I love comics, DC in particular, so when I see some repeated bonehead moves, I just gotta say something about it. Let's start with Grant Morrison. He seems to be one of DC Comics' "go to guys" these days and nothing could be sadder. His published interviews always come across like he thinks he's the only person capable of writing anything worthwhile in comics. Wrong, Grant! I have to question if Mr. Morrison has blackmail pictures of DC executives Paul Levitz and Dan Didio having sex with donkeys, or if he's providing them with the same substances that I believe he must be using to write most of his stories. The problem starts higher up though. DC Vice-President Dan Didio has always talked about the importance of the "Trinity," in the DC Universe (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), so what does he do to prove it? He removes Superman from his own book and his second title ACTION COMICS, and removes Bruce Wayne as Batman (and from DETECTIVE COMICS). Aside from the fact that things like this are unoriginal, having been done before, it completly contradicts statements he makes. So, let's bring this point back to Grant Morrison. Morrison is a writer who writes "heady and trippy" ideas that many confuse with genius, all the while showing that he doesn't get the characters he's writing, often eschewing good characterization in favor of making things fit his personal interpretation of his protagonists to tell a story. Mistake! Comics are a monthly serialized medium and continuity needs to be taken into account... unless you're constantly rebooting. Grant doesn't get that comics are also a visual medium because most artists who work with him don't seem to be able to show a good flow of the scripts he writes. Oh yeah, I know that he and Frank Quitely have "dazzled" people with ALL STAR SUPERMAN (the acronym A.S.S. seems to fit), but that's an out of continuity excuse for Morrison's mental masturbation in the comics medium. Most of the time, reading a Morrison penned comic will leave you wondering just what the hell you read and how it doesn't even make sense in its own context. As a result of his "wunderkind" status, DC has allowed him to write Bruce Wayne out as Batman, effectively changing that Bat-status quo, which yielded the unfortunate cancellations of CATWOMAN, NIGHTWING, and ROBIN to name a few, just to appease Morrison's plans for Batman... which includes a seemingly embarrassing return to the feel of the Adam West TV series in the new BATMAN AND ROBIN comic. Is your head spinning yet? Dan Didio even let Grant pen the company's mega-crossover FINAL CRISIS which most people hated, didn't understand, and effectively changed nothing of substance in the DC Universe with the exception of the death of the Martian Manhunter. Batman's "death" doesn't really count because we all KNOW he'll be back, most likely after BATMAN AND ROBIN hits issue 12 (can anyone say "Captain America?"). At least that's my prediction. Didio even joked at a couple of conventions, asking the crowds if they understood what FINAL CRISIS is all about. If you have to ask..... and then Judd Winick, one of the worst writers in comics gets the BATMAN title to write. WTF?? Is DC intentionally trying to ruin one of its cash-cow characters? At least DETECTIVE COMICS has weathered the Grant Morrison storm by making Batwoman headline the book with great scripting by Greg Rucka and gorgeous art by J.H. Williams! As soon as Bruce Wayne comes back, please keep Grant Morrison forever away from DC's established superheroes.
So now let's take a look at the Superman books. Supes gets shut out of his two books in favor of putting him in WORLD OF KRYPTON maxi-series. Why couldn't this story been told in the pages of SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS? How does any of these decisions make sense. ACTION is now being headlined by D-listers Nightwing (not Dick Grayson) and Flamebird. Lame! Of course this translates into problems for the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA comic, which has suffered from lackluster stories due to editorial policies affecting the book. The JLA is always at its most popular with the "Big Seven," and at the very least its "Trinity," and once again, what's going on in the Bat and Super books have affected this flagship title. TEEN TITANS has been sucking too from lack of direction and the removal of Robin, Superboy, and Kid Flash, but at least there's hope that it will recover soon as two of those afore mentioned characters are back in the land of the living (look for a later column griping about death in comics).
However, all is not bad, as Geoff Johns has made GREEN LANTERN a must read (can't wait for BLACKEST NIGHT!) and has returned Barry Allen as the FLASH! Making GL a great book is hard considering that its lead Hal Jordan has always been a boring character, but Johns tells such a great story, that Hal's lack of personality is not a hindrance. Last but not least, we have Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti on WONDER WOMAN, which for my money is DC's best book currently. YES, you read that right! WONDER WOMAN has been consistently amazing since Simone took control of the Amazing Amazon. Gail is crafting story arcs that are exciting, action-oriented, filled with subtext, and generally leave your mouth hanging open in awe. One wonders (no pun) why no one else has gotten Diana so well. That's not to say that others haven't, but not like this. If you're not reading this book, do yourself a favor and start. Lopresti's art on the series has such a strong flow that you almost feel the action in your body.
Well, let's hope that DC gets their act together and fast! Next column: SPIDER-MAN!
Grant Morrisons Final Crisis was one of the worst things I've read in my 20 years in comics. It literally hurts to go through these books...WTF? I've only read them in the first place, because they tie into Batman RIP(which was not much better itself). I needed secondary literature (wikipedia, forums, blogs) to understand the reading order and plot of these comics. There is no official guide from DC concerning this... Because they simply have no F%$CKING clue themselves. Batman is absent, dead, the appears in FC....WTF? DC, get rid of Morrison.
