I was reading an article about Multiversity the other day, (which you should check out, it's got some Frank Quitely art and sounds pretty cool) and it ended up reminding me how much I miss the Bleed, Shift Ships, all that, and I sincerely hope that the reason DC has not included the Bleed in the New 52, (despite it already being canon in previous continuity, and including most of the Authority characters) is because they promised Grant Morrison he could introduce it in Multiversity.

Hyperspace is no proper substitute for The Bleed, and the Eye is simply not worthy to take the place of The Carrier. It's like replacing the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helecarrier with a helecopter, maybe a regular aircraft carrier if you're feeling generous. The Bleed had this distinctly Warren Ellis vibe to it. It was based on real science, but the way it was depicted was poetic and evocative; it inspired a sense of wonder and awe that's just not there with Hyperspace as it's being used in Stormwatch right now, where it's a mere backdrop and a means to remain undetected. That sense of wonder, I don't know why, but other writers just seem to not quite get it, but Warren Ellis is great at it, it's one of the reasons I like his stuff so much. Planetary was ALL ABOUT capturing that sense of wonder, and that's part of why it's so cool.

Back to Grant Morrison and Multiversity. I am getting a strong hunch that the Bleed may well feature, for a few reasons. One, the story is all about alternate dimensions, which is all the Bleed was when boiled down to it's core, the stuff between parallel universes, through which Shift Ships such as the Carrier could travel. This makes it a logical place to include the Bleed if DC is planning on ever using it again. Two, in Multiversity communication across dimensions is achieved through the pages of comic books. That may seem strange, (it IS Grant Morrison) but the Bleed is named after the bleed area on a comic book page, so it all fits. Three, in his ill-fated run on the Authority, which lasted a whopping 2 issues, they ended up trapped on our Earth, or at least one one very similar to it. Jack and the Doctor end up in a comic shop...

So. Just like in Multiversity, comic books are acting as a means of communication across the multiverse. They may be reading about their own adventures, but they are in a different universe. Four, Grant Morrison says in that article that he's been working on Multiversity for 6 years. Guess how long ago his Authority run was. Go on, guess. I think his unfinished run on the Authority was the seed of the idea behind Multiversity, basically. It may involve different characters now, maybe even a whole new plot, I really couldn't say, I am not sure how close they stuck to his plot for the Lost Year, so... But I do think the seed of the idea for Multiversity began there, with the Authority getting stuck outside their dimension when the Carrier's power source (a baby universe. see? that's so much cooler than some old Daemonite relic) died.

*edited to add 'cus I finally found the images - And finally, Grant Morrison has used the Bleed in his DC work before, so it's not like the fact that he was writing the Authority was the only reason hew as using it there.

I mean geez, the Carrier is even there! (and yes, if you have the glasses, that page is in 3D)

I have my doubts about seeing the REAL Authority again, since there are new versions of many of the characters in the new DCU, and with no Authority, no Carrier. I'll miss her. But the Bleed is still missing, and I can see no good reason for it's exclusion, especially since they've already had some characters doing some dimension hopping. So I am hoping that the plan all along was to have Morrison introduce the concept in Multiversity.