History Creator / GrantMorrison

* TheRival: They and Creator/AlanMoore don't get along. ''At. All''. Moore has accused Grant of, essentially, being his [[{{Series/Seinfeld}} Kenny Bania]] and stealing his schtick ("It's gold, Jerry, gold!") and art style. Morrison has taken an equivocal stance over the years, variously suggesting that they consciously dulled their own "esoteric" style and mimicked Moore to get a shot at writing for DC, while pointedly emphasizing that ''THEY'' had professional comics work published first (back in the days when Moore and Morrison were both working in fanzines and British small press comics) and that they are contemporaries who came up in comics at the same time but Moore just caught mainstream attention first. Morrison also once suggested that they'd been offered an opportunity to pitch a run on ''Miracleman'' after Moore left the book and that Moore sabotaged it out of spite, though this is more debatable (Moore has long maintained that he had picked Creator/NeilGaiman to follow him on ''Miracleman'' and if Morrison was offered the chance to pitch for it, he wasn't aware of it).

* ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman]]'' (including ''Batman and Robin'', ''The Return of Bruce Wayne'', and ''Batman, Inc.'')

* AuthorTract: Morrison pretty much likes to either add themself, or characters who act like them, in a large amount of their stories. Most of their comics (most notably ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''Comicbook/FlexMentallo'') are tracts speaking against the Dark Age of comics, specifically the idea that comics should mirror RealLife in their violence and morally ambiguous attitudes. Morrison's takes on Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} are extraordinarily optimistic and straight-forward; Franchise/{{Superman}} is often shown as a borderline God (especially in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'') who tirelessly works toward the betterment of mankind, while Franchise/{{Batman}} represents the peak of human ingenuity and intelligence, who can break free from any trap and defeat any villain.

** The BigBad of their ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}'' run, Doctor Hurt, claims to be "the hole in things" and "the piece that never fit." [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he's not ''quite'' that bad, though he is a HumanoidAbomination]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Nameless}}''

* AuthorPhobia: Morrison's childhood fear of the atomic bomb (their father being a hardcore pacifist and anti-nuclear activist) has caused the themes of nuclear war to loom over most of their works. If a UltimateEvil shows up in Morrison's work, expect it to be compared to a nuclear weapon sooner or later.

* AuthorPhobia: Morrison's childhood fear of the atomic bomb (their father being a hardcore pacifist and anti-nuclear activist) has caused the themes of nuclear war to loom over most of their works. If a UltimateEvil shows up in Morrison's work, expect it to be compared to a nuclear weapon sooner or later.

Whether or not their stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lot of people love them, lot of people hate them, and a good amount think they're just some wacky person who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating their books to the detriment of plot and character. They did once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that their protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making their main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic them]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think they're joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] his {{biography}} ''Supergods.''

Whether or not their stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lot of people love them, lot of people hate them, and a good amount think they're just some wacky person who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating their books to the detriment of plot and character. They did once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that their protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making their main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic them]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think they're joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] ''[[{{Biography}} Supergods]]...''

* AuthorGuestSpot: Famously in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. Hilariously, fellow DC writer John Ostrander realized not long after that by writing himself into a comic, Grant Morrison had put themself ''in continuity'', and made "the Writer" a member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one issue]].
* AuthorGuestSpot: Famously in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. Hilariously, fellow DC writer John Ostrander realized not long after that by writing himself into a comic, Grant Morrison had put himself ''in continuity'', and made "the Writer" a member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one issue]].

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: In their superhero work, their usually high up the idealistic end. Their other work can vary, but has a strong tendency towards the optimistic.

Since then, they've worked with Creator/MarvelComics, writing the controversial ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, and the ''Marvel Boy'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour: 1234'' miniseries. They returned to DC, and wrote ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'', ''Vimanarama'' and ''ComicBook/We3'' for Vertigo before cutting loose in the Franchise/DCUniverse with the seven ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries and the universally beloved ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. They proceeded to yet again redefine the mindscrew in their ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' run, attempting to reconcile the character's 70 years' worth of interpretations, and finally realized their life long dream of somehow making the DC Universe a sentient being in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. They then went on to work on the new ''Batman Incorporated'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Action Comics]]'' series.

** ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison his Batman run]]'' has ''tons'' of these, as part of their mission to make ''everything'' canon.

[[caption-width-right:202:The dude who [[RevisitingTheRoots gave]] Franchise/{{Superman}} his balls back.]]

Grant Morrison, [[http://www.scotsman.com/news/iannucci-on-birthday-honours-list-1-2358596 MBE]] (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish writer of comic books, best known for his complex use of meta-fiction within his stories.

