Geoff Johns or Grant Morrison?? who do you prefer?

[Winghead]

They seem to be the 2 DC big guns right now. I know they have different styles, but their carreers paralell in so many ways

Johns had the last event, Morrison has this one
Johns writes the big selling Superman book, Morrison writes the big selling Batman book,

Who do you prefer over all?

Peronally I think for overall storytelling, humour and heart I prefere Johns. He seems like the nicest guy and that reflects in his writing.

I find Morrison's stuff to be cold and heartless and very strange. Maybe i'm missing something

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Morrison has a much bigger library of stories, and better ones.

But when it comes to superhero comics, Johns is awesome.


So, better writer to date? Morrison

Who's superhero stories I enjoy more? Johns on his A game. His stories have more heart to it; you can practically feel the love he has for the stories and characters he writes, and I enjoy that feeling.

[Batman was taken]

Wow....

Maybe Johns by a hair... But it's really a 1A, 1B type of thing for me.

[Chad]

Although Johns work on JSA and Flash were pretty strong from what I recall, your bringing up big events and Superman forces me to recall Johns Infinite Crisis and Superman.

Morrison was given the opportunity to write the definitive Superman story with All Star Superman and Johns was able to do something similar by bringing the original Superman back to DC with Infinite Crisis. All Star reads as anything but "cold and heartless" to me whereas seeing Johns have Superman screaming about wiping out inferior human beings (and this was supposed to have been the same guy who fought against the Nazis) betrayed a complete lack of heart and humour on his part. I think that Johns is capable of writing decent stories, but if given the chance of doing something earth shattering will start with a crazy idea and then try to slot characters into it.

Morrison seems to take the opposite approach - he'll take a single story from Batman's past (Robin Dies at Dawn) or an obscure character (Libra for Final Crisis) and build from that. If the idea succeeds or fails then it does so based on whether or not Morrison can convince us that these are interesting characters or concepts and that he has something to add. Johns on the otherhand seems to use shock such as "Look who's back from the dead!" to create interest, followed by "Look who's turned evil!", "Look who's going to die!", "The Multiverse is Back!", "The Multiverse is going to die!" all to sustain and maintain interest within a certain number of issues.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Johns on the otherhand seems to use shock such as "Look who's back from the dead!" to create interest, followed by "Look who's turned evil!", "Look who's going to die!", "The Multiverse is Back!", "The Multiverse is going to die!" all to sustain and maintain interest within a certain number of issues.

That's definitely not I saw during the Legion story arc in Superman. That was all substance, IMO.

[TotalWorldDomination]

That's like asking parents to choose who there favorite Child is! It's a sick cruel game that leaves lives shattered and crying kids in its wake!

That being said, I prefer Johns. :wink:

[Pól Rua]

Well, considering that I believe that Johns is a competent fill-in at best (Flash) and an inept hack with no discernable grasp on his craft at worst (Infinite Crisis), I'm gonna go with Grant Morrison.

[Alex Smith]

Grant Morrison is good, but Johns is the best writer in comics today.

Even his not so good stories (Infinite Crisis) are still good compared to most writers.

[Carter Hall]

Johns all the way. I've read almost the whole spectrum of stories by Morrison and he's not my cup of tea at all.

I have LOVED Johns' work on Hawkman, JSA, JLA (Crisis of Conscience) Infinite Crisis, and especially Green Lantern. All awesome stuff. I feel that whenever he writes, everyone is fresh and in character with great ideas brimming all over the place.

[GreenMeansGo]

Grant Morrison has some amazing stories, a la, Animal Man, Seven Soldiers, and his Batman work. He also has some not-so-amazing stories, and by that I mean his run on New X-Men. Johns' work is pretty solid and I find it hard to choose between the two. I just think having the two of them pair up this year for Final Crisis is genius.

[Fatguy]

As much as I like Johns, I wouldn't/dont think of him as one of the best comic writers from the last decade.

Morrison, however, definitely goes on that list.

[4thHorseman]

Johns is a pretty consistantly good writer and on top of that he writes a lot and keeps up to date, which most writers can't seem to do nowadays.

