Interview: Grant Morrison Talks Penning Batman/Deadpool Crossover

Grant Morrison is the acclaimed writer behind Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Arkham Asylum, All-Star Superman, Flex Mentallo, New X-Men, We3, and many other acclaimed comic book titles. Morrison writes the main story in Marvel and DC’s newest crossover, DC / Marvel: Batman / Deadpool #1 (with Dan Mora and Alejandro Sanchez), and we spoke with them via email about the book! Check out our conversation below.

What's the most interesting juxtaposition between Deadpool and Batman? They are very different characters who operate in two different sides of the darkness.

We'd already seen Deadpool interact with the stoic, serious Wolverine, so I chose to take the Batman/Deadpool relationship in a different direction. Batman's deadly dry wit cancels out Deadpool's manic chatter to some extent. I like that Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez have brought back the bright blue to Batman's costume, as one of my models for this comic was the incredible of Brave and Bold stories by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo in the '70s, when Batman wore vivid swimming pool blue!

What was it like to revisit Danny the Street and how important is that character to you? Would you be interested in telling more Doom Patrol stories in the future? (Note: This question was asked before being able to read the book. A previous erroneous synopsis from DC mentioned Danny and was later corrected).

Danny the Street doesn't appear in this story, I'm afraid! That was just an over-enthusiastic DC promo (seen here)! I doubt I'll ever return to Doom Patrol. I loved that book but said what I had to say.

Have you had a chance to read any of the other crossovers in the comic? Are there any team-ups that particularly excite you?

I've read the whole book and enjoyed all the stories, especially the Tom Taylor one with Nightwing, and Laura Kinney/Woverine and the Constantine/Doctor Strange team with art by the great Hayden Sherman. 

The crossover brings together some of biggest and up-and-coming writers and artists in comics. Is there a writer and/or an artist who people should be talking more about?

I don't read any comics so I have no idea who's hot right now!  I keep up with comics by reading news and reviews on the internet, so I'm mostly out of the loop on the actual stories. As mentioned above, I really like Hayden Sherman's work and they're one of the newer artists who seem to be doing some interesting stuff.

How refreshing is it to see the Big Two put aside their differences and do these kind of crossovers for both creators and fans?

It's great to see Marvel and DC working together! A lesson there for the USA! 

What's in store for you after this crossover releases? Any projects readers should know about? 

I have some new comics coming out next year, including a collaboration with comic book writer/director Etienne Kubwabo, a new Sebastian O story with Steve Yeowell and a couple of horror one-shots. I'm sure you'll hear more about them nearer the time.

Thanks to Grant for taking the time to answer these questions! DC / Marvel: Batman / Deadpool #1 is in comic book stores now!