Grant Morrison S/D

hey tuomas is back!

i heard a thing on npr the other day about how during harold washington's (1st black mayor of chicago) campaign, racist supporters of his opponent would sometimes wear blank white badges.

didnt read the thread but marvel boy is his best thing

Has anyone ever checked out that Invisibles' guidebook "Anarchy For The Masses?"

Yeah, I have it. Well, it's actually in LA, along with my run of THE INVISIBLES, with a friend of mine who's had them for too long. I recall it illuminating a few points here and there but not quite as meaty as I'd wanted it to be. Maybe I'm already steeped in esoterica, so some of it was old news.

Despite his reputation for including various esoteric matters into his comics, I think Morrison is actually quite good at making them into an organic part of his stories and explaining them within the story, so I've never felt I'd need the help of some external reference guide. I've read some texts where various Morrison stories are interpreted via spiral dynamics, but I don't think knowledge of that theory is in any way necessary to understand what he's writing about.

The only thing in The Invisibles that was quite strange to me was The Hand of Glory (at first I thought it was something Morrison came up with himself), and even with that one, knowing it's an ages-old concept isn't really necessary for understanding what it does in the story. Of course there are some subtle in-jokes and references in his comics that require some outside knowledge to decipher (like Miss Rimbaud in the Miracle Man miniseries), but mostly they're just small details that make the whole richer, not something you need to get in order to understand the story.

Great News!

Flex Mentallo hardcover coming this fall!

http://vertigo.blog.dccomics.com/2011/01/04/flex-mentallo-is-back/

"Beautiful deluxe edition" = time to start calling in all the debts yer owed.

I hope they kept the essays.

Still have the singles. Which I got for less than twenty bucks (piecemeal).

I'm waiting for DC to decide to release THE COMPLEAT GRANT MORRISON LIBRARY editions of everything after THE INVISIBLES gets the Absolute treatment.

ahhhhhhh

xp -- could def. see that happening by mid-decade, assuming no Alan Moore-style falling out w/DC

Oh wow, this is the best news in ages! Now I don't have to squint at those cbr files ever again.

Great!

Now Zenith too, please

Is his new(ish) batman run any good? Pretty much the only time I'm not all abt morrison is his batman stuff - really couldn't get into arkham asylum at all fr example.

It's probably the least cohesive (and my least favourite) of GM's mainstream superhero projects, but it's still pretty good. I'd try Batman #700, which is a fairly accessible done-in-one, and should give you an idea -- tonally, at least -- of what the rest of his run is like.

It starts pretty weak, but some parts of it are very good, especially Batman RIP and the Final Crisis related material. Basically, I don't think Morrison is at his best when trying to write "street vigilante" or "dark knight detective" stuff, but the more mind screwy bits of his run are quite fine. Actually, it's kinda odd that Morrison has stayed so long with Batman, as Batman is seemingly the character least suited for him among DC's major superheroes.

thankfully it's just a "deluxe hardcover", not ABSOLUTE (so far as I can tell) so hopefully not more than $25 retail

really enjoyed the Batman Morrison run; maybe it's because he's so unlikely to be a good Batman writer that it was so fun, especially as Tuomas says, the RIP/FC material. I loved the whole tone of the Black Glove arc, and even the constantly changing art teams still managed to work with the material, though I wish they could've kept Kubert or Williams on the whole thing

most of the artists who aren't Williams do a lot of damage to anything in the "Batman" title (bar some bits of #700, and did John Van Fleet do that painted Joker one early on?), but Final Crisis is all good, and there are only three issues of Batman & Robin with shitty art, and even that's nowhere near as shitty as Tony Daniel. (Slightly shittier than Kubert.)

I think Batman Inc. is a lot of fun, and I like Yanick Paquette's (Kevin Nowlan-esque) art. Morrison seems to come up with a lot of ideas that seem nonsensical or out of character (like having Bat-partners around the world), but work anyway just from sheer energy level and the fact that he doesn't let the pace lag long enough to give them much thought.

Paquette's biting Nowlan's shading on faces, don't see too much else Nowlanesque in his layouts or spotting. The grotesquely OTT T&A in #1 almost put me off the series completely, but a combination of him reining it in a bit and me being braced for it helped #2 go down easier.

Morrison seems to come up with a lot of ideas that seem nonsensical or out of character (like having Bat-partners around the world), but work anyway just from sheer energy level and the fact that he doesn't let the pace lag long enough to give them much thought.

― earnest goes to camp, ironic goes to ilm (pixel farmer), Wednesday, January 5, 2011 3:06 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

love the bat-partners around the world bit, but largely because it's so unexpected. i'm completely sick of the "one dark & driven borderline bat-psycho going it alone against a fiendish web of crime (and his own inner demons!)" shtick. nice to see someone take the character in a new direction without sacrificing his basic essence.

Did love final crisis an awful lot. P. much agree with tuomas that batman isn't particularly well suited for him. Strange though because i generally do like morrison even more when he's reined in a little bit. His x-men run is probably my favourite thing in all of comics.

Fittingly, Flex seems to have a visual basis in Morrison's father.

The Talking with Gods documentary was a bit amateurish, but it's well worth a watch if you're interested in where Morrison's ideas come from. His father seems to have been quite an interesting person (a WWII veteran who became a peace and anti-nuclear activist), and a dapper fellow too. No wonder Flex was based on him.

