Shut Up and Listen 27 Interview With . . . Steven Grant! This is the guy who wrote, under Warren Ellis at first and later on his own, one of my favourite titles from Marvel ever: X-Man after Ellis did his Counter-X thing. “Finally!” I said, “Something new and different.” It was out with the old and in with the Shaman for Mutanity. I highly recommend everyone go out and get it. I’ve also been a fan of Grant’s Master of the Obvious column over at www.comicbookresources.com. It’s good and just ended, with Grant now starting a new column entitles Permanent Damage. Me: Tell us about yourself. Grant: Born Madison, Wisconsin; grew up in the late 60s with lots of involvement in sex, drugs, rock’n’roll & politics; went to University of Wisconsin and became a film and music critic for local papers. Moved to NYC in 1978, started doing odd jobs for Marvel Comics while working as writer for Trouser Press magazine. Moved around, both my home and my career, ever since: Los Angeles, Seattle, Las Vegas, DC, First, Dark Horse, TSR, Vortex, Wildstorm, Eclipse, Tekno, Capital, Chaos, etc. etc. I can no longer keep track of all the companies I've written for. It's been an interesting enough life to live, but it's pretty dull to talk about. Me: How did you get interested in writing? Grant: Dunno. Just always did it. Certainly reading comic books from an early age helped. But I was always reading books; I started reading novels before I started reading comics. If you're around stories enough you start generating stories. Me: What have you written? Grant: Gobs of work for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and others over the years. Let's stick with what I've created: WHISPER at Capital (which went to First). BADLANDS at Vortex (which went to Dark Horse). ENEMY and OUT FOR BLOOD at Dark Horse. DAMNED at Wildstorm/Vertigo. PSYCHOBLAST and TWILIGHT MAN at First. MANHUNTER (a later version) at DC. Also did X at Dark Horse and the last year of X-MAN at Marvel, but I didn't create either of those. Me: What are you currently working on? Grant: Two graphic novels for AIT/PlanetLar Books, including a WHISPER graphic novel. Three graphic novels for Platinum Books: SOCORRO; PALADINS; and GUILTY. A Superman graphic novel at DC that was begun with Gil Kane -- it was Gil's idea -- and is now being drawn by John Buscema. Odd jobs at Marvel and DC. I've been doing some film work and prose fiction as well lately. And I'm writing the new column PERMANENT DAMAGE at CBR. Me: Did you find it weird that Joe Quesada came into Marvel speaking of doing comics differently and then cancelled X-Man, which was probably the most different title Marvel had at the time? Grant: Not really. While I probably would've kept it around, I understood the reasoning behind it. Bill and Joe are rebuilding the company around the X-books. If I'm trying to get people involved in the X-books and I drop something in front of them like X-MAN that's totally removed from the X-books, it's just going to bewilder them. So I don't really fault their decision, though I wish they'd made a different one. X-MAN was being done differently, but it wasn't being done in the way Joe and Bill meant differently. A subtle but important distinction. Me: In one of your Master of the Obvious columns you made several predictions and later when it was re-ran asked the readers to judge how right you were. How right do you think you've been so far? Grant: I haven't really been keeping track. Besides, it doesn't matter what the score is at halftime, it matters what the score is when the game's over, and the game isn't anywhere near over yet. Me: How far ahead of posting do you generally write a column? Grant: 3-6 hours, usually. Me: Boxers or briefs? Grant: None of your business. Me: Cats or dogs? Grant: At this stage in my life, I'd just as soon have no pets at all. Saying “cats or dogs?” is like saying “blondes or brunettes?” Depends on the specific blonde or brunette. Me: Summer or winter? Grant: Autumn. Me: Any cool stories involving a chick? Grant: Except that we don't call them “chicks” anymore, sure. Me: I just gave you a case full of 100 untraceable bullets, who do you use them on? Grant: Untraceable bullets only exist in fiction. Anyway, I'd never shoot anybody. Even my worst enemies I don't have any great compulsion to shoot, and I don't believe in restructuring governments through the barrel of the gun, so who else is there? I like target shooting, though. I'd riddle a handful of targets on a firing range with them. Me: Who are some of your favourite writers? Grant: My favourite comics writer these days is probably Warren Ellis. I find pretty much anything Warren writes tremendously entertaining. William Gaddis is my favourite novelist. J.G. Ballard, James Ellroy, Malcolm Lowry. I don't really follow authors much anymore. I read specific books for specific information or other purposes, but usually not solely because I like the author's work. Most modern fiction is pretty pathetic, really. Me: Who is your hero? Grant: Phil Ochs is