Grant Morrison on Action Comics at SDCCI

Comics News
Grant Morrison on Action Comics at SDCCI
By Dan Horn
July 20, 2011 - 17:49

In an intimate and insightful Q&A session at a San Diego Comic Con International panel on Thursday, Grant Morrison addressed among many other things an expressed concern for the direction of the Superman franchise. The question posed from one fan was regarding several editorial comments from DC in reference to the upcoming Superman series seeing Clark Kent as an outsider, alienated from the human race. Grant was quick to assure fans that those themes of isolation would begin and end with George Perez's take on the hero.

"Superman is not Batman," Grant admitted. "You can't have him brooding and sitting on gargoyles." He explained that his Action Comics would instead have Superman making a slight return to his Golden Age core values, establishing him as a "social reformer" and "champion of the oppressed." Grant expounded upon his previous Batman/Superman comment by saying, Bruce Wayne saw two people killed in front of him and it totally devastated him for the rest of his life, whereas Clark lost billions of people on Krypton and still manages to always have a smile on his face. They're two completely different characters. Morrison sees Superman as a machine-age messiah archetype, a Jesus or Buddha that has no qualms with resolving problems with his fists if necessary, an integral quality that sets him apart from other comic book heroes, such as the aforementioned Dark Knight. To Morrison, Superman is still that allegorical Moses, immigrant prince of Egypt, and his stories will continue to be informed by such intrinsic lore.

Grant went on to say that he's become a bit jaded by his tenure on Batman comics, which included long stints on Batman, Batman and Robin, Batman Inc, and The Return of Bruce Wayne, and he's excited about being able to work on Superman again. While trying to progress Supes in an interesting and contemporary direction, he alleges he's still being mindful of the past, saying his work on All-Star Superman should be somewhat of an indication of how he'll handle the character again. However, he states that he's taken the title of Action Comics quite literally in this case, and this will be a very "proactive" book.

So, fear not, Superman fanatics. It would appear all is well as far as Action Comics is concerned. At least someone has respect for your revered icon.