Tagged: Grant Morrison

‘Final Crisis’ Preview Debuts

‘Final Crisis’ Preview Debuts

No matter how many times I hear about DC’s upcoming event-to-end-all-events Final Crisis, I can’t help saying its name to the tune of "The Final Countdown." Is there something wrong with me?

Moving on…

DC just sent word that EW.com has posted a five-page preview of… Wait for it…

IT’S THE FIN-AL CRI-SIS

While that’s all well and good, they’ve also posted a nice little drop-down Grant Morrison script for each of the pages. I dig it immensely — especially since I didn’t realize that a character was actually supposed to be looking over the shoulder of another character (and not at him) until I read it in the script.

I wonder how much stuff like that I miss every week. *sigh*

Interview: Grant Morrison on ‘Final Crisis’ and ‘Doctor Who’

Interview: Grant Morrison on ‘Final Crisis’ and ‘Doctor Who’

As I wandered around the press gathering at the New York Legend Award ceremony for Stan Lee, I saw a familiar face — a face I first saw in an issue of Animal Man many years ago.

It was, of course, Grant Morrison, who is currently wowing folks in All Star Superman and weirding them out in Batman.

Known for cosmic-scale work in such titles as The Invisibles and various stories during his run on JLA, Morrison seemed the perfect choice to handle DC’s upcoming crossover mega-event, Final Crisis.

I spoke with Morrison about the influences and potential ramifications of Final Crisis, as well as his future as one of the primary architects in the DC Universe. We also chatted a bit about another series that has us excited: the reinvigorated hit BBC science-fiction classic, Doctor Who.

COMICMIX: First of all, you have to settle a bet for me, Grant. In the weekly series 52, the villain called "The Ten-Eyed Man" was re-introduced for the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths, except now it was a whole cult of ten-eyed warriors who were very creepy and seemed to be mystical and demonic. That revamp had to be your idea, right?

GRANT MORRISON: Yes, yes it was.

CMix: I knew it! I said, "That is pure Morrison!"

GM: Wait ’til you meet "The Nine-Eyed Man" in Batman. He’s a renegade who cut off one of his fingers and is crazy now.

CMix: That’s just so weird, I love it.

(more…)

NYCC: Vertigo ‘Welcome to the Edge’ Panel – Getting Bullish on Grant Morrison and Seaguy

NYCC: Vertigo ‘Welcome to the Edge’ Panel – Getting Bullish on Grant Morrison and Seaguy

When you attend some of these publisher panels, you’re usually shown a few slides and given a brief description of upcoming titles — kind of like someone reading the Diamond Previews catalog out loud. So, instead of just parroting the entire affair, I’ve assembled an account of what you need to know  about Friday’s "Vertigo: Welcome to the Edge" panel at New York Comic Con.

Before we get started, I just want to note that the room was surprisingly packed. Being a fan of the Vertigo Comics imprint, I’ve attended a few of these over the years and they’re usually well attended, but not crowded. Maybe this one is the exception because New York is the home of literati?

Here are my notes from the panel:

Karen Berger, Executive Editor of Vertigo Comics, takes the stage. Instead of introducing the panelists in order, she starts with Grant Morrison in the middle. The benefits of being a comic book rock star, eh? Introductions follow with Amy Hadley, G. Willow Wilson, Joshua Dysart, Jason Aaron, Brian Wood, Brian Azzarello (big applause, even a few yells), David Tischman and Russ Braun. Mark Buckingham arrives just in time and gets a big reaction out of the audience.

House of Mystery – Berger explains that this project will not be an anthology. It’s about a waitress stuck in a mysterious house with strangers who tell their stories, illustrated by a different artist every month. So basically it is an anthology — with a framing device. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

Madame Xanadu – The mystic DC character finally receives an origin. Since she’s nigh immortal, her stages of life take decades. Puberty must’ve been hell. [Sidenote: This news was responsible for Olivia Newton-John’s "Xanadu" getting stuck in everyone’s head later at the ComicMix HQ.