Morrison, although not always timely, seems to pull off bigger and more rewarding stories. However, unlike Johns, he's not as consistant with good stories and it's either a hit or miss.

My favorite would have to be Morrison, if only for the fact his stories tend to be more impactful as a reader, and as a writer he seems to take more chances of doing something off the wall the reader hasn't seen or would expect.

[david r]

Geoff Johns all the way. He wrote one of the best Superman stories "Last Son", I've read in a long time. His Legion of Super-Heroes arc rocked as well.

I'm not reading his Green Lantern but from all the amazing posts about it, I plan to start getting the tpbs soon. Few writers could get me to do that but Johns.

[Joe Rice]

The writer of such drek as Green Lantern: Rebirth or the writer of The Filth, the Invisibles, and Flex Mentallo.

Gee. Hard one there.

[Alex Smith]

The writer of such drek as Green Lantern: Rebirth or the writer of The Filth, the Invisibles, and Flex Mentallo.

Gee. Hard one there.

So do you just hate everything? :tongue:

[Joe Rice]

So do you just hate everything? :tongue:

Ha, no the joke was the last three things were brilliant works of art. Maybe I should have gone with "Wow, getting punched in the privates or drinking a really great bourbon?"

[Babylon23]

I can't really choose between the two. They're both very different writers who I appreciate for very different reasons.

Morrison always brings these huge, crazy ideas to his projects. His creativity seemingly knows no ends. Even when I have no idea what he's writing about, there's still a sense of enormity to his concepts that few writers can match. Morrison has a way of looking at ideas that sets him apart from most writers.

Johns is more about character writing. His style is more traditional and often better suited to the superhero genre. While his ideas aren't as wild as Morrison's, his characterisation is generally stronger. Also, as a superhero writer, Johns is excellent at unravelling a character's past and incorporating continuity without getting bogged down in it.

Morrison is a better ideas man, while Johns is a better character writer.

At the moment, JSA my favourite book, but All-Star Superman is close to the top as well.

[Brian Cronin]

Morrison.

-Brian

[Will.S]

Morrison: Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, 52, All Star Superman, Batman, Seven Soldiers, Final Crisis

Johns: The Flash, Green Lantern, 52, Booster Gold, Action Comics, JSA, Hawkman, Stars and Stripe, Infinite Crisis, Teen Titans

I read Morrison's JLA, All Star Superman, Batman, Seven Soldiers and plan on getting Final Crisis so he's been top notch in every title I've read so far although his Batman is off and on.

Out of Geoff's stuff I read some Flash, most of his Green Lantern, Booster Gold, Action Comics, Infinite Crisis and Teen Titans and while Geoff doesn't always nail it he's very diverse and can capture the essence of whatever characters he's going to write.

It's a really tough decision so I can't say definitively.

[The Joker]

Lately? Definately, Johns.

Although I've enjoyed quite a few runs by Morrison over the years, I definately find myself overall enjoying Johns' work over that of Morrison's, in the past 3 or so years.

[jv2k]

I want to say Johns but he killed Young Justice so I'll say Morrison.

[Shellhead]

Johns is a pretty consistantly good writer and on top of that he writes a lot and keeps up to date, which most writers can't seem to do nowadays.

Morrison, although not always timely, seems to pull off bigger and more rewarding stories. However, unlike Johns, he's not as consistant with good stories and it's either a hit or miss.

My favorite would have to be Morrison, if only for the fact his stories tend to be more impactful as a reader, and as a writer he seems to take more chances of doing something off the wall the reader hasn't seen or would expect.

That's how I see them, for the most part.

Johns is a solid superhero comic book writer. He is particularly good at handling a big team, whether small moments between big stories or the big stories themselves. And he has a real knack for creating or expanding upon legacy characters. But Infinite Crisis was a huge disappointment, and his Teen Titans run was extremely unremarkable, especially for his inability to write the heroes introduced with New Teen Titans, like Raven and Kory. For all his talent, he will probably never write as well as Morrison or even Warren Ellis, because he is a fan first, and a writer second. Nuances, symbolism, and rich themes are generally absent from his work.

