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The Grant Morrison Interview Archive

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21:59 / 06.08.07

Very short video interview for ScotlandOnTV.

22:32 / 08.10.07

The New Yorker Festival "Superheroes: Up, Up and Away" Panel Transcript, which includes, apart from Grant, Jonathan Lethem, Tim Kring and Mike Mignola. Interesting reading.

22:38 / 08.10.07

Thanks!

16:38 / 04.11.07

Grant's got an interview in the latest Jack Kirby Collector. Issue 49.
Concerns, primarily, unsurprisingly, King Kirby.

Thanks to a friend, and lurker round these parts, for the heads up on that one.

08:43 / 05.11.07

"Grant Morrison said he is excited to be writing a new “Seaguy” miniseries as well as “Final Crisis,” "

Say what?!

23:20 / 15.02.08

Grant Morrison on Final Crisis
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146753

01:10 / 24.02.08

Grant on Batman:

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=147734

03:16 / 26.02.08

great, thanks!

also: can't wait til next week!

01:56 / 01.03.08

Grant and J. G. Jones with more on Final Crisis over at Wizard...

04:15 / 02.03.08

Shouldn't the final part to the Newsarama interview be up by now? Man, they're really stretching it...

00:00 / 04.03.08

that may be because, according to this week's LITG, Wizard online is not paying almost anybody to write...

plus, the column also has info on Grant's wrestler-style bravado about FINAL CRISIS being better than SECRET INVASION making Bendis a little mad, or maybe it's just the old Marvel wrestler-style bravado.

00:07 / 04.03.08

oops, mixed Wizard with Newsarama, sorry.

01:23 / 04.03.08

Every superhero is going to go the darkest (1) place they can go, which is going to be really cool. The DC Universe is now about to face its darkest(2), darkest(3), darkest(4) moment. (...) It’s the apocalypse. It’s Revelations. It’s the hard-edged, death metal version of the DCU. (...)Batman crucified. Superman crushed under the boot of Darkseid. This is serious stuff. This is the end.

Ew. Do I... Do I hear the Apocalyptic Nineties Choo Choo a comin' its way here? Yup. Ladies and gentleman, it is now officially carved deep in stone (by using giant spikey boulders) that we're back in the nineties. God bless Image Comics, Death of Superman, screamy-angry faces, Broken Back Batman etc etc etc etc. May they shower us with the most urgh-smells-like-comics they can.

It’s cooler than anything Marvel’s doing for the next year.

Eeeeeeew. Is anyone here superBFF with him so they can please put me back on the delusion that that's his "Wizard Persona" or that they didn't properly portrayed the tongue-in-cheek Millar-ism in the text? (and what's the deal with those 'not-writing' rumours?) (and is he having some beef with Millar I'm not aware of, or what?)

Bendis (during his 'I had smileys on!'/ 'LOL it was a joke!!!1!1!!' moment): "see how i have no smiley faces here?? means i'm not (joking)!!

? (LolWho courtesy of Postmodernbarney)

Bendis, again, to Gail Simone: Gail, you ARE dave sim

Oh wow, good to see someone shattering and topping their own asshole-ceiling in one sentence.

All in all, just a perfect encapsulation of everything urgh about soupiehero comics coming from so many places at once...

02:01 / 04.03.08

the bravado bits are ok, in the context of the never-ending teasing among the Big Two; it's part of a fun old tradition to help improve sales for event-books that goes back to Stan Lee talking shit about DC as the "Distinct Competition" in a light way.

as far as i know this could have been staged between Bendis and Morrison, or they can later claim it was, like the infamous Quesada-David one-off.

but apparently for some the joke's only good when it's not on you. to me Bendis didn't come out of this looking that good [re: the Gail bits for ex.], but let's see how it develops.

or not.

06:55 / 04.03.08

Standard PR bravado. But Brian Bendis wasn't having it, in a thread now deleted, replying "knowing what everyone in the industry knows about what's going on with 'his' book behind the scenes, even jokingly, he really should keep his yap el shutto."

Read to be as an implication that Morrison isn't writing the book, or certainly not on the level being credited.

I'm worried by this comment. Is it possible that the DC Editors / higher-ups are cracking down on Grant's story, editing/mutating it beyond the original form?

I realize that massive edits are S.O.P. when it comes to company events on this scale, but I really hope that GM can roll with with whatever they demand/excise from his story and spin Final Crisis into the Best Event Ever.

I have high hopes for this; it's the kind of thing I've been waiting for GM to do. If the DC people don't muck with it too much, I'm sure it'll be amazing.

@mephisto -- I agree. Where the heck is that Newsarama interview? I've been waiting for GM's thoughts on ASS and on future projects; hopefully more Seaguy and non-mainstream work after this phase of his oeuvre.

