All Grant
All the Time…
Well, after a dreadfully slow comics news week, we finally get a bit of it out of Bristol (and I suppose some from Pittsburgh.) I suppose that a tip of the hat is in order for Mr. Rich Johnston, who makes it his business to get this out to the folks who so desperately crave it (and that includes me. Hey, writing is a lonely business most of the time. A little gossip livens up the day. I’ll be the first to admit it.)
There’s a few interesting items, but let’s take a look at the one that I’m most intrigued by. That being the chance that Grant Morrison will be put on one of the Superman books. Of course, he’s stipulated that he’s only going to do it with Frank Quitely on art, which means a monthly schedule is pretty much out of the question. Might I humbly suggest one Cameron Stewart as a foil for Mr. Morrison’s scripting? They’re working together famously on Seaguy, and I’m pretty sure that Mr. Stewart can manage a monthly schedule.
As much as I’d like to see Frank Quitely on the art, that simply is not going to happen in a regular format. It was tried at Marvel when he was tapped to do New X-Men with Mr. Morrison, but a number of things (including, as I understand it, unannounced double-shipping in the schedule) proved that Mr. Quitely as the sole artist for the book was simply unworkable. Really, I’m torn on the idea of “quality takes time” as a justification for a late schedule on a monthly book. As much as I like Mr. Quitely’s art, I’d rather get the story in a timely manner. The same justification was used on The Ultimates, and it didn’t appeal any more to me then. If you’re committing to a monthly book, then make it monthly. If you can’t make that, then at least commit to a bi-monthly schedule and keep it regular.
Better yet, just put it all out at one time when it’s done and call it a book and there you have it. I know. I’m talking crazy.
It’s fairly clear to me that there would be two, really three camps, who’d pick up a Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely Superman title: Fans of Mr. Morrison, fans of Mr. Quitely and die-hard Superman fans. Granted, there’s some overlap between the three, but not much. Far more likely that there are fans of the individual creators and fans of the character. Personally, I love the concept of Superman as a character, but I’ve never picked up the book regularly (not since the initial “Man of Steel” relaunch in 1986, and through most of 1987 or so). None of the more recent approaches have really appealed, and to be honest, what I’ve seen in the relaunch hasn’t caught my eye. I guess that makes me a fan of the retro-Superman or something. I’ve copped to worse, I suppose.
Fans of Superman aren’t an issue. They’re a relatively constant bunch, and will pick up the book no matter who does it (which is really why the franchise books will keep in circulation, at least as long as there are folks who care about the franchise, and that’s a dwindling number overall.) There will probably be a bump as Grant Morrison fans who ordinarily wouldn’t pick up the book take a look (and likely will stay for the duration of his run). Depending on the artist (I’ll assume that Mr. Quitely will at least try alternating runs or somesuch), there’ll be a bump based on that, maybe even a greater number than the fans of Mr. Morrison himself.
It might even turn out to be a success, though probably not on the scale of the Jim Lee-pencilled Superman. My problem with this is that any increase in readership is predicated solely on the creative team (and there’s only so many books a month that any particular team can create). I doubt that we’d see a long-term increase in readership, and probably wouldn’t see any new readers coming into comic shops, seeing Superman and saying to themselves “Man, I gotta get me some of THAT.”
Personally, I’d be happier than Scrooge in a pile of money if Grant Morrison took over Superman. It’d likely go to the top of my pull list (if I had one). And perhaps I’m more than a little pessimistic, but I don’t see a wider increase in the audience for the character or the delivery system (i.e., monthly comic magazines) from this. I could be wrong. I’d love to be proved wrong. Prove me wrong, universe. I double-dog dare ya!
And since I’ve been talking about him this whole time, let’s have a round of applause for Mr. Morrison’s recent nuptials on the island of Mauritius. Hats off to him and his new wife Kristan (who will be familiar to folks who check in on the crack! comicks site.)
This rumor isn’t the only news to have come out of Bristol regarding Mr. Morrison’s upcoming projects. Word is that he’s also working on a freeform miniseries called Seven Soldiers, featuring second-tier characters from across the DCU. Always welcome news in my little corner of the world, though I’d welcome news of more creator-owned work a tad more perhaps, but the piper needs to be paid.
If you’re not reading Seaguy, then you need to get with the program. It’ll probably work even better when it’s all together, but who knows when that’ll happen. Cameron Stewart’s art is a joy to see when combined with Morrison-inspired lunacy (which hasn’t happened since the Invisible Kingdom TPB came out, with Mr. Stewart redrawing some pages in the penultimate chapter. Did I mention that I own one of those pages? I did? And I’m a bastard? Oh, okay.)
Oh yes, apparently Mr. Morrison’s (and Richard Case/Steve Yeowell/Jamie Hewlett, and I think Philip Bond, and Duncan Fregredo as well as others) run on Doom Patrol is slated to be collected again. I might have mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. Don’t pass these up. This is prime stuff, with an unrestrained Grant Morrison reinventing the misfits of the DCU and bringing the spirit of William Burroughs to the mainstream before Vertigo was a twinkle in Karen Berger’s eye.)
So, more Bristol news. Let’s see. Kevin O’Neill is underway on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III, which is guaranteed to have “no delays.” Well, I believe half of that. Last year at SDCC, Mr. O’Neill indicated that at least the story for the third volume had been laid out as he was finishing the last of vol. II, so I can see him being along in the pencilling. I’ll believe the regular schedule part when I see it.
And as an aside, I recently picked up the Nemesis the Warlock: Death to All Aliens collection (a lovely and pretty cheap hardback collection of the first Nemesis progs from 2000 AD). Mr. O’Neill’s work shines here, as does Pat Mills’ (given the limitations of the prog format, with what, six pages at a time). It’s also an eye-opener for fans of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, which was pretty much lifted wholesale from these works, more than ten years before the game (and its rich universe) were conceived. I’m hoping that there’s more of this to come. Any Titan reps/editors reading (shyeah, right!) are hereby encouraged to get Nemesis vol. II out posthaste.
Hmm. Apparently people (including a lot of creators) don’t want a lot more of Sandman Presents: whoever comics. I can’t really blame them. That smelled like a dead horse back when I was still reading comics. In 1994.
Another hmm. I guess the whole Stormwatch/Micah Wright debacle is more debacalicious than even I thought. They’re not only killing the series, but killing it early, and not even giving the story a shot at being wrapped up (even by a writer other than Wright.) And people wonder why I hate serial storytelling. I’m still waiting for a decent conclusion to Twin Peaks. Telling stories in chunks based on audience support is just nuts. Nuts, I tell ya.
Ah. There goes the Focus line. I know. It’s only two of the titles that are getting axed, but really, come on people. Maybe Hard Time will make a year. Maybe. And I’ve grown to enjoy that book, but I don’t think it’s as good as some of Mr. Gerber’s work (notably the criminally-overlooked Foolkiller miniseries he did for Marvel back in 1991.) The drab coloring (note: washed out reds and blues are not a palette. Desaturation is a tool, not the end-all be-all of coloring. Without some kind of variation the impact just gets hopelessly lost.) All the same, DC tried to do something a little different (granted, they were still hanging their hat on superpowers as a story point) that the market isn’t ready to support.
Hey look! Crossgen continues its long and public death rattle. Talk about not missing a chance to pass up an opportunity. Sigh.
And, thanks to the constant badgering of someone who’ll remain nameless (*cough*johnjakala*cough*), I’m trying some more manga. I picked up a copy of Gyo a couple days ago, but haven’t gotten a chance to read it. Pray for me.
That’s it for this week. Next week, who knows?