Morrison has fantastic ideas, in amazing quantities. There are typically more ideas in a single page of a Morrison comic than an entire issue of a Johns comic. He takes chances and he writes well in a variety of genres. But sometimes Morrison just doesn't work for me. His final issue of Seven Soldiers was a wild mess, and his later Doom Patrol issues seemed to discard any sense of narrative in favor of extra dollops of arbitrary weirdness. And sometimes Morrison tries to cram in more ideas than he can write or an artist can draw, resulting in choppy stories that are difficult to follow, at least on the first or second read. I may not always enjoy a Morrison comic, but I am always willing to give one a try. And he is absolutely one of the topic comic book writers.

[Ryan Day]

I don't think I've ever been interested enough to read a Geoff Johns book. They just seem generic and mired in continuity.

Morrison, on the other hand, is usually at least "pretty good", and frequently "great." He's been in a bit of a rut lately, and I can't say I'm hopeful about Final Crisis, but he's one of the absolute best when he's on his game.

[Raker616]

Johns by far, Morrison has more misses than he does hits.

[Shellhead]

Johns by far, Morrison has more misses than he does hits.

I'd be interested in what you consider his misses. I understand that a lot of Batman fans are disgruntled with Morrison, but aside from that, his work is pretty well-regarded.

For me:

Morrison hits:

Seven Soldiers, except for issue #1
All-Star Superman
Doom Patrol #19-50
JLA
52

Morrison misses:

Arkham Asylum
Seven Soldiers #1
Doom Patrol #51+


Everything else of his I have either not yet read or had mixed feelings about.

[krammocon]

Geoff!

I am much excited with Infinite Crisis and enjoyed it than this thing called Final Crisis.

Although, I enjoyed Grant's JLA, I preferred Geoff's JSA, Booster Gold, Power Trip, Infinite Crisis, Green Lantern, Action Comics etc.

Couldn't care less with that so called Seven Soldier either.

Guess I'm just not a fan!

[Mon-el]

Geoff Johns.

[Den]

I love some of the stuff Grant has done, but I like Geoff's style of writing more.

[FanboyStranger]

Morrison is a writer who chose comics as his medium, and most of his work within that medium has dealt with his choice to work within that medium. He approches the medium itself-- its themes, tropes, reoccuring events,etc.-- as something worthy of examining within the stories he writes. There is a degree of self-awareness present in a Morrison comic that is simply not present in most other comics, which sometimes works to his advantage (most of 7 Soldiers to cite the most recent, but also The Invisibles, d8m Patrol, Animal Man,etc.) and sometimes not (his recent unspectactular foray into the Batman mythos).

Johns is a simply very good comic book wriiter. As far as I can tell, he is most concerned with advancing the stories of characters he enjoys (or doesn't) forward.

Who's better? Well, it depends on the day. With Morrison, I've often felt that I'm reading something important, but mostly because I'm reading something new (or different) in contrast to the conventual tropes of the medium, and that is a great source of entertainment. With Johns, it's more of a case of a guy who does his job well-- good story, does his homework in terms of continuity, etc-- and that is also a great source of entertainment.

Overall, Morrison, simply because Johns has not had a book as good as The Invisibles, D8M Patrol, All Star Superman, or Animal Man yet. That said, I still go JSA over JLA any day of the week, although that comparison may be hamstrung by the fact that JSA stories can incorporate lasting changes to its characters while Morrison-era JLA could not.

[Darrell D.]

Morrison.
Johns is a decent super-hero writer, but Morrison has more chops.
It's like comparing Marv Wolfman to Alan Moore, circa 1985.

[JCAll]

Reading Morrison stories is like trying to untangle a really big ball of Christmas Lights. Smetimes a fun and interesting challenge, othertimes mindnumbingly frustrating and tedious.

[rZi]

A poll would of been appropriate no?

Geoff Johns.

I love Morrisons work on X-Men but his Batman hasn't done anything for me, i can't help but think final crisis will be a bit zzz too.

Johns seems to really get the trinity 3 of the DCU for me, not even including his amazing work on sinestro corp war.