His first published comic book work was Gideon Stargrave in 1978. After a few attempts at Marvel UK, they started writing ComicBook/{{Zenith}} for Britain's ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' magazine. Like pretty much every superhero comic by English/Scottish/Irish writers during the eighties, it was both a superhero deconstruction and an excuse to take shots at UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. It was because of Zenith that Grant was hired to do a comic about ComicBook/AnimalMan, a character few knew and nobody cared about, and started his long tradition of taking total losers and transforming them into something completely awesome (a writing method he seems to share with Creator/GeoffJohns, Creator/JeffLemire, and Creator/IanFlynn). Next was the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', turning them into the greatest constant MindScrew ever put into Four Colored pages.

After those critical successes, he wrote ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', which became the best selling graphic novel up to that point, and featured selected members of Batman's rogues gallery - as well as the Dark Knight himself - as different aspects of non-comic book, medical insanity, such as schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. He then wrote several miniseries in Britain and for Creator/VertigoComics, and rose to stardom with the relaunch of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', which featured DC's big superheroes together again for the first time in years. Besides being aptly described elsewhere on this website as "made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome", Morrison's JLA also served as inspiration for the Franchise/{{DCAU}}'s ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', usually made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome itself. At the time they were writing JLA, they were working on Vertigo Comics' ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', his most personal dream, which he describes as information given to him by Aliens during an alleged abduction in Kathmandu.

Since then, he had a brief stint with Creator/MarvelComics, writing the controversial ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, and the ''Marvel Boy'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour: 1234'' miniseries. Due to less than satisfying experience, he returned to DC, and wrote ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'', ''Vimanarama'' and ''ComicBook/We3'' for Vertigo before cutting loose in the Franchise/DCUniverse with the seven ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries and the universally beloved ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. Morrison proceeded to yet again redefine the mindscrew in his ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' run, attempting to reconcile the character's 70 years' worth of interpretations, and finally achieving his life long dream of somehow making the DC Universe a sentient being in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' (for a time at least). He'd then work on the new ''Batman Incorporated'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Action Comics]]'' series for ComicBook/TheNew52 initiative.

He also authored the non-fiction 2011 book ''Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero'', a mix between a critical history of superhero comics in his eyes and autobiography.

Whether or not his stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lot of people love him, lot of people hate him, and a good amount think he's just some wacky opinionated dude who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating his books to the detriment of plot and character. He ''did'' once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that the protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making the main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic him]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think he's joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] ''[[{{Biography}} Supergods]]...''

Recognizable in real life by his shaved head and already difficult to follow topics being uttered in a nearly incoherent Scottish accent. In an anecdote in the first volume of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', his conversation with the other writers and editor goes like this:

He also appeared in ''Film/MomAndDad'' in a cameo role and [[https://www.cbr.com/the-green-lantern-grant-morrison-non-binary/ came out as non-binary in October 2020.]]

** ''Anarchy for the Masses'' for one thing offers a mighty effort at deciphering ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Most notably insightful are the numerous interviews with Morrison and crew. Otherwise tends to give away tons of more or less required information about his work in interviews, which usually end up unread on obscure corners of the Internet.

** Grant loves the sillier Silver Age characters, something he shares with Geoff Johns. He fought and lost to have Egg Fu have his prehensile mustache in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', for instance.
** He's a big cat-lover. ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' features quite a few cat characters. Actually, he's really just a FriendToAllAnimals, if ''ComicBook/WE3'' and his ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' run are any indication.

** [[ComicBook/TheInvisibles King Mob]], [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Mo G.]], [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad "The Writer"]] [[labelnote:*]]this one was actually written by John Ostrander as a TakeThat to his appearance in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''[[/labelnote]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers No-Beard]], both [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Wally]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Sages]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Mind]] [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Grabber]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Man]], [[ComicBook/NewXMen Professor X]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers The Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp]], the "Batman" architect from ''Tales of the Unexpected'' [[labelnote:*]]again by a different writer, in this case Creator/BrianAzzarello. He was reportedly unhappy with the character's [[PhoneticAccent Scottish accent]][[/labelnote]], and many more.
** As ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' was collected without the letter columns from the single issues, one deeply odd fact about Morrison has been mostly lost to memory. After his analogue, Kirk Morrison/Gideon Stargrave/King Mob, spent a few issues slowly dying of a gunshot wound to the stomach, Morrison himself nearly died from what turned out to be a collapsed lung; he just fell over one day after martial-arts practice and spent three days lying on the floor. Morrison draws a straight line between what happened to King Mob and what happened to him, which may explain why King Mob spends most of Volume 2 ballsdeep in Ragged Robin...
** Really, if there's a bald main character in a Morrison book, it's not a stretch to think it's just a SelfInsert of him. Even the bratty Damian Wayne shows hints of evolving into one with his decision to become a vegetarian and adopting a cat.

