Grant Morrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grant Morrison | |
Grant Morrison in 2006. |
|
Born | January 31, 1960 Glasgow |
Nationality | Scottish |
Area(s) | Writer |
Notable works | Animal Man The Invisibles The Filth Seven Soldiers |
Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. He is best-known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Grant Morrison was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1960. His first published works were Gideon Stargrave strips for Near Myths in 1978 (when he was about 17[1]), one of the first British alternative comics. His work appeared in four of the five issues of Near Myths and he was suitably encouraged to find more comic work. This included a weekly comic strip Captain Clyde, an unemployed superhero based in Glasgow, for The Govan Press, a local newspaper, plus various issues of DC Thomson's Starblazer, a science fiction version of that company's Commando title.
[edit] 1980s
Morrison spent much of the early and mid-1980s playing music with his band The Mixers whilst writing for UK ventures. However, after writing The Liberators for Dez Skinn's Warrior in 1985, he started work for Marvel UK the following year. There he wrote two three-part and one one-part eight-page comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine (his final one a collaboration with a then-teenage Bryan Hitch as well as a Zoids strip in Spider-Man and Zoids. 1986 also saw Morrison start to write several Future Shocks (normally short two- or three-page comic strips) for 2000AD.
Morrison, however, wanted to write a continuing strip rather than short stories. He got his wish in 1987, when he and Steve Yeowell created Zenith, an early example of deconstructing the superhero genre.
Morrison had been sending proposals to DC Comics for revamping various characters during this time. He had several proposals ignored, including Superman Plus and Second Coming, but his work on Zenith got him noticed by DC. They accepted his proposal for Animal Man, a little-known character from DC's past whose most notable recent appearance was a cameo in the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series.
Animal Man placed Morrison at the head of the so-called "Brit Wave" invasion of American comics, along with such writers as Neil Gaiman, Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano and Alan Moore (who had launched the invasion with his work on Swamp Thing). Morrison had himself a hit with Animal Man, even writing himself into the story as a character in his final issue, #26.
Morrison's uniquely surreal take on the superhero genre proved such a success that he was given Doom Patrol to write, starting with issue #19 in 1989. Previously, Doom Patrol had been a fairly formulaic superhero title. Morrison introduced more surreal elements, introducing concepts such as dadaism into his first several issues.
1989 was also the year DC published Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, a script he had written in 1987. Painted by Dave McKean, Arkham Asylum was a Batman graphic novel that featured uses of symbolic writing not common in comics at the time. (The story was to have included a transvestite Joker, an element toned down by DC.) The book cemented his reputation as a major talent in the industry. Morrison also wrote various other titles for DC at this time, most notably issues 6-10 of Legends of the Dark Knight called Gothic, another of DC's Batman titles.
He also kept working for smaller publishers, most notably writing St. Swithin's Day for British publisher Trident Comics. St. Swithin's Day proved to be controversial due to its anti-Margaret Thatcher themes, even provoking a small tabloid press fury and complaints from Tory MPs such as Teddy Taylor.
He was also still writing for the 2000AD spin-off title Crisis. It was in Cut magazine in 1989 that he would experience controversy again with The New Adventures of Hitler - due to its use of Adolf Hitler as its lead character. He also experimented in storytelling with artist and member of The Mixers Daniel Vallely on Bible John-A Forensic Meditation, telling the story of the Glaswegian serial killer of the same name.
[edit] 1990s
The early 1990s saw Morrison revamping another old DC character, Kid Eternity, with artist Duncan Fegredo, and updating Dan Dare, with artist Rian Hughes, to be set in the era of Thatcherism in Revolver.
In 1991 Morrison wrote Bible John-A Forensic Meditation, a comic book series drawn by Daniel Vallely, which appeared in the anthology title Crisis #56-61.
It was based on an analysis of possible motivations for the crimes of the serial killer Bible John and was also an analysis of evil. It has been compared to Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell as it covers similar themes.
The story was highly experimental in terms of story and art, with Vallely and Morrison claiming to have used a Ouija board to write the script and Vallely through a cocktail of hallucenogenic drugs attempted a series of collages rather than conventional panels to tell the story. The term "Forensic Meditation" refers to Morrison's mixture of science and magic in order to tell the story.
The rumour is that Vallely destroyed most of his work after this collaboration and left the comic industry.
Bible John has not been reprinted since.
In 1993 Morrison and fellow Glaswegian comic writer Mark Millar were "given" 2000AD for an eight-week run called "The Summer Offensive". Morrison wrote Judge Dredd and co-wrote with Millar Big Dave, a highly controversial strip that helped give Morrison and Millar some brief fame outside the world of comics.
1993 also saw the start of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, which published several Morrison titles, such as the steampunk mini-series Sebastian O and the graphic novel The Mystery Play. Later Morrison would write Flex Mentallo, a Doom Patrol spin-off with art by Frank Quitely, and Kill Your Boyfriend, with artist Philip Bond, for Vertigo. He also returned briefly to DC Universe superheroics with the critically acclaimed but short-lived Aztek, co-written with Mark Millar.