He writes the best superman ive read in years in Action

[Ilash]

I really, really love Geoff Johns' writing but Morrison's is out of this world. The sheer scope of his ideas and his sharp characterization really pushes Morrison over the edge for me. Also, while both could be slightly uneven, Morrison's failures still tend to be more interesting than Johns'.

[Usernamessd]

Geoff!

I am much excited with Infinite Crisis and enjoyed it than this thing called Final Crisis.

Although, I enjoyed Grant's JLA, I preferred Geoff's JSA, Booster Gold, Power Trip, Infinite Crisis, Green Lantern, Action Comics etc.

Couldn't care less with that so called Seven Soldier either.

Guess I'm just not a fan!

Hmm..how did you read FC it hasnt hit the stands yet...:rolleyes:

[dancj]

Johns usually does nothing for me either way (though he was good on The Flash).

Morrison is sometimes brilliant and sometimes incomprehensible, but always interesting.

There's no contest really.

[Winghead]

I don't know how to do polls, or I would have. If anyone else wants to that would be cool. I'm really surprised its pretty much split right down the middle with Geoff taking a small lead.

[woodsman816]

if its just one offs or really quirky takes on classic heroes I'd go with morrison but when it comes to buildiong a universe or mythology on a scale like jsa or gl i have to give it to johns. half the time it feels like hes just uncovering stuff that was already there

[Augusto]

I like both, they are great:cool: . I wouldn't dare to choose one:biggrin:

[CMBMOOL]

I chose Geoff Johns over Morrison any day, and that is due to the fact that Johns does care about the characters and their history. That he writes and tries to build from what we know and change it just a slight bit. :redface:

Besides Morrison wrote New X-men and to me some of his ideas are just confusing being compared to Johns straighter ideas. :mad:

So for me it Geoff Johns all the way. :tongue:

[Deus ex Chris]

Geoff Johns is a moderately good writer who sometimes hits the mark in that "summer blockbuster" kind of way.

Grant Morrison is one of the greatest writers this medium has ever seen. He has great range and versatility and an unparalleled imagination. His résumé includes works that Johns has never even come close to competing with in terms of quality and depth and likely never will. Morrison brings a certain legitimacy and sophistication to this medium--specifically the superhero/sci-fi/fantasy end of it--that few others can equal, and Johns isn't one of them.

If Geoff Johns is a stick of dynamite, Grant Morrison is a hydrogen bomb.

[baconbutterburger]

Geoff Johns is a moderately good writer who sometimes hits the mark in that "summer blockbuster" kind of way.

Grant Morrison is one of the greatest writers this medium has ever seen. He has great range and versatility and an unparalleled imagination. His résumé includes works that Johns has never even come close to competing with in terms of quality and depth and likely never will. Morrison brings a certain legitimacy and sophistication to this medium--specifically the superhero/sci-fi/fantasy end of it--that few others can equal, and Johns isn't one of them.

If Geoff Johns is a stick of dynamite, Grant Morrison is a hydrogen bomb.

Morrison makes designer hoodies, while Johns makes warm sweaters.

[Ilash]

I chose Geoff Johns over Morrison any day, and that is due to the fact that Johns does care about the characters and their history.

Er, you haven't read Morrison's JLA, right? Because if you had read that landmark run there is no way that you could imply that Morrison doesn't get or care about these characters and their history.

[Joe Rice]

Why did I think this thread would not make me sad?

[krammocon]

Hmm..how did you read FC it hasnt hit the stands yet...:rolleyes:

Keyword: Excited

Not excited for Final Crisis as I am when Infinite Crisis is about to be released.

Keyword: Enjoyed

Definitely, pertains to Infinite Crisis coz it's the only one that has been released. Duh! :rolleyes:

[woodsman816]

Er, you haven't read Morrison's JLA, right? Because if you had read that landmark run there is no way that you could imply that Morrison doesn't get or care about these characters and their history.

personally loved the run on JLA but compare that to the cohesiveness that johns has brought to JSA in both runs. Amongst low key individual characters black adam comes to mind as having been pushed across multiple books almost single handedly by johns. while i'm not saying that morrison hasn't done great work on low key characters they have largely been original creations (irc Aztek was pretty new when he drew him into the old wwIII mageddon thing). And the JLA while being a power cast cant really compare to the way that johns (with help from goyer earlier) has juggled a massive cast with histories that stretch out of their own book.

