last. Perhaps one day talking blue horses taking on paedo Santas will also be a standard reference for festive specials to nod towards. Or perhaps not.
December 27, 2024
Truly heart warming. More holiday stories should have a junkie, pedophile Santa. 😳
April 25, 2018
Grant Morrison mimics Garth Ennis - and the result is quite a mediocre Morrison action thriller. The big twist is obvious from miles, mostly because Morrison and Robertson plant a smoking gun in the most unsubtle way. Happy the horse is a bizarre yet refreshing addition to the mix, but otherwise it doesn't hold to any Morrison standards I grew accustomed to for years.
April 20, 2013
Originally posted at The BiblioSanctum:
Someone needs to point me at a Grant Morrison book that proves the hype. Yes, I have read Batman: Arkham Asylum and agree that it was pretty good. Had I not read it before, I would have learned about how awesome it was when I struggled through Supergods, where Morrison repeatedly pointed out that fact. Then there was his run on New X-Men where one of my all time favourite X-stories ripped out of the pages of Classic X-Men #27, but with all of the subtlety and perfection of the original ending replaced by a drama-induced splash page that completely misses the point.
Happy! has done very little to raise my opinion on the worthiness of the hype.
What? Me? Bitter?
Happy! begins with some men summarizing the main character, Nick Sax, in a single word of four-letters. No, not that four-letter word. THAT four-letter word. If you’re offended by gratuitous use of four-letter words, then this book is not for you. It starts off with very, very gratuitous swearing; an intended commentary by Morrison, who says “It’s the most offensively sweary book I think I’ve ever written. It gets to like, you’re just thinking, I cannot read the word fuck again. Please do not put the fucking word fuck back in this comic, and you’re only on page 3 and there’s twenty four pages. It’s actually exhausting!”
This is Morrison’s first time with Image Comics with this creator-owned book. I love what Image is doing in the industry by publishing so many creator-owned projects. It’s refreshing and fascinating to see the creativity unleashed when these writers and artists are liberated from the iconic characters of DC, Marvel and Image. Most of the books I’ve read so far have been fantastic, but Happy!, considering that quote above, comes off as a teenager finally getting the keys to dad’s sports car.
Anyway, I’m not offended by contextual swearing. Once the joke settles in after a few pages, the story is able to move on to the introduction of Nick Sax. Sax is a former cop who, through some convenient corrupt cop tropes that we learn about later, is now a hitman. He is an unhealthy, curmudgeonly man who spends his money on vices and eczema cream. In a display of graphic blood and violence, he takes out his targets at the beginning, as well as the nephew of a big mob boss, who tries to trade a password to mob riches for his life. Remember the password as it fuels the secondary plot that allows Sax to be hunted by the mob, carefully padding out the too short story.
Sax is seriously wounded and hospitalized and this is where the book’s saving grace appears in the form of the titular character.
How can you not look at Happy and not, well, be happy? Unless you’re Sax who is doped up and in pain and convinced that this cheery blue horse is a hallucination. Happy helps Sax escape the clutches of the evil henchmen looking for the password, because Happy needs Sax's help. Happy's little girl, Hailey, has been kidnapped by a nasty, evil, disgusting Santa. (This is a Christmas tale, after all).
Happy is definitely the highlight in the book. He's annoyingly cheerful, but not obnoxiously so and he isn't all sunshine and rainbows once he realizes what Sax is about. Initially, Happy has no idea why he's appeared to Sax, but the connection is made later. This connection serves to finally motivate Sax to do the right thing and save Hailey, but there was not nearly enough character development in Sax to convince me that the connection given was enough to make him give a damn.
On the other hand, Happy realizes that he can do much more than just nag at Sax and, in a glorious splash page, takes care of business. I would have loved if the book gave me far more of Happy's transformation and far less of Sax's (not that there was much to Sax in the first place.)
Other than Happy's moment of glory, the ending was predictable, with Sax supposedly redeeming himself. But again, there is so little evidence in his character development to convince me that he truly earned or even cared about this redemption.
The artwork deserves some attention because it really makes up for what the story and characters lack. Robertson captures the gritty, dirty, ugly feel of the characters and environment.
Someone needs to point me at a Grant Morrison book that proves the hype. Yes, I have read Batman: Arkham Asylum and agree that it was pretty good. Had I not read it before, I would have learned about how awesome it was when I struggled through Supergods, where Morrison repeatedly pointed out that fact. Then there was his run on New X-Men where one of my all time favourite X-stories ripped out of the pages of Classic X-Men #27, but with all of the subtlety and perfection of the original ending replaced by a drama-induced splash page that completely misses the point.
Happy! has done very little to raise my opinion on the worthiness of the hype.
What? Me? Bitter?
Happy! begins with some men summarizing the main character, Nick Sax, in a single word of four-letters. No, not that four-letter word. THAT four-letter word. If you’re offended by gratuitous use of four-letter words, then this book is not for you. It starts off with very, very gratuitous swearing; an intended commentary by Morrison, who says “It’s the most offensively sweary book I think I’ve ever written. It gets to like, you’re just thinking, I cannot read the word fuck again. Please do not put the fucking word fuck back in this comic, and you’re only on page 3 and there’s twenty four pages. It’s actually exhausting!”
This is Morrison’s first time with Image Comics with this creator-owned book. I love what Image is doing in the industry by publishing so many creator-owned projects. It’s refreshing and fascinating to see the creativity unleashed when these writers and artists are liberated from the iconic characters of DC, Marvel and Image. Most of the books I’ve read so far have been fantastic, but Happy!, considering that quote above, comes off as a teenager finally getting the keys to dad’s sports car.