The Natural Way

11:42 / 04.03.08

Morrison's always had a history of doing dark stuff. There's nothing here that comes as a surprise - there's nothing really out of character. Fuck, did you read Mister Miracle.

12:29 / 04.03.08

Yes, some of the comments on this thread do strike me as a little strange.

14:08 / 04.03.08

Fuck, did you read Mister Miracle.

Yeah sure, but the overall context was that all that anti-life stuff was pretty artificially crow-barred in ("let's throw the nastiest shit on him so he can clean it up and escape/understand/explore it for us") in order to ultimately say "this guy represents the ultimate miraculous overcoming, just let go of the preoccupation with all that and let's go fucking crazy, the dark flows in naturally by itself".
(and I wouldn't really bring it up for comparison as a good example of Maurice's best moments, whether dark or not -- ok, except the first few pages and the last issue, they're actually really nifty).

I'm not refering only to bits of darkness (his best is all about the darkest and scariest of horizons these characters shine their light into). But the overall pitch, the unattractiveness of the 'death metal' crossover-ish event package (how basically Countdown covers smells like to me -- so I'm thinking that it maybe could be his pitch directed more specifically for Wizard's demographic, I don't know). I have to say that so far what's being the hook for me on this is the overall 2001-ish weird huge epic feel behind things like the contrasting image of Metron in the prehistoric age, what might be a freshly weird treatment of the nekkid-abstracted New Gods and the usual free rein Gregory usually has when dealing with characters no one cares about (and also superpets).

But I'm sure I'm dead wrong and it'll be fantastic. I hope I am.

The Natural Way

14:44 / 04.03.08

Don't worry, I'm sure you are wrong.

14:45 / 04.03.08

i think you're over-thinking it a bit without seeing the actual comic, Ziparrow.

i guess Grant in the interview was talking about channeling that "end of the world" doom that permeated the first Crisis.

the most recent GM interviews - regarding only superhero work - have been suffering a bit from unintersting questions from uninterested reporters imagining they're talking to your generic DCU\MU writer.

i have high hopes for the creator-owned stuff and the interviews to announce \ comment on them.

15:32 / 04.03.08

I'm worried by this comment. Is it possible that the DC Editors / higher-ups are cracking down on Grant's story, editing/mutating it beyond the original form?

It reads like a heavier slur than that surely, implying as it seems to that Morrissey's not actually writing at least some of 'Final Crisis' himself?

Taking editorial direction is one thing, but the suggestion that other writers are having to take up the slack on work that he's going to pass off as his own is actually quite a serious attack - this sort of rumour, however unfounded, does have a habit of sticking around.

Accordingly, I wouldn't sit still for it if I was him.

ONLY NICE THINGS

15:54 / 04.03.08

Surely Bendis would not be so foolish as to make such a suggestion? One need only point to WildCATS and The Authority as proof if proof were needed that he brooks no stand-ins or amanuenses...

Uatu.is.watching

16:11 / 04.03.08

Well, to be fair, it seems like it's Johnston making that jump and not (necessarily) Bendis. I am curious about what he's referring to, though.

From the Newsarama interview, it seems like the genesis of Final Crisis was more that it was a story Grant wanted to tell, as opposed to an "event" that DC and DiDio came up with and passed off to him. That gives me hope, but I do wonder about the heavy hand of the editors on this one...

16:29 / 04.03.08

Well I don't know; perhaps Bendis was implying that important lessons were learned by some at DC as a result of the way the recent Wildstorm re-launch seemed to run out of juice somewhere over the Atlantic?

Whatever, it's hard to shake the image of a sort of latterday Dali figure, hooked up to an IV in his crumbling, country mansion, and putting his name to various projects that he's simply too tired to bring to fruition, without help.

Which wouldn't be a bad way to end one's career, of course, but the accusation seems a bit premature.

14:08 / 05.03.08

All Star YAY!

(I'm needing my fix, man... I need a fucking hit!)

16:28 / 05.03.08

About the death metal, knowing GM, I'm guessing this is a darkest before the dawn kind of situation. Most of his superhero work does push the characters to their worst places, and then gloriously brings them back. Think of battling the tyrant sun in JLA or Buddy's travails in Animal Man. Buddy got pretty death metal, but in a strange way, not a 90s Image Comics way. So, hopefully that'll be what happens with Final Crisis.

18:12 / 05.03.08

Most of his superhero work does push the characters to their worst places, and then gloriously brings them back

Well, that'd be a fit description of most stories by most writers (including Moz), no? But Morrison can usually be more diverse in their overall tone and how the shades in the treatment is done, I feel, and bring emotional landscapes you usually don't see in these stories (and some differences in how that 'darkness' is overcomed or made friends with etc).

