ENOUGH ABOUT ME

A self-loathing boy hops between dimensions with alternate versions of himself trying to restore a rip in the multiverse.

When a volatile tear in the fabric of reality zaps Average Meade Macon’s friends and family to an unknown world, he reluctantly teams up with the most (justifiably) hated version of himself, Meticulous Me, a manipulative capitalist with a British accent. However, not all the other versions of Meade they encounter agree with their plan to stitch the Rip, so Average finds himself tangled in a personal moral conflict, uncertain who the real villain is. Since most of the primary characters are other versions of Average, the cast of characters is overwhelmingly White. Reprisals from Kabuki Theater, Bollywood Musical, Acupuncture, and (Buddhist) Monk Mes invite questions of respectful cultural representation; there are a few new characters—including Lil Battleship, an aspiring rapper who has a bleak backstory. The antagonist, a presidential Meade, wants to keep the Rip open so that he can freely share resources with the other worlds, an agenda presented as dangerously irresponsible. In contrast, the story builds sympathetic representation for the powerful corporate executive Mes, who are surely misunderstood. Average compares his problems to the more tragic situations of those around him, which reinforces an invalidating message that he shouldn’t feel bad because life could be worse.

A sequel that fails to improve on its predecessor.