In 1996, Morrison was given the Justice League of America to revamp as JLA, a comic book that gathered the most powerful superheroes of the DC universe into one team. This run proved to be hugely popular, returning the title back to its former best-selling status. It also proved to be influential in creating the type of "widescreen" superhero action later seen in titles such as Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch's The Authority.[citation needed] He also handled DC's crossover event of 1998, DC One Million, a four-issue mini-series with multiple crossovers, as well as several issues of The Flash with Mark Millar.
It was with The Invisibles, a work in three volumes, that Morrison would start his largest and possibly most important[2] work. The Invisibles combined political, pop- and sub-cultural references. Tapping into pre-millennial tension, the work was influenced by the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, Aleister Crowley and William Burroughs and Morrison's practice of chaos magic.
At DisinfoCon in 1999, Morrison said that much of the content in The Invisibles was information given to him by aliens that abducted him in Kathmandu, who told him to spread this information to the world via a comic book. He later clarified that the experience he labeled as the "Alien Abduction Experience in Kathmandu" had nothing to do with aliens or abduction, but that there was an experience that he had in Kathmandu that The Invisibles is an attempt to explain.[3]
The title was not a huge commercial hit to start with. (Morrison actually asked his readers to participate in a "wankathon" while concentrating on a magical symbol, or sigil, in an effort to boost sales).[4] The first issues were critically acclaimed[citation needed], but many readers found the second arc in issues 5-8 too confusing or lacking in action[citation needed]. The title was relaunched as Volume two as it moved to America and became intentionally more "American", featuring more action while still maintaining Morrison's ideas and themes.
Volume three appeared with issue numbers counting down, signaling an intention to conclude the series with the turn of the new millennium in 2000. However, due to the title shipping late, its final issue did not ship until April 2000. The entire series has been collected by Vertigo into trade paperback.
[edit] 2000s
In 2000, Morrison's graphic novel JLA:Earth 2 was released with art by Frank Quitely. It was Morrison's last mainstream work for DC for a while, as he moved to Marvel Comics to take over the writing of X-Men (which was renamed New X-Men for his run), with Quitely providing much of the art. Again, Morrison's revamping of a major superhero team proved to be a critical and commercial success[citation needed]. However, his penultimate arc, 'Planet X', is the subject of much controversy[citation needed]. In it he depicted the classic villain Magneto infiltrating, in the guise of new character Xorn, and defeating the X-Men, as he became a raving lunatic (the result of an addiction to the power-enhancing drug "Kick"). This has since been retconned by other writers and Morrison's Xorn is said to be a new character distinct from Magneto.
Morrison had one more project for Vertigo during this time: The Filth, drawn by Chris Weston and Gary Erskine, a 13-part mini-series, said by Warren Ellis to be heavily influenced by Chris Morris's Blue Jam radio series.
Morrison also wrote the six-part Marvel Boy series, as well as Fantastic Four: 1234, his take on another major superhero team. Morrison helped challenge Marvel's reputation for being closed to new ideas[citation needed], but after finishing his New X-Men, he returned to DC Comics to work on several titles and help revamp the DC Universe.
Starting in 2004, Vertigo published three Morrison mini-series. Seaguy, We3 and Vimanarama involve, respectively, a picaresque hero in a post-utopian world that doesn't need him; cyber-enhanced pets running from their captors in what Morrison calls his "western manga"; and ancient Hindu/Pakistani myths translated into Jack Kirby-style adventures. We3 came in for particular praise for its bold storytelling techniques and artwork by Frank Quitely. Morrison also returned to the JLA with the first story in a new anthology series, JLA: Classified, tales set within the JLA mythos by various creative teams.
In 2005, DC Comics started publishing what was dubbed the first ever "megaseries". The Grant Morrison-scripted Seven Soldiers of Victory features both new characters and reimagined obscure DC characters: The Manhattan Guardian, Mister Miracle, Klarion the Witch Boy, Bulleteer, Frakenstein, Zatanna and Shining Knight. The maxi-series consists of seven interlinked four-issue miniseries with two "bookend" volumes — 30 issues in all.
Dan DiDio (current editorial vice president of DC Comics) was impressed with Morrison's ideas for revamped characters. Giving him the unofficial title of "revamp guy", DiDio asked him to assist in sorting out the DC Universe in the wake of the Infinite Crisis.[5] Morrison was also one of the writers on 52, a yearlong weekly comic book series that started in May 2006 and concluded in May 2007.
In November 2005, DC started publishing a new ongoing Superman series, starting with a 12-issue story arc by Morrison and Frank Quitely. Called All Star Superman, the series is not so much a revamp or reboot of Superman, but presents an out-of-continuity "iconic" Superman for new readers. All Star Superman won the 2006 Eisner Award for Best New Series, the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 2007 and several Eagle Awards in the UK.
