Grant Morrison

first new thread i've started here!

over on the dc boards, i had created a "grant morrison rereading thread", which was originally a thread to reread grant morrison's batman run in anticipation of the return of bruce wayne mini series. however, once the series was concluded, it became a place to discuss not only his batman work but his works overall. never really got a huge amount of traffic, but there was some excellent discussion that came out of it. i figured, seeing as how i didn't see a thread regarding him here, i'd start one. (although i was curious which would be the proper place to post it -- the british comics board or comics around the world board. i think either could apply but, since he's currently working mostly in american comics, i decided here would suffice.)

old work or new, love him or hate him, feel free to discuss one of the most polarizing writers in modern comics!

so far, this year looks like a pretty good year to be a fan. we have flex mentallo finally coming out in the near future, his steed and mrs peel being released in monthly format (issue 2 this week!), batman inc vol 2 begins, his action comics run continues, an omnibus edition of the invisibles and a new series from image called happy!. not to mention that, supposedly, there will be a morrison con later this fall.

good times, i say.

my favorite thing thus far to come from the new dcu is grant's action comics. i think it fits quite well thus far as a beginning for his own superman / dcu stories. i've wanted to see what he could do with an ongoing superman title and, thus far, he hasn't disappointed me.

I've been re-reading Grant's Zenith series, which I still think is one of the best things he's ever written. To be honest though, I think the eighties were the highest point of his career; I really didn't like his JLA run...

I did. Tastes differ, I guess.

Lucy McGough wrote:I did. Tastes differ, I guess.

I think I've just never really thought Morrison was much good at mainstream superhero stuff (as opposed to things like Animal Man, which worked wonderfully precisely because Buddy Baker was a 'Z' list character caught up in a world that made no sense) and have also never really been interested in the JLA as a team of all powerful iconic figures; I much prefer teams of second stringers, which is why I have always liked groups like the Defenders, and if I had to list my three favourite JLA members they'd be Red Tornado, Guy Gardner and the Elongated Man. There's no point in having Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the current principal Flash and Green Lantern on a team, because they all have their own books so the team book can't develop their characters at all or do anything significant with them that might impact their solo books .

I bet you like Zenith 'cos you read it when you were a kid / young adult, and I like Grant Morrison's JLA for the same reason. Everything was better back when you/I was young.

Ah, but Zenith is great no matter how old you are! It's one of those strips that you appreciate more if you read it more than once.

tony ingram wrote:I've been re-reading Grant's Zenith series, which I still think is one of the best things he's ever written. To be honest though, I think the eighties were the highest point of his career; I really didn't like his JLA run...

i liked his jla run, but it's one of the few times i really enjoyed the idea of the big icons together. it was probably the most popcorn / "blockbuster movie" thing he's done, but he at least did well with giving them credible threats to face.

i really dug zenith, though. i haven't read it in a while, but i think i'll have to make a point to do so. i'm curious why someone hasn't rereleased it in recent years, but, with steed and mrs peel getting such a release from boom! and flex finally seeing the light of day, maybe that isn't too far off.

As I understand it, the reason Zenith has been in limbo for awhile is that there are ongoing legal issues; Grant Morrison claims (or claimed, a few years ago) that he was the owner of Zenith as leetway had no documentary evidence of their ownershiip. Whether that situation has since been resolved, I don't know, but I don't think it has.

got it. that's unfortunate. hopefully that is resolved at some point, as i think it's a series that deserves to gain a wider reader base.

It is. Unfortunately, these creator disputes are becoming more and more common, and it's always the reader who loses out...

exactly. there are a number of stories i've only read from scans, simply because the originals can't be found or are so rare they command exorbitant prices. i'd far prefer to pay for a good copy, especially one that may contain bonus materials, than have to resort to some such copies. however, sometimes, that's pretty much the only option available.

There was a Titan Books colection of Zenith in the early eighties, I think...

freedumbdclxvi wrote:feel free to discuss one of the most polarizing writers in modern comics!

I find his comments on Alan Moore childish, but other than that, I love his work. I don't always find it superb (I still think Filth was pointless) but overall he's one of the best writers out there. His work is smart, dense and rewards re-reading. Plus, any comic that gets me reading OTHER books has to be good!

What did he say about Alan Moore?

Mbast1 wrote:Plus, any comic that gets me reading OTHER books has to be good!

i think that's one of the things i enjoy the most about him -- he gets me reading something i may never have found otherwise. the third policeman is a book i'd never have had the pleasure of reading if not for it being mentioned in the invisibles.

Lucy McGough wrote:What did he say about Alan Moore?

Nothing good. Apparently there's a bit of a feud. Something to do with Morrison writing a piece accusing Moore of ripping off Superfolks. I've read it, and there's definitely some borrowing, but that's very common in literature. I think it's a childish thing for Morrison to have said.

it never really bugged me, 'cause i don't begrudge him his opinion. and other authors i enjoy (moorcock springs to mind) have said similar things regarding grant, and i also never faulted moorcock for his opinion.

anyone pick up action comics vol 2 #7? i enjoyed it quite a bit.



***a bit of a spoiler to follow for those who haven't read it but want to.***



i am curious about the suit and how it "knew" to change to blue and red. perhaps the suit recognized him as a member of the house of el and shifted its colors to reflect that?

