Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: batwoman, dc comics, grant morrison, multiversity, substack

Grant Morrison On Multiverse Characters Becoming Canon Cannon Fodder

Everyone is talking Multiverse right now. In a recent Xanaduum Substack post, Grant Morrison posted about their recent run on Green Lantern Season Two with Liam Sharp. And revisited the Multiversity switch-gender universe Earth-11, which was originally created for Multiversity and is now spinning off the new Teen Justice book from DC Comics. And also revealed how creators can feel about other people playing with their toys.

And talking about Earth-11's Batwoman's reappearance in Green Lantern Season Two #9.

Grant Morrison looked at another version of that character from the Dark Metal worlds.

I was a little disappointed when the Batwoman of this world was transformed into the evil Batwoman Who Laughs, although I totally understood why writer Joshua Williamson (whose work I enjoy) chose to take this route and why the notion of a 'Batwoman Who Laughs' based on Scott Snyder's infamously and hilariously nihilistic creation the Batman Who Laughs might seem too good to pass up!

Nevertheless, I'm quite protective of my Multiversity work and I get about as riled as I can get about these things nowadays when other creators choose to artificially raise the stakes in their stories by destroying characters and concepts before they even get a chance to be explored. How can I ever forgive my former Batman editor and pal Peter Tomasi for killing Red Racer, the gay Flash of Earth-36 thereby destroying his relationship with Flashlight, that world's version of Green Lantern, and killing a newly-created queer character for no defensible reason? Red Racer's place on the multiversal Justice Incarnate has now been claimed by the 'non-binary' Kid Quick.

And then Grant Morrison writes the kind of thing that I think may be quoted at length as long as we have comic books and an internet. And now that Bleeding Cool has mentioned it, expect all manner of folks to pick it up.

In my view, the general rule of thumb is that each of these alternate worlds should be treated as its own potential franchise rather than squandered as disposable cannon fodder for the nineteenth nervous re-run of Crisis on Infinite Earths – the 'Major Comics' universe Earth-8 for instance should reflect the actual Marvel universe, which is to say don't do anything to American Crusader or The Bug that would be squashed by editorial if you submitted your plot to the editors of Captain America or Spider-Man. You can do 'The Death of American Crusader' but only if you have an Ed Brubaker-style story designed to explore what that means and devised to bring him back in style when the time comes!

As for Kathy Kane?

In the case of the Earth-11 Kathy Kane at least, I'd like to think there's hope for putting her back where she belongs in the Earth-11 Batwoman role. The Batwoman Who Laughs should technically come from the Dark Multiverse, of course, not from the Orrery of Worlds, so maybe there was a mix-up and Earth-11 Batwoman is even now fighting her way back home from the Dark Multiverse… or something.

So, Josh Williamson, now with the keys to the DC Multiverse, how about making Grant Morrison happy and returning Earth-11 Kathy Kane to her Batwoman Who Doesn't Laugh That Much role? And for everyone else…  watch that cannon fodder. As Grant Morrison says, they shouldn't be cannon fodder. Teen Justice #1 is published in July 2022 from DC Comics.

MULTIVERSITY TEEN JUSTICE #1 (OF 6) CVR A ROBBI RODRIGUEZ
(W) Ivan Cohen, Danny Lore (A) Marco Failla (CA) Robbi Rodriguez
Kid Quick—the Future State Flash—and their fellow heroes Supergirl, Robin, Aquagirl, Klarienne the Witch Girl, and Troy take center stage in a miniseries that rocks Earth-11 to its core! Co-writers Ivan Cohen (The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries) and Danny Lore (DC Pride, Champions) join rising-star artist Marco Failla (DCeased: Hope at World's End) for the incredible debut issue, which begins with an attack by the H.I.V.E. and ends in the Church of Blood! What is Sister Blood's true mission among the lost souls of New York City? Can Teen Justice get through their growing pains fast enough to learn the answer in time to stop it? And what role will the mysterious Raven—the brooding hero who has refused to join the team in the past—play in the ultimate battle? The secrets of Earth-11's newest heroes and villains unfold in DC's most exciting new team title! Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 6/7/2022

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