* AuthorTract: Grant pretty much likes to either add himself, or characters who act like him, in a large amount of his stories. Most of his comics (most notably ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''Comicbook/FlexMentallo'') are tracts speaking against the Dark Age of comics, specifically the idea that comics should mirror RealLife in their violence and morally ambiguous attitudes. Morrison's takes on Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} are extraordinarily optimistic and straight-forward; Franchise/{{Superman}} is often shown as a borderline God (especially in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'') who tirelessly works toward the betterment of mankind, while Franchise/{{Batman}} represents the peak of human ingenuity and intelligence, who can break free from any trap and defeat any villain.

* BombThrowingAnarchists: {{Deconstructed}} in a lot of his work, especially ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Unsurprising since Morrison himself is [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} also an anarchist]].
* CanonWelding: His concept/character of "Qwewq" or "Earth-Q" has shown up in almost all of his DC work. It was a miniature universe created as an experiment by [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman Superman]] with [[RealWorldEpisode no superhuman elements]]. It was "poisoned" by the intrusion of a supervillain named the Black Death and the [[NinetiesAntiHero Ultramarines]] were sent in to restore order, but it was too late and the [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Sheeda]] manipulated it into becoming Ne-bu-loh AKA The Nebula Man. It was eventually [[ItMakesSenseInContext impaled by Frankenstein.]] It's also implied that this is the "Real World" that ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol visited, and may also be the "caged baby universe" powering ComicBook/TheAuthority's shiftship. If you're feeling particularly philosophical, you could make the case that it's supposed to be our universe, meaning that Superman created us and our universe is destined to become a supervillain due to humanity's overwhelming cynicism.

** His attempt to turn ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'', Marvel's poster child for the WellIntentionedExtremist trope, into an irredeemable bastard, though? Not well-received. His succeeding writers [[ArmedWithCanon couldn't retcon the whole thing away fast enough.]]

** Morrison is known for bringing back obscure (and even unpopular) ideas. Some dislike this and believe these ideas are best forgotten, while others think he makes these concepts work much better than before. This is a reflection of his personal belief that ''EVERYTHING'' that has ever been published is somehow still in continuity in some capacity.
** His [[Series/DoctorWho Sixth Doctor]] comic "The World Shapers" from Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine features the return of the Voord [[spoiler:who evolve into the Cybermen]] and Jamie [=McCrimmon=] [[spoiler:as a mad old man who gets killed]]. This is all based on a throwaway line from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]'' about the Doctor and Jamie having encountered the Cybermen on "Planet 14". It even namedrops the Fishmen of Kandalinga, who showed up exactly ''once'', in the 1966 ''Doctor Who'' annual.

* CosmicFlaw: He seems to enjoy these:

** In the GrandFinale of ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', set in a BadFuture, [[WaifProphet the Stepford Cuckoos]] make frequent reference to the fact that reality wasn't "supposed" to have gone down that path, and that there are "holes" in existence. In the final issue, the "hole" is revealed to be [[spoiler:Cyclops quitting the X-Men; the Phoenix, which "burns away what doesn't work," sets things back on track]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Basically '''everything he's ever wrote''', but ''especially'' ''New X-Men''...
* DeathIsCheap: A recurring theme in his mainstream books is the acknowledgement by characters that in comic books, death doesn't really mean a damn thing. Some characters aren't scared to die because they know they'll just come back later, others snark about how they've died before, and ''other'' others still find a death a sad occasion but hope for a resurrection regardless.
* DeconstructorFleet: Most of his work revolves around deconstructing, subverting, and mashing together as many tropes and genres as possible. Sometimes this covers a staggering variety of things (see ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''), and sometimes his focus is narrowed to merely the entirety of the Creator/{{DC Comics}} universe (see ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'') or the history and mythos surrounding a particular character (see ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison his run on]] ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''), but he's always doing it in one form or another.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: While he did start writing comics in his late teens, it took him a while to start feeling it as his true calling. At one point, he worked as a filing clerk for a year. He says he fucking hated it.
* DeusExMachina: He Handwaves most of his run in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' himself.
* EveryoneHasStandards: He might've experimented with drugs in the past, but swears up-and-down he's ''never'' indulged in anything as severe as crack cocaine.
* GainaxEnding: As of this writing, there are eight entries in the "Comic Books" section of this page and four of them are about comics he wrote.
* GenreSavvy: Both Grant and his characters know how death works in comics. He made no attempt to convince people Batman wouldn't return from the dead. When ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}} died, the implication was that he was most likely going to come back. Even Jean Grey's tombstone states "She will rise again."
* GentlemanThief: Fantomex from his ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run is based on Italian comic book thief ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} and the French crime fiction character that inspired him, Literature/{{Fantomas}}.
* GentlemanWizard: Grant himself. He might've accepted female fans taking him dancing once in a while, to make the fans a little happier, but unlike lots of other celebrities, he never takes advantage of them.

** ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' and his [[Creator/DCComics DC]] superhero writing all contain examples of unique, bizarre or transcendent self-empowerment.

* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: He talks candidly about epiphanies he's had on drugs, and often included this trope in his works.
* KindHeartedCatLover: Losing his pet cat impacted his writing of ComicBook/AnimalMan, and discusses it in his appearance during the final issue.
* LighterAndSofter: ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', as befits [[AllLovingHero his depiction]] of the title character.
* LostTechnology: Maggedon from his ''ComicBook/JLAGrantMorrison'' run is an ancient, universe-ending weapon.

** Never, ''ever'' bring up his time on the UK ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' comic. It tends to be "conveniently forgotten" by his biographers and fandom, and he seems to prefer that it remains obscure. However, ''Zoids'' fans who know about it generally rate it high and wish [[CutShort the ending was known...]]
** He also ''eventually'' apologized for his reviled take on Magneto, significantly later, as before, he'd stood by the idea, given as he wasn't a huge fan of Magneto beforehand and wanted to give him the ultimate send-off as the X-Men's ArchEnemy, being that had he gotten ''his'' way, ''New X-Men'' would've been the GrandFinale of the classic era.
* OrderVersusChaos: A common theme in his work.
* PornStash: According to a [[http://sequart.org/magazine/3122/sex-and-the-man-who-has-everything comment by Julian Darius in 2011]]: "Grant Morrison has confessed (in our documentary [[http://sequart.org/movies/1/grant-morrison-talking-with-gods/ Talking with Gods]]) that he used to draw superheroes having sex." You know he didn't throw those drawings out, they're hidden in a box somewhere, famous Rule34 waiting to happen.
* {{Reconstruction}}: Grant likes to put things back together as much as he enjoys pulling them apart, even if he does put them back together in very different ways than they started out; in particular, his recent superhero works have been largely an attempt to bring back [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] superhero tropes after the lengthy process of deconstruction they've been subject to, albeit in a way that works post-[[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]].

** In his ''JLA'' run, he brought back such goofy stuff as Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'s Silver Age imp sidekick Quisp in a way that fit the tone of the new title.

** ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison his Batman run]]'' has ''tons'' of these, as part of his mission to make ''everything'' canon.

* YourMindMakesItReal: Morrison is a follower of chaos magic, which practically ''runs off'' this trope. They pray daily to various Gods for a variety of reasons (to Hermes and Ganesh to aid them in their writing and has also prayed to Hermes when they had to make radio appearances). They've cast spells to make their friends' lives better and claims to have healed their cat using magic. In their view, their conviction and belief that the magic will work actually changes reality to suit them. Morrison also believes this happens to them and their readers when reading their comics, which they regard as like spells - notably, they once got seriously ill coincidentally after writing part of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' where King Mob, his AuthorAvatar, gets seriously ill, further solidifying their belief in the magic power of their writing.

[[caption-width-right:202:The legend who [[RevisitingTheRoots gave]] Franchise/{{Superman}} his balls back.]]

Grant Morrison, [[http://www.scotsman.com/news/iannucci-on-birthday-honours-list-1-2358596 MBE]] (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish writer, best known for the complex use of meta-fiction within their stories.

Their first published comic book work was Gideon Stargrave in 1978. After a few attempts at Marvel UK, they started writing ComicBook/{{Zenith}} for Britain's ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' magazine. Like pretty much every superhero comic by English/Scottish/Irish writers during the eighties, it was both a superhero deconstruction and an excuse to take shots at UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. It was because of Zenith that Morrison was hired to do a comic about ComicBook/AnimalMan, a character few knew and nobody cared about, and started their long tradition of taking total losers and transforming them into something completely awesome. Next was the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', turning them into the greatest constant MindScrew ever put into Four Colored pages.

After those critical successes, they wrote ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', which became the best selling graphic novel up to that point, and featured selected members of Batman's rogues gallery - as well as the Dark Knight himself - as different aspects of non-comic book, medical insanity, such as schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. They then wrote several miniseries in Britain and for Creator/VertigoComics, and rose to stardom with the relaunch of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', which featured DC's big superheroes together again for the first time in years. Besides being aptly described elsewhere on this website as "made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome", Morrison's JLA also served as inspiration for the Franchise/{{DCAU}}'s ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', usually made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome itself. At the time they were writing JLA, they were working on Vertigo Comics' ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', their most personal world, which they described as information given to them by Aliens during an abduction in Kathmandu.

Since then, they've worked with Creator/MarvelComics, writing the controversial ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, and the ''Marvel Boy'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour: 1234'' miniseries. They returned to DC, and wrote ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'', ''Vimanarama'' and ''ComicBook/We3'' for Vertigo before cutting loose in the Franchise/DCUniverse with the seven ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries and the universally beloved ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. They proceeded to yet again redefine the mindscrew in their ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' run, attempting to reconcile the character's 70 years' worth of interpretations, and finally realized their life long dream of somehow making the DC Universe a sentient being in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. They then went on to work on the new ''Batman Incorporated'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Action Comics]]'' series.

