Glad I could be of help, Sehkmet. I like your interpretation (the whole patriarch-tyrant recurring theme). I think Morrison definetly used a lot of Tarot symbolism in Seaguy, it's just that it's less obvious (and, arguably, less important) than in many of his other works. It's not overtly occult, the way the Invisibles are, for example.
It can be interesting to reread another Moon-themed comic, Promethea #14 for a different vision of the occult meanings associated with the lunar realm (death, the underworld, the unconscious, dreams, fantasy, deception, the stepping-stone to the divine realms). Especially striking is the last page of the previous issue, with a full-page panel of Promethea solemnly sailing towards the Moon on a egyptian barge with a beetle-design on it, piloted by the boatman/gondolier of the underworld: Charon. There's even a pinkish sea serpent poking out of the water in the foreground. Compare it with the last page of Seaguy #1, with a full-page panel of Seaguy and Chubby (and Xoo) joyfully, foolishly sailing into the Moon at full-speed.
As for the butterfly: it's another symbol of change, transformation and resurrection (due to the whole caterpillar thing). It was often used in antiquity as a representation of the human soul on its journey to the underworld, paradise etc... It can be found carved on certain ancient tombstones. The ancient Greeks called the butterfly "Psyche", the same word as for "soul". As such, it is natural that it can travel to the lunar realm on its own.
Nonexistent's comment about Ishtar and Shebeard is correct. Ishtar is indeed sometimes represented with a beard, in her assyrian aspect as the Lady of Battles(!). In fact, the type of curly beard drawn on her is typical of mesopotamian art (look at statues of Gilgamesh, for example) so I think it's deliberate.
Also (and maybe contradictorily) the idea of her as a kind of Sophia figure is also probably a good guess. Beards are a symbol of wisdom, which is what "Sophia" means. Also, Beard in french is "Barbe" (from the latin "Barba"). Remember that "Bearded Stone" is one possible translation of "Barbelith" (Barbelo, of course, is a gnostic entity/concept: the first creative thought of the unknowable Godhead, the womb of the world, the "Sophia Above", mother of the "Sophia Below"). I think she fulfills the role of salvation/enlightement mechanism which Barbelith itself serves in the Invisibles. Only here she walks among men, instead of being hidden far away in the heavens, she is the Sophia Below.
In this interpretation, Seaguy would seem to be operating according to the rules of a different world. In the Invisibles universe, Barbelith is orbiting right behind the Moon, ready to help those who hear her message. But in Seaguy's universe, there is NOTHING AT ALL behind the Moon. There is no buoy, no lifeline to pull you up out of the waters. And so he falls back, he cannot escape his world and is replunged into it anew, the cycle repeats. He fails to understand that what he seeks is right there next to him, or perhaps he lacks the courage to truly face it. Note that he dares not approach Shebeard, but he finds it easy to muster the courage to launch off into wild fantastic adventures, when all he really needs to do is talk to that girl. |
) are stupid. Like this, many fans feel that they are repelled by their culture, because they think that society thinks that they are stupid for liking the things they like. Also, since the Mikey Eye corporation's plan is to eliminate the creativity (maybe for eliminating potential competitors) maybe they are kidnapping kids to expose them to the process they exponed Seaguy and Doc Hero at the end of episode 3. Or maybe to make Xoo out of them. Maybe Xoo is the thing they extracted from Jack Frost's friend on that institution in Invisibles vol.1.
