[Updated] WONDERCON '06: GRANT MORRISON SPOTLIGHT

[MattBrady]

Updated 2/12 with contributions by Ben Ebert...

Grant Morrison’s “Spotlight” panel at WonderCon on Saturday afternoon was as much about magic and the writer’s own unique view of the world than it was about comic books.

Moderated by DC editor Steve Wacker, the following recap is just a few, more comic book-related highlights from the panel. Look for a full transcript of the entire program later this week here at Newsarama…

Talking about his work outside of comics, Morrison said he just finished the script for We3 at New Line, and talking about the differences between the movie and the comic book, explained that a lot of scenes didn’t make it into the comic book because he only had 96 pages to play with. He said he put a lot of scenes he had to take out back into the screenplay.

Asked if he believes The Invisibles still holds ups, Morrison said he regards it as the central pillar of everything, and in which he was able to imagine himself a new life through writing the series.

He said there are plans to do a new kind of “catching up” Invisibles story, going on to say he liked the idea of the Sandman hardcover Vertigo did featuring new stories illustrated by various artists, and may go in that direction with it, catching up with all the characters in new stories to see where they are now.

He went onto to say however, that this probably won’t see publication in whatever form it takes until 2008, allowing for his schedule to clear and also allowing for what he calls “this conservative era” to end and for the world to be more receptive to the Invisibles again.

Morrison said he has a “major work” planned with JH Williams at Vertigo that would be along the lines of The Invisibles and The Filth.

Asked if he would attempt “modular storytelling” again, ala the structure of Seven Soldiers of Victory, Morrison said he enjoyed the experiment, but found writing the overarching story was much harder than writing the individual stories.

He went onto say 52 will have some of that experimental, modular feel, although done with more writers obviously.

On the topic of his upcoming Wildstorm work, he cited the desire to work with Jim Lee as a major motivation.

The larger idea he is bringing to the Wildstorm Universe is what Morrison describes as “Adult Superheroes” that are based upon grown-up ideas like conversation and consideration and such, rather than more adolescent ideas about flashy costumes, power struggle, power fantasy, and constant fights that most of today’s superheroes are based on.

Talking in more specifics, he said the Wildcats series with Jim Lee is set five years in the future, in a time when these ideas on “adult superheroes” have taken hold. He cited an example where every family has their own Spartan robot as their own personal, household superhero.

He declined to talk about any more of his Wildstorm plans in specifics, which he described as a lot of cool ideas that he likes, saying he didn’t want to “see them in someone’s else’s comic in two months”.

In regards to what he’s personally working in 52, Morrison said a character he is focusing on is Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men. He said Magnus is recovering after a severe nervous breakdown and he can’t get the Metal Men to work again.

He’s also working with a bunch of other characters “lost in space”, including Animal Man, and commented that although Greg Rucka is writing most of the John Henry Irons scenes, he is doing some as well.

Asked if All Star Superman is thematically linked to middle-age (that's people middle-age), with Superman having to face mortality, Morrison commented it absolutely was...

“Yeah, I’m 46 and exploring these themes”.

All-Star Superman is also unique in that unlike many writers (Alan Moore was specifically mentioned), Morrison typically writes without an ending in mind. However, this time All Star Supes is “very coherent, very structured” and he’s working toward a “particular end”.

Adding to his teases from the DCU Universe panel about issue #4, Morrison said readers will see a transvestite Jimmy Olsen on page one.

Finally, asked about the origins of Seven Soldiers, Morrison explained the concept originally began as something called, “JL-8”, which was going to be a version of the Avengers archetypes in the DCU. He named a few character parallels, such as Guardian as the Captain America character, Mr. Miracle as the Thor-type (based on his connection to gods), and the Demon was the Satanically powered Hulk-type, but explained that concept fell apart and would eventually evolve to become SSoV.

During its evolution, Frankenstein was originally conceptualized as Martian Manhunter, which is why he ends up hunting on Mars.

However, Morrison feels things have come out much better with Frankenstein and was thrilled he was able to get that character.

On that note, he said if the time and opportunity presented itself, he could do solo series for Guardian, Frankenstein, and Bulleteer for years, as he loves the characters and has lots of ideas for them.

Again, look for a full transcript of the hour-long panel later this week here on Newsarama.