They also authored the non-fiction 2011 book ''Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero'', a mix between a critical history of superhero comics as they see it and autobiography.

Whether or not their stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lot of people love them, lot of people hate them, and a good amount think they're just some wacky person who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating their books to the detriment of plot and character. They did once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that their protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making their main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic them]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think they're joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] ''[[{{Biography}} Supergods]]...''

Recognizable in real life by their shaved head and their already difficult to follow topics being uttered in a nearly incomprehensible accent. In an anecdote in the first volume of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', their conversation with the other writers and editor goes like this:

They also appeared in ''Film/MomAndDad'' in a cameo role and [[https://www.cbr.com/the-green-lantern-grant-morrison-non-binary/ came out as non-binary in October 2020.]]

** ''Anarchy for the Masses'' for one thing offers a mighty effort at deciphering ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Most notably insightful are the numerous interviews with Morrison and crew. Otherwise tends to give away tons of more or less required information about their work in interviews, which usually end up unread on obscure corners of the Internet.

** Morrison loves the sillier Silver Age characters. They fought and lost to have Egg Fu have his prehensile mustache in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', for instance.
** They're a big cat-lover. ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' features quite a few cat characters.

** [[ComicBook/TheInvisibles King Mob]], [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Mo G.]], [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad "The Writer"]] [[labelnote:*]]this one was actually written by John Ostrander as a TakeThat to their appearance in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''[[/labelnote]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers No-Beard]], both [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Wally]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Sages]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Mind]] [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Grabber]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Man]], [[ComicBook/NewXMen Professor X]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers The Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp]], the "Batman" architect from ''Tales of the Unexpected'' [[labelnote:*]]again by a different writer, in this case Creator/BrianAzzarello. Morrison was reportedly unhappy with the character's [[PhoneticAccent Scottish accent]][[/labelnote]], and many more.
** As ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' was collected without the letter columns from the single issues, one deeply odd fact about Morrison has been mostly lost to memory. After their analogue, Kirk Morrison/Gideon Stargrave/King Mob, spent a few issues slowly dying of a gunshot wound to the stomach, Morrison themself nearly died from what turned out to be a collapsed lung; they just fell over one day after martial-arts practice and spent three days lying on the floor. Morrison draws a straight line between what happened to King Mob and what happened to them, which may explain why King Mob spends most of Volume 2 ballsdeep in Ragged Robin...
** Really, if there's a bald main character in a Morrison book, it's not a stretch to think it's just a SelfInsert of them. Even the bratty Damian Wayne shows hints of evolving into one with his decision to become a vegetarian and adopting a cart.
* AuthorGuestSpot: Famously in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. Hilariously, fellow DC writer John Ostrander realized not long after that by writing himself into a comic, Grant Morrison had put themself ''in continuity'', and made "the Writer" a member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one issue]].

* AuthorTract: Morrison pretty much likes to either add themself, or characters who act like them, in a large amount of their stories. Most of his comics (most notably ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''Comicbook/FlexMentallo'') are tracts speaking against the Dark Age of comics, specifically the idea that comics should mirror RealLife in their violence and morally ambiguous attitudes. Morrison's takes on Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} are extraordinarily optimistic and straight-forward; Franchise/{{Superman}} is often shown as a borderline God (especially in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'') who tirelessly works toward the betterment of mankind, while Franchise/{{Batman}} represents the peak of human ingenuity and intelligence, who can break free from any trap and defeat any villain.

* BombThrowingAnarchists: {{Deconstructed}} in a lot of their work, especially ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Unsurprising since Morrison themself is [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} also an anarchist]].
* CanonWelding: The concept/character of "Qwewq" or "Earth-Q" has shown up in almost all of their DC work. It was a miniature universe created as an experiment by [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman Superman]] with [[RealWorldEpisode no superhuman elements]]. It was "poisoned" by the intrusion of a supervillain named the Black Death and the [[NinetiesAntiHero Ultramarines]] were sent in to restore order, but it was too late and the [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Sheeda]] manipulated it into becoming Ne-bu-loh AKA The Nebula Man. It was eventually [[ItMakesSenseInContext impaled by Frankenstein.]] It's also implied that this is the "Real World" that ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol visited, and may also be the "caged baby universe" powering ComicBook/TheAuthority's shiftship. If you're feeling particularly philosophical, you could make the case that it's supposed to be our universe, meaning that Superman created us and our universe is destined to become a supervillain due to humanity's overwhelming cynicism.

** Their attempt to turn ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'', Marvel's poster child for the WellIntentionedExtremist trope, into a CardCarryingVillain, though? Not well-received. Their succeeding writers [[ArmedWithCanon couldn't retcon the whole thing away fast enough.]]

