Everyone’s heard of Batman, but have you heard of Grant Morrison? Because he’s done what the Joker, Two-Face and all the others couldn’t – he’s the man who finally killed The Dark Knight. Morrison is the famed comic book writer behind Batman R.I.P., where Bruce Wyane is killed, and Batman and Robin, where the first Robin – Dick Grayson – has to take up the Bat-mantle. But, as with most comic characters, Bruce Wayne didn’t stay dead forever, and with the recent hardcover release of The Return of Bruce Wayne, Grant Morrison’s work is once again in the news. Here’s a look at some of both the professional and personal highlights of one of comic’s consistently creative, popular and controversial writers.
Before, and then during, his first few forays into writing comics, Morrison spent the 80s touring and recording with his Scottish punk band The Mixers. As the band began to fade, and as Morrison’s star in comics began to rise, he eventually devoted himself to writing full time. So, while a musician no more, one of the major forces in comics has no formal education in writing and, in fact, used to be a no-good punk.
For the first 30 years of his life, Morrison was straight-edge. Y’know, one of those guys – no drinking, no smoking, no drugs of any kind. Then, as he revealed during the 2008 Comic-Con, when he turned 30 he “kind of decided to treat myself as a laboratory and become something else — I wondered how much you could mess with your own personality… I just started to take tons of psychedelic drugs, though I was never into amphetamines or anything. But I’m getting old now, so I don’t do so much of that.” So a significant amount of his most well-known work was written while he was on various combinations of acid, ecstasy and who-knows-what.
It was during this time he created The Invisibles, an obscure comic series that has rather odd parallels to The Matrix, written well before The Matrix was created. Whether Morrison’s ideas were ripped off is a matter of some contention. And that’s not even the most interesting part about the backstory behind the series – Morrison got the idea for The Invisibles after having a vision under the influence of hashish while on a trip to Kathmandu.
While Heath Ledger was preparing for his Oscar-winning role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, director Christoper Nolan gave him two books to read for reference: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum, since these two books are responsible for the Clown Prince of Crime as we all know him today. Morrison’s Arkham is a surreal read – after the asylum is overtaken by the inmates, Batman must infiltrate the house of madness where the battle to keep his sanity is as epic as his battle against his infamous rogues.
All-Star Superman was a 12-issue series where Grant Morrison was let loose on Superman — one of comic’s most iconic, and most notoriously difficult to write for, characters. His creative and oddly touching stories shattered sales records and gobbled up awards. And, perhaps most impressive, he transformed Superman from a total dork into a really cool dude. Morrison says he found his inspiration for the series when he realized that if you were Superman, and knew that virtually nothing could hurt you, “you’d be the most relaxed guy on Earth.”
Grant Morrison first stepped into the pages of comics in issue #14 of Animal Man. In the story, “Grant Morrison” shows up – looking just like his real life counterpart – and proceeds to tell Animal Man that he is not actually a superhero, he is instead a fictional character who exists only in comics, comics written by Grant Morrison. (Like I said, Grant Morrison – the real one – has done a lot of drugs). Since then, “Grant Morrison” has appeared in several DC comics, further insuring that his legacy will live on well past his real self.
Liked this? Check out these:
The 10 Greatest Alien Invasion Movies [VIDEOS]
These 6 Schools Might Host The World Premiere Of Your Highness
Comic Book Characters That Shouldn’t Come To A Theater Near You
5 Comics That Would Make Great Video Games
7 Worst Storylines in Modern Comic History
Tags: All-Star Superman, Animal Man, Arkham Asylum, batman, Batman and Robin, comic books, comics, dc comics, DC Universe, grant morrison, Grant Morrison all star superman, Grant Morrison animal man, Grant Morrison arkham asylum, Grant Morrison band, Grant Morrison batman, Grant Morrison batman and robin, Grant Morrison character, Grant Morrison comic books, Grant Morrison comics, Grant Morrison DC comics, Grant Morrison DC universe, Grant Morrison drugs, Grant Morrison The Dark Knight, Grant Morrison The Dark Knight Returns, Grant Morrison the invisibles, Grant Morrison the matrix, Grant Morrison The Mixers, lex luthor, punk-rock, Superman, the dark knight, the dark knight returns, The Invisibles, The Mixers, the-joker
