My apologies for the unplanned hiatus: I’m in book crunch mode, which has been soaking up every free minute, and many that aren’t free. But I wanted to let you know about an interview I did for Playboy with Grant Morrison, who has been one of my favorite comic-book writers for many years now. I took a ferry across the River Clyde to visit him and his wife Kristan at their home outside of Glasgow–thanks to both for their hospitality–and we spent hours breaking down many of the characters he’s invented and reinvented. Click here to read it (that’ll take you to the Playboy website, and while the article is SFW, the marginal ads may feature scantily clad women). The paper edition, on newsstands now, gives you an even better look at that excellent Frank Quitely illustration. (For the record, Morrison is not particularly wrinkled in real life.) If this just whets your appetite, go pick up Morrison’s autobiographical history of comics, Supergods.

Bonus track! Morrison’s perspective on Iron Man:
The most popular comics characters right now are Iron Man and Batman, who are both millionaire playboys. That’s the dream man of our society–the guy who’s bigger than the military-industrial complex. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone because he’s got so much money, there’s nothing you can do to stop him. People don’t care about the socialist hero; these days, they want to be the socialite hero.

posted 30 April 2012 in Articles, Outside and tagged Grant Morrison, Playboy, superheroes. no comments yet