Grant Morrison

Some say there is a fine line between genius and insanity, and no one best fits that phrase better than the one named Grant Morrison.

Also known as the defibrillator of dead characters, whenever there is a mort that is dead in the water with no signs of creativity, leave it Grant to discover an avenue that has never been explored before, or he blows the old history of the character away and reinvents him into something worth investing time into monthly.

On the flip side, Morrison will take the reader on a textual ride, adding colors, and visuals, hyperboles, and what seems like peyote induced storylines that at the end of the tale, the reader is left wondering if what they just read was any good, let alone made sense. Sometimes a second read makes it all the more confusing.

Now, I can't say that I have read everything that he has written; because, like Warren Ellis' ever-growing body of work, it would be humanly impossible (we can save Ellis for another column). But I have read enough to say that sometimes it's brilliance and sometimes - befuddlement.

Seaguy. Brilliance. Every issue. Every storyline.

JLA. Befuddlement. True, it is a big task: what can you write about a team that has no equal on the power scale and not rehash old Legion of Doom plots? Make them fight lunatic fairytales! What? However, I did enjoy the Prometheus storyline. As close to a Skrull as you are gonna get in DC.

WE3. Brilliant. The emotion that came out of that book was as much authentic as it was intentional.

Seven Soldiers of Victory. This is the line between the extremes. Writing 7 books and tying them together; only Morrison could be up to the task. The end result: Individually, great stories and new fresh takes on old characters - par for the course (except the Mister Miracle book, don't know what the hell was going in there). But together, I have no idea what the purpose of the entire saga was for. Made absolutely no sense to me. Were they supposed to join up and fight or what?

There are a couple of other books that I could mention here, but I have rambled enough. You get my point. All writers have their hits and misses, but Grant Morrison does it at such extreme poles: Love him or hate him.

Read and enjoy. There is plenty to go around.