Wizard #162 - The All-Star Superman Q & A

Originally published in Wizard, the Comics Magazine #162, April 2005

THE ALL-STAR SUPERMAN Q&A

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely send their 'love letter to America' by redefining the Man of Steel for the next 100 years, and explain how this isn't Ultimate Superman

By Mike Cotton

As writer Grant Morrison sips a tall glass, half full of Red Bull and vodka, and artist Frank Quitely lays a thin line of French vanilla tobacco across a small piece of rolling paper, they both finally admit - after a lifetime of waiting - it's a little intimidating to redefine the Man of Steel.

Teaming on a continuity-free Superman title that's specifically designed to attract new readers, while allowing DC's most prominent writers and artists to collaborate on epic stories, is a dream come true for the team, but they still ask themselves, "Could we f--- this up?"

"You have to have that mind that you can't allow yourself to screw it up," says Morrison as he looks out into George Park, in Glasgow's City Centre. "It has to be more important than anything else. It's Superman. I want it to be the best Superman I can possibly think of. I've been thinking of it a long time... so I can get it perfect."

Quitely agrees, although he seems more interested with the Millenium Hotel's steak sandwich at the moment than talking about this summer's All-Star Superman tile, which will follow Jim Lee and Frank Miller's All-Star Batman & Robin in June.

For decades Morrison teased fans with hints at unleashing an unadulterated (but pure and iconic) vision of the last son of Krypton, and no artist catches fans' eyes more than Quitely's refined, European pencils that made him a star on The Authority. The last time the two teamed on New X-Men, it quickly became the hottest book in comics, even after Quitely was forced to skip entire arcs due to accelerated shipping schedules.

But now, the new, highly anticipated, 12-issue series, which marks Morrison and Quitely's ninth collaboration, stands as the fruition of a lifelong dream for Morrison - and he says nothing will stand in the way of him telling the most poignant, epic, sci-fi influenced, heartfelt Superman tale he can. In fact, after using Superman in supporting or co-starring roles in titles such as JLA, Flash and Animal Man, and a failed attempt five years ago to revamp the entire Superman line along with Mark Waid, Mark Millar and Tom Peyer, Morrison is finally getting to tell what he calls his "definitive" Superman story along with his handpicked artist. And he's obviously excited - even if Quitely isn;t sure how long he's wanted to work on Superman.

"Probably since I was very young," exhales Quitely with a puff of smoke and a laugh. "Probably since I was an infant."

WIZARD: One of the major confusions about DC's All-Star line seems to be in comparison to Marvel's Ultimate line. Do you think All-Star Superman is Ultimate Superman?

MORRISON: Only in the sense that it's a better marketing tool. The Ultimate line is relaunches, we're just telling a good Superman story. You can see where they're going in the Ultimate universe. It's remixing. It's going to be Ultimate Vision and then Ultimate Black Panther. We all know where it's going but it's done well. DC's saying, "Do your best Superman story. Do the best story you can think of. Make sure everyone who reads it can understand it and it's not harmful to continuity." It's not even about continuity. You can apply Silver Age continuity to it or you can apply John Byrne continuity to it and it still works. It's not about that - it's about telling new stories for a very different audience we've got now because they're reading manga and adults are looking at superhero movies.

QUITELY: This sandwich is much better than expected. It's not bad at all for a hotel.

MORRISON; [Laughs] [The Ultimate line] is kind of backward looking. It's kind of re-creating. Superman got stale. There were the jokes about his pants and it was so stale. But all we have to do is put a little spark under it and everyone knows it and they want to love him.

So where does this story begin?

MORRISON: It begins as he discovers that he's about to die - which is a great place to start. Superman has to go on a mercy mission to the sun. Some astronauts have tried to land on the sun and he has to go and rescue them. His solar cells become super charged. They're designed to absorb solar radiation, but this time, because of the amount and proximity, he's overdone it. His cells begin to self-destruct. He finds out he has a year to live. It satrts with Superman: "Okay, what do I do now?" The first one ends with him revealing his identity to Lois and the second one this take on the Lois and Clark relationship that no one has ever done before. It's so cool. [Chuckles] It's a big science fiction story about Superman's death and what he'd do if he thought he was dying. And it's also Luthor's biggest scheme. he's in prison in the first issue, but that's exactly where he wants to be. The whole things worked out. There are lots of twists and turns.

Frank, can you produce this on a monthly basis?

QUITELY: No. [Chuckles] But I can fake it. With the lead time, it should be able to come out on a monthly schedule, with me having something like a six months' advance.

MORRISON: To be honest, I think there will be little slips as we near the end.

QUITELY: What do you base that on?

MORRISON: [Smiles slyly] Oh, I believe in you. You might pull it off. I think in the end it will be great. I mean, how many issues of The Ultimates have you seen? It's still good. In the end, when you have a big book, it'll be good stuff.

How do you feel about the All-Star tag? It seems to say, "This is our best..." So are you the best?

MORRISON: There does seem to be a new hierarchy. We'll have to accept that. [Laughs] It places us finally at the top. I guess everyone else has been relegated to second-class citizens. [Laughs] I think it should just be Superman, but this is all [DC VP Executive Editor] Dan Didio's idea.