[carabas]

You can't really do with the JLA with Johns did with the JSA. None of the JSA have their own books.
I mean, Morrison can have Aquaman flirt with wonder woman, but unles he's writing both Wonder Woman and Aquaman as well, nothing will come of it.
He's had to deal with Wonder Woman dying, the Flash being replaced, Superman going all electric, No Man's Land, and more.
If you write a team book, and almost every single member of the team has at least one monthly book, you're pretty much fucked if you want to do more personal, character based stories.
Even Johns was forced to kill the starting Dinah/Pieter romance as soon as Green Arrow came back to life.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Morrison is my favorite, but Geoff Johns is no slouch himself. Suffice it to say i'll read anything those two put out. End of.

[JamesJesse]

Two very different writers but both very brilliant.

Grant Morrison is easily one of the best writers in comics ever. Period.
His ideas show an imagination matched by a scant few in this world.

His run on JLA remains my favorite, tied with Giffen and DeMatteis' early JLI.
Animal Man, Doom Patrol... all brilliant and astonishing mindf***ks!. Arkham Asylum? Simply stunning.

I expect Final Crisis to blow us all away.

However, this thread is about preference and personally, I like Geoff Johns' stories more.

It's now a matter of personal taste. I love how he really plays within continuity and not treat it as a crutch. And I like how his sense of conflict really makes you feel the tension. I love how he develops villains. As a Flash Rogues fan, I'm elated at the depth he's given the bad guys he writes. Captain Coldis now my favaorite villain!

He can make the very presence of a villain cause you to feel real fear and concern for your heroes. Something tough in a medium where death is a revolving door.

I still remember my jaw dropping at the end of Sinestro Corps War Special, or when the Freedom Fighters opened the door to face the society's baddest badasses. Or when Zoom and Reverse Flash stood side by side in Flash.

I still remember my palpable hate for Warden Wolfe of Iron Heights. I literally wanted to knock the guy's block off for what he was doing.
To make a reader feel real emotion like that, I bow to this man's abilities.

Speaking of emotion: I felt Atom Smasher's pain when he made tough choices in JSA, or when Hourman and his Dad still had that "one hour time limit before rex dies" deal between them. Made me actually wonder about my relationship with my father. When Bart Allen was shot by Deathstroke, and he was begging Cyborg to not tell Flash he screwed up, to Bart Allen declaring he was Kid Flash, that sequence made me like Bart Allen better than ever. I felt Booster Gold's pain and frustration about Blue Beetle and how he would gamble reality to bring his best friend back.

I like Johns' dialogue: Superboy expressing his bewilderment over Robin's lying to Starfire followed by Robin answering. "I lie to Batman." or Batman telling Superman that last time he inspired someone was when he was dead.

And he can really write a fight scene. Human Bomb VS Bizzaro? Wow.

Booster Gold, Black Adam, Hourman, Alan Scott, Atom Smasher and Kon El, these are characters I barely cared for until Geoff wrote them and some of them are my favorites now.

So as much as I like Morrison's work, I prefer Johns' books more.

[ultramandingo]

............i bet if you asked johns he say morrison - so would morrison . they're both right

[dupersuper]

I love Jones JSA and Green Lantern books, and his Action run is cool, but JLA, Animal Man, Invisibles, All Star Superman...Morrison has made a lot of my favouritist comics EVER. He gets my vote. I agree with the poster who compared this to a Wolfman vs Moore question in the 80's. One's a reliably entertaining super hero writer (valuable as gold in itself), but the other's mind-blowingly amazing.

[dancj]

Er, you haven't read Morrison's JLA, right? Because if you had read that landmark run there is no way that you could imply that Morrison doesn't get or care about these characters and their history.
Yeah - I never understand why some people seem to think that Morrison doesn't care about character. I guess it's because he manages to do it while looking forward at the same time.

