What is Morrisonian to you?

[sabongero]

Just like people say that Orwellian is of or something to do with being a futuristic totalitarian state which in wikipedia had something like a societal condition of being destructive to a free society. And just like Machiavellan is the employment of deceit and cunning in general conduct. Both derived the interpretation from the works of Orwell and Machiavelli.

What in Grant Morrison's works can you call Morrisonian and how so?

[PyroSikTh]

Multiple dimensions and universes, the power of ideas and the imagination. Morrison's work always tends to be very conceptual.

[t hedge coke]

Imagination/well-wishing will save us, seems a big one. The Filth, The Invisibles, Happy!, RIP, the end of Action Comics, bits of JLA like the rescue from Mageddon or Zauriel's "naive" prayer, Joe the Barbarian, Animal Man, Final Crisis, Return of Bruce Wayne, his recent thing with Rian Hughes...

[dancj]

All of the above and also metafiction and general optimism.

I found Azzarello and Chiang's Doctor Thirteen to be very Morrisonian.

[Confuzzled]

An analysis of art and life through metafiction.

[Penguin Truth]

Being unnecessarily convoluted, leaning heavily on both the metaphysical and metafictional, and stringing together words that don't belong together as if to create the impression of abstract poetry. And making references to obscure comic storylines from decades prior.

[Coal Tiger]

Optimistic. Iconography equally as important as characters. Multiple meanings and interpretations. Subtext as important as real text. Embracing the whole of a character and not being ashamed of aspects that others pretend didn't happen.

[The Celtic Batman]

.....a knockout story that builds and builds, linking ideas and themes, then hits you over the haed with a healthy level of Meta..... intertwined with a deep respect for not only the cultural significance of the in-story characters, but also for an evolving hypothesis that somehow, maybe magically, these characters might be more 'real' than we think.....

[Tupiaz]

String theory as art.

[cgh]

Imagination/well-wishing will save us, seems a big one. The Filth, The Invisibles, Happy!, RIP, the end of Action Comics, bits of JLA like the rescue from Mageddon or Zauriel's "naive" prayer, Joe the Barbarian, Animal Man, Final Crisis, Return of Bruce Wayne, his recent thing with Rian Hughes...

Yes, I always think of it as "the power of positive thinking". Imagine if Tony Robbins wrote comics, basically (being facetious here). As a total tangent, the death metal band Morbid Angel were also influenced by Tony Robbins so he pops up all over the place.

Another aspect is treating time as space. Obviously in real life, physicists speak of spacetime but for us as humans experiencing the world, it's a convenient fiction to distinguish the two concepts. But Morrison frequently has his antagonists attacking across time as well as space to give a claustrophobic sensation of overwhelming odds and disorientation.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Everyone and everything reflects everything else, so it's up to everyone to be the best they can by themselves and others because it's how you change things, which is also why individuality cannot be repressed. And believing is the necessary first step to doing.

As far as specific tropes, positive/negative, fluidity vs. solidity, multiple dimensions, human consciousness and how it's warped or changed, the nature of storytelling, embracing of the more imaginative elements of fiction, the apocalypse, the mind-body dichotomy, and the ultimate apotheosis of mankind.

[t hedge coke]

Being unnecessarily convoluted, leaning heavily on both the metaphysical and metafictional, and stringing together words that don't belong together as if to create the impression of abstract poetry. And making references to obscure comic storylines from decades prior.

I've asked before, but can you provide examples of "stringing together words that don't belong together"?

Much like your previous accusations that he writes nonsense that "doesn't make sense," you don't seem to ever provide evidence.

[Coal Tiger]

I've asked before, but can you provide examples of "stringing together words that don't belong together"?

Much like your previous accusations that he writes nonsense that "doesn't make sense," you don't seem to ever provide evidence.

As always, Morrison not making sense is news to me. The only book of his I had trouble with was The Filth, and all it required was reading it again all at once.

[charliehustle415]

.....a knockout story that builds and builds, linking ideas and themes, then hits you over the haed with a healthy level of Meta..... intertwined with a deep respect for not only the cultural significance of the in-story characters, but also for an evolving hypothesis that somehow, maybe magically, these characters might be more 'real' than we think.....

You brilliant sonofabitch, exactly. Whenever I read Morrison I feel joy, I read Batman as a true Hero, I root for him, I root that he will rise amidst all obstacles. When I read All Star Superman I get a feeling that is almost childlike glee and hope.
Hope that there's a mind out there that loves heroes so much that he places them equal footing as any Ancient Greek or religious mythology.

That Is Morrisonian to me

[oasis1313]

Morrisonian feels like someone smoked a few joints while doing research in the DC back issues library.