the Best of Morrison/ the Worst of Morrison

[SerbsInSpace]

I just read your column, and pretty much agree with it, only wishing it was an even longer read.

The top ten runs list is very objective, and I'm glad the New X-Men work was mentioned in passing.

As for the five worst comics, I just discovered that I never finished most of those! The "DC 1,000,000" crossover threw me off right at the beginning, I've repeatedly tried reading the "Kid Eternity" but never got past the issue #1, it feeling like a generic Vertigo comic, although a creative one at that. "Steed & Mrs Peel" was very workman-like, and I believe I read only the first issue of it, remembering something about an elaborate spy-game mystery involving Reynard Fox.

As for "JLA/Wildc.a.t.s" (always felt silly about the acronym for "Covert Action Teams"), I read it while I was trying out other superhero universes, spurned on by "Wildcats v3" and Alan Moore's run on the title. I remember it featuring a, presumably updated, Epoch lord of time, which was in line with Morrison's JLA in that it updated a Silver Age character, just like the Key and Shaggy Man. Aside from that, it featured a pairing off the similarities between the teams, which worked until it came to Green Lantern, that was pitted aside Hulk-like Maul. All in all, a standard superhero comic, just like some of the Mark Millar and Mark Waid fill-ins during Morrison's run.

I've read the Morrison Spawn stuff twice, only noticing his contribution on a second read, just like the Alan Moore issues. I remember it feeling a bit inspired in a boat ride scene that elaborated on what I believe was called a "pseudo-plasm", Hell's gradient tissue that explained some of the book's mythology. It was a bit unclear and never really followed upon, but it featured a fake memory-city, before being forgotten in the wake of the fight.

[ptsteelers]

Is there a bias towards the single issue (or limited run) comics? Not saying there is, indeed, a pattern, but it seems the comics you picked as Morrison's worst were comics he was barely on. Sort of a Morrison hit and run. Are there no "bad" longer runs?

[pelosi]

I was glad to see Flex Mentallo on the list. I had tracked it down a few years ago and loved it. It's one of the examples of Morrison's ultra-weirdness and his gee-whiz optimism congealing into a really interesting book.

I had never heard of Zenith, so I'll have to track that down as well.

Two items I was surprised to see not on the best list: We3 (I've given that book to many friends - even those that don't like comic books) and New X-Men - particularly Riot at Xavier's. That particular portion of the run hits a new standard of humanity in comic books. There's something about that story line that seems "real".

And as I'm writing this, I realized I forgot Seven Soldiers. That was the series that made me a die-hard Morrison fan.

Damn! I could never pick ten.

[NickFury90]

I think it goes to show how much great comic work Morrison has when I basically agree with just about everything on that list('cept for the Invisibles), and still wanted to see New X-men, JLA, We3, and KYB.

[Dave Hackett]

Wow, I've got to say, "Kid Eternity" is hands down one of my favourite Morrison stories. I thought the ideas and execution were fantastic. It's all informed by the Kid being an agent of Chaos (and a fresh perspective of the Lord of Chaos beyond the stock villain route of previous depictions). The story is deliberately messy but still manages to brilliantly connect the dots for the readers (who work at it).


I've reread it multiple times and still get a charge out of it each time.

[TimothyCallahan]

Is there a bias in favor of longer runs and against shorter ones? Not really (as We3 was REALLY close to making the list, and Seaguy's there), but Morrison is best on a larger canvas, I think. He has never done a bad long run, no sireee.

When I created the lists, I just ranked ALL the Morrison work and moved stuff up or down to fit the whims of my unscientific method. I did aim for "quality" over "personal favorites" but the two are inseparable in a list of this type. Still, "We3" barely missed the cut, as did "New X-Men," and "Seven Soldiers." I love all three, but I think they weren't quite as great as the stuff on the top 10.

"We3" is ultimately too slight, and is more of a showcase for Quitely's brilliance than anything else.

"New X-Men" suffers from terrible art at times, which hurts the narrative, and I'm not fond of the Silverstri-drawn concluding arc.