In the same year, Morrison and Quitely worked on pop star Robbie Williams' album Intensive Care, providing intricate Tarot Card designs for the packaging and cover of the CD.
In 2006 Morrison was voted as the #2 favorite comic book writer of all time by Comic Book Resources, beating Neil Gaiman at #3. (Alan Moore was #1.)[6] That same year, Morrison began writing Batman for DC with issue #655, continuing to be the series writer into 2008. As well, he is authoring the relaunches of The Authority and Wildcats (with the art of Gene Ha and Jim Lee respectively) for DC's Wildstorm imprint. However, neither have seen a release for many months and are on hiatus, with a fill in Authority mini-series being run.
Since 2003, writer and journalist Craig McGill has been working on an authorised biography of Morrison. [7]
At the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, DC Comics announced that Morrison would write Final Crisis, a seven issue mini-series slated to appear in 2008. Artist J. G. Jones will draw the series. Morrison also says that later in 2008 he will hand over the follow-up to 2004's Seaguy called Seaguy 2: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, the second part of a planned three part series.[8]
At the "Spotlight on Grant Morrison" panel, part of the 2008 New York Comic Con, Morrison revealed that Wildcats would continue when Jim Lee was ready but The Authority's future is less certain: "Authority was just a disaster." It was running late and conflicted with the start of 52 but the last straw was when he read the reviews: "I said fuck it."[9] Wildstorm editor Ben Abernathy has said the problems were caused by a perfect storm of events, but both series will get finished - Keith Giffen will be completing the twelve-issue run on The Authority.[10] At NYCC Morrison also announced a new title coming in 2009, War Cop, which he says is "a very psychedelic thing and it'll be a little bit more back to being me again."[9] Other upcoming work includes My Atomika Bomb, a creator-owned title for Vertigo, with artist Camilla D’Errico.[11]
[edit] Appearances as a comics figure
Grant Morrison first appeared as a comics character with a cameo in Animal Man #14. He made a full appearance at the end of issue #25, and spent most of #26 in a lengthy conversation with the comic's title character, particularly on the topic of how realism has to be part of comic books somewhere. Nevertheless, in the end, Animal Man's family returned from the dead due to 'his' influence.
Shortly afterwards, a Morrison-resembling character called "The Writer" appeared in issue 58 of the DC Comics title Suicide Squad (written by John Ostrander).[12] This issue was part of the War of the Gods storyline. He was seen protesting that other "writers" had taken control of his fate now that he was part of "the continuity". He demonstrated his skills by writing down dialogue onto a laptop. This text was attributed to specific, gathered, super-hero allies. Moments later, the allies then said those very words. He then participated in the attack on the stronghold of Circe. He eliminated a few enemies by writing of their deaths, which then happened. Writer's block then hit and he was killed by a bestial humanoid.
Morrison would later be counted among the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp, the body of "reality engineers" seen throughout the Seven Soldiers miniseries event.[13]
He has also appeared in an issue of Simpsons Comics, where he is seen fighting with Mark Millar over the X-Men titles.[14]
In the notes to the Absolute Edition of DC: The New Frontier, writer Darwyn Cooke mentioned that this version of Captain Cold was visually based upon Morrison.
In the Doctor Thirteen story found in Tales of the Unexpected, Thirteen encounters the self-proclaimed Architects of the DC Universe. This foursome wear Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash masks, and could be interpreted as the writers of DC's 52. The Batman mask-wearer bears more than a passing resemblance to Grant Morrison.
In Mad Magazine, he is referred to as Jim Morrison in a review for a comic book he supposedly wrote.
It has also been suggested the near-future Batman depitcted in issue #666 of the comic book of the same name is based on Morrison: "Oddly, the shaved-headed Batman in the trench coat looks a bit like Grant Morrison and he has a cat named Alfred. In other words, it looks like Morrison (who is known to love cats) made himself Batman in this story. Of course, in Animal Man, Morrison appeared as himself as the teller of tales of Animal Man’s life; in Seven Soldiers, the tailors who tell the tales of the universe looked like Morrison; and now he seems to be the Batman of the not-too-distant future."[15] However, Morrison has stated that the decision to base the appearance of the future Batman on him was one taken solely by the artist, "I had written him as having a buzz cut, I think, but Andy drew him bald. I think a lot of people just assumed that I stuck myself into a comic again, but that was never intended."[16] Similarly, in Morrison's The Filth, the central character, named Greg Feely, becomes acutely physically similar to Morrison at the exact same time that his cat dies under the care of a malicious body double of his; Feely's care for the cat mirrors that which Morrison has claimed he felt for it.
[edit] Screen writing and scripts
Morrison has become more involved in screenwriting and has written numerous scripts and treatments.
