Grant Morrison Writes the World's Greatest Super-Heroes

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Interviewed by Scott Simmons on June 23, 1997

Reunited after 15 years of being apart, the flagship characters of DC�Comics are reasserting their claim to the title "the World�s Greatest�Super-Heroes." Over the past year, JLA has rivalled Uncanny X-Men in�sales and has stirred up more excitement than mainstream super-heroes�have in quite a while.

That success is largely due to the presence on JLA of writer Grant�Morrison. A Scotsman, Morrison is largely considered part of the�"British Invasion" of American comics that took place in the late �80s.�Along with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Jamie Delano, Morrison laid the�groundwork for DC�s Vertigo line and then left comics for a brief�sabbatical.

In 1995, he returned in full force, starting his�creator-owned Vertigo title The Invisibles. Since then, Morrison has�been busy: The Mystery Play graphic novel, a Flex Mentallo mini-series,�the short-lived super-hero series Aztek, and Marvel�s bizarre Skrull Kill Krew mini-series are only the most notable of his work in the past�two years.

Strangely low-key for such a busy man, Grant Morrison made time to speak�with us on June 23 about his plans for JLA and The Invisibles�as well�as a few other topics.

First of all, I guess we�re both aware that you�re writing DC�s�best-selling title right now.

Yeah.

JLA sells as much at our store as most of the X-Men titles.

That�s great.

Let me ask you: Were you expecting that kind of response when you�took on JLA?

Ah�"no" is the honest answer. I�d hoped for it, but, to be honest,�I didn�t expect it.

Has the book�s warm reception by critics and readers changed any of�your plans?

It made me bolder, actually.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

So there are things that you wouldn�t have tried?

Yeah, well, a few of the people are into it, and I kind of think�obviously I�m onto the right track ... . But I had a feeling that this�would be the right time for this type or version of JLA. And the fact�that it�s been successful kind of gives me the impetus to go on and do�some more interesting stuff.

I have a lot of ideas on where and what to take it, where and what to�take super-hero comics in general. So this gives me an opportunity, and�it�s great. It�s a responsibility.

Is there a particular issue where we can look for the change in�direction to start manifesting itself?

You�ll start to notice around issue 10, which is the start of the�big Justice League epic. That�s gonna be the one.

[I want to take] the idea of super-heroes
out of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century.

How long are you planning on staying on JLA? Do you have a definite�time period set for it?

Oh, right now I�ve got three years worth of stuff that I think is�really, really good. They�re all right there. But of course as I go on I�could come up with other ideas and other ways of saying the same�things�but currently it�s going to be three years.

And do you have a long-term goal? Is there a destination that you�re�trying to reach?

Pretty much. I wanted to finish with the book in the year 2000.

Ah.

And, having finished it, leave the Justice League in a fit state for�the 21st Century. [I want to take] the idea of super-heroes out of the�20th Century and into the 21st Century. So I want it to be really�ultra-modern, high-tech, futuristic by that time, so that whoever takes�it on is dealing with something that we just haven�t seen in the last�century.

Now, I believe that I�ve heard in earlier interviews that you were�planning on ending Invisibles Volume Three in the year 2000 also.

Exactly.

So is that still planned to coincide with the end of the millennium?

Pretty much. It�ll probably be somewhere in the middle of the year,�maybe, the way things are working out, but definitely I want to finish�it off�finish off JLA AND Invisibles is ideal�then take a rest.

Oh, really? Take another sabbatical, I guess?

Yeah, probably.

continue ...

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