Product Description: Grant Morrison redefined comics in the 1980s and early 1990s from his trailblazing creation of ZENITH, through his metatextual innovations on ANIMAL MAN, to his Dadaist super-heroics on DOOM PATROL. Along the way, he also addressed Batman with his multi-layered masterpiece ARKHAM ASYLUM and the literary GOTHIC storyline. This book examines all five works in detail, drawing out their running and evolving themes. Using plain language, Callahan opens up Morrison's sometimes difficult texts and expands the reader's appreciation of their significance, creating a study accessible to both Grant Morrison aficionados and those new to his work. An exclusive interview with Morrison on his early career rounds out the volume. This revised, second edition also contains a newly-added essay on Morrison's very first story for 2000AD, published before ZENITH.
Delves deep into Grant's head... I edited this book, so obviously I'm biased. But as I was reading it for the first time, I truly realized how little I new about some comics that I've read countless times.
I always thought I GOT Grant. I understood this guy. He's a cool, trippy writer, and I figured out his most dense works. Well, during the reading / editing of this book, I was shown SO MUCH MORE by Tim, a true Morrison freak. After reading this book, I HAD to go back and read all of the comics Callahan covers in EARLY YEARS. It was like going back through a movie a 2nd time (that kind of confused you the 1st time) in order to understand the stuff you missed and really being blown away by that 2nd viewing.
The themes that Morrison used, the analysis that Tim conjures, it was a real joy to have things I thought I had figured out explained in different, better ways.
I just feel lucky to have read this book. It enriched my comic book experience immensely.
Five stars for sheer uniqueness but... the book overlooks several of the more obvious interpretations of GM's work in favor of a more bland and pop-cultural take on it. One wonders why the author of the book did not read a little more up on not only GM's interviews, or if he did why he overlooked the many references (beyond what has become pop-cultural phenomenons such as Jung and post-modernist chic) that dovetails so nicely into the books and authors he recommends all the time.
Having said that this is a monumental undertaking and one wonders how there can be a market for such a book at all, given that it focus on an authors decidedly esoteric years, but also an author who have chosen comic books as a medium. May there be more studies such as this.
The interview at the end is alone worth the price of the book.
Brilliant What Timothy Callahan has done here is to open up Grant Morrison's early texts, which are often confusing for many readers. Even as an avid fan of Morrison -- I've read virtually EVERYTHING he's written -- I learned a lot from this book. Callahan's interpretations and insights are both clear and fair, and they actually expanded my knowledge. I can only imagine how much this book would have helped me if I hadn't read ZENITH (Grant's early masterpiece, published in England in 2000AD and not currently availalbe) or if I hadn't already spent countless hours going over ARKHAM ASYLUM. Even so, Tim managed to expand my understanding of ARKHAM, which is really saying something!
And the interview in the back, after the main text, is also very eye-opening, allowing Grant to reflect back upon his early work through the eyes of an older, perhaps(?) wiser man.
Truly wonderful stuff, and one of the very, very few serious books about comics out there -- one that's not too stuffy or too slight. I'm eagerly awaiting a second volume!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