His screenplays include Sleepless Knights for Dreamworks, WE3 for New Line (both in development with Don Murphy producing) and most recently an adaptation of the video game Area 51 home console game [17] for Paramount (in development with CFP Productions producing).
Morrison provided outline story and script work for two video games (Predator: Concrete Jungle and Battlestar Galactica) both by Vivendi Universal, though the finished products often didn't contain all his contributions.
He has also been a successful playwright, with two plays written for and performed by Oxygen House at the Edinburgh Fringe. The first was Red King Rising in 1989, about the (partly fictional) relationship between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell and the second in 1990, Depravity about Aleister Crowley. Both plays were critically acclaimed and won between them a Fringe First Award, the Independent Theatre Award for 1989 and the Evening Standard Award for New Drama. A film adptation of Red King Rising is in discussion. Both plays were collected in his collection of prose, Lovely Biscuits released in 1999.[18]
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Miscellaneous British publishers
- Near Myths (providing both art and script):
- "Time is a Four-Lettered Word" (in Near Myths #2, 1978)
- "Gideon Stargrave" (in Near Myths #3-4, 1978-1979)
- "The Checkmate Man" (in Near Myths #5, 1980)
- Skin Two magazine: "The Story of Zero" (ambient, erotic prose, with Steven Cook , Alexander Brattell and Lisa Sherman)
- Starblazer (both writing, drawing and occasional inking):
- "Algol the Terrible" (script and art, #15, 1979)
- "Last Man on Earth" (with Keith Robson, #28, 1980)
- "Operation Overkill" (with Enrique Alcatena, #45, 1981)
- "The Cosmic Outlaw" (with Jose Ortiz, #86, 1982)
- "The Death Reaper" (with Enrique Alcatena, #127, 1984)
- "Gateway to Terror" (with unknown author; Pencils: Tony O'Donnell, #142, 1985)
- "Doom World!" (with script: Ray Aspden; Pencils: Tony O'Donnell, #152, 1985)
- "Mind Bender" (with Enrique Alcatena, #167, 1986)
- "The Midas Mystery" (with Enrique Alcatena, #177, 1986)
- "The Ring of Gofannon" (with Garijo, #209, 1987)
- The Liberators (with John Ridgway, in Warrior #26 & the Warrior/Comics International flipbook, 1985 & 1996)
- Zoids:
- "Old Soldiers Never Die" (with Geoff Senior, in Spider-Man and the Zoids #19, 1986)
- "Deserts" (with Geoff Senior and Ron Smith, in Spider-Man and the Zoids #30-31, 1986)
- "Bits and Pieces" (with John Ridgway, in Spider-Man and the Zoids #36-37, 1986) [1]
- "The Black Zoid" (with Kev Hopgood, Steve Yeowell and David Hine, in Spider-Man and the Zoids #40-49, 1986-1987) [2]
- Captain Granbretan (text story with illustrations by John Stokes, in Captain Britain volume 2 #13, Marvel UK, 1986)[19]
- Doctor Who Magazine:
- The World Shapers (Panini Comics, 288 pages, May 2008, ISBN 1905239874) collects:
- "Changes" (with John Ridgway, in Doctor Who Magazine #118-119, 1986)
- "The World Shapers" (with John Ridgway and Tim Perkins, in Doctor Who Magazine #127-129, 1987)
- "Culture Shock" (with Bryan Hitch, in Doctor Who Magazine #139, 1988)
- The World Shapers (Panini Comics, 288 pages, May 2008, ISBN 1905239874) collects:
- Action Force:
- "Meditations in Red" (with Steve Yeowell, in Action Force #17, Marvel UK, 1987)[20]
- "Old Scores" (with Mark Farmer, in Action Force Monthly, Marvel UK, 1988)[21]
- "The House of Hearts Desire" (with Dom Regan, in A1 #3, 1989)
- St. Swithin's Day (with Paul Grist, Trident, 4-issue mini-series, 1989)
- The New Adventures of Hitler (with Steve Yeowell):
- "What Do You Mean, Ideologically Unsound?" (in Crisis #46, 1990)
- "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (in Crisis #47, 1990)
- "Mr. Hitler's Holiday" (in Crisis #48, 1990)
- Part 4 (in Crisis #49, 1990)
- Steed and Mrs. Peel: "The Golden Game" (with Ian Gibson, 3-issue mini-series, 1990, tpb, 48 pages, Titan Books, 1990 ISBN 1-870084-75-6)
- Dan Dare (with Rian Hughes, reprinted in Dare #1-4):
- "Dare" (in Revolver #1-7, 1990)
- "Dare (finale)" (in Crisis #55-56, 1991)
