(person) by nrkblue Tue Jul 17 2001 at 13:06:20

For over a decade, Grant Morrison has been one of a small number of key players in the writing of graphic novels. He has been listed in the "top 100 creative people in America" by Entertainment Weekly, for his contributions to the medium, which include ground-breaking work such as the revisionist Batman graphic novel, Arkham Asylum.

A veteran of the British comic 2000AD, Morrison has been responsible for some of that publication's most memorable stories and characters, particularly Zenith and Big Dave, as well as writing for established characters such as Judge Dredd.

After leaving 2000AD (due apparently to personal differences with the editor), he went on to create two series' which have never been collected: St. Swithin's Day - the story of a young northern man who travels south to Assasinate Margaret Thatcher - and The New Adventures of Hitler. The former of the two was the subject of heated debate in the House of Commons.

Another series which brought about political outcry, while simultaneously gaining huge critical acclaim was the Invisibles series. This story about an underground group of anarchist vigilantes has proven popular with the reading masses, spawning numerous fora and mailing lists*. The series has also been described by Morrison as a "complex hyper-sigil", an emblem with powerful magical properties.

In addition to his critically acclaimed Invisibles series, Morrison has become the subject of abject hatred or simple dislike by sweaty Marvel fanboys due to his alternative, interesting and personality-driven character developments. Morrison's X-Men editions have gained an almost cult-like standing in the Marvel catalogue.

These sorts of character development and transcendant story-lines are nothing new to fans of GM's previous work.

Morrison has proven himself to be artistically transcendent himself, diversifying from graphic novels to the realms of music, fine art, prose writing, stage writing and screen writing. A collection of short stories and stage plays was published in a volume called Lovely Biscuits in 1999, while a number of ongoing film projects exist, including adaptations of his Invisibles series, a Dan Dare screenplay for Ridley Scott and the sequels in the Lawnmower Man franchise; Superbia and The Kult.

Morrison, an initiated chaos magician, has travelled extensively and played with various bands. He still writes and records music and stages semi-regular DJ happenings under the aegis of The Beastocracy. Educated at Mosspark primary and Allan Glen's School for Boys, he now lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland, after spending much time in the United States.

Grant's most recent work is a series called The Filth, penned by Chris Weston, released by Vertigo as a writer-owned graphic novel. He is currently finishing his run of New X-Men, and has revealed that he has signed a "controversial" deal to go back to DC, to work on one of the major titles. This title appears to be a resurrection of a very old DC staple - Seven Soldiers. Morrison gives the Seven a more modern spin with just a pinch of homage to the golden era of DC comics. On top of this, his two mini-series We3 and Vimanarama! were released in 2004 and 2005. We3 is a cross between Richard Adams' Plague Dogs, Disney's Incredible Journey and Robocop. Vimanarama! is the story of regular people dealing with Supra-Dimensional Hindu Gods and Demons in suburbia. As usual, it's gritty reality with a Morrison twist.

It is also rumoured recently that Mr. Morrison has tied the knot.

This is a list of Grant Morrison's canon of collected Graphic Novels;

Reference: www.grant-morrison.com and www.disinfo.net

* see www.invisibilia.co.uk and www.barbelith.com

Category:

I like it! 6 C!s