Grant Morrison: Erm, yeah....ok.

[TCJohnson]

NRAMA: Finally Grant, could you ever see yourself doing something like [52] again?

GM: No. It's a bit like having sex with a jellyfish: once might an interesting experiment, twice would be perversion!


http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?p=3652415&posted=1#post3652415

[Sarah Beach]

Wow... that's... some analogy!

Heh.

[heystacy]

Whoa! :eek:

[Jared H.]

One of my goals is to meet Grant Morrison before I die.

Well, him and Aphex Twin.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I smell new signature material!

(for, um... someone)

[Cayman]

Fun interview. Grant is my favorite writer but 52 really diminished my respect for him. His interviews are always entertaining though.

Ha!


I'd also like to point out here that my character the Bulleteer CANNOT FLY! Repeat BULLETEER CANNOT FLY!

[Kris Gen]

For some reason, that statement would be much more disturbing if anyone other than Grant Morrison had said it.

[AaronJ]

Grant is simply my favorite writer. Without question. The way his mind works is not like the way other people's minds work.

Great interview too. These Exit Interviews have been a blast.

[JamesRitcheyIII]

One of my goals is to meet Grant Morrison before I die.

Well, him and Aphex Twin.

I met him at SDCCI in 2003, during a guest get-together. He proceeded to shake my hand for three times longer than a comfortable length of time, as if trying to access my thoughts through Psychometry. As if...I got that ringing in my ears that I experience whenever anyone tries to read my mind...:D

I asked him when the rest of Pop Magic was coming out, using the phrase 'curious Gnostics want to know'. He got the joke.

[Chris Hansbrough]

obviously he's never screwed a jellyfish because it never becomes an abomination.......

ewwwwwwww

[Jack Zodiac]

For some reason, that statement would be much more disturbing if anyone other than Grant Morrison had said it.

Nah. I could see Ennis or Ellis saying it. Or Moore. So... basically, anyone English.

[Jack Zodiac]

Also...


The same pitch also introduced two new Japanese pop-culture inspired superteams - the venerable monster-huntin' crew of Big Science Action and the Super Young Team (whose members include Most Excellent SuperBat, Big Atomic Lantern Boy and Shy Crazy Lolita Canary) - both of which will appear in my next big DCU project in 2008.

BLAM! How fuckin' crazy does that sound?

[AaronJ]

Really, as funny as the jellyfish comment was, and as great as the whole interview was (it's Grant -- nothing surprising there), this was the line for me:

"In the end it wasn't about making pseudo-political points or staging yet another huge brawl between superheroes, it was about loss, and love and death and transcendence and the sprawling lives and emotions of people who just happened to have superpowers."

God bless you, Grant Morrison. God bless you.

[AaronJ]

BLAM! How fuckin' crazy does that sound?

Shy Crazy Lolita Canary

Morrison, you crazy bastard!

[Jack Zodiac]

In the end, I think his verbose rant about the new multiverse, accent on the "new," is a great example of why I love Grant. He's a mind you want in charge of a company, and I really hope that in the future, even if it's decades from now, he becomes DC's executive editor. His outlook is the best, "something new, something old, something for everyone."

[TCJohnson]

I think they are ignoring Grant, though. There are already crossovers between the different universes.

[Infra-Man]

NRAMA: Finally Grant, could you ever see yourself doing something like [52] again?

GM: No. It's a bit like having sex with a jellyfish: once might an interesting experiment, twice would be perversion!

Three times, though: that's true love.

[cedardryad]

I smell new signature material!

(for, um... someone)

I was thinking the same thing. Grant Morrison always scared me. MPagar's sister is convinced he will come over our place and convince him to sell our daughter's soul for comic book advice.

[The Xenos]

Big Science Action and the Super Young Team (whose members include Most Excellent SuperBat, Big Atomic Lantern Boy and Shy Crazy Lolita Canary) - both of which will appear in my next big DCU project in 2008.

I need to place an order for this book now. Ok, doesn't hurt that right now I got the song Lolita by Elefant playing on my playlist. Also, here's hoping she's gothic lolita. DC is lacking in those characters. Black Alice is more punk goth. Meanwhile Marvel has Nico and.. well.. Gothic Lolita from Livewires.

[Alan Lynch]

My ex met Grant Morrison. She knows a playwright who started out in comics and was apparently good friends with Grant. I was sorely tempted to stay in the relationship just for the chance to have a drink with that bald genius.

