Morrison interview
ROGERS CADENHEAD
I don't know if it has hit the stands yet, but the next Amazing Heroes has
a Grant Morrison cover interview that his devotees ought to pick up. I
had not read anything about him before reading this interview (I got an
early copy), and he is different than I expected -- though, yes, he is
certifiably insane. I will wait to address more specific points until
people on here have read it.
Speaking of Morrison, I did not care for the latest issue of Doom Patrol.
His mind-altering villains, especially the Brotherhood of Dada, have been
a pleasant change from normal super-heroics, but the absurdity is
beginning to wear thin. Doom Patrol went from being completely typical to
being completely atypical -- no middle ground -- and I would like to see at
least a glimpse of normal life from time to time just to provide a contrast
with all the insanity that's going on. Without that kind of reference
point, his weirdness doesn't have as much impact. Also, he should provide
some kind of central theme to explain why there has been such a boom
market lately in crazy phenomena. Every half-baked (or twice-baked) world
domination scheme of the last eon has picked now to come to fruition.
Also, the Animal Man storyline has been an intriguing disappointment. I
liked the tone of the book when AM had his suburban family and normal life
to go back to. Now that they are all dead, he's just another super-hero
in a long line who has been driven over the edge by tragedy -- and how
many times have we seen that done since Dark Knight? The subplot about
continuity is what keeps me on the book.
The stories by Morrison about continuity (and the upcoming Crisis book)
have made me search out other comics that have explored the topic. Does
anyone know any? Alan Moore's "Pictopia," printing in an Anything Goes!
collection and soon to be reprinted in "Best Comics of the Decade" by
Fantagraphics, presents a terrific retroactive continuity horror story.
Rogers Cadenhead
Joel Potter
Firstly, Doom Patrol. I very much like the rather suureal
quality to the book these days. The reference of normality is the group
itself - although decidedly more 'extraordinary' than typical superhero
groups, they are still that - a superhero group. Because of their
extraordinary nature, they take on the more extraordinary threats. I'll
agree it is all a bit TOO surreal at times, but it's still very good.
The Some Other Interesting things: a while back, various things
were mentioned, like time travel and the fact that the Earth seems to be
the centre of every major 'Universe Threatening' event. Well, if the
star system if Bloogrotxximas is the home of the dreaded Crystal of
Kronn, and the Hokno (a nasty race of aliens) decide to use the power
of the Crystal of Kronn to eliminate the Universe (and presumably
survive into the next), then it's up to the heroes if Bloogrotxximas-IV
to save the universe. Clearly, this event (whilst perhaps coming into
the know of many cosmic level beings), is Not Important to the planet
Earth. So why write a story about it?
Of course, this leads to the idea of the universe constantly
being threatened. So why doesn't (at some point) the villains win?
Because the Heroes are HEROES!! (Oh boy. This is just too much).
Actually, this is a bit of a Devil's Advocate type argupment - I
con not really justify a universe like this, but I can still enjoy the
comics! By the way: if you can get at the Jaspers' warp, read it. If
you can't, go somewhere you can.
--
DarkAngel! | "the rumours of my death are greatly
AI/CS 1 | exaggerated"
<ai...@uk.ac.ed.castle> | - Mark Twain
Bob Mosley III
[Rogers Cadenhead's dislike for Grant Morrison deleted to save space]
...there's one thing that Rogers left out that should be of extreme
interest to all of r.a.c.
Spoilers after the ^L
^L
...Morrison states that he and Buddy will have a confrontation over the
fate of his family. While the outcome is not stated, he does make a
few comments about being eaten by leopard men.
...also, he comments about the revelations in issue #19, and about he
Psycho Pirate's link to the "second crisis".
...more would follow, but I didn't buy the issue...
OM
james a perreault
While he was doing the book signing tour for Arkham [sp?], he was
interviewed for Prisoners of Gravity.
Two things struck me. One, he was extremely camera shy, and two he
seemed very ordinary. Not like what I pictured him to be at all.
Jim Perreault
Pinkdex - TNG
I really enjoyed the interview in the just published Amazing
Heroes #176. I haven't read much Morrison, and I probably won't read
much in the future, but I have to like his style. For instance:
[On the X-Men/Doom Patrol likeness]:
"X-Men should have ended in 1980. The last good story was the
one where they all went in to the future and got killed I thought
that was really good. If only they'd stopped there. I suppose it's
just money, though. And yet these things just keep winning CBG polls,
and stuff like that. I mean, who *are* these people who think this is
any good? I was actually utterly insulted to find myself in the CBG
poll of favorite writers. Did you see it?"
Interviewer: "Yes."
"There were only two British writers in it. I think it was
Alan Moore and myself. Alan Moore was second and I was number 300 or
whatever.
Interviewer: "I think you came in fifth, actually."
"Yeah, well. I mean, you're surrounded by these people who
never learned to hold a pen, let alone write. Somebody phoned me up
to congratulate me, and I thought this was reason enough to go and
slit my wrists. Obviously the 130 people who voted for me were people
of rare perspicacity, but people who put Chris Claremont above
somebody like Alan Moore. What can you do?"
And there was a lot more to the interview. Hope I sparked
your interest enough to go out and read it -- definitely a must if
you're a Morrison fan.
--
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teo3...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
sorry about the little mistake...i didnt have the issue with me at the time
and the mane sounded right...alas, bummer, y'know???
they are indeed the Dry Bachelors, and I am...
-Das Toga