QUITELY: I was thinking: Superman: Obviously. [Laughs]

MORRISON: Hugh Grant as Superman...

How big a change is All-Star Superman from the one in JLA: Earth 2 or the other times you've collaborated on him?

MORRISON: It's completely different. In All-Star Superman he doesn't talk much. He just shows up and saves the day and then leaves. He's more like the early Superman in that sense. He saves the day and doesn't give speeches on what's right and wrong. There's a lot more Clark kent to it than JLA. You get Clark Kent and the Daily Planet relationships. It's a lot more enriching. To me, he;s a big folk hero. He's been around forever. he;s like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed. I'm allowed to tell new stories of these amazing folk heroes. You've got to make Superman about a few things. It's got to be about big emotions and human feelings, like death and loss and bereavement and grief and joy. The you weave these weird sci-fi stories around those themes. I think those are the best Superman stories - the ones about human feelings but on a huge, cosmic, ridiculous superhero canvas. See? I love this.

QUITELY: Completely different. [Laughs] I'm going for a very simple style. I;m going for a "three-page-a-day" style. It won't be a delibertae change, it'll be slightly different to WE3 and the way that looked slightly different than New X-Men.

MORRISON: Well, the way you're doing Superman is very different from your Earth 2 Superman. He's that big, old, hard working-class Superman. This is a younger Superman.

QUITELY: Leaner and meaner.

MORRISON: I'm excited about Superman for Frank. I think it's what he can do best. No-one's done Clark kent to Superman; showing the difference between these two guys. And he can do it. He can do the body language in a way you've never seen it. You'll actually see his whole posture change and his paunch disappear and his three chins disappear.

QUITELY: Anyone can stand in front of a mirror and make themselves look more in shape, or out of shape, if they want. [Extends his belly for effect]

MORRISON; We've always seen [Motions as if Clark kent is removing his glasses to become Superman] this. This is a whole transformation. This is Jeckyll and Hyde. We've never seen it before in 70 years of Superman.

QUITELY: I can do that? Oh yeah, or so Grant says. [Laughs]

Any other changes?

MORRISON: We're changing Superman's costume slightly... the symbol slightly. And for a wee part of it, he won't have those red pants on. I mean, we all want to see it. We all want to know, "Would he look really cool without the pants?" We've got a very different version of Lois. This is a Lois who's been through a lot. Superman's been lying to her for years. When she gets the real story, she doesn't necessarily believ what he tells her. It's a clearly different dynamic. Lois and Clark are kind of seen as Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tarcy. Lois likes Clark because he's smart and witty. Even though he's a big farm boy, he knows things: she can talk to him. They're not married in this one, but they might have been. You don't have to be aware of that to enjoy it. You could read it either way. I'm just starting to gte into their relationship. There's going to be a little more conflict in this one. Youre going to see where they;re coming from.

Your X-Men run was heavily influenced by the politics of 9/11 and it's aftermath. How much of world events, such as the war in Iraq, will influence your Superman?

MORRISON: Not so much. This is kind of a response to that; it's my love letter back to America. It's saying [to the U.S.] "You can be Superman, if you want. You're the last superpower left."

Does this compare at all to your X-Men run?

MORRISON: No, it's much bigger. The X-Men [run] was trying to capture a moment and I think it did, but I think that moment has passed. It was a creepy time. This is a timeless story. This is a Superman that people should be able to read in 100 years and still understand it, and it's not about what was happening in the world. It's about what happens in peoples' hearts and heads.

QUITELY: With X-Men there was obviously no way I was going to do all the issues. We knew that going in.

MORRISON: They shipped it twice or three times a month.

QUITELY: I think I did 11 issues. But Superman willl be different... we'll have a bigger sequence done.

MORRISON: It'll be a coherent whole thing. There won't be any Igor Kordey coming in at issue #6.

What do you think of the Marvel vs. DC competition going on right now?

MORRISON: I went to Marvel in 1999 when it was the cool place to be. Bill [Jemas] really wanted to nozz up DC. Bill was a mischievous character. Jeph Loeb said it in the last Wizard I read, once you cover a house in sh--, you have to have someone eventually clean it all off. DC is really more happy, they've got Marvel's number now. [DC's] saying, "Okay, let us show you how it;s done."

QUITELY: Yup

MORRISON: Marvel's going to have to react to what DC's doing this year.

What do you guys think of the choices for the "Superman" movie?

MORRISON: It should be good.

Is there any chance of you both sticking around for more stories after issue #12?

MORRISON: I have no idea what happens next. It hasn't been defined that way at all. Maybe Dan DiDio would have the secret to that.

QUITELY: I could write it and you could draw it.

MORRISON: That's be cool, too.

QUITELY: It's be all about Bizarro.

Are you a big Bizarro fan?

QUITELY: I'm redesigning him a bit. I've enjoyed all the of the characters these last few days while sketching the cast. I think they'll all be fun. But I've always had a soft spot for Bizarro. I think we all know where he;s coming from.

So is there any chance of you two staying for more than 12?

MORRISON; You never know, Bu this tells a really complete story. This is my definitive Superman story... at least to date. I want to say everything I feel about Superman. There's a lot of different approaches to Superman through the 12 issues.

QUITELY: I hope this is all you have to say. I can't see drawing more than 12 issues. [Both laugh]