Anyway, I’m not offended by contextual swearing. Once the joke settles in after a few pages, the story is able to move on to the introduction of Nick Sax. Sax is a former cop who, through some convenient corrupt cop tropes that we learn about later, is now a hitman. He is an unhealthy, curmudgeonly man who spends his money on vices and eczema cream. In a display of graphic blood and violence, he takes out his targets at the beginning, as well as the nephew of a big mob boss, who tries to trade a password to mob riches for his life. Remember the password as it fuels the secondary plot that allows Sax to be hunted by the mob, carefully padding out the too short story.
Sax is seriously wounded and hospitalized and this is where the book’s saving grace appears in the form of the titular character.
How can you not look at Happy and not, well, be happy? Unless you’re Sax who is doped up and in pain and convinced that this cheery blue horse is a hallucination. Happy helps Sax escape the clutches of the evil henchmen looking for the password, because Happy needs Sax's help. Happy's little girl, Hailey, has been kidnapped by a nasty, evil, disgusting Santa. (This is a Christmas tale, after all).
Happy is definitely the highlight in the book. He's annoyingly cheerful, but not obnoxiously so and he isn't all sunshine and rainbows once he realizes what Sax is about. Initially, Happy has no idea why he's appeared to Sax, but the connection is made later. This connection serves to finally motivate Sax to do the right thing and save Hailey, but there was not nearly enough character development in Sax to convince me that the connection given was enough to make him give a damn.
On the other hand, Happy realizes that he can do much more than just nag at Sax and, in a glorious splash page, takes care of business. I would have loved if the book gave me far more of Happy's transformation and far less of Sax's (not that there was much to Sax in the first place.)
Other than Happy's moment of glory, the ending was predictable, with Sax supposedly redeeming himself. But again, there is so little evidence in his character development to convince me that he truly earned or even cared about this redemption.
The artwork deserves some attention because it really makes up for what the story and characters lack. Robertson captures the gritty, dirty, ugly feel of the characters and environment.
December 26, 2017
I won this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.
I had no idea this was a holiday-themed graphic novel, so it was fortuitous that I read it on Christmas Eve. But there’s no Yuletide joy to be had here. Instead, this is a gritty crime drama featuring blood, gore, violence and possibly the most unexpected character in any comic—a bright-blue, goofy winged unicorn named “Happy.”
So how does it come to be that a hitman with a heart of stone teams up with a critter that would probably be rejected as too cutesy by the Care Bears? That’s just one of the many twists and turns this comic hits its readers with.
As will probably be expected in a comic from such big-name creators, the artwork is really fantastic, especially the detail in character expressions.
HAPPY will probably be polarizing in its readers’ reactions. The unicorn is some welcome comic relief in a world whose sensibilities are pitch-dark and unrelenting. The language is quite nasty (lots of f-bombs and c-words), the fights and their results are graphic and the story revolves around an evil Santa and a child kidnapping ring.
The comic edition I won is a tie-in with a new TV series on Syfy. I will say this comic piqued my interest in the series and how this story will translate to live action. Fans of the small-screen “Punisher” and “Daredevil” series will probably also enjoy this one.
I had no idea this was a holiday-themed graphic novel, so it was fortuitous that I read it on Christmas Eve. But there’s no Yuletide joy to be had here. Instead, this is a gritty crime drama featuring blood, gore, violence and possibly the most unexpected character in any comic—a bright-blue, goofy winged unicorn named “Happy.”
So how does it come to be that a hitman with a heart of stone teams up with a critter that would probably be rejected as too cutesy by the Care Bears? That’s just one of the many twists and turns this comic hits its readers with.
As will probably be expected in a comic from such big-name creators, the artwork is really fantastic, especially the detail in character expressions.
HAPPY will probably be polarizing in its readers’ reactions. The unicorn is some welcome comic relief in a world whose sensibilities are pitch-dark and unrelenting. The language is quite nasty (lots of f-bombs and c-words), the fights and their results are graphic and the story revolves around an evil Santa and a child kidnapping ring.
The comic edition I won is a tie-in with a new TV series on Syfy. I will say this comic piqued my interest in the series and how this story will translate to live action. Fans of the small-screen “Punisher” and “Daredevil” series will probably also enjoy this one.
July 13, 2016
Este no es ni por asomo el mejor comic de Morrison que haya leído, es una obra menor dentro de su larga bibliografía. De todas maneras me la pasé muy bien leyéndola, a pesar de que está impregnada de un pesimismo bastante brutal y un personaje principal de lo más decadente, en una mezcla de cuento de terror con toques de policial negro.
Tiene sus buenos momentos turbios, sus momentos de humor y ese toque de surrealismo que tanto caracteriza a Morrison y que vuelve bastante personales cada una de sus historias.
Los dibujos de Robertson no están para nada mal tampoco y acompañan muy bien al guión decadente y oscuro.
Tiene sus buenos momentos turbios, sus momentos de humor y ese toque de surrealismo que tanto caracteriza a Morrison y que vuelve bastante personales cada una de sus historias.
Los dibujos de Robertson no están para nada mal tampoco y acompañan muy bien al guión decadente y oscuro.
June 24, 2013
Good, lunatic fun from Grant Morrison. A professional killer is entreated to save a little girl on Christmas Eve by the little girl's imaginary friend. Lots of hardboiled tough talk versus cartoony sweetness and light. Imagine Mike Hammer teaming up with Roger Rabbit in a non family friendly story. Sort of reminds me of Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming's classic March Hare comics. Fun stuff!
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