"Seven Soldiers" is pretty great! I don't love the finale, though. But "Frankenstein"? "Shining Knight"? "Manhattan Guardian"? "Klarion"? Genius! Damn, I need to reread some "Seven Soldiers." I promise a WWC column on it this summer!

[johncage1000]

That JLA/Wildcats one-shot was reprinted in the trade collecting the Morrison/McGuinness JLA Classified arc. Needless to say, it was jarring going from Ed McGuinness's art to Val Semeiks. Not that I'm trying to gang up on the guy, but the bad Image-esque art style (and extremely weak coloring job) didn't do the story any favors.

That said, it did lead into JLA #5, so that's probably why the story's getting reprinted as part of Morrison's JLA oeuvre.

Have a good day.
John Cage

[TimothyCallahan]

Ignoring Millar collaborations and anything that lasted two issues or less, I might rank the Morrison stuff like this:

1. Animal Man
2. Flex Mentallo
3. All-Star Superman
4. Zenith
5. Doom Patrol
6. Arkham Asylum
7. Marvel Boy
8. The Invisibles
9. Batman
10. Seaguy
11. Seven Soldiers
12. We3
13. New X-Men
14. JLA
15. The Filth
16. Final Crisis
17. Dare
18. Viminarama
19. Batman: Gothic
20. Fantastic Four 1234
21. St. Swithin's Day
22. New Adventures of Hitler
23. Mystery Play
24. Sebastian O
25. Kill Your Boyfriend
26. DC 1,000,000
27. Kid Eternity
28. JLA/WildCATS
29. Spawn
30. Steed and Ms. Peel

Though Seaguy and Batman benefit from their immediacy, I think. If Seaguy and Batman and Robin weren't coming out within the next week or two, then I suppose I might not rank them so highly. My anticipation gets the best of me.

[die_yng]

I really do like Grant Morrison and do consider him one of my favorite writers, but having said that, I definitely don't agree with your listings. Invisibles, Doom Patrol... most of this stuff is so over the top and pretentious. I spent a lot of time collecting all three volumes of INvisibles, because it is suppossed to be "the Ultimate Morrison."
When I'd found the last one i reread the whole series and while there are some great stories and ideas, as a whole it just seemed too much of everything, the inconsistent artwork didn't help as well.
Of all his work in this direction I only really like the Filth.

I really do like the regular and a bit more conventional superhero stuff much, much more.

For me my top 5 Morrison books would probably be:

Seven Soldiers
JLA
The Filth
Sea Guy
Marvel Boy
with We3 coming in a close 6th place.

What I really don't get is why everybody seems to like his New X-Men so much, it was just typical for Morrison to write X-Men like this, change the character of half the cast, throw in a lot of ugly , freaky, characters and add someone like Emma Frost (a really loathable, "villainy" character) to the team and use her as one of the main protagonist. And then came one extreme and unneccessary storyline after the other. Always over the top, all the time. The whole Xorn idea was so ridiculous, how would Magneto'S powers enable him to simulate Xorn's? There's no way (healing people with "magnetic energy" or what?) he could do this, but Morrison doesn't care, he just thinks it's cool.

While he is a great writer, he has his weaknesses and in this regard his work can become repetitive.
I'm sorry if this rubs the wrong way, because I'm definitely not a Morrison basher, I really like a lot of his stuff and spent lots of money on his books, but reading your article and most of the commentaries it does seem a bit lopsided in favor of Morrison.

What I really didn't like was your remark about Dan Jurgens and Daniel Way. Seems unneccessary to me to make such a snide remark about the writing ability of these guys, just to praise Morrison.
Certainly, Jurgens is no Morrison, no Ellis or Moore, not even an Ennis, but he is not a bad writer, he has written enjoyable and entertaining stories. The same goes for Way and if you like Deadpool, his new series is actually quite good.
So please, don't use other creator's just to glorify your personal favorite.