- Bible John-A Forensic Meditation (with Daniel Vallely, in Crisis #56-61, 1991)
[edit] 2000 AD
- Tharg's Future Shocks:
- "Doing Time" (with Geoff Senior, in 2000 AD #463, 1986)
- "The Alteration" (with Alan Langford, in 2000 AD #466, 1986)
- "Alien Aid" (with John Stokes, in 2000 AD #469, 1986)
- "Some People Never Listen" (with Barry Kitson, in 2000 AD #475, 1986)
- "The Shop that Sold Everything" (with John Stokes, in 2000 AD #477, 1986)
- "Wheels of Fury" (with Geoff Senior, in 2000 AD #481, 1986)
- "Curse Your Lucky Star" (with Barry Kitson, in 2000 AD #482, 1986)
- "Return to Sender" (with Jeff Anderson, in 2000AD Annual 1987, 1986)
- "Maniac for Hire" (with Johnny Johnstone, in 2000 AD #507, 1987)
- "Fruitcake and Veg" (with Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #508-509, 1987)
- "Fair Exchange" (with Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #514, 1987)
- "The Invisible Etchings of S. Dali" (with John Hicklenton, in 2000 AD #515, 1987)
- "Big Trouble for Blast Barclay" (with Art: Mike White; Colours: Clive McGee, in 2000 AD #516, 1987)
- One-Off:
- "Danger: Genius at Work" (with Steve Dillon, in 2000 AD #479, 1986)
- "Candy and the Catchman" (with John Ridgway, in 2000 AD #491, 1986)
- Zenith:
- "Phase One" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #535-549, 1987) (also tpb)
- "Interludes 1 & 2" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #558-559, 1988) (reprinted in Book Two)
- "Phase Two" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #589-606, 1988) (also tpbs, Books Two and Three)
- "Interlude 3" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD Winter Special, 1988)
- "Maximan" (with M. Carmona, in 2000AD Winter Special 1988)
- "Mandala: Shadows & Reflections" (with Jim McCarthy, in 2000AD Annual 1990, 1989)
- "Phase Three" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #626-634, 650-662 & 667-670, 1989-90) (also tpbs, Books Four and Five)
- "Phase Four" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD #791-806, 1992)
- "zzzzenith.com" (with Steve Yeowell, in 2000 AD prog 2001, 2000)
- Venus Bluegenes: "The Pleasures of the Flesh" (with Will Simpson), in 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 1988)
- Janus: Psi Division:
- "Will o' the Wisp" (with Carlos Ezquerra, in 2000 AD Winter Special 1993, 1993)
- "House of Sighs" (with Paul Johnson, in 2000 AD #953, 1995)
- "Faustus" (with Mark Millar and Paul Johnson, in 2000 AD #1024-1031, 1997)
- Really & Truly (with Rian Hughes, in 2000 AD #842-849, 1993)
- Judge Dredd:
- "Inferno" (with Carlos Ezquerra, in 2000 AD #842-853, 1993)
- "Book of the Dead" (with Mark Millar and Dermot Power, in 2000 AD #859-866, 1993, reprinted, Hamlyn, 1996, ISBN 0-7493-9692-X)
- "Crusade" (with co-author Mark Millar and art by Mick Austin, in 2000 AD #928-937, 1995)
- Big Dave (with Mark Millar):
- "Target Baghdad" (with Steve Parkhouse, in 2000 AD #842-845, 1993)
- "Young Dave" (with Steve Parkhouse, in 2000AD Yearbook 1994, 1993)
- "Monarchy in the UK" (with Steve Parkhouse, in 2000 AD #846-849, 1994)
- "Costa del Chaos" (with Anthony Williams, in 2000 AD #869-872, 1994)
- "Wotta Lotta Balls" (with Steve Parkhouse, in 2000 AD #904-907, 1994)
[edit] DC Comics
- Batman:
- "The Stalking" (text story with illustrations by Garry Leach, in the UK Batman Annual, 1986)[22]
- Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (with Dave McKean, DC, graphic novel, 1989, ISBN 1-4012-0424-4)
- Gothic (with Klaus Janson, in Legends of the Dark Knight #6-10, April - June 1990, tpb, 1998, ISBN 1-56389-028-3)
- Batman & Son (tpb, hardcover, 200 pages, August 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1240-9)[23] collects:
- "Batman and Son" (with Andy Kubert, 4 issues, Batman #655-658, 2006)
- "The Clown at Midnight" (with John Van Fleet, Batman #663)
- "Three Ghosts of Batman" (with Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang, Batman #664-665, April-May, 2007)
- "Numbers of the Beast" (with Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang, Batman #666, July 2007)
