Grant Morrison Writes ... (Part 2)

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Jemm originally started�out as a�
Martian Manhunter series. The concept was
just too radical for�the Manhunter.

Let me get back to JLA for a moment.

Sure.

What can you tell us about the rosters of the Injustice League and�the Crime Syndicate? I understand that those are going to be figuring�... prominently into your epic.

Yeah. Well, the epic, it�s based around the war between the Justice�League and the Injustice Gang, or the new Injustice Gang. ... [T]he�thing with that Justice League�the guns, the "big guns"�what it�s�going to take for the big guns are the arch-enemies of those guys: Lex�Luthor, the Joker, Mirror Master, Ocean Master, Dr. Light, and Circe.�The Martian Manhunter is going to be opposed by a resurrected Jemm, Son�of Saturn, who�s working for Luthor.

Jemm, Son of Saturn!

Yeah, he�s back.

Wow. That�s a bit of continuity I didn�t expect anyone to remember.

Yeah, well, the interesting thing was that Jemm originally started�out as a Martian Manhunter series. The concept was just too radical for�the Manhunter, so they went for the change and turned it [in]to Jemm, Son of Saturn. But if you read the series again you�ll know ... .

I haven�t read that since it originally came out.

Yeah, I was assuming no one did. Except me.

[Laugh.] That leads to another question I was going to ask you in a�bit: How many comics do you read? You seem to have an amazing grasp of�what�s going on in the shared universe in general.

... I read everything Mark Waid does; I read Alan Moore; I read Kurt Busiek; and a few others. Basically, I read all the good super-hero�stuff.

And as far as [continuity], I�m a bit of an odd guy: Where I can,�I just make it up. [Laugh.] It seems to work for that sort of thing.

Well, it�s convincing.

Yeah. I hope so.

If you know the character, you know enough to fill in the blank�spots. That�s one of the reasons I think a lot of people are looking�forward to your run on The Flash. You�re going to be working on that with Mark Millar, aren�t you?

Yeah.

Let me ask you a question about your collaborations with Millar in�the past: How do you two work together when you co-write stories?

The idea is basically�I mean, we get on. We live in the same town.�And, you know, we met up because we were doing the same stuff, and we�expected that we would get on.

Basically, we sit and get drunk, and we�write these comics. Whenever we do a collaboration, we sit there and we�work the thing out, do a thumbnail sketch for it. Then we figure out the�basics of the dialogue; we work out the plot together; then one or the�other of us takes it away and just sends it in.

So one of you is standing there ranting, and the other is playing�pencil-man and drawing out the page?

Yeah, pretty much.

Aztek seemed to read a bit differently than, say, the Swamp Thing story the two of you worked on together, or Skrull Kill Krew. Was there�something different that the two of you did when you were plotting those�out, or�?

Ah, no, I think it�s just a different approach, that�s all.

What�s the status of Mark�s Zauriel mini-series? I haven�t heard�anything about that in a while.

It�s ongoing. It�s going to be out in time to coincide with�Zauriel�s return to the Justice League in issue 15.

Is there an artist assigned for that yet?

I�ve heard and all, but I don�t know who it is.

And it�s going to be a regular format, $1.95 book?

Yeah, and it kind of fills in the gaps between JLA # 7 and # 15.

So, is there any more leeway in DC letting you call Zauriel�"Hawkman"?

No, these guys will not let me do it, and I think it�s stupid.

[Both laugh.]

It was a great subject of debate at the Heroes Con last weekend.

Yeah, to me it seems awfully silly, and I think what they should do�is to call the guy Hawkman. And if they want to bring back the Katar Hol�character�and I don�t know why they�d want to, �cause nobody can seem�to make him work anymore�

Exactly.

And if they do anything about it, it�s the great battle of the�Hawkmen, you know. What a great way to sell this comic, when you see�this Zauriel and Katar Hol in battle.

He�s very visually powerful, too. I love the look of Zauriel. Who designed him?

Well, Howard designed that version, but the new version we�re using�[in JLA # 15] ... is in his dress uniform from Heaven ... . So that�s a�new look for him.

I�ll be looking forward to that.

Yeah.

continue ...

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