Posted in: Comics, san diego comic con | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, grant morrison, Graphic India, sdcc

SDCC '15: Grant Morrison & Graphic India: Myth, Magic, and Monsters

Published Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:30:57 -0500

by Mike Sangregorio

Grant Morrison began the Convention properly Thursday morning with a presentation featuring two of his new titles as well as a partnership with Graphic India, a publishing company focused on bringing the classic myths of India, and Eastern storytelling practices in general, to Western audiences.

Sharad Devarajan, one of Graphic India's co-founders, moderated the panel and introduced the man of the hour. Morrison's comic is 18 Days and it is a modern retelling of the stories of the Mahabharata, the age-old texts of Indian mythology.

Morrison described his attraction to the project as stemming from the inherent relatability of these epic, millennia old stories which Devarajan likened to The Iliad and The Odyssey of the East.

As with all of his work he discussed how important it is to have a personal relationship to the stories being told, regardless of how fantastic. He described the struggle "between duty and desire" as one that everyone can relate to, in some ways more so than the standard superheroes stories of the West.

A self-avowed fan of all world mythologies, Morrison sees Eastern influences, which he previously dabbled with in works such as The Invisibles, as allowing him to focus on stories about multi-faceted characters who can "emphasize the frailties of being human" which he mentioned seemed to be making a come back if you look at the popularity of more morally gray-area shows such as Game of Thrones.

18 Days' first issue has already shipped (and a version of the story itself shipped previously in 2010 as a self-contained hardcover). To coincide with the push Morrison announced his new title Avatarex, his first digital-only comic, produced in conjunction with Humble Bundle.

The story of a superbeing shunted from the time of the Mahabharata to today, when the final battle for all of existence should be happening except he appears to have arrived a bit too early. This all-powerful superwarrior must struggle with having the ability to reorder reality but existing in a world where that is not necessarily what is needed now.

Morrison described the thrust of the story as having to deal with being bonded to a less-ethically inclined human being because, as Morrison describes, "we needed that Peter Parker as well." If this will be the closest we get to him working on Captain Marvel again, since the completion of Thunderworld, all the more reason to look forward to it.

Devarajan also discussed Stan Lee's new project through Humble Bundle, Chakra the Invincible, and the primary focus of the charities that will be aided through payments via Humble Bundle.

A short film played showcasing various Indian girls answering the question of what superpower they would want. Every answer spoke to helping the world, or the people in it, as opposed to something aggressive or warlike, such as "once I hug a tree, no one can cut it down."

Both men agreed that this was sentiment that needed to be encouraged and said that donations would help fight poverty and gender equality in India.

As this is a Grant Morrison panel the question and answer portion of the turned to the genesis of ideas. Morrison spoke about his introduction to India coming from his father, who was stationed there during World War 2.

The elder Morrison wanted to "punch Hitler in the face" but instead was forced to threaten to turn his own rifle on his fellow soldiers after orders were issued for them to "shoot women and children."

Morrison also discussed how the best new ideas come from a meeting a dualities. He described how a "thesis and antithesis come together to make a synthesis" and reminded us that, per Aleister Crowley, we are in the Aeon of Horus.

Unlike the last era, the Aeon of Osiris the Lawgiver, which gave us the old world and all things in it (including traditional superheroes) this new world we are living in would be chaotic and dangerously revolutionary.

Mentioning the civil unrest in parts of the world Morrison then brought it home with a mention of Horus' sister Ma'at, the Goddess of Truth and Justice. He discussed how maybe it was time for women to take charge of the things and save the world from what we had done to it.

18 Days and Avatarex are available now in single issues and digital only (https://www.humblebundle.com/grantmorrison), respectively.

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