Half the Picture is a podcast/ video cast presented by Billy Barnell, who sits down with a different filmmaker, actor, or artist each episode, for a relaxed and revealing conversation – and he recently chatted with comic creator and author Grant Morrison MBE, ahead of his appearance at the recent Lakes International Comic Art Festival.
One of the most original and widely respected writers in comics, Glasgow-born Grant Morrison got their start with British indie comics during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including work on the DC Thomson digest title, Starblazer, before working on Marvel UK titles such as Zoids.
After co-creating the popular strip “Zenith” with artist Steve Yeowell in 2000AD, Morrison made their mark in America with DC Comics, where they revived an obscure hero to critical acclaim in his Animal Man series.
In 1989, they wrote the best-selling Batman graphic novel Arkham Asylum and began a memorably surreal run as writer of the freakish heroes of DC’s Doom Patrol. Subsequent DC projects included Kid Eternity, Sebastian O, Flex Mentallo, Kill Your Boyfriend, Aztek, Invisibles, DC One Million, The Flash and a hugely popular revamping of DC’s JLA.
Morrison then shifted focus to Marvel Comics, where they had already made a brief pit-stop co-writing 1995’s bizarre Skrull Kill Krew with Mark Millar. In addition to their groundbreaking four-year New X-Men run, Morrison’s Marvel credits include Fantastic Four: 1234 and Marvel Boy.
They have since returned to DC, where their later credits include Seaguy, WE3, Vimanarama, JLA: Classified and Seven Soldiers. While serving as a special creative consultant to DC editorial, Morrison wrote All-Star Superman, and the flagship Batman title and its spinoff Batman Inc.; co-wrote the event series, 52; and served as the mastermind behind Final Crisis.
They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller, Supergods.
Last year, they announced a partnership with teamed with fellow Scot and film director Etienne Kubwabo, on a new comic book project, Worlds Collide, featuring Grant’s first ever superhero, Captain Clyde, and DJ ET, with art by Ben Wilsonham. Captain Clyde was first published in the Govan Press and the Clydebank & Renfrewshire Presses from 1979 to 1982 on the TV listings pages.
Their first novel, LUDA, which centres on a flamboyant drag artist, was published by Europa Editions last year, described by comedian and comic creator Frankie Boyle as “impeccably realised phantasmagoric plunge into an alternate Glasgow” and “A sensory onslaught, swirling with allusion and metaphor” by the Financial Times.
In television, they have developed adaptations of their comic series Happy! for Syfy and Netflix and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World for Peacock. In addition, Morrison is an award-winning playwright and musician.
Based in Glasgow and Los Angeles, Morrison was awarded an MBE for services to film and literature in 2012.
“Grant joined us primarily to chat about their work on the iconic All-Star Superman that redefined the Man of Steel for the 21st Century and was a major influence on James Gunn’s new Superman film,” Half the Picture host Billy Barnell tells us. “They also spoke about their friendship with Gunn, writing a Flash film script with Ezra Miller, the taboo-busting magic of comics and why hope and optimism are radical but essential ideas in the world today.
“For all this and more, watch on!”
Half the Picture offers the full picture on some of the most talented and noteworthy folks in showbiz and the long and winding roads of their careers. Expect candid stories, creative insights, and regular detours into the weird and wonderful corners of the film and pop culture world.
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• Grant Morrison is online at grantmorrison.com | Substack | Facebook | Instagram | IMDB | Threads | X
Watch: Desert Island Comics with Grant Morrison at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2025
Grant Morrison interviewed by John McShane
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, Comic Creator Interviews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Features
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