[Alex Smith]

I had originally said Johns was much better, but as I re-read DC One Million I'm not sure. This is one of the better stories to come from the big 2 companies in recent memory. Granted Morrisson does have a lot of other stories that are absolute shit, but I think it's at least closer than I had originally stated.

[Tony Bang]

So my choice is between a man whose claim to fame is tying together Hawkman's origin, or someone who has written masterpieces of the medium? That's a tough one

Yes, I did just kinda copy Joe Rice's joke but it needed to be said again.

[Shellhead]

Yeah - I never understand why some people seem to think that Morrison doesn't care about character. I guess it's because he manages to do it while looking forward at the same time.

I see it. Morrison *does* care about character, but dialogue is not his strong point.

For example, in his JLA run, Morrison consistently depicted Kyle as the nervous rookie. And Kyle's closest friend on the team was Wally, who was about the same age but much more experienced due to all those years as Kid Flash. And they were both much younger than the heavy hitters of the JLA, like Batman and Superman. So Kyle and Wally had this funny kind of friendship/rivalry that reminded me a little of an older brother/younger brother dynamic. But this was only shown in brief glimpses, as the team was usually dealing with some vast, weird menace that required additional exposition to convey it to the readers.

[Ilash]

I see it. Morrison *does* care about character, but dialogue is not his strong point.

For example, in his JLA run, Morrison consistently depicted Kyle as the nervous rookie. And Kyle's closest friend on the team was Wally, who was about the same age but much more experienced due to all those years as Kid Flash. And they were both much younger than the heavy hitters of the JLA, like Batman and Superman. So Kyle and Wally had this funny kind of friendship/rivalry that reminded me a little of an older brother/younger brother dynamic. But this was only shown in brief glimpses, as the team was usually dealing with some vast, weird menace that required additional exposition to convey it to the readers.

Ah but that's what I loved about his run. He was able to give us great character moments in between all the madness that was going on around them. And for my money, I still think that he writes the best Kyle Rayner.

[JCAll]

Grant Morrison is easily one of the best writers in comics ever. Period.

I'm not sure I would say that.

He has a long way to go before he's as good as, say, Steve Gerber. Who had just as many crazy ideas, but didn't seem to turn them confusing and unreadable half the time like Morrison.

I think he actually gets crippled by his own scope and ambition sometimes. Of course when he does hit, it's amazing.

Personally I'd still rather read Johns. Or even Keith Giffen.
I like Morrison all the same though, and hope Final Crisis doesn't live down to the expectation that Countdown set for it.

[FanboyStranger]

I'm not sure I would say that.

He has a long way to go before he's as good as, say, Steve Gerber. Who had just as many crazy ideas, but didn't seem to turn them confusing and unreadable half the time like Morrison.

I think he actually gets crippled by his own scope and ambition sometimes. Of course when he does hit, it's amazing.
.

As one of the biggest Steve Gerber fans on the site, I have to say that this is just a silly statement. Yes, Gerber's work undisputably paved the work for Morrison and others (Milligan, Smith, Gaiman, Grant, Millar, etc.) to be accepted as creators within the American medium, but Morrison surpassed Gerber's work when he was allowed to complete his work on Animal Man. To that point, Gerber's technique of making the "personal" within the run of the "company's" character's had been unfulfilled within the context of an entire series, but Animal Man, after the first four issues and especially from issues 5 to the culmination in issue 26, tore the distinction apart. You could make the same statement about Shade and Sandman (although I will concede this is more problematic as Gaiman's Sandman/Morpheus is technically a new character).

What I think Morrison may have taken most from Gerber is that the constraints of a single story within a comic-- and by that I do not mean a single issue or even a single story arc-- signal the end of a story. In Gerber's work, a character's story often remains unresolved, which is his point, as he/she may drift in/out of the book's narrative, and that's life, who knows where those people drift in or out of our own stories (or a comic book's narrative). Morrison gets that better than any other writer of his generation, which is why I suspect so many people have trouble with Invisibles v.3 and The Filth-- the characters do not exist in any sense beyond the story being told (which is one of the points behind The Invisibles to begin with). This tendency reaches its apex in Seven Soldiers #1, where only the central narrative matters and those seven points of view that lead to its events are treated as exactly that-- seven points of view (contrast that to Alan Moore's tendencies, to cite the nearest contemporary to Morrison, who would have probably given us seven issues to illustrate each characters' role against the Sheeda).