[Chris Hansbrough]

I talked to him for a while at Comic-Con last year over a beer after the show one day......My brain took a week to recover. he really is a freakishly amazing mind. it's almst scary.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Grant Morrison is like a shark: he can't stop making analogies.

[Weetomuncher]

(Waves Scottish flag)

Grant's ours and you're not getting him!

[Zeb Oswalt]

Well, as long as he's happy. He's a talented writer. The analogy is a bit....em...oy. But, a warped genius is a good thing. Minus that analogy.

[Magneto_X]

I met him at SDCCI in 2003, during a guest get-together. He proceeded to shake my hand for three times longer than a comfortable length of time, as if trying to access my thoughts through Psychometry. As if...I got that ringing in my ears that I experience whenever anyone tries to read my mind...:D


Grant Morrison is-----a Time Lord?!? :eek:

Somehow this makes sense.

[Linkara]

I thought it was a great interview... except for one section when he talked about fans and the internet. I tend to disagree with him - that the internet fanbase is representative of the fanbase as a whole and that actually the majority of fans ARE on the web talking. I don't think DC or Marvel utilizes an internet market the way they should - it's instant feedback on their product with varying responses and critiques.

[Citizen V]

Morrison has a huge ego.

[PatrickG]

Morrison has a huge ego.

I've seen this said.

I'm not even sure how to gauge the ego of an artist.

Just curious: How would you want him to act?

[Magneto_X]

Morrison has a huge ego.

He *might* but you can't tell in interviews. He's said before that he's got "persona(s)" for the public. It's a trick he uses to stay unique.

You'd only be able to confirm this if a close personal friend of his tells you and said friends has seen it when Morrison's "guard" was down.

[Jack Zodiac]

Morrison has a huge ego.

So? If I was a writing genius with an assload of awards under my belt and more incredible revolutionary titles still being published, I'd have a giant ego too. Hell, I don't and I still have a giant ego. I think it's because I'm so smart and my cock's huge.

[TCJohnson]

Every successful writer has a huge ego and, at the same time, a very fragile one. It is the fragile ego that pushes them forward, makes them want to do better and better. The huge ego comes in where they think, "Hey! People are REALLY going to enjoy this! I should publish this."

[cactusmaac]

He seemed to be taking a few pot-shots at the Ultimates.

[AaronJ]

You know what's funny about the "Morrison has a huge ego" thing is that I have read a number of interviews with him, talked to many people who have met him, and not once has anyone said that he comes across that way, and none of his interviews read like he is a megalomaniac.

He actually comes across as a pretty laid back guy.

[Bob Violence]

I thought it was a great interview... except for one section when he talked about fans and the internet. I tend to disagree with him - that the internet fanbase is representative of the fanbase as a whole and that actually the majority of fans ARE on the web talking. I don't think DC or Marvel utilizes an internet market the way they should - it's instant feedback on their product with varying responses and critiques.
I think he's right. For all the internet grousing about how All-Star Batman & Robin sucked ass, it was a big seller. The internet magnifies the extremes, the people who hate something compete to see who hates it the most, the people who love something do the same.

[Reverend Smooth]

Mm mm mm mm mm.

Tingly.

[AaronJ]

I think he's right. For all the internet grousing about how All-Star Batman & Robin sucked ass, it was a big seller. The internet magnifies the extremes, the people who hate something compete to see who hates it the most, the people who love something do the same.

Not only that, but he's absolutely right about the fact that the message board community represents a small fraction of fans at large, and also represents, generally, the most intense fans.

A lot of people buy comic books and don't rip each panel apart looking for a continuity error which contradicts some comic from 17 years ago. But on the boards, this normal behavior. :)

Seriously, most message boards I've seen have the same small group of people who post an awful lot. I mean, 52 was selling nearly 100k per week, and there weren't anyhwere near 100k people commenting on it. I'd be surprised if there were 1k.

I think looking at the boards will give someone an idea of what the most dedicated, most knowledgeable, and most intense fans think. But that's all. Comics message boards are to comic fandom at large as comic readers are to the general populace who go to see a comic book movie.

[4thHorseman]

I smell new signature material!

(for, um... someone)

sig'd. Hopefully nobody else already got it....

[Sean Walsh]

My biggest surprise in this interview was that my head didn't ache afterwards from everything he threw out there. :p

He really seemed genuinely giddy about 52 and everything involved. Of all the interviews Newsarama did (bless them for that, BTW) Grant's was the most informative *and* the most fun.