RELATED STORIES:

WonderCon '06: Peter David Signs Marvel Exclusive Contract

WonderCon '06: DCU Universe 2006: The Best Is Yet To Come

WonderCon '06: The Architects of the DC Universe Panel

WonderCon '06: Vertigo Panel

Newsarama.com's WonderCon 2006 coverage is brought to you by Fox Searchlight’s NIGHTWATCH, in theaters February 17th

[Drunken Fist]

More Invisibles is A-Okay with me! And I can't wait for the WE3 movie. I don;t think it was the most brilliant thing ever, like some people do, but I ejnoyed it a lot, and the movie could be amazing if done properly. I'm really excited to see some of this new stuff Morrison has coming at DC!

[BillReed]

Sweet.

[bigmentalross]

I'm interested in seeing the full transcript to see what else Morrison had to say.

Morrison talking about magic is always a good thing and he always makes it seem more exciting and accessible than most of those who write extensive books on the subject.

[Kolimar]

Will Magnus and his Metal Men. YES!

[kross29]

oh yeah. grant morrison is the man every household has a spartan robot. man is that cool. can't wait.

[4DGlasses]

Originally posted by bigmentalross
I'm interested in seeing the full transcript to see what else Morrison had to say.

Here, here!

I want the whole story too!

[innocentboy]

WE3!!!

GUD MOVIE!!!!

[md62]

2006 - The year of Grant Morrison. All Star Superman. Batman. Wild Cats. Authority. 52. Great reading.

[MicroZone]

Originally posted by kross29
oh yeah. grant morrison is the man every household has a spartan robot. man is that cool. can't wait.

Why wait for vthe fall? Look for a Vision in every home in an upcoming Marvel event this Spring.



j/k

[ElijahSnowFan]

...what else he does, if he writes Batman similar to the way he did in JLA years back, i will never say a negative word about this man for the rest of my life.

[Lord Ice]

So does this mean Will Magnus is back to being a living human instead of a Metal Man himself, as he had been since the MM mini from years ago?

[KyleV]

Interesting stuff.

I'd love to see what his line up for JL-8 was. Kind of nifty to play with, actually. Guardian as Cap, Mister Miracle as Thor, Zatanna as the Scarlet Wtich. I wonder what line-up he was using in his head? The original five plus Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye?

Wait...Hawkeye/I, Spyder...

Oh, god, now I'm going to be thinking about this all night...

Like how Morrison has four books coming up, but three of them aren't monthly and the fourth is written by committtee. I imagine we'll see a lot from him in the next year.

[Lex]

I'm definately excited about all of Morrison's upcoming work.

One thing I'm curious about is the status of all those revamps of unused DC properties that he said he was working on when he went exclusive. Are they still coming out this year or have they been put on hold because of everything else he's working on?

[Psivage]

Now I want to see the Demon as a Satanic Hulk.

[The Beyonder]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Finally, asked about the origins of Seven Soldiers, Morrison explained the concept originally began as something called, “JL-8”, which was going to be a version of the Avengers archetypes in the DCU. He named a few character parallels, such as Guardian as the Captain America character, Mr. Miracle as the Thor-type (based on his connection to gods), and the Demon was the Satanically powered Hulk-type, but explained that concept fell apart and would eventually evolve to become SSoV

Here it is friends! Definitive proof that Marvel is simply copying everything DC does in an effort to -- hey waitaminnit!

Sorry, just wanted to highlight this, in case the "Marvel copies DC" trumpeteers missed it.

Both companies have fed off of each other for decades, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Zadillo]

Man, more Invisibles stuff? Sign me up! Something new from Morrison in the same vein as the Invisibles and The Filth? Yes please!!!!

Also definitely looking forward to his Wildcats and Authority stuff.

And Morrison doing something with Animal Man again??????? The good news just keeps on coming.

-Zadillo

[beta-ray]

Ugh, couldn't get through "The Filth"... but I love JH Williams III's work... Guess I will have to at least try it out... hmn...

[samnoir]

I'm glad Morrison is returning to the character of Will Magnus. His cameos in his Doom Patrol run always hinted at having something interesting in mind with the character.

It was a no brainer to pair Magnus up with Cliff Steele like that, and even have him build Cliff a body.