- "The Island of Mister Mayhew" #667-669 (with J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart, Batman, August-September 2007)
- "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul" (with Tony Daniel, Batman #670-671, October-November 2007, collected in Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, 256 pages, May 7, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1785-0)[24]
- "Space Medicine" (with Tony Daniel, Batman #672, February 2008)
- "Joe Chill in Hell" (with Tony Daniel, Batman #673, March 2008)
- "Batman Dies at Dawn" (with Tony Daniel, Batman #674, April 2008)
- "The Fiend With Nine Eyes" (with Ryan Benjamin, Batman #675, May 2008)
- "Batman R.I.P." (with Tony Daniel, Batman #676-679, June 2008 - August 2008)
- Superman:
- "Osgood Peabody's Big Green Dream Machine" (text story with illustrations by Barry Kitson and Jeff Anderson, in the UK Superman Annual, 1986)[25]
- All Star Superman (With Frank Quitely, DC, 2005, #1-present, 12 issues planned):
- Volume 1 (tpb collects issues #1-6, 160 pages, April 2007, ISBN 1-4012-0914-9)[26]
- JLA:
- "JLA: Ghosts of Stone" (Secret Origins #46, 1989)
- JLA (with Howard Porter and John Dell, DC, #1-17, 22-26, 28-31, 34, 36-41, 1997):
- New World Order (tpb collects JLA #1-4, 1997, ISBN 1-56389-369-X)
- American Dreams (tpb collects JLA #5-9, 1998, ISBN 1-56389-394-0)
- Rock of Ages (tpb collects JLA #10-15, 1998, ISBN 1-56389-416-5)
- DC One Million (with Val Semeiks, DC, 4-issue mini-series, 1998, tpb, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0320-5)
- Strength in Numbers (tpb collects JLA #16-23 and New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 and "Heroes" from JLA Secret Files #2, 1998 ISBN 1-56389-435-1)
- Justice for All (tpb collects JLA #24-33, 1999, ISBN 1-56389-511-0)
- World War III (tpb collects JLA #34-41, 2000, ISBN 1-56389-618-4)
- JLA: Ultramarine Corps (tpb, 144 pages, October 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1564-5)[27] collects:
- "JLA/WildC.A.T.s" (one-shot crossover, 1997)
- JLA Classified #1-3 (with Ed McGuiness, DC, 3-issue story arc, 2004)
- Earth 2 (with Frank Quitely, DC, graphic novel, 2000, ISBN 1-56389-631-1)
- Flash:
- "Flash of Two Worlds" (Secret Origins #50, 1990)
- Flash #130-138 (with co-writer Mark Millar, 1997)
- Aztek, the Ultimate Man #1-10 (with co-author Mark Millar, and pencils (2-10) by N. Steven Harris, pencils (1) and inks (2-10) by Keith Champagne and inks (1) by Chris Eliopoulos, 1996, collected in JLA Presents: Aztek, the Ultimate Man, 240 pages, April 30, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1688-9)[28]
- Seven Soldiers (interconnected sets of 4-issue mini-series bookended with an issue #0 and #1):
- Bulleteer #1-4 (with Yanick Paquette & inkers Michael Bair(issue #1) and Serge LaPointe (issues #2-4))
- Frankenstein! #1-4 (with Doug Mahnke)
- The Manhattan Guardian #1-4 (with Cameron Stewart)
- Klarion the Witch Boy #1-4 (with Frazer Irving)
- Mister Miracle #1-4 (with Pasqual Ferry)
- Seven Soldiers #0-1 (with J.H. Williams III)
- Shining Knight #1-4 (with Simone Bianchi)
- Zatanna #1-4 (with Ryan Sook)
- 52 (with co-authors Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid, DC, #1-52, 2006-2007)
- Final Crisis (with J. G. Jones, 7-issue limited series, May 2008 - January 2009)
[edit] Vertigo
- Animal Man (DC, #1-26, 1988-1990):
- Animal Man (with Chas Truog, Tom Grummett and Doug Hazlewood, tpb collects #1-9, Vertigo, 2001 ISBN 1-56389-005-4)
- Origin of the Species (with Chas Truog, Tom Grummett, Doug Hazlewood, Steve Montano, and Mark McKenna, tpb collects Animal Man #10-17 and Secret Origins #39, Vertigo, 2002 ISBN 1-56389-890-X)
- Deus Ex Machina (with Chas Truog, Doug Hazlewood, Paris Cullins, Mark Farmer, and Steve Montano, tpb collects #18-26, Vertigo, 2003 ISBN 1-56389-968-X)
- Doom Patrol (DC, #19-63, 1989-1993):
- Crawling From the Wreckage (tpb collects Doom Patrol #19-25, 2000 ISBN 1-56389-034-8)
- The Painting That Ate Paris (tpb collects Doom Patrol #26-34, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0342-6)
- Down Paradise Way (tpb collects Doom Patrol #35-41, 2005 ISBN 1-4012-0726-X)