[TimothyCallahan]

Saying I'd rather read bad Morrison than "whatever generic and inoffensive writer" you might name seems snide? What part? Because I would rather read Morrison (true), and guys like Way and Jurgens are indeed generic and inoffensive (would you really be able to tell a Jurgens script from a generic DC script or a Way script from a generic Marvel script if their names weren't on the comics?).

I read plenty of generic and inoffensive comics, and I can enjoy them for what they are, but that doesn't mean that you need to worry about defending them.

Also--it's easy to be lopsided in favor of Morrison when he's head and shoulders above his mainstream peers.

[Karl O'Neill]

That Dan jurgens comment discusted me. But each to their own.

[TimothyCallahan]

It disgusts you that I'd rather read a bad Morrison comic than a "good" Dan Jurgens comic? Explain.

[rev sully]

No!

I will defend DC ONE MILLION!!! I am a huge fan! I went to Midtown Comics in Times Square wearing a Sinestro Corps tee shirt for the sole purpose of hustling down the DC ONE MIL 80-PAGE GIANT! Including CRISIS ONE MILLION by Grant Morrison...Aquaman was insane! it was so dense it took four readings to really grok.

Solaris the Tyrant Sun...what a bad guy! I love the when Platinum tells the story "with heart". I mean...Grant had the best Superman story in this generational panel of the Dynasty fighting then befriending then beating its Ultimate Enemy...
Meanwhile!...Lex Luthor is nothing but a voice bubble coming out of LuthorCorp Tower.

I think it was a great idea...what a joy. HITMAN ONE MILLION??? Not even written by Grant but by Ennis...owch!

The Starman and Ressurection Man issues included in the Trade Paperback were interesting and gave me a real big appreciation for Butch Guice's art in RM1M.

That Superheroes and their archetypes survived to the 853rd Century??? Hey Batman fans...as the future Batman said, "Two-Face Two was finally cured when the second Batman proved to him that, coin-toss by coin-toss, he'd made more good choices than evil ones. Statistics. Long stony, short answer: EXPECT THE GOOD TO WIN OUT." So HOW far back was he writing the second Batman???

And I love the cartoony Val Semekis art. And the "real" Aquaman said it best at the beginning "is this the real future or another of those possible..." ZAP! I love the inclusion of John Fox as the 853rd Century Flash! I am a huge FLASH fan! I think Fox was a Mark Waid character...I loved Grant's run on FLASH. Wally's dinner with Dick Grayson & Jay Garrick at the Planet Krypton!!! but iDigress...but the art...Aquaman's great & cocky!!!

All in all...I love DC1MIL. I love Superman Winking at Kyle Ranyer as the last though of the Far Future. I love how tenderly Grant Himself revisits this material in ALL-STAR SUPERMAN. SOLARIS ans KAL KENT again. What deft dovetailing! The Golden Superman! Prime Superman!!! Oh!

So I understand your problems with it. I've read it as many times as the Iliad and INVISBLES. I know it well and it's a great Superman story at its heart. And Grant using the pawns of the Chessboard a bit...has anyone rebuilt Montevideo in the DCU since???

Crea shaakti,
Rev. Sully

Eric O'Sullivan
Boston, MA
http://www.thechannelocho.blogspot.com/

[BillR]

And now, in response, I must go and craft my own top ten:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...rrison-comics/

And if I had to choose a bottom 5, from what I've read I'd probably have to have Final Crisis, Batman, Batman: Gothic, Zenith, and Dare on there. I mean, they're good, yes, but they're not mind-blowingly awesome. Especially Dare, the only cynical thing G-Mo's ever written. St. Swithin's Day didn't really thrill me either-- I am known to hate hate hate Catcher in the Rye.

But I don't wanna hate on Morrison, because I love his work so. Only praise from me!

I'd get a kick out of a top 10/bottom 5 Alan Moore column/list, as well.

[TimothyCallahan]

Yes! I will do an Alan Moore list in a month or so. Good call. Without giving it much thought, it seems obvious that Moore has higher highs and lower lows than Morrison.