Grant Morrison's Luda is a wildly entertaining drag show of the highest intellectual order. No, scratch that: It is a blitzkrieg of ideas wrapped in a celebration of language. Wait, that doesn't do it justice. Luda is a narrative concerned with the passage of time and the magic of performance. Ah, I left out the supernatural elements and endless playfulness even in the darkest moments. Okay, we'll go with this: Luda is a magical, multilayered, intoxicating story about identity, stardom, performance, lust, and death that could only have come from the prodigious mind of Grant Morrison.
Luci LaBang is flashy, funny, and sexy. A veteran drag artist who has conquered screen and stage, Luci, now starting to worry about what age is doing to her looks, lands a leading role in a hit musical. The rehearsals are going well, but then Luci's co-star has a mysterious accident and they're left scrambling for a replacement. After many letdowns, a new face who wasn't even on the list waltzes in, steals the show — and a chunk of Luci's heart and mind — and gets the role. Luda is witty, gorgeous, and charming, all of which remind Luci of herself before the ravages of time dimmed her inner light. Luda is also a fan of Luci, and she begs the legend to show her the tricks of the trade and to initiate her in the ways of the Glamour, "the original name for magic," which Luci describes in many ways, including "a method whereby we could put makeup on the dullest moment, transforming it into its own best self."