- Musclebound (tpb collects Doom Patrol #42-50, August 2006 ISBN 1-4012-0999-8)
- Magic Bus (tpb collects Doom Patrol #51-57, January 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1202-6)
- Planet Love (tpb collects Doom Patrol #58-63 and Doom Force #1, January 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1624-2)
- Hellblazer: "Early Warning" (with David Lloyd, #25-26, Vertigo, 1990, collected in Rare Cuts, 2005, Titan ISBN 1-84023-974-3, DC ISBN 1-4012-0240-3)
- Kid Eternity (with Duncan Fegredo, DC, 3-issue mini-series, 1991, tpb, 2006 ISBN 1-4012-0933-5)
- Sebastian O (with Steve Yeowell, Vertigo, 3-issue mini-series, 1993, tpb, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0337-X)
- The Mystery Play (with Jon J. Muth, Vertigo, graphic novel, 1994 ISBN 1-56389-108-5)
- Swamp Thing: "Bad Gumbo" (with co-writer Mark Millar and artist Philip Hester, Vertigo, #140-143, 1994)
- The Invisibles (Vertigo, 1994-2000):
- Say You Want a Revolution (with Steve Yeowell and Jill Thompson, tpb collects vol 1, #1-8, 1996 ISBN 1-56389-267-7)
- Apocalipstick (with Jill Thompson, Chris Weston, et al., tpb collects vol 1, #9-16, 2001 ISBN 1-56389-702-4)
- Entropy in the UK (with Phil Jimenez, Steve Yeowell, et al., tpb collects vol 1, #17-25, 2001 ISBN 1-56389-728-8)
- Bloody Hell in America (with Phil Jimenez, tpb collects vol 2, #1-4, 1998 ISBN 1-56389-444-0)
- Counting to None (with Phil Jimenez, tpb collects vol 2, #5-13, 1999 ISBN 1-56389-489-0)
- Kissing Mister Quimper (with Chris Weston and Ivan Reis, tpb collects vol 2, #14-22, 2000 ISBN 1-56389-600-1)
- The Invisible Kingdom (with Philip Bond, Sean Phillips, Frank Quitely, et al., tpb collects vol 3, #12-1, 2002 ISBN 1-4012-0019-2)
- Kill Your Boyfriend (with Philip Bond and D'Israeli, Vertigo, single issue, 1995)
- Flex Mentallo (with Frank Quitely, Vertigo, 4-issue mini-series, 1996)
- Weird War Tales #3: "New Toys" (with Frank Quitely, Vertigo, 1997)
- The Filth (with Chris Weston, Vertigo, 13-issue mini-series, 2002, tpb, 2004 ISBN 1-4012-0013-3)
- WE3 (with Frank Quitely, Vertigo, 3-issue mini-series, 2004, tpb, 2005 ISBN 1-4012-0495-3)
- Seaguy (with Cameron Stewart, Vertigo, 3-issue mini-series, 2004, tpb, 2005 ISBN 1-4012-0494-5)
- Vimanarama (with Philip Bond, Vertigo, 3-issue mini-series, 2005, tpb, 2006 ISBN 1-4012-0496-1)
[edit] Marvel Comics
- Skrull Kill Krew (with Mark Millar and Steve Yeowell, Marvel, 5-issue mini-series, 1995, tpb, 2006 ISBN 0-7851-2120-X)
- Marvel Boy (with J.G. Jones, Marvel, 6-issue mini-series, 2000, tpb, 2001 ISBN 0-7851-0781-9)
- Fantastic Four: 1234 (with Jae Lee, Marvel, 4-issue mini-series, 2001, tpb, 96 pages, 2004 ISBN 0-7851-1040-2)
- Nick Fury: "Nick's World" (in Marvel Knights: Double Shot #2, 2002)
- New X-Men (#114-154 and Annual 2001, all collected in New X-Men Omnibus, 992 pages, December 2006 ISBN 0-7851-2326-1):
- E Is For Extinction (tpb collects #114-117 + 2001 Annual, 144 pages, 2001 ISBN 0-7851-0811-4)
- Imperial (tpb collects #118-126, 224 pages, 2002 ISBN 0-7851-0887-4)
- New Worlds (tpb collects #127-133, 168 pages, 2002 ISBN 0-7851-0976-5)
- Riot At Xavier's (tpb collects #134-138, 120 pages, 2003 ISBN 0-7851-1067-4)
- Assault on Weapon Plus (tpb collects #139-145, 168 pages, 2003 ISBN 0-7851-1119-0)
- Planet X (tpb collects #146-150, 136 pages, 2004 ISBN 0-7851-1201-4)
- Here Comes Tomorrow (tpb collects #151-154, 112 pages, 2004 ISBN 0-7851-1345-2)
[edit] Other US publishers
- Vampirella (Harris Comics, Vampirella Monthly #1-6 and "Blood Red Game" collected in Vampirella: the Morrison Millar Collection, 176 pages, March 2006)[29]
- "Blood Red Game" (with Michael Bair and Kevin Nowlan, in Vampirella 25th Anniversary Special, 1996)
- "Ascending Evil" (with co-writer Mark Millar, with art from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, in Vampirella Monthly #1-3, 1997)
- "Holy War" (with co-writer Mark Millar, with art by Louis Small Jnr, in Vampirella Monthly #4-6, 1997)
- "Queen's Gambit" (with co-writer Mark Millar, with art from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, in Vampirella Monthly #7-9, 1997)