ReplyDeletebtw. I also enjoyed Green Lantern lately. Good Book.
Tyler
I have read a *lot* of bad comic books, and some downright awful ones, but very rarely do truly bad writers make it into long-term runs on a label's flagship series. Three years ago, I would have never thought that DC would allow someone like this control over MULTIPLE main titles, and complete authorship of its' second Crisis event in less than a decade.
ReplyDeleteI read Final Crisis once, barely finished it on account of my confusion and shock, reread it, and am now more confused and insulted by Mr. Morrison's writing than before. Grant Morrison is (no hyperbole intended) the *worst* thing going on in comics nowadays.
Why is Morrison hailed as a "genius"? Why is he still considered a "premier creator" in superhero comics? Very simple: Comic book fans are insecure. Morrison has just enough intellect to play at "meta-textual" gimmicks and high school level symbolism. It gives his writing the superficial feel of being significant and, dare I say it "Literature" with a capital L. This draws the new breed of comic book fanboy like flies to shit. The thing is, he's never written anything that wasn't either poorly aping literary techniques better suited to other media, or regurgiating Silver Age concepts and trusting that no one will look behind the curtain.
ReplyDeleteThat is the best articulation of his ham-handed slapping-on of literary techniques and disrespectful treatment of characters that i have heard.
DeleteI can't stand Grant Morrison's writing. There is nothing genius about it. His stories are always a disjointed mess. The fact that Dan DiDio keeps using the guy says all you need to know about Dan Didio. The sooner both guys are shown the door the better.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more with all this. Great to see I am not alone on it either. Likewise with Bendis at Marvel- the legacies of the big two are dead and buried already.
ReplyDeleteAnd both Marvel and DC COMICS make losses for their owners, it's films animation and tie-ins where they make their cash. So this won't change. This is it- the end of comics as they were has arrived. Indie comics are all that's left. And most of them are "fake" indies cranked out by the same fuckwits from DC and Marvel on their days off.
Aw man, I totally agree with you. Its a damn shame to see that they have Morrison covering Bruce Wayne's return. I picked up the first issue today, made damn near no sense at all. The dialogue was blowing my mind.
ReplyDeleteGrant Morrison's Batman has seen some absolutely shockingly bad storylines. He's really compromised the character's integrity - Batman & Son being a particular sour note. Everything about R.I.P. was disappointing, and Final Crisis was such a mess, I'm surprised it was published.
ReplyDeleteThe vibe I get from Morrison is that of a cod-intellectual who thinks he's being edgy, while completely immersed in his own hype. His work is simply not good Batman. Batman is a flagship title, and should play to its strengths while looking for fresh ideas. It's ridiculous how inaccessible the series has become. I pity any newcomers trying to make any sense of it.
Another personal pet-hate that I must mention is the frequency with which Morrison turns to the supernatural. Batman works best when it's focused on gritty street criminals and deranged psychopaths. All this devil-battling, magick society, reincarnation bullshit is best left elsewhere.
DC really needs to find some new talent. All Star B&R was pretty much a response to Morrison's inaccessible work, and look where Frank Miller took that series - straight down the toilet, via the realm of internet memes.
End rant.
Anyway, glad to hear I'm not the only one who feels this way.
if you are a fan of comics and not a fan of grant morrison than that means that you are a fan of the other 99% of comics that suck because he doesnt write them. I read a lot of comics and everything except his stuff is juvenile and simplistic. You obviously cant appreciate art beyond a childs cartoon or pre teen literature.
ReplyDeleteWhile I respect the above poster's opinion, a Batman comic SHOULD be preteen literature in a sense. I'm a grown man, but I hate that we've hijacked mainstream comics and taken them away from children. And all these fanboys think that because Grant Morrison's work is incomprehensible by children, that it must be "mind blowing and for adults". I think the sad fact is that not many people actually do like Morrison, but they think that if they admit to it, they will be accused of being a half-wit by other fanboys like you. And to feel rejected by your own subculture is the worst thing they can imagine. There is a place for Grant Morrison's style in the world of comics, but it's not on mainstream iconic characters. Batman should be accessible to almost anyone, and it's not.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the poster above I do NOT respect the opinion of the poster 2 above. In fact, it's a prime example of the problem with Morrison and his fans in general. His writing is NOT deep. It's NOT complex. It's just poorly structured drivel with just enough of a veneer of pretentious faux artsy-ness slapped on that half-witted college drop out types can pretend are reading something substantial and congratulate themselves on "getting it".
ReplyDeleteGrant Morrion's talent can be summed in *-why is * used in word bubbles?