** Morrison is known for bringing back obscure (and even unpopular) ideas. Some dislike this and believe these ideas are best forgotten, while others think they make these concepts work much better than before. This is a reflection of their personal belief that ''EVERYTHING'' that has ever been published is somehow still in continuity.
** Their [[Series/DoctorWho Sixth Doctor]] comic "The World Shapers" from Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine features the return of the Voord [[spoiler:who evolve into the Cybermen]] and Jamie [=McCrimmon=] [[spoiler:as a mad old man who gets killed]]. This is all based on a throwaway line from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]'' about the Doctor and Jamie having encountered the Cybermen on "Planet 14". It even namedrops the Fishmen of Kandalinga, who showed up exactly ''once'', in the 1966 ''Doctor Who'' annual.

* CosmicFlaw: Creator/GrantMorrison seems to enjoy these:

** In the GrandFinale of their ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', set in a BadFuture, [[WaifProphet the Stepford Cuckoos]] make frequent reference to the fact that reality wasn't "supposed" to have gone down that path, and that there are "holes" in existence. In the final issue, the "hole" is revealed to be [[spoiler:Cyclops quitting the X-Men; the Phoenix, which "burns away what doesn't work," sets things back on track]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Basically '''everything they've wrote''', but ''especially'' their run on ''New X-Men''...
* DeathIsCheap: A recurring theme in their mainstream books is the acknowledgement by characters that in comic books, death doesn't really mean a damn thing. Some characters aren't scared to die because they know they'll just come back later, others snark about how they've died before, and ''other'' others still find a death a sad occasion but hope for a resurrection regardless.
* DeconstructorFleet: Most of their work revolves around deconstructing, subverting, and mashing together as many tropes and genres as possible. Sometimes this covers a staggering variety of things (see ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''), and sometimes their focus is narrowed to merely the entirety of the Creator/{{DC Comics}} universe (see ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'') or the history and mythos surrounding a particular character (see ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison their run on]] ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''), but they're always doing it in one form or another.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: While they did start writing comics in his late teens, it took them a while to start feeling it as his true calling. At one point, they worked as a filing clerk for a year.
* DeusExMachina: They Handwave most of their run in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' themselves.
* EveryoneHasStandards: They might have experimented with drugs in the past, but they claim they've ''never'' indulged in anything as severe as crack cocaine.
* GainaxEnding: As of this writing, there are eight entries in the "Comic Books" section of this page and four of them are about comics they wrote.
* GenreSavvy: Both Grant themselves and their characters know how death works in comics. They made no attempt to convince people Batman wouldn't return from the dead. When ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}} died, the implication was that he was most likely going to come back. Even Jean Grey's tombstone states "She will rise again."
* GentlemanThief: Fantomex from their ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run is based on Italian comic book thief ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} and the French crime fiction character that inspired him, Literature/{{Fantomas}}.
* GentlemanWizard: Grant themselves. They might've accepted female fans taking them dancing once in a while, to make the fans a little happier, but unlike lots of other celebrities they never take advantage of them.

** ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' and their [[Creator/DCComics DC]] superhero writing all contain examples of unique, bizarre or transcendent self-empowerment.
** Deconstructed in Annihilator where [[spoiler:Max Nomax created our universe]] out of spite and does his best to ignore every epiphany and opportunity for self-improvement.

* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Morrison talks candidly about epiphanies they've had while on drugs, and often included this trope in their works.
* KindHeartedCatLover: Losing their pet cat impacted their writing of ComicBook/AnimalMan, and they discuss it in their appearance during the final issue.
* LighterAndSofter: ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', as befits [[AllLovingHero their depiction]] of the title character.
* LostTechnology: Maggedon from their ''JLA'' run is an ancient, universe-ending weapon.

** Never, ''ever'' bring up their time on the UK ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' comic. It tends to be "conveniently forgotten" by their biographers and fandom, and they seems to prefer that it remains obscure. However, ''Zoids'' fans who know about it generally rate it high and wish [[CutShort the ending was known...]]
** They also ''eventually'' apologized for their take on Magneto, significantly later, as before, they'd stand by the idea as they weren't a huge fan of Magneto beforehand and wanted to give them the ultimate send-off as the X-Men's ArchEnemy, being that had they gotten ''their'' way, ''New X-Men'' would've been the GrandFinale of the classic era.
* OrderVersusChaos: A common theme in their work.
* PornStash: According to a [[http://sequart.org/magazine/3122/sex-and-the-man-who-has-everything comment by Julian Darius in 2011]]: "Grant Morrison has confessed (in our documentary [[http://sequart.org/movies/1/grant-morrison-talking-with-gods/ Talking with Gods]]) that they used to draw superheroes having sex." You know they didn't throw those drawings out, they're hidden in a box somewhere, famous Rule34 waiting to happen.
* {{Reconstruction}}: Morrison likes to put things back together as much as they enjoy pulling them apart, even if they do put them back together in very different ways than they started out; in particular, their recent superhero works have been largely an attempt to bring back [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] superhero tropes after the lengthy process of deconstruction they've been subject to, albeit in a way that works post-[[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]].