- Spawn: "Reflections" (#16-18, collected in Spawn 4: Escalation, Titan, 120 pages, 1997 ISBN 1-85286-831-7, Spawn Collection Volume 2, Image, 464 pages, 2006 ISBN 1-58240-610-3)
- The Authority (with Gene Ha, Wildstorm, 2006, ongoing)
- Wildcats (with Jim Lee, Wildstorm, 2006, ongoing)
- Fast Forward #1: "Phobias" (with Dave McKean, DC Imprint Piranha Press, 1992, Wrote The Story "Glass Of Water")
[edit] Notes
- ^ YouTube - DC Comics Grant Morrison interview
- ^ CBR's #2 & #1 All Time Favorite Writer, Comics Bulletin
- ^ Barbelith Interviews: An Interview with Grant Morrison
- ^ Barbelith Interviews: An Interview with Grant Morrison
- ^ Grant Morrison on Being the DCU Revamp Guy, Newsarama, 2005
- ^ Comic Book Resources - CBR News: CBR's #2 & #1 All Time Favorite Writer
- ^ Comicon.Com: Totally Grant Morrison
- ^ All Star Grant Morrison III: Superman, Comic Book Resources, April 17, 2008
- ^ a b NYCC '08: The Grant Morrison Panel, Newsarama, April 19, 2008
- ^ Wild at Heart: Ben Abernathy, Newsarama, May 19, 2008
- ^ Camilla d’Errico Feels the "Burn", Comic Book Resources, May 22, 2008
- ^ Grant Morrison. "Pre Ink". grant-morrison.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ "Seven Unknown Men". Barbelith. Retrieved on 2007-01-22.
- ^ http://www.timemachinego.com/linkmachinego/images/gm_simpsons.jpg
- ^ Review of Batman #666, Comics Bulletin
- ^ Talking Batman with Grant Morrison, Newsarama, February 22, 2008
- ^ http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=9601 "Grant Morrison Goes Hollywood"
- ^ Journalism
- ^ Fish1000.Biz: Lost and Found
- ^ Meditations In Red
- ^ Old Scores
- ^ Fish1000.Biz: Lost and Found
- ^ Batman and Son trade details
- ^ Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul trade details
- ^ Fish1000.Biz: Lost and Found
- ^ All Star Superman Volume 1 profile at DC
- ^ JLA: Ultramarine Corps profile at DC
- ^ JLA Presents: Aztek, the Ultimate Man profile at DC
- ^ Vampirella | Morrison/Millar Collection
[edit] References
- Callahan, Timothy (2007) Grant Morrison: The Early Years. Masters of the Medium. Sequart.com Books. ISBN 0615140874
- Morrison, Grant (2003) "Pop magic!" in Book of Lies, pp. 16-25 ISBN 0-9713942-7-X
- Disinformation: The Complete Series Disc 2: DisinfoCon. (1999) Speech by Grant Morrison. Distr. Ryko Distribution.
- Grant Morrison at the Grand Comic-Book Database
- Grant Morrison at the Comic Book DB
- 2000 AD profile
- Grant Morrison at the Internet Movie Database
- Blazing Through the Secrecy, about uncredited authors on Starblazer
[edit] External links
The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links. |
- Grant-Morrison.com, Morrison official homepage
- The Story of Zero - Morrison's ambient, erotic prose for Cook and Brattell's Skin Two feature
- Extended look at Morrison's work by Timothy Callahan on Sequart
- Video of Morrison speaking at DisinfoCon
- Alternity - Morrison performed this spoken word piece at Steven Cook's first solo exhibition in London, (May 2002)
[edit] Interviews
- The Grant Morrison Interview Archive
- Archive of interviews from 1976 to 1997
- PopImage interview, February 2001
- Sequential Tart interview, August, 2002
- Barbelith interview, September 2, 2002
- August 2003 interview, Comic Book Resources
- PopImage interview, 2004
- Comixfan interview, May 18, 2004
- "Grant Morrison's big-time return to the DCU, an August 2004 interview in Newsarama, about JLA: Classified and Seven Soldiers
- Suicide Girls interview, March 4, 2005
- The Pulse interview, September 5, 2005
- Three-part interview on: Final Crisis, Batman and All-Star Superman, Newsarama, February-March 2008
- All Star Grant Morrison I: Final Crisis, II: Batman and III: Superman, Comic Book Resources, April 15-17, 2008
Preceded by Jamie Delano |
Hellblazer writer 1990 |
Succeeded by Neil Gaiman |
Preceded by None |
JLA writer 1997-2000 |
Succeeded by Mark Waid |
Preceded by Scott Lobdell |
X-Men (vol. 2)/New X-Men writer 2001 – 2004 |
Succeeded by Chuck Austen |
Preceded by James Dale Robinson |
Batman writer 2006 – |
Succeeded by Current Writer |