It was also interesting to see and hear so many Morrison collaborators talk onscreen, I hadn't seen any footage of most of them. Never would've imagined J. H. Williams III looks like that.

Is this worth watching? I'm concerned that if GM's on-camera persona is too embarrassing, it might plague me while I'm reading the comics. I mean, I've seen him on two-minute Newsarama videos, but a whole movie?

GM comes off as a pretty affable and straightforward chap, so there's not much embarrassing stuff there. There's a few of occasions when he starts talking mumbo jumbo about magic and cosmic stuff, but if you've read The Invisibles none if should come as a surprise. Mostly it's just Grant and his colleagues talking about his work, which seems like a good form for a documentary like this.

Also, the movie has the Official Origin Story (or at least Grant's version of it) of the beef between him and Alan Moore, which was totally new info to me. Seems like the feud dates back to mid-80s when Moore vetoed a Marvelman script by Grant which would've otherwise been published in Warrior.

yeah that was summarized upthread, I'd never heard that before.

does seem like a bit of a dick move by Moore.

there was a bit on Dr. Casino's Animal Man recap/blog thing about how Moore and Morrison have fundamentally different ideas about superheroes (Moore = BAD! Morrison = Great!) which seems to speak to a major difference in their approaches and worldviews - Moore seems much darker/cynical/nihilistic and Morrison is sorta the opposite

There's a pretty long bit of Morrison speaking on one of those disinfo dvds that's pretty decent.

I was reading a roundup of things that happened in 1981/1991/2001 as a retrospective, and I was kind of shocked to realize that Grant's New X-Men run started back in 2001. It doesn't seem nearly that long ago!

I was reading a roundup of things that happened in 1981/1991/2001 as a retrospective, and I was kind of shocked to realize that Grant's New X-Men run started back in 2001. It doesn't seem nearly that long ago!

― mh, Friday, January 7, 2011 12:13 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

i was saying this on another thread! it's shocking to me imo

fundamentally different ideas about superheroes (Moore = BAD! Morrison = Great!)

Moore LOVES superheroes!

I think he used to, but hasn't in a long time.

Tom Strong, Top Ten?

ok, sub "five or six years" for "a long time"

moore is crap if that helps.

love from hell and watchmen but it's still a pretty good challops.

I believe Moore's position, which he summed up in his MR. MONSTER intro, was "Superheroes are fine, but they should know their place. And that place is off my lawn, dammit!"

i wouldn't want superheroes on my lawn either.

I just finished reading GM's entire Batman run from "Batman and Son" to "Batman Inc" (via Final Crisis) on and it's somehow revealed itself as one of my favourite Morrison things ever -- makes so much more sense (and is so much more fun for making more sense) read in one big swoop rather than month-by-month.

Complaint (because this is the internet, and there must be one): Paquette's art is pretty hideous.

so very far from the worst art on the run though! grrroosss T&A but at least it reads

I still have no fucking idea what happened in the last issue of ROBW, but I rolled with it. Maybe on the re-read.

The Dis-Info video is also available off a Google video search, at least that's where I saw it (Mr. Morrison drinking sloppily and all, in stunning TECHNICOLOR!) Have TALKING WITH GODS on my list to watch sometime, but since I'm writing and not lettering, I can't have movies on in the background while pounding on the keyboard.

Unfortunately, reading his more recent (say, after ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) monthly comics in the monthly form is often frustrating. I've been reading BATMAN AND ROBIN in chunks when say six or more months have backed up. Much more satisfying. Didn't care for INC until the last issue flipped my lid.

I have this theory about the fundamental differences between messrs Moore and Morrison being explicated through their view of magic (which is nothing more than another way to interact with the outside world.) Mr. Moore is heavily steeped in obscure arcana and Mr. Morrison says "Well, just find something that works."

comics in the monthly form is often frustrating. I've been reading BATMAN AND ROBIN in chunks when say six or more months have backed up.

this is crazy, his previous run was a frustrating mess chapter by chapter but B&R is supercharged thrillpower. the cliffhangers in those Frazer Irving issues!

PS BTW B&R finished over six months ago! You should have read it all by now!

I read it awhile ago. I get it pulled but still don't read it month-to-month. Hell, I don't read most things month-to-month. No patience for it.

also you missed out on reading Return Of Bruce Wayne and Batman & Robin concurrently, where each issue of each series was dropping hints for the next issue of the other series. so much fun!

also lol you are buying six months of a Fabian Nicieza comic that you are not even reading

I still have no fucking idea what happened in the last issue of ROBW, but I rolled with it. Maybe on the re-read.

Similar sentiments - that double page spread made my corporate comic month, though. Oh, and I liked how I began that ish in a state of desultory disillusion w/ GM and ended thinking "Man, he should write Wonder Woman next!"

It is interesting how common a reaction to GM comics is "I had no idea what happened there". Sometimes this is in a good way, but sometimes I get the idea that he ought to work a bit more on his plots. This may mark me out as a GM agnostic.

I think I accidentally picked up one B&R issue post-GM. Remember, Batman Inc. is the one to buy, now!

Anyone have a good recommended reading order for the B&R/ROBW issues? I want to have a friend read them, either in collected form or as cbr files, and think going through each individually wouldn't work as well.

DV, my impression has always been that GM comics are always tightly and impeccably plotted, but that plot elements are often revealed in the tiniest and easiest-to-miss ways. A sideways glance or a gesture made by a character in the background of a panel might reveal something hugely important; blink and you'll miss it. I usually miss it.