But nevermind that, I'm trying to get into the mood now to get the most out of it in the future.

18:14 / 05.03.08

quite excellent all around. Mozzer interview always = fun and good stuff.

MORE SEAGUY!!!

And the prospect of more All-Star Morrison-written specials drawn by various artists sounds quite wonderful.

20:48 / 05.03.08

Grant's been saying more Seaguy is on its way for a loooong time now. Until artist Cam Stewart confirms he's actually working on it, I won't hold my breath. I do hope it's true though, and I hope they collect A*S in one massive volume (like they did with New Frontier). FQ's art would look so much awesome-er extra-sized.

00:12 / 06.03.08

Well, so much for keeping it a secret. Thanks Grant!

Now that the cat's out of the bag I'm guess I'm able to confirm that I do have the completed first script for Seaguy 2: Slaves of Mickey Eye, and it will be my next project after I finish The Apocalipstix in a few weeks (printing this summer - finally - from Oni Press).

As far as I know we'll be doing Slaves of Mickey Eye and then immediately following it with Seaguy Eternal. Looks like all the waiting and good will finally paid off.

Cowboy Scientist

00:19 / 06.03.08

Issue #12 completes the story – it also kind of functions as the last Superman adventure ever, so we want to give him a good send-off – I think the wrap page is one of the best endings I’ve ever thought of.

Here Grant has set himself some high standards. He's great at final scenes. I remember turning the last page of Seven Soldiers #1, with the hands of Mister Miracle coming out of the grave in kirbyvision and going "Woah! Holy Fuck!"; that's without mentioning the ends for Animal Man, Doom Patrol, long etc...

Also, SUPERMAN VS. SATAN.

I need that.

NOW.

The Natural Way

01:38 / 06.03.08

Personally, the idea of bringing EVIL back to the DCU seems fine to me. Yes, the idea that evil exists and evil nations, nay, planets exist (Apokolips/the community of Bexhill-on-sea) is a specious, seductive, subtle, total and, ultimately, a dangerously destructive one, and that's all well and good, but the danger of characterisation is that you inevitably humanize superfolk and dramatically limit their scope somehow. Modern comic writing's pretty much full of it. 52 was the product of the big 3 in meltdown - the DC universe insists on attempting to incorporate (the illusion) of time and process and, inevitably, superheroes and villains are bounded by human frailties and ambiguities and they're duking it out on a very small, relativistic playing field. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. However, I say bring on the evil. I can't get scared when everyone's a neurotic or mentally disturbed. Bring on something that I can't reduce or understand, except by going to the Black Bug Room. Scare me. Ziparrow, you remember when The Whip and her team went up against the real baddies, the ACTUAL weirdness and magic beating behind the scenes of their pedestrian superheroism? The thrill of the 'piling up of the dreamy and the impossible'? How heady and genuinely frightening it was? I think that's what Grant's going for here. That kind of collision between the mundane and the mythic. The New Gods, I think, will look huge and the fact that they represent primal, but nevertheless abstract (or godlike), qualities wil will play a big part in that.

It's actually a really good dramatic foil in a fantasy adventure story to start with a bunch of essentially relatable characters in a relatable world, so that you can then have them bump heads with something superhuman and somehow take it on and survive and be transformed. Proper unstoppable evil that brings Hell-from-outer-space to Earth sounds like just the ticket to me. I'm sure Grant will have Superman ground into the dirt in a suitably head-turning way. Don't worry about hyperbole.

04:21 / 06.03.08

>> Seaguy Eternal

Whoa. A third series immediately following the second? Called "Seaguy Eternal"? I'm SO IN.

Congrats, Cam!!! Sometimes life rewards quality, and patience pays off.

07:02 / 06.03.08

All good news, then

12:28 / 06.03.08

Nice interview, although the interviewer still asks old repeated questions that grant not so fresh answers. And damn, every time I hear of Flex Mentallo's stuck like that, little gnomes perfurate my heart with sad-swords. And it was nice seeing all those authors' names mentioned.

And Holy Chubby: SEAGUY!!!

Pigs!, I'm all for b&w evil in grand superhero tales (I think I prefer it that way). Now that you mention that scene, I got more excited remembering that treatment where just the clash of desert-and-cosmic and the red&black was about the same as gruesome (if not more) as Nebula-on-spider spiking superpeople, and it served as a wonderful facet of a menace you wanted to hear more about from different angles. It was genuinely chaotic cosmic horror in wonderful scope, yeah. "Bring on the evil" indeed.

PS: anyone ever heard about Morrison's Dr Who story, “The World Shapers”, that's apparently about to be re-released? Is it any good (or even fun for those who just know today's Who and Torchwood)?

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