Grant Morrison's Influences

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

What's the best equivalent of Animal Man in regular short fiction?

I mean a progressively deconstructive story that starts simple and ends up "convoluted". Extra point if it does the metafiction "Duck Amuck" thing at the end.

[Clark_Krunk]

Smelling Salts and LSD should be mentioned in here...


its obvious Grant has delved into the world of hallucinogenics before. Id imagine when he wrote the Invisibles he probably dropped LSD numerous times and either wrote or was in his own trippy world in which inspired him... Many great artists use this technique throughout history...

Morrison seem like the type of guy who would use isolation tanks and things like that...

To me, hes the best writer comics has seen in quite some time and also my favorite.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Smelling Salts and LSD should be mentioned in here...


its obvious Grant has delved into the world of hallucinogenics before. Id imagine when he wrote the Invisibles he probably dropped LSD numerous times and either wrote or was in his own trippy world in which inspired him... Many great artists use this technique throughout history...

Morrison seem like the type of guy who would use isolation tanks and things like that...

To me, hes the best writer comics has seen in quite some time and also my favorite.

I wouldn't be surprised surprised if he did, but since I don't know, judging from his other work (I have not read Invisibles), I wouldn't be surprised if it was just his creativity either.

Can somebody help me with my Animal man equivalent?

[Sailor Moon]

What's the best equivalent of Animal Man in regular short fiction?

I mean a progressively deconstructive story that starts simple and ends up "convoluted". Extra point if it does the metafiction "Duck Amuck" thing at the end.

The only thing I could think of would be Breakfast of Champions. Not sure how simple you could say it starts out as, but the author does show up at the end to promise the main character anything he wants. Decidedly different results from Animal Man, but a similar thing.

[Clark_Krunk]

I wouldn't be surprised surprised if he did, but since I don't know, judging from his other work (I have not read Invisibles), I wouldn't be surprised if it was just his creativity either.

Can somebody help me with my Animal man equivalent?

which is what?? who represents Animal in regular fiction..

I haven't read enough of Morrisons Animal Man to give you a thought out response. I have read the first volume only..... and let me ask you, why do people go so nuts for the Coyote issue, is it good yeah but not this mind blowing thing people make it out to be.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

which is what?? who represents Animal in regular fiction..

I haven't read enough of Morrisons Animal Man to give you a thought out response. I have read the first volume only..... and let me ask you, why do people go so nuts for the Coyote issue, is it good yeah but not this mind blowing thing people make it out to be.

Morrison tends to start simple and make things more and more complex as the story reaches climax, usually decostructing the initial premise. I'm looking for examples of that in literature. I'd be better if those stories challenge the characters' conception of their reality. It doesn't need to be similar to Animal Man (which is just my best example of what I'm looking for), just needs to be a great deconstruction. "Sophie's World" actually does that.

[T Hedge Coke]

Tom Wolfe's "Oh Rotten Gotham! Sliding Down into the Behavioral Sink" is a treatment of what he sees as decline in New York City by way of John B. Calhoun's Behavioral Sink and Universe 25 experiments... as alluded to by Pyg in Morrison's Batman and Robin. So, I'd assume those are not only informative for him, but influential.

Morrison's been clear about being more a fan of nonfiction prose than fiction, overall, and I think that does show in his work, where his structures tend, more and more, not to be classist prose fiction structures by social ordering structures from nonfiction analyses/commentary, and things like opera seria and contemporary TV editing.

Thomas the Rhymer (and works about Thomas) and Spiral Dynamics have huge influence over Seven Soldiers, for instance. Moreso, I think, than Barthes or Borges. We should be careful not to default to other prose or comics fiction simply because he's working (mostly) in those mediums.

why do people go so nuts for the Coyote issue, is it good yeah but not this mind blowing thing people make it out to be.

Mind-blowing is overrated. I, personally, find it very funny and simultaneously extremely sad and moving and hopeful in the face of having no reason to be hopeful.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Thomas the Rhymer (and works about Thomas) and Spiral Dynamics have huge influence over Seven Soldiers, for instance. Moreso, I think, than Barthes or Borges .

What are instances of that? It's going to be tough to beat the whole Ts'ui Pen's-book-in-praxis thing. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Spiral Dynamics applied on a very big picture sort of way.

I haven't read enough of Morrisons Animal Man to give you a thought out response. I have read the first volume only..... and let me ask you, why do people go so nuts for the Coyote issue, is it good yeah but not this mind blowing thing people make it out to be.

Keep reading, it will get even more "Duck Amuck" after that. I rather thought the Coyote issue was clever, but it din't know me out of my shoes.

[Eumenides]

I don't know if it's a major influence on his work, but I'm happy Morrison mentioned Jan Svankmajer's films in his introduction to Doom Patrol. Since then I've seen most of his feature-length movies and some of his short animation, which in turn led me to Jiri Barta and Jiri Trnka, which in turn led me to the Quay brothers and the stop motion pioneer Ladislas Starevich, and well let's just say my life has been a lot richer for that.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Isn't he kina contemporar to Morrison?

[Eumenides]

Isn't he kina contemporar to Morrison?

You mean Jan Svankmajer? He was born in 1934.

[Filip]

Has the Prisoner been mentioned?

Cool thread, it serves good my book and movies to read/watch lists.

[Rafa-Rivas-2099]

Seriously. A little help with deconstructive equivalents in literature (short fiction ideally). Anyone?

[Eumenides]

Seriously. A little help with deconstructive equivalents in literature (short fiction ideally). Anyone?

I don't even know what deconstructive literature is, so I can't help.

[cgh]

Seriously. A little help with deconstructive equivalents in literature (short fiction ideally). Anyone?

Jorge Luis Borges. Morrison has mentioned him as a major influence. As a bonus, he only wrote short stories so he's exactly what you're looking for.