ReplyDeleteI think Grant Morrison should stop writing and start acting in batman goes in back time warp drive with dinosaurs and android zombies- more coherent than Batman and Robin
ReplyDeleteOh thank god. Every time I read a Grant Morrison comic I usually do an immediate search on google for Grant Morrison is awful or he sucks or whatnot, just to hear some like minded people. Everything he writes is an ego stroking non starter of a story. This Batman returns things really got me down. Could have been the best Batman story in years and he has ruined it. Who has clue one what is actually going on in that comic. Batman R.I.P? Waste of time. Oh god, please let him go off to write his own creator owned characters and leave the comics i like reading alone.
ReplyDelete>There is a place for Grant Morrison's style in >the world of comics, but it's not on mainstream >iconic characters. Batman should be accessible >to almost anyone, and it's not.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. If he's off with his own comics I shall simply choose not to buy and i'm happy.
>because Grant Morrison's work is >incomprehensible by children, that it must be >"mind blowing and for adults".
Not incomprehensible to just kids you know. To anyone.
>if you are a fan of comics and not a fan of >grant morrison than that means that you are a >fan of the other 99% of comics that suck >because he doesnt write them.
Thank god. If all comics were like his, comics would not have been my hobby for 15plus years. What a douchey mc-douche this dude is for saying such a thing.
>I read a lot of comics and everything except >his stuff is juvenile and simplistic. You >obviously cant appreciate art beyond a childs >cartoon or pre teen literature.
See? Douche... As said before, its not art, its pretentious faux art. Your entitled to your opinion even if it is, er, how you say, um, wrong. Every time I hear someone defending GM its like you can tell they were smart enough to want to read intellectual stories but not smart enough to see through Morrisons lack of talent.
Reading most of these posts, it's like someone channeled my Randian Uncle's deranged reactionary e-mail forwards with all their bitter vitriol and anti-intellectual paranoia, just swap out Obama for Morrison and you're set.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your secret invasions and your civil wars, white entitlement complex. Rage on.
You Morrison supporters are just plain weird. What is it? Opposite day? How can we take you seriously. You guys like Morrison so much, go off and buy his drivel.
ReplyDeleteWe don't and its bitter vitriol and anti-intellectual paranoia? Of course, of course. That sounds as ham fisted as Grant Morrison himself. Is that you Grant? Talk about dialling it in. Come on, you pseudo intellectual try hards. You go your way, we'll go ours.
But seriously, freaking awful right? Fantomex? Xorn? Knight and Squire? Megayakuza?
Swagman? El Sombrero? Charlie Caligula? Pierrot Lunaire and the rest of the 'Club of Villains'? Morrison should be band for his choice of names alone before you even get to shoddy writing and god awful design.
Batman Inc doesn't look good. Previews says Batman teams up with Mr Unknown. The Batman of Japan. Since when? I hate it when he writes about something that has NEVER been and tells us it has ALWAYS been. Retcons should always be a last result.
ReplyDeleteSomebody has to stop this man from ruining batman's legacy - saga! As you said, he can't comprehend Wayne - Batman's personality, that's why he can't develop him. He is completely dangerous. I deny reading his stupidities, presented as words and notions of wisdom. Alas, he's the man at the moment. Now, we have to suffer more with his imbecilic idea of Batmen inc...
ReplyDeleteWhat on earth is a "pseudo intellectual try hard"? That sounds like something you'd read on Battle.net circa 1999. Or a Doom Patrol supervillain. That one sounds better. Maybe a future Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. team-up?
ReplyDeletePut down the Xbox and the Bud Light and reflect on the tragedy of your own emotionally stunted intellectual paralysis. Maybe you'll stop making yourself out to be such an absurd caricature of the manchildren comic fans quit pretending not to be. After all, it's the facebook age, what's left to define us but our fetishes and our innocuous hobbies? Stay boring! Never change! Start a blog and gather round the echo chamber of group-think and "mental masturbation."
You have an entire company over in Marvel to sate your appetite for derivative monthly slop. Quit chomping at the bit of continuity over something you won't even bother trying to comprehend and worse claim to hate. Maybe it'll save the rest of us your insufferable whining, though I kind of doubt it.
Really? Emotionally stunted intellectual paralysis? Haha. Your a joke... I was deliberately using "pseudo intellectual try hard" as its the kind of tripe Morrisson comes out with and not only did you slag me off for it, you did the same thing "Emotionally stunted intellectual paralysis"... Ha ha ha/ Seriously you loser. I guess Morrisson fans are all the same. Seriously, you come across like someone desperate to be thought of as clever. Hmmm, very sad indeed. See ya later try hard, but maybe you should try harder.
ReplyDeleteOh do quit with these tired memes, they reveal nothing beyond your own dull impotence. I would recommend reading the lovely James Joyce. Start with Dubliners- you might walk away with some insight into the quiet desperation in your life.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster one above. He seems to make more sense than you do. No one is interested in your hissy fit. Your coming across like a real jackass. And yes, Grant Morrisson does indeed suck in my opinion and messy does indeed describe it. There is talent floating around in that guy but its sporadic and not outweighed by the flaws in his work. Shame really. Still, he seems to have his supporters so it seems he's going nowhere. Unfortunately.