[MartinRedmond]

What an awesome analogy for someone handling licenses aimed at not aimed at aimed at kids. Bad @ASS!!!!!11 2 the max!

[PatrickG]

I think comic shops represent the direct market with about 40% acuity... and the direct market already caters to extremes that push comics away from the tastes of newstand readers.

But most of my conversations in comic shops are with people who are more chill and disengaged than the most relaxed message board poster.

I'm one of those people who stands outside the movie theatre discussing movies and I like going to see movies at private screenings or empty theaters where my friends can MST3K a movie.

Almost all of my friends tend to be people who would be onstage or be hecklers. (Which is nice because I can keep hecklers in check.)

Most people aren't that engaged. And of the people that are, it takes a special kind of hardcore to form a community.

[Erebus]

Oh, I know quite a few people who would disagree...
http://www.lolitron.org/pictures/magikano08065.jpg

[Jack Zodiac]

Nothin' beats an underaged tentacle rape.

[Mick]

Nah. I could see Ennis or Ellis saying it. Or Moore. So... basically, anyone English.

Ennis and Morrison aren't English, and Moore isn't even of this Earth.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

The man’s a genius.

His final issue of Animal Man , flat out the best ending to a comic story *ever*

[Jack Zodiac]

Ennis and Morrison aren't English, and Moore isn't even of this Earth.

Yeah, I meant to say British and... mountainman.

[PatrickG]

Morrison's not so much a mountainman. Granted, he's climbed a mountain before, apparently, but he seems to be rather drawn to city life.

I mean, he grew up fairly rural (as the child of anti-nuclear activists) but he's spent a good deal of time in Edinburrough, London, New York, LA...

Now... Reclusive? Maybe. He's a lowtalker. And how often do you see direct mention of his video game, film or theatre work? Supposedly, he's made more money from his writing outside of comics... But I've had trouble tracking down any of his plays actually in print.

[AaronJ]

The man’s a genius.

His final issue of Animal Man , flat out the best ending to a comic story *ever*

Agreed. Simply beautiful.

[Jack Zodiac]

Morrison's not so much a mountainman.

Moore. Moore looks like a fuckin' mountain hermit.

[DavidAllred]

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?p=3652415&posted=1#post3652415

This was reminiscent of the old "jellyfish in your ass" joke letter that circulated some time ago. I actually wnet and looked it up out of curiousity. I really am bored on my off days. :)

http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/diver.asp

[Citizen V]

So? If I was a writing genius with an assload of awards under my belt and more incredible revolutionary titles still being published, I'd have a giant ego too.

Just because he writes alot,does not mean he is good at it.There was a quote by John Byrne "I get no sense from Morrison's work that he has any "love for the genre".

[stealthwise]

The man’s a genius.

His final issue of Animal Man , flat out the best ending to a comic story *ever*

It's good, but I would say that the end of...

- Transmetropolitan
- Sandman: A Game of You
- Sandman: Season of Mists
- Sandman: Brief Lives
- Sandman: the Kindly Ones
- Preacher
- WE3
- The Golden Age
and... do I have to keep typing, but I'd say that all of those were better. :)

[JamesRitcheyIII]

Just because he writes alot,does not mean he is good at it.There was a quote by John Byrne "I get no sense from Morrison's work that he has any "love for the genre".

Yeah, well Byrne's not exactly known for his humility, or graciousness to other creators--which is a shame. Mark Bagley was that nasty to me, once--maybe it's a Shooter-era thing for the 'rock stars', but I sure didn't get that from others. If Byrne had actually taken a sabbatical of sorts around 1992, and maybe brushed up on his writing and art instead of buying his own press, he might not be a has-been, who not only didn't grow as a creator, but backslid. Being close to old, myself, this isn't spoken out of ageism--Neal Adams, Steve Gerber and a host of his '70's-'80's peers (and earlier) are still kicking ass.

I remember a couple years back when Byrne started Doom Patrol, and it got around that he was dissin' Morrison's run, his only response was along the lines of 'It makes me very, very sad, that my childhood art hero doesn't like my work,', then added (something that I agree with), 'but at least it consoles me that Arnold Drake described my run as the natural progression of his vision when he created the characters.'. I think Jennifer Contino did that interview for Pulse...

[The Mirrorball Man]

I remember a couple years back when Byrne started Doom Patrol, and it got around that he was dissin' Morrison's run, his only response was along the lines of 'It makes me very, very sad, that my childhood art hero doesn't like my work,', then added (something that I agree with), 'but at least it consoles me that Arnold Drake described my run as the natural progression of his vision when he created the characters.'. I think Jennifer Contino did that interview for Pulse...

