Grant Morrison

[JayT]

I don't know, I'd love to see an announcement of an extended run by Gaiman on the regular Batman title. If he ever made that kind of commitment at this point in his career (i.e. he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to) it would most likely be something he really wanted out there. I feel like I can get a Daniel-level story from anywhere, any day of the week.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Yay! Nice to see this thread grow some legs.

 

Here's the deal.

 

I'm not discounting Geoff Johns in ANY way. He is a capable writer, telling above average, entertaining stories

 

If Johns has any genius, I would daresay it's his ability to keep a tight rein over continuity in the DC universe, a skill he shares with Marv Wolfman and George Perez, rather than his individual story telling ability.

 

Grant Morrison has written unreadable junk. Acknowledged. Grant Morrison has written sublime masterpieces of the comics artform. Also acknowledged.

 

If their careers are roller coasters, you have one guy who goes relatively fast, but never has any significant ups and downs. It's just the usual straighline, consistently good ride.. You have another guy who is nothing BUT ups and downs, and twists and turns, and corkscrews, and loop-the-loops, etc etc etc.

 

I dunno about any of you, but I'll take Magic Mountain over It's A Small World any day, every day.

 

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

[itssmeeeeee]

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

 

Geoff Johns greatest strength is his constant productivity. He writes on 3-4 titles every month. And everything has been good. Not great.

 

BUT to answer your question, if Johns quits, i think MORE people will miss Johns then they will Morrison. Johns is whats holding DC Comics together. I can say that nobody out there can replace Geoff Johns if he quits. No one can handle the workload, no one can handle the continuity that he deals with. If Morrison quits, it wont be universe ending as if Johns did. There was a period of time after 52 happened that Johns was the only person producing good material while Morrison, Waid and rucka was still taking a break.

 

Plus Warner Brothers pays Johns WAYY too much money for him to quit

[500Club]

If their careers are roller coasters, you have one guy who goes relatively fast, but never has any significant ups and downs. It's just the usual straighline, consistently good ride.. You have another guy who is nothing BUT ups and downs, and twists and turns, and corkscrews, and loop-the-loops, etc etc etc.

 

I prefer the baseball analogy... 240 hitter, 45hr vs 330 hitter 20hr. You don't need to be present for the lows of the Morrison roller coaster.

 

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

Yes. I'd say he'll be remembered for the best GL run ever. He may be remembered for the best JSA work as well, IMHO.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

RMA, I see your points but cant agree. I read ANYTHING Johns does, ANYTHING! His runs on Green Lantern, and JSA solidified that and switched me to DC comics. I have since read almost everything I could get my hands on, including the flash stuff that pre dates my return to comics. I honestly consider him the best writer in DCs stable.

 

And after Waid on the Flash, I avoid anything he writes. Johns had the title running smmoth, and Waid just screwed it up.

 

 

However I would definitely read Morrisons Doom Patrol, and other early works. I am always willing to check stuf out, but his current work doesnt do spit for me.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

If their careers are roller coasters, you have one guy who goes relatively fast, but never has any significant ups and downs. It's just the usual straighline, consistently good ride.. You have another guy who is nothing BUT ups and downs, and twists and turns, and corkscrews, and loop-the-loops, etc etc etc.

 

I prefer the baseball analogy... 240 hitter, 45hr vs 330 hitter 20hr. You don't need to be present for the lows of the Morrison roller coaster.

 

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

Yes. I'd say he'll be remembered for the best GL run ever. He may be remembered for the best JSA work as well, IMHO.

Agree 100%, and add in the best Hawkman run as well. Hawkman 1-50 was a GREAT read!

[JayT]

 

However I would definitely read Morrisons Doom Patrol, and other early works. I am always willing to check stuf out, but his current work doesnt do spit for me.

 

I did see if you mentioned it already, but you don't All-Star Superman?

[ComicConnoisseur]

If their careers are roller coasters, you have one guy who goes relatively fast, but never has any significant ups and downs. It's just the usual straighline, consistently good ride.. You have another guy who is nothing BUT ups and downs, and twists and turns, and corkscrews, and loop-the-loops, etc etc etc.

 

I prefer the baseball analogy... 240 hitter, 45hr vs 330 hitter 20hr. You don't need to be present for the lows of the Morrison roller coaster.

 

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

Yes. I'd say he'll be remembered for the best GL run ever. He may be remembered for the best JSA work as well, IMHO.

Agree 100%, and add in the best Hawkman run as well. Hawkman 1-50 was a GREAT read!

Agreed Pat, if there is ever a Hawkman movie hopefully they use that as the bible.

My favorite writers/artists of comic characters are Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. I wish more comic creators would become influenced by them, if they did it would slow down all the water-downed dark versions of Frank Miller/Alan Moore stuff we keep getting over and over again.