ReplyDeletei have read a lot of Morrison Batman and Superman stories and used to think, after scratching my head at the end of an issue, "well, if i re-read this enough times maybe i'll get it." nope, doesn't work. and i have a M.A. in Literature!
ReplyDeleteno matter how many time i give his trip a shot it's still nothin but cringe inducing inanity that only makes a hopless mess of iconic characters and their histories.
i wish he would stick to one-off books (or work on his own original characters and leave Bats alone at least!) and quit trying to rewrite all of canon in major title series. i think he tries too hard to come off as edgy/complex and all that is accomplished is a pop-psychology rape of iconic characters.
and for god's sake please quit introducing magic and AU bullshit into the main Bats titles. leave that stuff for the metas, or Green Lantern at least!
The thing is, I don't thing Morrison was ever interested in writing a Batman story. He was interested in using Batman as a vehicle to write a Grant Morrison story. Which is all about meta-fiction, and puerile attempts at symbolism, and navel gazing about the nature of comic books, and alternate universes, and quantum mysticism, and consensual reality, and ultimately whatever the pop-pseudo-intellectual flavor of the day is.
ReplyDeleteBatman showed so much promise after Infinite Crisis. Face the Face was an excellent storyline showing the "new happier" batman. Bruce Wayne adopted Tim Drake; that should have been the focus on the subsequent stories, but then Morrison came in and decided to pretty much ignore that and write years worth of self-indulgent tripe.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read batman comics since Morrison started writing them, and I wont start up again until he stops. Hopefully, whoever writes the character next will just ignore all this Morrison nonsense in the same way that Morrison ignored the excellence that was Face the Face.
I just finished "The Return of Bruce Wayne." I first recall encountering Morrison's work with the late 90s JLA title. I thought it was great and I still have fond memories of it. I had decided from that point on that I could count on Morrison to be a writer that would entertain me.
ReplyDeleteNow I suspect that I may have been enchanted more by the core heroes of DC (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman) being united for the first time during my comic book reading career.
I have given Grant Morrison more than a few chances to recapture this magic and each time it grows less magical and more irritating.
In fact, I now realize for the first time that hiring Grant Morrison is a way to make me quit reading a title. I had purchased X-Men for the longest time and had sworn that I would always get that title above all others unless I quit comics completely (this was a solemn oath made around 1991). I broke this oath shortly after Morrison's "New X-Men."
I had learned to find comfort in DC and especially with Batman. But then, guess who took over and caused me to quit reading Batman?
Then Final Crisis came along with all its hype and was a HUGE let down and source of confusion. Then came "Batman & Robin" and the "Return of the Bruce Wayne." B&R was fun to read for a few pages just for the role reversal and Damien is ok because he is a new character and can't be written wrong.
The "Return of Bruce Wayne" was a disaster. I knew it would be bad since I had now learned to distrust Morrison and because it had time travel in it, such a cop out way of enabling a writer to do whatever they want. But I didn't want to miss out on how Batman came back.
I have read it and I can now say I wasted a good $24 in the process. I paid this money so I could see Bruce Wayne in various eras as things I don't like reading about (Caveman, Pirate, 1800s Gunfighter, 1920s looking detective set in a more modern time) in Super Hero comics. I got to see well estbalished characters act out of character (one example being Red Robin yelling at Wonder Woman and Superman for not helping Batman, like they had a choice?). The Tim Drake I know, even under great stress wouldn't react like that.
The kicker of this all is that I could easily have skipped it. It is not essential at all, except I guess someday we will see the return of this hyper adapter AKA Hunter Killer AKA Living Curse, AKA Death Idea return to bother Batman again (how many names do you have to give the same thing anyway?).
If I had to sum up what this story was about, I would say it was an attempt at throwing Batman into various eras of North America with a reiteration of Batman's origin (like I needed that again) with the writer's lame attempt at a new perspective (which isn't very thought provoking at all). It came off like an "after school" message that Batman has always gotten by with a little help from his friends even though he often thinks he is all alone.
Well, I have let myself be fooled for far too long. From this point on I refuse to ever buy ANYTHING Grant Morrison writes unless it is in the $1 bin and even then I will only get it to fill in a hole in a collection.
Bravo people. I needed to listen to other people who think like I do about Morrison. I can't understand why so many people back this terrible writer. To me its like backing a go kart in the grang prix.. You just wouldn't do that because compared to a race car, a go kart is blatantly inferior. Its like its opposite day as someone pointed out. I HATED every page and panel of return of bruce wayne yet when your a Batman fan, you feel compelled to ride out the storm of Grant Morrison till the calmer waters of a better writer arrives. If you wanna know what Morrison is all about, check out this - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6148569602584070911#
ReplyDeleteDodgy writing is one thing but some of what this guy is into is just mental. Seriously, hes off his rocker. Magic is fine for comics Grant but its not real, thats too many drugs talking. Unless of course you can show me just one example in the history of the world of a single person who has been able to prove either logically or empirically under reasonable experimental conditions the existence of magic -
I’ll give you my piano, one of my legs, and my wife.... Word.