___________________________________

WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS OF COMICS for sale on EBAY! NEIL GAIMAN. KURT BUSIEK. DAVE GIBBONS.

MICHAEL TURNER SIGNED COMIC BOOKS for sale on EBAY! RARE VARIANT COVERS!

[samnoir]

Originally posted by KyleV
Interesting stuff.

I'd love to see what his line up for JL-8 was. Kind of nifty to play with, actually. Guardian as Cap, Mister Miracle as Thor, Zatanna as the Scarlet Wtich. I wonder what line-up he was using in his head? The original five plus Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye?

Wait...Hawkeye/I, Spyder...

Oh, god, now I'm going to be thinking about this all night...

Like how Morrison has four books coming up, but three of them aren't monthly and the fourth is written by committtee. I imagine we'll see a lot from him in the next year.

Hmmm.

Captain America - Guardian.
Iron Man - Bulleteer.
Hulk - Spawn of Frankenstein
Scarlet Witch - Zatanna
Thor - Mister MIracle.
Black Knight? - Shining Knight

I'm at a loss with Klarion. Quicksilver perhaps if Witches are being equated with Mutants?

___________________________________

CULT MONSTER and HORROR MAGAZINES, MEMORABILIA and more for sale on EBAY! FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. UNIVERSAL and HAMMER CREATURES. EVIL DEAD, BLADE, KING KONG.

THE AVENGERS GRAPHIC NOVEL written by GRANT MORRISON for sale on EBAY! STEED AND MRS PEEL! OUT OF PRINT. RARE.

[justinalanha]

This is very exciting. lots of good grantmorrison...thats all i want. And...more invisibles stories...

...think about that for a moment...

...oh yeah, OH YEAH...

...that is good, good news. If he sets it up like the sandman book he's talking about, different artists on a single hardcover...hello, Eisner.

Ugh, couldn't get through "The Filth"

...tyr again. snort, smoke, or drink something first. Or hey, try it sober...might work.

[rjjb7]

GM Vertigo'izing and INVISIBLE'izing the DCU!

Is this innovation or GM selling out?

Who cares? I'm pumped and onboard! (INVISIBLES brought me back to comics!)

[POWRSURG]

Originally posted by ElijahSnowFan
...what else he does, if he writes Batman similar to the way he did in JLA years back, i will never say a negative word about this man for the rest of my life.

Really? Wow. I have hated Batman ever since he got a hold of him in JLA. Since then, almost every writer has forgotten that Batman is NOT the best fighter on the planet. Batman SHOULDN'T be able to take out ever single freakin' super hero. The fact that members of the justice league of all people are scared of him is laughable. He might scare the current Firestorm, but the league? HAH.

I'd love to read about a somewhat sane Batman that remembers that he is a human. A Batman that occasionally gets beat up by a fighter (double plus if they are just a human, like Batman). A Batman that focuses on being the world's greatest detective.

And as a character study, I'd like to see how Batman would operate without Bruce Wayne's money. He'd have no Batcave, no Batmobile, no computers, no high tech weapons. I've always looked at the money being a huge character flaw. Without it, he would never have had the resources to become Batman. Could he still operate if those resources were removed? Morrison redefined the X-Men by turning mutants into celebrates, let's see what he can do with a poor Batman. Or someone else could use that idea, it'd make an interesting story.

[colecash]

It looks as tho Morrison is actually using and expanding on Casey's Wildcats which is pretty cool. I had a horrible feeling that with whats happening in Wildcats: Nemisis, Captain Atom, and Majestic, that they were trying to ret-con all the amazing work that Joe did...

I was apprehensive at first about Morrison taking over but now i'm thinking it could be freaking amazing!

[Araqnidm2]

So he doesn't like Mister Miracle as much as Frankenstein or Bulleteer? Mister Miracle has so much potential. Jack Kirby's original series was the ____ and Morrison's overall concept for this Mister Miracle is really cool. hmm...

We3 movie? Well the story and dialogue is going to be great. But half of We3's appeal for me was Quitely's insane layouts.

As long as they get the cast from Homeward Bound. Great chemistry, and the way that the Golden Retriever played Shadow with such subtle melancholy was brilliant. I would have never thought to take it there.