"I didn't read John Byrne's comments and never want to but I'm absolutely sure that, no matter how it sounded, what my teenage art hero actually MEANT to say was that he just about LOVED my run on 'New X-Men!'

In a far more magnanimous gesture of artistic solidarity, I heard from DC recently that Arnold Drake, the gentleman creator and brilliant writer of the original 'Doom Patrol' stories (among many other things), cited my version of the book as the one most faithful to his own creative vision.

Thank YOU, Mister Drake. I tried very hard to update and preserve the soul of the book and it's nice to be appreciated by the originator of these fascinating and enduring characters."

[The Mirrorball Man]

Post deleted. System hiccup.

[JamesRitcheyIII]

"I didn't read John Byrne's comments and never want to but I'm absolutely sure that, no matter how it sounded, what my teenage art hero actually MEANT to say was that he just about LOVED my run on 'New X-Men!'

In a far more magnanimous gesture of artistic solidarity, I heard from DC recently that Arnold Drake, the gentleman creator and brilliant writer of the original 'Doom Patrol' stories (among many other things), cited my version of the book as the one most faithful to his own creative vision.

Thank YOU, Mister Drake. I tried very hard to update and preserve the soul of the book and it's nice to be appreciated by the originator of these fascinating and enduring characters."

Thanks! Glad you had that on hand, and equally glad that it possessed more gleeful, 'in your face' positivity atypical of the man, than I expressed with my wanting, half remembered paraphrase.

If you've still got the entire thread of fan responses, you could likely find me, too.

I almost got into a flame war with some snippy little jackasses on that thread, afterwards--I'd never read an interview with Morrison before, and was laughing my ass off through most of it--and they obviously didn't appreciate the character he was playing--obviously a parody of his own persona, at least to anyone with an I.Q. above 'fanboy'. The comment about Alan Moore stealing his ideas made me cry, I was laughing so hard, because I'd felt the same way about both of them, at least in relation to my 'Ideaspace' being psychically violated--with neither of them having any possibility of having read what I've written, and not just once or twice. Damned, Other Qabbalists!

I just think folks with similar brain chemistry who've read the same things often coincide in product--and often, simultaneously.

Back on point, Byrne needs to knock that kinda shit off--if he doesn't get newer guys, maybe he needs to read some good literature or somethin'. He's stuck in some bad 'eighties loop, where there's only one good way to write comics--which is some sort of half-hearted Michael Maltese cartoon crossed with syrupy Claremont melodrama. The difference between what Steve Gerber was doing in the seventies, and what Morrison has been doing since Zenith, Animal Man and Doom Patrol, is minimal--arguably the result of having been influenced by more arcane materials, more countercultural influences (hard to believe), but working the same kind of brain.

[Jack Zodiac]

Just because he writes alot,does not mean he is good at it.There was a quote by John Byrne "I get no sense from Morrison's work that he has any "love for the genre".

You wanna' rag on Morrison for his ego and you quote John fucking Byrne?

Done with this.

[Tobias March]

I like that Morrison is straight edge hardcore now. No longer can folk write off his work, much like during the Invisibles era, as 'oh it's just drugged up weirdness from that mad Scot'.

Now it's more 'It's that weird Scot'. Much better :D I just resented how anything imagination or creativity he had was being written off as a drug hallucination. The man has a crazy, wriggly brain filled with turquoise ideas.

[jerrymcl89]

Just because he writes alot,does not mean he is good at it.There was a quote by John Byrne "I get no sense from Morrison's work that he has any "love for the genre".

I really don't see how anyone could read "All-Star Superman", in particular (or, for that matter, "52"), and get the sense that Morrison doesn't have love for the genre (granted, Byrne probably made that comment before that).

[Magneto_X]

There was a quote by John Byrne "I get no sense from Morrison's work that he has any "love for the genre".

He obviously never read Morrison's JLA.

[Night Swordsman]

It's good, but I would say that the end of...

- Transmetropolitan
- Sandman: A Game of You
- Sandman: Season of Mists
- Sandman: Brief Lives
- Sandman: the Kindly Ones
- Preacher
- WE3
- The Golden Age
and... do I have to keep typing, but I'd say that all of those were better. :)

EVERY SINGLE one(except WE3,because i know i am going to cry to read that book...sigh...i have been dreading reading the last issue...saving it for a sad day,but i have not read it yet) i agree is better. I would like to voice the last issue of Starman as well.