(more…)

Inside the ‘Y: The Last Man’ Party

Inside the ‘Y: The Last Man’ Party

We told you about this event before and now Kevin Kelly at i09 let’s us in on the highlights of Friday night’s "Y: The Last Party" in L.A., celebrating the conclusion of Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan’s hugely popular tale of the last man on Earth.

The party, which took place at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd., featured guests such as Vaughan himself, comic co-creator and artist Pia Guerra, Grant Morrison, Drew Goddard, Mark Waid and Joss Whedon.

Among the highlights of the event, whose proceeds went to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, were many revelations regarding the creation and inspiration of the comic as well as some tidbits about who might play the comic’s title character, Yorick Brown, in the oft-discussed, big-screen version and what co-creator Guerra’s next project will be.

According to the report:

[Vaughan] originally came up with the concept for Y as a project called Boyson, "The Last Boy On Earth" for Penthouse Comics full of "women built like robot fuck machines" and one boy remaining on the planet. After they folded, he replaced the robots with a Gloria Steinem quote and sent it over to Vertigo.

(more…)

Batman Acknowledges Spoiler, Girl Wonder?

Batman Acknowledges Spoiler, Girl Wonder?

The Beat points me to an interesting panel in one of the recent Grant Morrison-penned issues of Batman. Apparently, the very, very vocal campaign for Batman continuity to acknowledge the existence of short-lived female Robin, Stephanie Brown, received a nod in Batman #673, during a dream sequence scripted by Morrison.

Girl-Wonder.org is, of course, quite excited about this development.

Way to go, Goddamn Batman.

 

MARTHA THOMASES: Girls’ Powers

MARTHA THOMASES: Girls’ Powers

Why do we like superheroes?  There are many theories.  The one that makes the most sense to me is that they arise from our frustrations with our own bodies.  As someone who was once the mother of a two-year old (as well as once a two-year old myself), I’ve seen how the rage and frustration of an infant gets transformed with words into imaginative play, with storylines so complicated they would baffle Grant Morrison.

We want to fly and we can barely walk.  We want to lift cars over our heads, yet we struggle to pull up our pants.  We want to leap buildings with a single bound, but the monkey bars at the playground are too scary.  No wonder we are drawn to superheroes.

Since most comic books have been written by men and purchased by boys, we can make fairly educated guesses about what most frustrates the male of our species.  They want to be stronger.  They want to be faster.  They want to be more powerful.  They want to be able to physically and mentally dominate. 

What about women?  Do we want the same things?  Do we want something different?  If women controlled the superhero comic book market, would other kinds of characters be more successful?

May I suggest the following:

Metabolism Lass – The woman you love to hate, she is able to eat anything at all, even cans of frosting, without gaining weight.

Multi-Task Mistress – She can tend to a screaming baby, a demanding boss, a helpless husband, all while explaining to her mother, on the phone, how to use the Tivo.

Invisible Girl – No, not Sue Richards.  This I-Girl is able to walk past a group of construction workers, Wall Street traders or street kids without rousing any whistles.

Couture Queen – Sick and tired of clothes designed for people with no hips or thighs, she has the power to create clothes that actually fit, look good and feel comfortable on adult women.

Manicure Maid – It’s a cliché of modern times that if you want to show a character is spoiled, you make her complain about a broken nail.  Hey, it hurts to break a nail!  Despite the pain it causes, Manicure Maid uses hers as weapons, firing cuticles like bullets at badguys.

Princess IRA – Our heroine can stretch a pension check from here to Pluto, which is a useful power when women live longer than men, but earn less.

Guilt Girl – Doing amazing feats on your own is great, but she completely understands that you don’t have time to help her overcome the monstrous evil she faces.  Really, it’s okay.  She’ll get by.  Don’t trouble yourself.

Have ideas of your own?  Put them in comments!

Seven Heroes of Victory

Seven Heroes of Victory

Wired Magazine’s Annalee Newitz believes the plotline of Heroes bears more than a few similarities to that of the recent Grant Morrison-written DC series 7 Soldiers of Victory.  Because, you know, nobody’s ever done assemble-the-squad plotlines in the history of  television or comic books. 

Actually, her point is "the fact that I could fruitfully compare them means that Heroes is finally coming into its own as a good comic book story".  Or as, one would assume, a good dramatic story — period.