** In their ''JLA'' run, they brought back such goofy stuff as Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'s Silver Age imp sidekick Quisp in a way that fit the tone of the new title.

** ''ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison'' has a bunch of these, as part of their mission to make ''everything'' canon.

* BaldOfAwesome: Adopted sometime in TheNineties. When Morrison made their CreatorCameo in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan #26'' they had a kind of mod pageboy.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Basically '''everything he's wrote''', but ''especially'' their run on ''New X-Men''...

** Really, if there's a bald main character in a Morrison book, it's not a stretch to think it's just a SelfInsert of them.

* CanonWelding: The concept/character of "Qwewq" or "Earth-Q" has shown up in almost all of his DC work. It was a miniature universe created as an experiment by [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman Superman]] with [[RealWorldEpisode no superhuman elements]]. It was "poisoned" by the intrusion of a supervillain named the Black Death and the [[NinetiesAntiHero Ultramarines]] were sent in to restore order, but it was too late and the [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Sheeda]] manipulated it into becoming Ne-bu-loh AKA The Nebula Man. It was eventually [[ItMakesSenseInContext impaled by Frankenstein.]] It's also implied that this is the "Real World" that ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol visited, and may also be the "caged baby universe" powering ComicBook/TheAuthority's shiftship. If you're feeling particularly philosophical, you could make the case that it's supposed to be our universe, meaning that Superman created us and our universe is destined to become a supervillain due to humanity's overwhelming cynicism.

* GentlemanWizard: Grant themselves. They might've accepted female fans taking them dancing once in a while, to make the fans a little happier, but unlike lots of other celebrities never takes advantage of them.

* PornStash: According to a [[http://sequart.org/magazine/3122/sex-and-the-man-who-has-everything comment by Julian Darius in 2011]]: "Grant Morrison has confessed (in our documentary [[http://sequart.org/movies/1/grant-morrison-talking-with-gods/ Talking with Gods]]) that they used to draw superheroes having sex." You know he didn't throw those drawings out, they're hidden in a box somewhere, famous Rule34 waiting to happen.
* {{Reconstruction}}: Morrison likes to put things back together as much as they enjoys pulling them apart, even if they does put them back together in very different ways than they started out; in particular, their recent superhero works have been largely an attempt to bring back [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] superhero tropes after the lengthy process of deconstruction they've been subject to, albeit in a way that works post-[[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]].

* TheRival: They and Creator/AlanMoore don't get along. ''At. All''. Moore has accused Grant of, essentially, being his [[{{Series/Seinfeld}} Kenny Bania]] and stealing his schtick ("It's gold, Jerry, gold!") and art style. Morrison has taken an equivocal stance over the years, variously suggesting that they consciously dulled his own "esoteric" style and mimicked Moore to get a shot at writing for DC, while pointedly emphasizing that ''THEY'' had professional comics work published first (back in the days when Moore and Morrison were both working in fanzines and British small press comics) and that they are contemporaries who came up in comics at the same time but Moore just caught mainstream attention first. Morrison also once suggested that they'd been offered an opportunity to pitch a run on ''Miracleman'' after Moore left the book and that Moore sabotaged it out of spite, though this is more debatable (Moore has long maintained that he had picked Creator/NeilGaiman to follow him on ''Miracleman'' and if Morrison was offered the chance to pitch for it, he wasn't aware of it).

* StatusQuoIsGod: Morrison adheres to this but also makes it clear they're not exactly thrilled about it. Almost any in-canon run they've written is done with the intent to shake up the status quo to the point where nothing was really recognizable anymore. If Grant Morrison wrote it, you'll ''know'' he wrote it by the time he's finished. That said, even with all the shake-ups, they always ends his runs with enough room for other writers to come in to undo it. More often than not though, these are done with a somewhat back-handed connotation. Their ''Batman'' run ends with almost everything he's built in ruins or shambles to make room for Creator/ScottSnyder's tenure with the character, and Bruce Wayne continuing his crusade against crime is treated as a tragedy rather than a heroic triumph. They even told Snyder to feel free to do his own thing and take Bruce wherever he wanted from there.

** In their ''ComicBook/{{JLA}}'' run, they brought back such goofy stuff as Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'s Silver Age imp sidekick Quisp in a way that fit the tone of the new title.