[pauwoo]

Johns by a distance, Morrison can't sustain an ongoing, to much changing of direction throughout the story, he is just making it up as he goes.

Final crisis should be okay, 8 issues is about his limit, he will have to stick to the story he has in mind.

[Ryan K]

Geoff Johns' work ranges the full spectrum of mediocre to astonishingly terrible.

Grant Morrison's work ranges from fascinating failed experiments to pure genius.

Who to choose? Who to choose?

Comic Strips: Keane or Herriman?

Photorealism: Raymond or Land?

Character Design: Kirby or Madureira?

Timeless questions I'm not sure there will ever be answers to.

[carabas]

Johns by a distance, Morrison can't sustain an ongoing, to much changing of direction throughout the story, he is just making it up as he goes.Are you kidding? Have you read any of his longform work? They're intricately crafted puzzles of plot and foreshadowing, which you simply can't do without mapping out your entire run before youy start writing your first script.

[JCAll]

EDIT: Hate.

[JCAll]

EDIT: More Hate.

[JCAll]

EDIT: Slightly less Hate, but with extra confusion.

[JCAll]

As one of the biggest Steve Gerber fans on the site, I have to say that this is just a silly statement. Yes, Gerber's work undisputably paved the work for Morrison and others (Milligan, Smith, Gaiman, Grant, Millar, etc.) to be accepted as creators within the American medium, but Morrison surpassed Gerber's work when he was allowed to complete his work on Animal Man. To that point, Gerber's technique of making the "personal" within the run of the "company's" character's had been unfulfilled within the context of an entire series, but Animal Man, after the first four issues and especially from issues 5 to the culmination in issue 26, tore the distinction apart. You could make the same statement about Shade and Sandman (although I will concede this is more problematic as Gaiman's Sandman/Morpheus is technically a new character).

What I think Morrison may have taken most from Gerber is that the constraints of a single story within a comic-- and by that I do not mean a single issue or even a single story arc-- signal the end of a story. In Gerber's work, a character's story often remains unresolved, which is his point, as he/she may drift in/out of the book's narrative, and that's life, who knows where those people drift in or out of our own stories (or a comic book's narrative). Morrison gets that better than any other writer of his generation, which is why I suspect so many people have trouble with Invisibles v.3 and The Filth-- the characters do not exist in any sense beyond the story being told (which is one of the points behind The Invisibles to begin with). This tendency reaches its apex in Seven Soldiers #1, where only the central narrative matters and those seven points of view that lead to its events are treated as exactly that-- seven points of view (contrast that to Alan Moore's tendencies, to cite the nearest contemporary to Morrison, who would have probably given us seven issues to illustrate each characters' role against the Sheeda).

I'm not exactly sure how to respond to that, because I basically already did.. I prefer someone like Gerber, because when he decides to really crank up the bizarre it doesn't devolve into an unreadable mess like what happens to Morrison about half the time. Not that Gerber didn't have faults, he was amazing but then spent about a decade in a horrible slump from my point of view before returning to his normally high standards, and thankfully Morrison still turns out good stories along side the drek.

But really, I'm not going to tell you what to like. If you got something other than an incomprehensible cluster@#$% out of Seven Soldiers more power too you, but sometimes it feels like I have to flip a coin every time a new Morrison book comes out. I don't really want him to change, since people seem to really be into it, and it's working for him. I'm still praising him for getting me to pick up Batman over Detective comics, which I though I would never do. Plus he brought back Bat-Mite which wins him mad props in my book. But I always approach it with caution.

But my opinion means less than nothing anyway. My tastes always seem to be standing just off to the side of everyone else's. I understand that and just let everything else slide.

[jtd]

Two outstanding writers. But I'd give the edge to Geoff Johns. As mentioned repeatedly here...he's got such a great grasp on the 'feel' of a superhero story. His love of the characters, the universe, and adherence to what's come before is unparalleled.