I've been a Batman fan my entire life.
ReplyDeleteBatman is now the single worst thing wrong with DC comics.
I'm reading Spider-man now.
Thanks a lot morrison. You have single handedly ruined a 70 year old pop culture icon.
Seriously, how do you ruin Batman? He is such a good character he writes himself.
Why hasn't anyone fired morrison already?
I totally agree that Morrison has ruined Batman, in fact after Wayne's announcement of Batman Inc. I thought I was reading Iron Man. So now Wayne is the DC version of Tony Stark?
ReplyDeleteSigh...sadly I believe that Morrison has put the final nail in Batman. Now that Wayne has associated himself with Batman there is no going back. I used to love DC and their Vertigo titles, now I have lost tons of respect for them for letting Morrison go wild and self indulgent.
Thank you Mr. Morrison and taking one of my childhood icons and trashing it.
Yeah, I threw my complete "Return of Bruce Wayne" and One shot of "Batman: The Return" on Ebay. I can't bear to have it in my collection. That is saying something too.
ReplyDelete"To me its like backing a go kart in the grang prix.. You just wouldn't do that because compared to a race car, a go kart is blatantly inferior."
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of deft subtlety I'd expect from someone who finds a mainstream comic book title too confusing.
Poster 3 above: Yeah, Morrison's run on Batman is pretty terrible, but "Now that Wayne has associated himself with Batman there is no going back."??? Nah, man. This is comics. There's ALWAYS going back. Retcons will happen and the status quo will return eventually.
ReplyDeletePoster immediately above: You are exactly why people hate Grant Morrison fans. This is the kind of snotty, half-witted dismissiveness that characterizes so many of Morrison's hard-core fans.
It isn't that the stories are confusing per se, though they are more so than is needed esp. in a Batman comic. It is mostly that the stories are bad and use some of the lamest tricks of the trade like magic and time travel. Using time travel (to me) usually means a lack of talent unless done amazingly well.
ReplyDeleteAnd though I don't consider myself the most intelligent person on the planet, I have achieved enough to make me believe that my IQ is high enough to grasp Morrison's garbage (Passing Score in AP English Test, College Graduate, Law School graduate) and to recognize it for what it is (garbage) and not genius.
Grant Morrison is the Rob Liefeld of writing. Liefeld was considered THE comic book artist at one point. I truly believe (or at least hope) that someday the comic book fandom community will collectively look back and say, "God, why in the hell did we ever think that stuff was sophisticated writing?"
ReplyDeleteGudday, I tell you what it is great to see that I'm not alone.
ReplyDeleteAs a 17 year old guy Im just happy that i've inherited my brothers old comic book collection, because other wise after reading Grant Morrisons take on batman I would never have touched batman again.
But thats made me think, what about all the kids and people being freshly introduced to comics? I was lucky enough to be introduced to batman via the "Legends Of the Dark Night Series" (something which I only recently discovered Morrison wrote for, my least favourite ark).
To quote Morrison, "They are not made to change or die"- has to be the complete oposite view I have on comics. If the story can't evolve and just keeps reseting itself like an episode of the simpsons, it just ends up becoming a crappy tv soap operah. At least if things feel like they are changing the reader can feel like they are moving forward, but with good ol' granty that doesn't seem to happen.
Personally I would like to write comics for a living myself and working on batman would be a must for me. I'd like to create a seperate series of batman where everything is permanent (although this may not appeal to everyone) I think it would be good to see develpment, characters staying permanently dead or incacerated for instance, of course it would only run to the length it could (running low but not empty on good villians and strong stories of course signifying the end).
Anyways, my point is make sure you invigorate your future readers through your collections! Without doing so could lead to a never ending perpetuation of horrible writers! Here's hopin' by the time us new bloods come through morrison will be retired. Or dead.
"Since most people who cite a 'convoluted mess' in regards to Grant's work turnout to be unable to pass a high school English comprehension test, said citation tends to be viewed as comedy."
ReplyDelete-Warren Ellis
Congrats, guys.
Warren Ellis thinks you're all hilarious.
(I can tell you exactly what happened in Final Crisis. It's one of the best crossovers of the decade. The fact that you're taking down a book like All Star Superman speaks poorly of your emotional and mental maturity. Instead of bitching about how terrible a guy like Grant is for RUINING Batman, you should be reading universally beloved and acclaimed books like "The Invisibles" or "Animal Man.")
The funny thing is that people who are able to pass high school English are the ones who laugh at Grant Morrison. Or, more specifically, those who passed high school English and went further. He is more of a middle-school take on writing.
ReplyDeleteI have posted a few comments here, this is the same Chris. Man, I am glad to see someone cited Warren Ellis back around Jan. 30th. I just happened to read his last 4 or 5 issues on Astonishing X-Men last night. Talk about tacky and unimpressive. A mutated (with disabilities not flashy powers like teleptahy mind you) offpsring of a WW II Nuclear blast survivor became a wealthy enough, through genetics studies, to afford a space station & a space ship as large as Rhode Island!?!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteAnyone can take some real history and warp it to fit their ourageous story, being able to do so doesn't guarantee that it will be good. This story I mentioned is a prime example of how it isn't.
