The Grant Morrison Interview
Plus: Mercury Retrograde and Podcast news
Ding dong! NYLON offered me the chance to interview my hero, comics auteur Grant Morrison, about their new novel LUDA. The conversation was more than I could have hoped for; we covered quantum selfhood, collective consciousness and All About Eve. I hope you enjoy the profile and my glowing review of the book. You can subscribe to their Substack, Xanaduum, here.
If you don’t know their work, Grant Morrison is perhaps the Prometheus of superhero comic books, a queer visionary who has blasted the medium into the coming Aquarian age. Here you’ll find my favorite of their texts, the ones which have most definitively impacted me. This is by no means a comprehensive list, just some of my favorites, in a suggested reading order for maximum “discovery.”
MY GRANT MORRISON READING LIST
Start with Supergods, Morrison’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces or Sexual Personae, a history of the 20th century and its pop mythos. An essential primer on the archetypal power of superheroes, and on Morrison’s POV and uncanny career. Once ready to launch into comics, check out WE3, a devastating, new-user-friendly miniseries that merges Homeward Bound with The Terminator.
To see our modern gods at their most exalted, in texts of socialist optimism and feminist futurism, check out All-Star Superman, Action Comics and Wonder Woman: Earth One.
When ready to ditch the pantheon and go punk, get to know the occult anarchists of The Invisibles and the imperial Aquarian overlords of New X-Men.
Morrison is known for their batshit, brilliant superhero experiments, which employ C-list characters to rewrite the rules of the medium. Doom Patrol, Seven Soldiers of Victory and 52 are endlessly satisfying.
Finally, for Morrison’s take on apocalypse, Christ, Ragnarok and redemption, nothing can beat Batman Incorporated, Final Crisis and Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D. To be continued…
WHERE SHOULD THE POD GO NEXT?
Three years in, I feel like my podcast, The Luminaries, has really taken shape. I’ve loved getting to explore the cultural and political landscape through cosmic archetypes. So now I’m wondering: what should I get into next? What would you like to explore, either through or beyond astrology and culture? Should I just talk about Ludacris’s chart for the next five episodes? Let me know!
You know the drill. Mercury retrograde goes down September 10–October 2 (happy Rosh Hashanah!). And you can read about it here. If you’re really feeling lost in the woods, book a reading and we’ll get into it. Until then, hang on tight for a long autumn of ambivalence and electoral confusion.
Ever,
David Odyssey