-Peter

[estee]

Morrison.

I like his style.

Johns is good, very old-school, but Grant's has more meat to it.

[Augusto]

Geoff Rebirth - Grant JLA, by example....still is hard to tell. I'll keep thinkinghttp://www.yelims.com/IPB/Smiley-IPB-111.gif

[pauwoo]

Are you kidding? Have you read any of his longform work? They're intricately crafted puzzles of plot and foreshadowing, which you simply can't do without mapping out your entire run before youy start writing your first script.

Are you talking about his "novels" and I use the word loosely here, I can hardly make it through his comics, so there is no way I'm going to read a prose novel he has written.

And before you get all defensive and Morrison apologist, I like some of the things he has written, I loved animal man, the first few issues of his JLA run, but I prefer Johns for the reasons I already gave, mainly being he cant sustain an ongoing monthly, his X-Men was just a mess.

[carabas]

Are you talking about his "novels" and I use the word loosely here.No, I'm talking about The Invisibles, New X-Men, 7 Soldiers Of Victory, and to a lesser extent, Animal Man and JLA.

[Erebus]

Geoff. Less trippy.

[Gozwald73]

Johns for me. Morrison is too over-the-top for my tastes, but I still enjoy his work. That being said, neither of them are my fave. That distinction goes to Simone.

[DeadXMan]

Morrison is a Hack. (THERE, I SAID IT!!!)

Johns owns DC right now

[princesa]

I'm not old skool enough to know much about Morrison but Johns is great.

[Pól Rua]

Geoff Johns' work ranges the full spectrum of mediocre to astonishingly terrible.

Grant Morrison's work ranges from fascinating failed experiments to pure genius.

Who to choose? Who to choose?

Comic Strips: Keane or Herriman?

Photorealism: Raymond or Land?

Character Design: Kirby or Madureira?

Timeless questions I'm not sure there will ever be answers to.

This post amuses and delights me. Vastly.

[Hatut Zeraze]

I'm a little shocked that this is even considered to be a fair fight.

Johns is a fine writer who is able to step up with greater consistency than many of his peers, but he has yet to write a single comic that would suggest that he could even play in the same league as the man who wrote the Flex Mentallo miniseries.

[princesa]

I'm a little shocked that this is even considered to be a fair fight.

Johns is a fine writer who is able to step up with greater consistency than many of his peers, but he has yet to write a single comic that would suggest that he could even play in the same league as the man who wrote the Flex Mentallo miniseries.

we're young and dumb educate us, I never even heard of that series

[Trench]

Look at my avatar. Take a wild guess.

[Pól Rua]

we're young and dumb educate us, I never even heard of that series

Flex Mentallo was a supporting character from Morrison's Doom Patrol run.
Based on the character from the old Charles Atlas ad, 'The Insult That Made A Man Out Of Mac'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flex_Mentallo
The miniseries was one of Morrison's exercises in metafiction where the characters move from 'the real world' to the 'superhero world' and transitional worlds in between, using the tropes and conventions of superhero comics to examine the human condition while exploring the roots and reasons behind these conventions.
If you hate Morrison's 'weird stuff', you'll probably hate this too. It has an unconventional, nonlinear narrative and a heavy use of metafiction and symbolism.

Lots of folks who dislike Morrison cite his 'weird stuff' as the reason why they prefer Johns, however, at the end of the day, Morrison can write 'weird arse metaphysical and symbolic nonlinear narrative', but he can also write conventional linear genre stuff (We3, All-Star Superman, New X-Men, Justice League).
Sometimes, he even does both (Doom Patrol, Seven Soldiers).

Johns, though, at his best, and as much as I have hated some of his work (I can't understand how anyone could claim that Morrison's work is too hard to comprehend but will still defend the nonsensical gibberish that is 'Infinite Crisis'), his best work is conventional, straightforward, workmanlike superhero narrative.

[Dr. Mid-Nite III]

As much as I like Johns, I wouldn't/dont think of him as one of the best comic writers from the last decade.

Morrison, however, definitely goes on that list.

Quoted for truth, sir.