[Boozad]

and think his Batman has been better than most of the other Batman comics put out in the last 20 years.

 

Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Neil Gaiman (albeit very briefly), hell even Judd Winnick wrote a better story. Tony Daniel is also much better.

 

I'm with you, Gav. Morrison is too hit and miss for me. Occasional genius intertwined with frequently overdone conceptualization.

 

When I read the first few issues of Batman & Robin I couldn't believe it was the same guy who'd written RIP. I thought the Pyg storyline was very fresh, and you could actually see a Vertigo tilt to it.

 

I can't compare any of his other stuff as I've never read it, except for early stuff on 2000AD, but I can see where people are coming from that he's more suited to the adult-orientated stuff.

I just can't stick his work on Batman, and Batman Inc. really is awful. Awful in a different way from RIP though, it's not hard to fathom or read but it's woefully poor both in concept and in execution.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

If their careers are roller coasters, you have one guy who goes relatively fast, but never has any significant ups and downs. It's just the usual straighline, consistently good ride.. You have another guy who is nothing BUT ups and downs, and twists and turns, and corkscrews, and loop-the-loops, etc etc etc.

 

I prefer the baseball analogy... 240 hitter, 45hr vs 330 hitter 20hr. You don't need to be present for the lows of the Morrison roller coaster.

 

When Johns quits....is anyone going to remember his name...?

Yes. I'd say he'll be remembered for the best GL run ever. He may be remembered for the best JSA work as well, IMHO.

Agree 100%, and add in the best Hawkman run as well. Hawkman 1-50 was a GREAT read!

Agreed Pat, if there is ever a Hawkman movie hopefully they use that as the bible.

My favorite writers/artists of comic characters are Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. I wish more comic creators would become influenced by them, if they did it would slow down all the water-downed dark versions of Frank Miller/Alan Moore stuff we keep getting over and over again.

Havent read alot of Bruce Timm stuff, but I do enjoy Dini when he works with the Batman titles.

[fastballspecial]

My fear with Johns is that DC will burn him out. He also does some production work for DC on other projects as well. You can only do that for so long before it starts to affect the work. What I think attracted me to his writing is his attention to both continuity and the rich DC history he digs out. Nobody has done JSA better I was terribly upset when he left the title.

 

I guess an easier question is this. If both Johns and Morrison quit tomorrow who would be missed more and what effect would it have on DC?

 

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

My fear with Johns is that DC will burn him out. He also does some production work for DC on other projects as well. You can only do that for so long before it starts to affect the work. What I think attracted me to his writing is his attention to both continuity and the rich DC history he digs out. Nobody has done JSA better I was terribly upset when he left the title.

 

I guess an easier question is this. If both Johns and Morrison quit tomorrow who would be missed more and what effect would it have on DC?

 

What would happen? Pre-crisis on Infinite Earths.. Continuity woud shatter and DC would be unreadable again. At least if Johns left

[Norrin_Radd]

Dini and Timm are why I love Batman.

[itssmeeeeee]

Dini and Timm are why I love Batman.

 

The Batman Animated Series is what got me into Batman and comics in general

[Old Fashion PB and J]

Batman Animated is the best cartoon ever!

[Boozad]

Dini and Timm are why I love Batman.

 

Paul Dini. Heart of Hush. Slammed RIP into the floor. (thumbs u

[gaz2810i]

I love both writers. I look forward to, and read Johns stuff first every week, however, I always open a Morrison book with trepidation and mostly last every week.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I love both writers. I look forward to, and read Johns stuff first every week, however, I always open a Morrison book with trepidation and mostly last every week.

[SuperBird]

Johns writes good, standard superhero stuff. But it's all pretty standard. In 20 years it will be forgotten. He is reliable to 'not suck'.

 

Morrison writes comics that will be in print forever. He may not nail every book he writes, but he has written more, and more varied, comic book classics than anyone in the last 40 years. More than Gaiman, more than Miller. More than Alan Moore. Not saying he is "better" than them, just has a more astounding output.

 

If you think about Morrison's output, it's been astounding. He's done long-term superhero stuff as well or better than the modern comic greats in JLA and X-men. He helped start Vertigo with his work in Animal Man and Doom Patrol. He's done mind-bending deeply intertwined stories like Invisibles (his best work, IMO) and The Filth (kind of crappy, IMO). Great mini-series and graphic novels in all types of genres; We3, Arkham Asylum, Flex Mentallo, Marvel Boy, etc. He is the ONLY writer to ever write a great Superman story. Who else has such a range?

 

Having said that, I am still trade waiting on all his recent DC work, apart from All-Star Superman. So Batman and Crisis could suck.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

The current Green Lantern run will go down in history. He has created more in that universe then any other creator. Just amazing what he has done.