** The Red Hood uses social media to broadcast his violent vigilante justice to the world, even attempting to stream ComicBook/BatmanAndRobin's humiliation on his website. Once they get freed they have this to say to those pathetically curious enough to tune in to the stream:

Since then, they've worked with Creator/MarvelComics, writing the controversial ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, and the ''Marvel Boy'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour: 1234'' miniseries. They returned to DC, and wrote ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'', ''Vimanarama'' and ''ComicBook/We3'' for Vertigo before cutting loose in the Franchise/DCUniverse with the seven ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries and the universally beloved ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. They proceeded to yet again redefine the mindscrew in their ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman]]'' run, attempting to reconcile the character's 70 years' worth of interpretations, and finally realized their life long dream of somehow making the DC Universe a sentient being in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. They then went on to work on the new ''Batman Incorporated'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Action Comics]]'' series.

* ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA JLA]]''

** [[ComicBook/TheInvisibles King Mob]], [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Mo G.]], [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad "The Writer"]] [[labelnote:*]]this one was actually written by John Ostrander as a TakeThat to their appearance in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''[[/labelnote]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers No-Beard]], both [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Wally]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Sages]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Mind]] [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Grabber]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Man]], [[ComicBook/NewXMen Professor X]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers The Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp]], the "Batman" architect from ''Tales of the Unexpected'' [[labelnote:*]]again by a different writer, in this case Creator/BrianAzzarello. Morrison was reportedly unhappy with the character's [[PhoneticAccent Scottish accent]][[/labelnote]], and many more.

* DeconstructorFleet: Most of their work revolves around deconstructing, subverting, and mashing together as many tropes and genres as possible. Sometimes this covers a staggering variety of things (see ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''), and sometimes their focus is narrowed to merely the entirety of the Creator/{{DC Comics}} universe (see ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'') or the history and mythos surrounding a particular character (see ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman their run on]] ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''), but they're always doing it in one form or another.

** The Red Hood uses social media to broadcast his violent vigilante justice to the world, even attempting to stream [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman and Robin]]'s humiliation on his website. Once they get freed they have this to say to those pathetically curious enough to tune in to the stream:

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: A real perpetrator of this due to their tendency for, to paraphrase [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], cramming a thousand ideas into a twenty two page comic book. We never really see [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA Batman beating up four White Martians]] or [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Stephanie Brown taking down an entire student body of an assassin school by herself]].

** ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman'' has a bunch of these, as part of their mission to make ''everything'' canon.

** In their ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsActionComics Action Comics]]'' run, Brainiac is revealed to be the Internet itself.

* ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsActionComics Action Comics]]'' (the New 52 relaunch)

* WeUsedToBeFriends: With Creator/MarkMillar. Morrison was a mentor to the then up-and-coming writer and the two collaborated on plenty of books. It's only when Millar went off in his own direction and immersed himself in the DarkerAndEdgier tropes Morrison both despised and was trying to subvert that the two became estranged. When asked in an interview if the two still hung out, Grant replied with a blunt "No."
-->'''Morrison''': There's a very good chance I'll run into him again, and I hope I'm going 100 miles an hour when I do.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: A real perpetrator of this due to his tendency for, to paraphrase [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], cramming a thousand ideas into a twenty two page comic book. We never really see [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA Batman beating up four White Martians]] or [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Stephanie Brown taking down an entire student body of an assassin school by herself]].

Whether or not their stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lot of people love them, lot of people hate them, and a good amount think they're just some wacky guy who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating their books to the detriment of plot and character. They did once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that his protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making their main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic them]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think they're joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] ''[[{{Biography}} Supergods]]...''

** As ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' was collected without the letter columns from the single issues, one deeply odd fact about Morrison has been mostly lost to memory. After their analogue, Kirk Morrison/Gideon Stargrave/King Mob, spent a few issues slowly dying of a gunshot wound to the stomach, Morrison himself nearly died from what turned out to be a collapsed lung; they just fell over one day after martial-arts practice and spent three days lying on the floor. Morrison draws a straight line between what happened to King Mob and what happened to them, which may explain why King Mob spends most of Volume 2 ballsdeep in Ragged Robin...

* AuthorGuestSpot: Famously in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. Hilariously, fellow DC writer John Ostrander realized not long after that by writing himself into a comic, Grant Morrison had put himself ''in continuity'', and made "the Writer" a member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one issue]].

* KindHeartedCatLover: Losing their pet cat impacted their writing of ComicBook/AnimalMan, and he discusses it in his appearance during the final issue.

** They also ''eventually'' apologized for their take on Magneto, significantly later, as before, they'd stand by the idea as they weren't a huge fan of Magneto beforehand and wanted to give them the ultimate send-off as the X-Men's ArchEnemy, being that had he gotten ''their'' way, ''New X-Men'' would've been the GrandFinale of the classic era.

Grant Morrison, [[http://www.scotsman.com/news/iannucci-on-birthday-honours-list-1-2358596 MBE]] (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish writer, best known for the complex use of meta-fiction within thier stories.