Grant Morrison is easily one of the greatest writers in the history of the comic book medium, and the iconic creator recently shared their process in creating comics. From early works like Animal Man and Doom Patrol, to franchise-defining runs like their New X-Men tenure, to later unforgettable masterpieces like All-Star Superman and We3, Morrison has shown they are a writer who transcends generations and creates works of lasting impact.
Posting to their newsletter Xanaduum, Morrison shared examples of thumbnails they created for their seminal Vertigo series from the 1990’s, The Invisibles. According to Morrison, they start each comic project by drawing it out themselves.
“I start by drawing the story as it appears in my head in comic book form,” Morrison wrote in a subsequent installment of Xanaduum, “basing the major beats around interesting and arresting images and sequences.” For Morrison, it’s all about finding exciting things for them and their artists to draw: “I’d never ask an artist to draw something I wouldn’t enjoy drawing myself!”
Related
“The Superhero Dream Is Essentially Romantic”: Star X-Men & Superman Writer Grant Morrison Calls Out “Superheroes Are Fascist” Theory
Grant Morrison recently addressed Alan Moore’s comments about superheroes being “fascist,” giving a wonderful counterpoint to Moore’s perspective.
Grant Morrison Draws Every Page of Their Comics Before Writing Them
Morrison’s description of their process is as fascinating as their completed work. “Dialogue and narrative caption ideas appear at this time and can be seen developing in the margins,” Morrison wrote, explaining how the writing flows organically from the images. After laying out the issue in “thumbnails” – akin to storyboards for comic books – Morrison then transcribes their images to script form. “I convert the drawings into text descriptions with accompanying dialogue,” Morrison explained, “and hand the ensuing script version to the artist.”
While their own thumbnails are crucial to Morrison’s process, the writer also explained in their Substack posts that they usually don’t share the first-draft sketches with their eventual artists: “The artist rarely gets to see the original thumbnails before they go to work turning the descriptions back into artwork!” This insight into Morrison’s process for creating comics is revealing in a number of ways. It absolutely makes sense that Morrison would start with the images when crafting their stories, as comics are a visual medium, and Morrison’s writing is so deeply tied to the corresponding visuals.
Morrison’s Illustrations For The Invisibles #1 Offer Fascinating Creative Insight
Grant Morrison’s process recalls the classic “Marvel method” of creating comics, which saw the writer hand over a basic plot for their artist to turn into a twenty-page comic, which the writer would later add captions and dialogue over.
Seeing Morrison’s thumbnails also shows the writer’s talents away from the typewriter, as Morrison is a rather talented artist in their own right. While many comic creators write and illustrate their own stories, it is particularly interesting that Morrison reserves their drawings for the very first step of the writing process, before handing the work off to another artist.
The Invisibles #1 was eventually drawn by artist Steve Yeowell, with coloring from Daniel Vozzo and Electric Crayon when it was released in September, 1994. Running over three volumes until its conclusion in 2000, The Invisibles could be seen as Grant Morrison’s ultimate masterwork, comprising the whole of the iconic writer’s interests and preoccupations. As such, it’s a rare treat to get the curtain peeled back on such a series, and to see how a writer like Grant Morrison puts together their comics.