the closest anyone comes to being my hero. Me: If you could have one person, living or dead over to supper, who would it be? Grant: What are you, Barbara Walters? Why not just ask what my favourite color is? I don't even like to eat with people I know. You never know what anyone's table manners will be like. For that reason, probably Gandhi, since odds are he wouldn't eat. Me: How much of X-Man was you and how much Warren? Grant: Warren conceived the new direction, loosely outlined it, pretty tightly wrote out the opening sequence with Mr. Scratch and Mr. Forge, though I shuffled the dialogue around and added some of my own. The rest was fairly sketchy, with Warren setting up specific dialogue here and there, but he really didn't have much input past the first issue of the second arc, and no input at all into the final arc and the final issue. But it was his idea, and it was a great idea. Me: What's the one comic you want to work on? Grant: The next one I think up. And I want to work on it within a month of thinking it up, not three or four years. As for other people's characters, I'll work on them, but I don't have any crushing urge to work on any specific one. I'd rather create my own. Me: Which artists do you really want to work with that you haven't already? Grant: Oh, gobs of those. Anyone whose work has intelligence and distinctive style, really. That's what I look for in comics art, since storytelling is really a function of intelligence. Smarter artists may not necessarily draw better, but they tell stories better. Me: Who do you love? Grant: Again, none of your business. I don't really discuss my personal life. Me: Any final words? Grant: Not really, thanks. After writing MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS (soon to be collected by Larry Young at AIT/PlanetLar) for two years, I've pretty much said everything I can say about comics. *NOTE: THE INTERVIEW APPEARED FIRST THIS WEEK BECAUSE OF WHAT I SAY FURTHER DOWN IN THE COLUMN. IT COULD BE CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE BY SOME AMERICANS. I TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND IT ISN’T PRETTY. IF YOU READ ON DON’T COME BITCHING TO ME. IF YOU WANT TO DISCUSS WHAT I SAY INTELLIGENTLY AND RATIONALLY, I’M OPEN FOR THAT, BUT NO “MINDLESS PATRIOTISM”, OKAY? AND IF YOU WANT TO, GO TO MY MESSAGE FORUM AND POST THERE INSTEAD OF TAKING UP OTHER PEOPLE’S SPACE ON OTHER BOARDS. IF YOU KEEP IT CIVIL AND NOT DESCEND INTO NAME-CALLING, THERE WILL BE NO PROBLEMS.* Sunday September 16, 2001 Come Ride My Column I am giving you all orders to right now, go to www.grant-morrison.com and read his latest column on the recent events in the States. It’s absolutely brilliant and tells it like it is. It’s pretty damn funny too. More Thoughts On America Remember how I said I would lay off America for awhile? Screw it. I’ve heard too many so called “righteous Americans” speak of their country as if it is above everyone else. I will say this again before I launch into anything: I do not support any killing. America did not deserve what happened. The death of anyone is uncalled for. That said, America should fess up and realize it is at least partly responsible for what happened. It has interfered with other countries’ affairs because they think they’re right. They are more “advanced” and “morally superior” so they can do what they want because they are “good” and anyone against them is “evil.” Anyone who sees it that way, I say: fuck you, grow the fuck up. There is no good. There is no evil. There is actions. That’s all. The way humanity has evolved in America is not the right way. It is not the wrong way. It is one way. Other civilizations have evolved much differently because of different environments and have created different cultures. They are just as valid as the US. If the US attacks Afghanistan, to the average person there, the US will be terrorists. The average person in Afghanistan did not attack the US; just as truthfully, the average person in America did not commit the crimes that the US has been accused of by some people. These crimes, by both sides, have been done by a small group of people, not the general populace. Punish the few who are guilty, not the many that are innocent. And I am aware that Canada, Britain, France, Australia and many other countries have done some similar things to the US, but not nearly as much. To put it bluntly and rather harshly: who got attacked? Canada And The US Remember a few weeks back when Bush said Mexico is the US’ most valuable ally? I do. It pissed me off a lot then. And it pissed me off a thousand times more this week. Which neighbour of the States accepted their planes despite danger? Which neighbour sent rescue crews to assist the States? Which neighbour has been giving blood in huge numbers for the States? Which neighbour has tried in any in every way to help out the States? Which neighbour has vowed to assist the States in finding those responsible for what happened and put their asses on the line next to American citizens? Which neighbour will probably get little thanks again for being a true friend to the States? I’ll give you a hint: it isn’t Mexico. “Mr. Ambassador, we will be with the United States every step of the way. As friends. As neighbours. As family.”--Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada Monday September 17, 2001 Even More Thoughts On The US The more I think about it and read about it, the more I realize that the US is largely at fault for what happened. Look at Israel: only two (TWO!) Middle Eastern countries recognize Israel as a country. Those two are Egypt and Jordan. The rest see it as a symbol of US and UN interference in their home. I realize that the creation of Israel was for a good cause and had good motivation, but did anyone ask these countries if it would be okay? Or did we just go in, steamroll over them and say this is the way things are, so live with it? My guess would be the latter. I have heard a few Americans agree with me. They are the ones who look past blind patriotism and see the truth. America is not the best country in the world. It has fucked up more than almost any other country with its thinking that they are the best. They are not the home of freedom. Canada has more freedom. So do numerous countries. The attack was not an attack on freedom. It was an attack saying “Leave us the fuck alone! We don’t want you guys bothering us anymore! You fucked up our home so we’re fucking up your home!” Bush said they started it. They didn’t. The US did. The US declared war first in a subtle way. They declared war on the culture of the Middle East and have taken every opportunity to attack it. Again, I say that this does not make the attack on the US justified. Killing is wrong in any case. And how the US handles this will determine the fate of the world. I can only hope they don’t fuck it up as they usually do. Tuesday September 18, 2001 I Get To Sleep In! Tomorrow I get to sleep in as my first class isn’t until noon. Why, you ask? Because of mass. Yes, sadly I attend a Catholic high school, even though I am an atheist. I have first period off because of my spare and second period is cancelled for mass and I have third lunch. The Captain is being a good friend and picking me up, thereby letting me sleep in. I am happy. Wednesday September 19, 2001 School Well, today was good up until when I went to school. I should have stayed home. In law we took a note and that was it pretty much. In physics it was a work period. I should have stayed home. Thursday September 20, 2001 Revelation . . . Kind Of Okay, so today I’m in the caf on my spare and at the table right in front of me sits The Girl and three of her friends. They’re talking and the place is empty, so I can hear everything. Remember: I am viewed as the non-male entity amongst many of them, so they don’t seem to mind. So, I’m listening casually, not intently and The Girl mentions some guy. I listen up. Says something about going shopping tomorrow at eleven with some dude at Masonville mall. When asked if she’s going out with the fucker (I’ll call this guy who I never met or even knew existed before what I damn well want to call him), she said that since she just broke up with some other guy two weeks previous she isn’t ready for a relationship yet. I didn’t know about that one. This made me continue along the lines of thought that I had began a while ago, I don’t remember when exactly, that maybe I should just give up and move on. The Girl and my lifestyles are quite different. I am what you see: some geek who likes to stay in, watch TV, go on the computer, read, just hang around. She is the type that likes to go out and get shitfaced. This has actually been a concern of mine for several months, but I figured I could deal with it. Now I am thinking maybe I should just drop it. If it hasn’t happened yet, odds are it isn’t going to. I haven’t made any final decisions, because that would be dumb, but I’m not going to keep on the path I am currently on, that’s for sure. Friday September 21, 2001 Canada And The US--An Amendment Some Americans have given thanks to Canada in some letters to Canadian papers. I would like to stress that we don’t do it for credit, but it does piss me off when Bush is on TV thanking every other country on the planet, but leaving out us. Some reason it is because we are not a military power and that it why the Texan didn’t mention us. We won’t be able to provide the big guns in getting revenge against the terrorists who committed the horrendous act of unjustifiable violence. BUT we did help out a lot already and I, and other Canadians, appreciate every word of thanks from American citizens, but the president should recognize that fact too. But, we are with you nonetheless and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Saturday September 22, 2001 Haircut I got a haircut earlier today. Okay, so I have nothing to say, what’s the big deal? You know how hard it is coming up with new stuff to say? It’s pretty damn hard! And . . . I’ll stop my bitching now.