As for a previous poster's praise of Morrison for works like "The Invisibles" or "Animal Man," they may be great stories, I don't know. Morrison may also be a great writer for those types of stories. But most of the posters here, myself included, seem to feel he should stick to those sort of titles and stay away from main stream titles and characters like Batman. If he wants to write Batman, stick with an "Elseworld/What If" sort of story. That is what most of his main stream work seems to turn into anyway (example being the last storyline he did for the X-Men that was set in the future or something).
My biggest problem with Morrison is, unlike most writers, instead of going into a project with the goal of writing a great story, he seems to go out of his way to make his story the definitive version through mass changes/retcons to characters and the history. On it's own, Batman R.I.P. could have been a great story about Batman being beaten then coming back to "save the day." Instead, we got a tie-in to a universe wide cross-over, followed by a ridiculous time travel story that attempts to turn Batman, an ordinary man who was traumatized into fighting crime, into a character who is cursed/destined to become the man he is. And now after the Batman Inc. "reveal," it will take another major retcon just to undo it. Basically, he has created a mess of Batman...
ReplyDeleteThe thing is there just cannot be two batmans. Period. I dunno, I read comic books in my pre- teen and teen-age yrs. (Most of which was batman) then drifted away from it. It was batmans "death" that pulled me back in..with an attitude of ,"no.wtf?" And I read the first 2 issues of final crisis as I was instructed by my local comic book shop. I said to myself my god what kind of befuddled mess have comic books become? As much as I wanted to understand the demise of batman, I just could not comprehend it. Who could? Luckily, I was steeree towards Y:The Last man (which I believe is the finest and smartest graphic novel ever.) Which kept me reading comics and I discovered many other enjoyable titles. So I went back and reread f.c.#1&2 thinking I would get it.nope. and I determined that I wasn't a morrison fan. Then came b&r#1..and I begrudgingly read it..and loved it(I think.) So I began reading batman and b&r..thinking I was wrong and maybe f.c. was just morrisons f$#* up. Everyone has them. I couldn't believe my brain was happily accepting a non bruce batman. But I enjoyed the fresh banter and love/hate relationship w/ damien. And remembered why dick was such a great character and The art was different too. But I like everyone else was being duped. The plots got more inane and just confusing. I found myself having to reread individual pages to comprehend what I had just read. Then came t.r.o.b.w. and in anticipation of who would remain batman I was very interested..until I began reading the time traveling storyline, and it was like f.c. all over again.. I began to have all kinds of second thoughts and after having read the CLUSTERFUCK that was#6. I want off of the damn ship mr. Morrison..ur crazy. And so r u dc for allowing one of the most brilliant, hope inspiring symbols of our humanity to be defiled and defemated by a money driven agenda. There cannot be two batmans. This is dc's way of making twice the money and satisfying the greyson(morrison)fans and the wayne(anti-morrison)fans. And it will destroy batman if it already hasn't. And I know all u 25yr.+ comicbook readers are all saying its no big deal, just ride out the storm and all will be fixed like it always is. But I have memories and what will fix that? Continuity counts. Last, all u starwars fans like myself take a look at what happens when in the name of $ and appeasment of all, the market of a well known franchise is polluted and flooded..uh, em. The prequels & the clone wars. God, we never learn. Shame on u d.c.,shame.
ReplyDeleteAwww. Look at all you sad fat half-wits jerking each other off to boost your little egos that were so awfully bruised by not being able to follow a simple comic book plot. How cute.
ReplyDeleteHans, your face..
ReplyDeleteHans, I followed it. It was pre-adolescent crap.
ReplyDeleteComics are dying at the very time that comic book movies are booming. Green Lantern leads all monthly sales with less than 75,000 sold a month. Captain Marvel sold 1.4 million a week in the 40s. Fortunately the prices have soared to help profits and the folks who own comics are primarily interested in them as ideas for TV and movies, unfortunately at the present rate of decline by 2020 the top comic book will sell 25,000 and by 2030 they will simply be movie storyboards available to the public as part of the Deluxe Movie Cube packaging along with action figures and other memorabilia.
ReplyDeleteFortunately as the popularity of comics drops by orders of magnitude and the studios have yet to understand what makes a good comic book movie, the public is completely irrelevant. Success is measured in artistic terms, hence Mr. Morrison. In the days when a million was the minimum for success, he would have lasted several issues of one run and never have been heard from again. In the future when comics exist only as the blueprints for movies, his non-linear, greatest impact every panel style will be worthless and he will be unemployable. Movies actually demand plot and resolution or would you be happy with a movie that ends with Superman singing his enemy out of existence and wishing earth back into being after a chaos of images mixed like a music video on acid?