Sorry, I can't bring myself to read any of the new DC stuff. No matters who's writing it, they aren't 'my' characters anymore so I'm staying well away...

tony ingram wrote:Sorry, I can't bring myself to read any of the new DC stuff. No matters who's writing it, they aren't 'my' characters anymore so I'm staying well away...

i can understand that. my one comment would be that, thus far, this volume of action serves as an introduction to grant's superman (and, thus, his own personal dc stories) as seen in all star, final crisis, jla and even doom patrol. i think that, in the end, while he'll be trying to somehow make it "work" (at least on the surface) with the dcnu timeline, this will fit in with his other stories quite well.

You think he's going to try and integrate everything, as was done with Batman? That'd be a trick worth seeing!

i hope so. if it is a "beginning" to his super stories thus far as he's said, he's already somewhat started, too.

Interesting. Not interesting enough for me to start picking up the book, but maybe I'll keep an eye on developments with a view to the eventual trades....

freedumbdclxvi wrote:it never really bugged me, 'cause i don't begrudge him his opinion. and other authors i enjoy (moorcock springs to mind) have said similar things regarding grant, and i also never faulted moorcock for his opinion.

Like I said, I think it's childish. But, it's human. I don't much care, it just seemed petty.

for those interested, grant's dare and really and truly were collected in yesterday's tomorrows, a collection of rian hughes comics. i had not heard of this til tonight, when i happened to come across it while scanning the shelves at my lcs. dare i had read before. really and truly i had not. i am looking forward to reading this entire collection.

I don't even remember Really & Truly. I mean, i remember the name, but that's all...

if you get a chance, i'd recommend picking up the book. i've done no more than a cursory flip through, but it looks beautiful. it seems to be out of print, but most of the copies for sale appear to be around half price. (at least on the american amazon. i had not checked amazon uk...)

freedumbdclxvi wrote:for those interested, grant's dare and really and truly were collected in yesterday's tomorrows, a collection of rian hughes comics. i had not heard of this til tonight, when i happened to come across it while scanning the shelves at my lcs. dare i had read before. really and truly i had not. i am looking forward to reading this entire collection.

Yet another thing I'll have to throw on my list of "to buys". Thanks!

for those interested, dc solicited both an absolute batman and robin hardcover (for november release) and an invisibles omnibus (for august release).

I initially read that as "an invisible omnibus", for some reason, and thought "that's going to be hard to find"...

that sounds like something grant would come up with.

"the invisible invisibles omnibus"

freedumbdclxvi wrote:that sounds like something grant would come up with.

"the invisible invisibles omnibus"

I could see this being some mystical artifact that the Doom Patrol had to track down in order to stop Mr. Nobody from unleashing the Graphic Novel that ate Belgium!

it's a book that can only be read on the bicycle of abbie hoffman!

another book i wasn't aware of that contained some of grant's work. the best of tharg's future shocks. i didn't realize this book was out. not only does it have some of grant's tales, it also collects some of peter milligan's and neil gaiman's. not a bad book to have at all!

I love all that stuff. Some of the greatest talents in comics got their first big break doing Future Shocks. "Curt Vile" for one.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37712

for those interested, an interview with grant regarding the upcoming "dinosaurs vs aliens" graphic novel and possible movie.

Dinosaurs...vs Aliens...

It's 1993 again, isn't it?

if it were any other writer, i'd be most likely ignoring this. (well, any other aside from gaiman or moore. maybe ellis.) but i'm quite curious to see what he can do with this concept.

freedumbdclxvi wrote:but i'm quite curious to see what he can do with this concept.

That's the fun thing about some writers, that that generally do a good enough job that you're willing to let them tell a story before you judge it.

Mbast1 wrote:That's the fun thing about some writers, that that generally do a good enough job that you're willing to let them tell a story before you judge it.

agreed. some writers have the ability to make you take a look at a concept that you may not find interesting otherwise. i love it.

sorta sad to see that the black glove deluxe edition was pushed off til june. i'm not really sure why -- unless that has more to do with releasing it around the time dkr hits theaters.

however, flex mentallo in less than a week! i am super stoked!

I really like Flex Mentallo. An utterly bonkers character. He really should be used more.

i liked him in doom patrol, but i've not read the mini series. i have digital copies of the issues, but that was one series i really did not want to read off a computer. so, i've waited, and i've now only a few days more to wait.

I just thought it was typical Grant, to turn something as (formerly) well known as the guy from the Charles Atlas ads into an actual superhero. Sheer genius.

freedumbdclxvi wrote:however, flex mentallo in less than a week! i am super stoked!

I find myself not at all sad that I'm missing out on the new 52 due to my DC ban, but THIS is going to hurt.

if there were ever a reason for a one time relapse, i would say this is it.

freedumbdclxvi wrote:if there were ever a reason for a one time relapse, i would say this is it.

Sadly, it's a matter of principle. If I find a 2nd hand copy, I can buy it, but I won't count on it. Tempting though relapsing is. (Although, my one way out is if my LCS owner DID special order it for me last year when it was first to be released, since I promised him I'd buy anything I'd already asked for...)

i had to end up ordering flex mentallo from midtown. for some reason, none of the shops in south florida got the book in last week. i'm not sure why.