DC Comics' most underrated hero was actually inspired by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics, according to recent annotations provided by Grant Morrison for their superhero magnum opus, The Multiversity.
Released in 2014-2015, The Multiversity was an epic event series that charted the furthest reaches of the DC Multiverse. Each issue took place on a different Earth, as the Multiverse found itself under attack by the Gentry: cosmic horrors intent on devouring everything in sight. Written by Grant Morrison and boasting art from some of the top talent in the comics industry. The Multiversity is one of Morrison’s defining works, in many ways the culmination of their entire career writing superheroes for DC Comics. Ultra Comics takes place on Earth-33, or "Earth-Prime" - the only world in DC’s Multiverse that doesn’t have any super-humans. With the issue’s story revolving around a team-up between Earth-Prime’s first superhuman Ultra Comics and the reader themselves, the issue lives up to Morrison’s reputation for boundary-pushing imagination, but perhaps the most surprising aspect of its creation is how it was inspired by Marvel Comics.
Ultra Comics Was Inspired by 'Cosmic' Marvel Comics
Recently, Morrison has been providing annotations for The Multiversity via their newsletter Xanaduum, the latest of which focuses on the mind-bending issue The Multiversity: Ultra Comics #1. Coming from the creative team of Grant Morrison, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, Keith Champagne, Jaime Mendoza, Gabe Eltaeb, David Baron and Steve Wands, "Ultra Comics started with the idea of creating a contemporary take on the formative Marvel comics I discovered aged 14, after a lifetime’s dedication to DC," Morrison recounts, listing inspirations as varied as Howard the Duck, Doctor Strange, and Thanos creator Jim Starlin’s cosmic work for Marvel in the 1970’s.
"The comic that started me down the Marvel path was Jim Starlin’s seminal Captain Marvel #29," Morrison recounts in their annotations. Jim Starlin was one of the earliest creators to establish the “cosmic” side of the Marvel Universe, and the writer/artist’s revamp of Captain Mar-Vell set the stage for what would become Starlin’s signature themes: psychedelic star-battles representing the psyches of the heroes and villains, and characters being driven to the brink of madness when given access to vast power. This work had a profound effect on the young Morrison, who states that Starlin’s work "rewired my impressionable young brain and gave me a new vision of what was possible in superhero comics."
Addressing the Reader Directly Came from Stan Lee
Morrison also explains how they wanted to capture a different aspect of Marvel Comics: Stan Lee’s conversational approach with the reader. "I was influenced here by Stan Lee’s narration in his very first Spider-Man story with Steve Ditko," Morrison writes, talking of Peter Parker’s first appearance in 1952’s Amazing Fantasy #15. Morrison goes on to elaborate how this shaped their approach to the hero known as Ultra Comics:
Lee addresses the readers directly, using caption boxes to create a confidante and pal reading the comic along with us. This was a technique that seemed ripe for updating and reconsidering. To update it, I read extensively on 'pre-suasion' sales techniques to create the Man’s speech at the beginning and the opening commercial presentation of the concept.
It all goes to show that Morrison remains the most innovative writer of superhero comics working today. Very few others approach their work with the careful attention to detail and knowledge of comics history, not to mention the skill with which they can bring these concepts to life in their work. Stan Lee and Marvel Comics paved the way for more grounded stories when compared to the contemporaneous work found in DC Comics - trust Grant Morrison to update their tactics into a surreal masterpiece.
Source: Xanaduum