For the moment we have GM's finest hour. Like Picasso in the height of cubism, GM has redefined his art form into something only an elite few can enjoy. Like art where beauty, now the domain of everyone with a camera and a facebook account, is a thing to be scorned, GM has brushed aside the interconnections of plot that drive the current renaissance in fantasy literature to create new and brave world of Scatterpoint comics. While the masses have gone back to that odd form known as the novel, we the comic book enthusiasts argue the merits of our artform and congratulate our artists on how far they have come from the days when comics were cheap entertainment churned out to satisfy the simple desires of children to have fun. The days when comics were relevant.
Please GM continue your Scatterpoint magic until comics are no more a mass media then the Western picture and a new Stan Lee comes along to revive the whole thing into something fun. Someday, someway Superman will again fly through the hearts of little boys reading with flashlights under the covers. Someday children will again find the exploits of the World's Greatest Detective a thrill a minute ride. Not for many years, Grant, Dan, DC you have seen to that. Someday will come as Supes, Bats and the gang will outlive all of your nihilism and deconstructionism. Someday the sun will shine again and Superman will bask in its superpower giving rays.
Rant over.
Morrison is like a poor retarded man's Alan Moore with a lobotomy.
ReplyDeleteAnd Warren Ellis needs to STFU. I don't think his rapidly waning comic-sales will improve by insulting comic book fans. The whole comics industry is dying because of self-indulgent, arrogant assholes like Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison and their pushover editors. Batman RIP was the biggest insult I've ever read in my life as a comics fan, I thought Miller's All-Star was less grating, and that was so bad as to become a meme. That fanboy who insists that we should be talking about The Invisibles and Animal Man instead of complaining about the fact Morrison has single-handedly destroyed a 70-year-old cultural icon, really needs to get his priorities straights a comics fan. Morrison has been an asshole from the outset of his career, bashing other writers at any opportunity he had, he's also an unjustified egomaniac and no, those shades don't look cool.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that relating Morrison to literature is a little bit absurd. Have you ever read the Meta-barons line? Or any other comic stories apart from the classic ones? One may easily comprehend that those comics can be related to literature. Batman is my favourite pop icon. I love Bruce Wayne. For me, he is the pop definition of Homo Universalis. I may be wrong, but Morrison and literature are two things with no correlation. He uses pseudo-philosophical absurdities, pseudo-scientific terms and meta-religious thinking in order to confuse his readers. Having provoked this type of confusion, some readers are willing to call actually themselves stupid for not understanding the depth of his majesty, the mastermind the GRAN(D)T MORRISON HIMSELF. I don't know. I believe he likes messing up with the character showing no respect to the previous legacy. He simply has to rediscover the wheel. He has to! He can't accept the fact that someone else discovered the wheel before him. He couldn't deal with the Batman line. He couldn't cope with the character. So, he did, what he knew best. Deconstructing the hero (remember new X-men?), creating a new environment, new alliances, new Batman. Batman INC? Bruce Wayne in need of many Batmen around the world? Batman running an "academy"? Training a sidekick (Robin), inspiring a super hero (Huntress) is a thing, creating a batman academy, corporation, fraternity, you name it, is another. And it's stupid. I dislike G. Morrison. Anyone noticed Batman 666? Damian looks like Morrison. Did he actually pass his face on the Batman legacy?????????
ReplyDeleteYes, Damian is Morrison's Mary Sue, that much is obvious.
ReplyDeleteGreat post otherwise though. Morrison is the guy who understands just a bit more in Philo 101 in college than the rest of the people who were forced to take it, and uses that to seem like the smartest monkey.
Just read E is for Extinction. I had sworn off morrison after RIP, but somehow he keeps popping back up.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that I know everything there is to know about literature, but I do have an English degree. I think his stuff is pretty bad. He can't seem to tell a cohesive storyline. I shouldn't think that I skipped a page or missed a panel when reading a comic. His character names are the worst. I think everytime he names a character something stupid, he is laughing at us.
I'm thinking of creating a donation site to collect funds to fly one person out to Grant Morrison's house just to punch him in the face. Who's in?
ReplyDeleteReturn of Batman was a POS. Many of you want to believe those that don't like his writing just don't understand his "genius." Get over that nonsense. It just flat out sucks to us. Its not compelling or thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteWarren Ellis, sure he's entitled to his opinion, but he can still eat a dick. How dare he insult the fans like that. When you have the talent shitting on the people that pay their way its no wonder comics are dying out.
And now Morrison is doing the "revamp" of Superman in Action Comics. And it's exactly what you'd expect. I really good concept (returning Superman to his roots as a blue collar defender of everyman)completely ruined by Morrison's inability to write. I don't think there were more than 4 line in the book that sounded like something a real person would say. And the plotting is typical Morrison half thought out garbage.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with writers taking superheroes and revamping stories, killing them of or breaking the rules. Heck, I loved Superman Red Son and Kingdom Come.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is Grant Morrison is boring. I'll give him "We 3", but that's it. I've read the Invisibles, Batman R.I.P., All Star Superman, and Kill your Boyfriend, and they were all one dimensional. The worst part is that he seems to be screaming "look at how groundbreaking I am" in his writing, without saying anything refreshing at all. His stuff is just plain boring. He's like the Terry Goodkind of comic writers.
Final Crisis was crap and i just read the first issue of The New 52: Action Comics and his writing is still garbage. I just can't imagine that Grant Morrison is good enough to even sit in the same room with Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi, Tony S. Daniel, or Scott Snyder. If anything Peter Tomasi should be the go to guy. Black Adam: The Dark Age was one of the best mini series I have ever read.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Grant Morrison is writing The New 52 Action Comics in the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. I hate the obvious political class warfare liberal mentality in comics especially since we are all smart enough to realize that not all wealthy people are greedy like George Soros and his so called spontanious protest with sex offending drugs addicts in tents on Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteGrant Morrison is also one dimensional. He fails to give any depth to the characters. His work is a groundbreaking epic failure and hopefully he leaves DC and goes over to the ultra communist publisher known as Dynamite Entertainment. Alex Ross is no doubt an amazing artist, but he is a shit for brains antiAmerican asswipe.
Art Not Art
ReplyDeleteArt can't be art,
Can't cannot be art,
Art is something,
Can't is something,
Brush nothing until nothing is something in the end,
End the in something is nothing until nothing brush,
Forwards and backwards to and fro,
to and fro Forwards and backwards,
nothing,
smiles equate meaning,
meaning elicits smiles,
something,
dance for the picture,
the picture likes it when you dance,
pictures are art,
nothing is art,
nothing is something if it can be called nothing at all,
understand and unlearn all you know,
know how to unlearn what you learned to unlearn how to learn,
Art is not Art
The problem with Grant Morrison has nothing to do with politics. The problem just that he's not a very talented writer. I'm 100 percent behind OWS and I can see that Grant Morrison's writing is crap.
ReplyDeleteRight. It's not a matter of politics. That's advanced stuff. Morrison is a failure at a much more basic level of writing. In fact that's his major failing, he focuses on his theme so much that he forgets to actually write good stories.
ReplyDeleteIts been at least 6 months since I read a Grant Morrison story made in the last 12 years. My life is less anger filled because of it.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I knew now to touch any work he has in the New 52, he will never ever get me again.
If I have a sub. at my store and he starts writing for one of the titles, the title will be returned to the comic shop owner and anything by Johns will be bought in equal number instead.
I feel so much better knowing I'm not along in thinking Grant is totally useless at writing Batman. Personally I felt the 1 Year Later reset was perfect (for the Batman family at least) and less than 3 years later they set out to completely up-end the Batman storyline again. He's written some real crap over the last few years but I feel the biggest turd he dropped was Damien Wayne. Totally annoying! Simply put: so long as that shit is Robin, or even a major character at all, I will not be buying any Batman comics. Bring back Jeff Loeb! The HUSH story arc was awesome!!!
ReplyDeletePeople, people...
ReplyDeleteI'm all for ragging on Morrison's run on Batman, but can we please try to not elevate crap like "Face the Face" and Tony Daniel's run just to put Morrison down?
As lackluster as Morrison's stuff is, it's nowhere near the worst in Batman I've read. The three and a half years prior to that yielded a crop of even worse Batman stories (War Games, Leslie Thompkins being a killer, Riddler getting humiliated and then turning into a generic mastermind with a vomit-worthy Bishonen redesign, Hush Returns, period...). "Face the Face" was insulting garbage that flushed Harvey Dent's character down the toilet and set up a lazy "mystery" just to kill off a couple D-listers, and Tony Daniel... quite frankly, I'd take Morrison over Daniel's tripe any day.
All Grants from Scotland are not so bad : Think ALAN GRANT !! What a fabulous writer he was when u compare him to the bold asshole Grant Morrison...I miss Denny o'Neil as Editor, and those straight altought fascinating stories written by Alan Grant, with Breyfogle on pencils...eh , those were the times!
ReplyDeleteI read Morrison's run on Animal Man, and I quite liked it. I liked his outside the box approach and his characterization. I also remembered I read Arkham a long while back and remembered thinking it was decent. So, all the web babble said, "if you liked that you must read Doom Patrol, this is the pinnacle". And I tried. I really did. I read issues 19-40 before giving up. Pages and pages of characters or the "narrator" speaking psychobabble. Sometimes it is supposed to be nonsense, sometimes there is meaning hidden in there - whatever. I liked the ideas behind characters like Crazy Jane and all that, it is just that the stories were not gripping at all. I like how they characters usually call themselves by their real names. I liked that Richard Case's art, which I found very plain Jane got better and better. Too bad the stories didn't. What if a comic book was the Twilight Zone, every issue. At least TZ characters didn't talk psychobabble all the time. No thank you. I have read none of his work beyond this, so I can't give my opinion. If it's anything like his DP run, no thank you.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Alan Moore has ever read any of his stuff. Wonder what he would think of it. Moore could write a series deconstructing GM's "style". I bet it'd be awesome; I'd buy every issue.
ReplyDelete