Grant Morrison has had a seismic impact on the world of comics, from disruptive tenures on classic superheroes like Superman and the X-Men to influential creator-owned work like We3 and The Invisibles. While Morrison's published material has entertained and enlightened readers, there are plenty of unreleased comics they've hinted at that sound like great reads.
Morrison's unreleased output runs the gamut from bizarre concepts for indie comics to radical takes on pre-existing IPs and cultural figures. Some of these comics barely made it past the proposal stage, others were scripted and partially developed by artists, and many of them continue to ignite the imagination of Morrison fans in a passionate frenzy.
10 LeSexy Teased A Unique Insight Into The Scotsman's Background
When Grant Morrison returned to DC Comics in the early 2000s, they announced several titles as part of a second wave at Vertigo. LeSexy was meant to be illustrated by Cameron Stewart and inspired by David Lynch and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now.
The idea of Grant Morrison setting a comic in a remote Scottish town, by way of Twin Peaks, may have offered a unique insight into Morrison's feelings about their homeland. In some ways, no horror comic can receive a better seal of approval than being rejected by several editors, including Karen Berger, because the material was too disturbing.
9 Waid, Simone & Morrison Could Have Brought The Marvel Family Back In Style
Billy Batson, the superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel, was once the best-selling comic book character of the Golden Age. Unfortunately, due to the cynical antics of rival publishers like DC and Marvel Comics, the property has been underutilized for several decades.
A proposed Marvel Family reboot in the mid-2000s, courtesy of writers Mark Waid on Captain Marvel, Gail Simon on Mary Marvel, and Grant Morrison on Captain Marvel Jr. could potentially have changed things for these iconic characters. Multiversity: Thunderworld Adventures offered a criminally brief look at the whimsical wonders Morrison could have accomplished with this material.
8 Seaguy Never Got His Third Act
Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart's two Seaguy miniseries were released in the 2000s and offered a zany but poignant treatise on life, longing, and loss. The final installment of the Seaguy trilogy was meant to be called Seaguy: Eternal and would have reteamed Morrison with Stewart.
Morrison has stated that the script for the final three issues has been completed, but it's been over a decade since then and fans are justifiably concerned that the comic may have been quietly canceled. Readers deserve to know how Mickey Eye will be defeated and what happens next to Seaguy, She-Beard, and Chubby, the smoking fish.
7 Flash: Earth One Would Have Let Morrison Play With Their Favorite Superhero
Grant Morrison has repeated time and again that the Flash is their favorite superhero, and even resurrected Barry Allen after a quarter-century absence. This is why it's hard to accept that Morrison never served a proper tenure on Flash comics, except for a brief collaboration with Mark Millar in the late 90s, which starred Wally West.
In 2013, Morrison was announced as the writer of Flash: Earth One, which would have given readers a chance to see their wild imagination unleashed on a character with arguably the wildest science fiction powers in comics. Sadly, the project seems to have fallen victim to Morrison's sojourn into television and their, allegedly, definite retirement from the DC Universe.
6 Sleepless Knights Would Have Been Groundhog Day Of The Dead
Sleepless Knights wasn't conceived as a comic, rather it was a film script that Morrison sold to Dreamworks Studios. The project got far along in the development process, and Guillermo Del Toro was even attached to direct "the dark fairy tale" in the mid-2000s.
If Del Toro's interest is any indication, Sleepless Knights could have been a great children's horror story. Unfortunately, the film never materialized. Perhaps, as Morrison did with Dinosaurs vs. Aliens, it's time to resurrect the script as a comic book. The plot reportedly involved a Groundhog Day-style time loop occurring on Halloween, which sounds like a fertile concept.
5 Batman: Black & White Was Almost A Spiritual Sequel To Arkham Asylum
With Superman & The Authority, Grant Morrison declared their retirement from the DC Universe and this time they seem to have meant it. While an aging Superman is a great note to end on, Morrison began their DC career with Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On A Serious Earth, and their proposed Batman: Black & White original graphic novel series could have been a more symmetrical coda for their DC career.
The black and white OGNs would have been illustrated by non-industry artists that Morrison met in Los Angeles. Just like Dave McKean's work on Arkham Asylum, this could have been a great opportunity to see Gotham City realized in a visual style untethered to the tradition and grammar of the American comics industry.
4 Morrison's Spider-Man Could Have Transformed the Hero's Internal Landscape
Although some of Grant Morrison's earliest work was in the pages of Marvel UK's Spider-Man and the Zoids comic, they only wrote the Zoids section of the magazine in question. However, Morrison did eventually flirt with writing Spider-Man.
During the early nineties, they planned to produce a graphic novel in collaboration with Simon Bisley, which was meant to follow the style of Arkham Asylum. Afterward, there was mention of a miniseries illustrated by Klaus Janson. Given Morrison's penchant for resonant iconography, it's a shame they never dealt with Marvel's most iconic character.
3 Bizarre Boys Was Meant To Star Grant Morrison & Peter Milligan
In an introduction to the first trade collection for The Invisibles, Peter Milligan shared an anecdote about the development of a proposed collaboration with Morrison. The duo were in Barcelona, trying to settle on a title when they chanced upon "row upon row of homosexual pornographic literature."
Milligan continues, "our eyes alighted upon a singularly mischievous cover, showing a naked young thing with brazen eyes" and it was called "Bizarre Boys." A project starring fictionalized versions of Morrison and Milligan is exciting enough, but any comic erupting from such a delightful spark of inspiration definitely deserves to be released.
2 The Adventures Of Andy Warhol Sounds Like A Perfect Distillation Of Early Morrison
Grant Morrison gained early notoriety with the fictional New Adventures of Adolf Hitler, and around the same time, they were also working on a comic starring another controversial real-life figure, Andy Warhol. This fits right in with Morrison's interest in exploring cultural icons, especially given Warhol's own association with appropriating pop culture.
The comic would have been released during a period in Morrison's career when they were much more prone to provoking readers and early stage Morrison certainly has some raw appeal. Perhaps they would have used the comic to shine a light on Warhol's exploitation of the medium and its artists.
1 Silver Surfer: Year Zero Could Have Paid Homage To A Landmark Science Fiction Artist
Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Mark Millar, and Tom Peyer's Superman Now is probably the most well-known comic that Morrison never made. Since several elements of Superman Now ended up in All-Star Superman, that's arguably not a bad thing. Furthermore, the dismissal of their Superman proposal caused Morrison to defect to Marvel which led to New X-Men and, almost, Silver Surfer: Year Zero.
Year Zero was meant to chronicle the Surfer's journeys before he rebelled against Galactus, and Frank Quitely was set to draw it. Quitely has often been compared with French artist Jean Giraud, whose Silver Surfer: Parable is widely the Silver Surfer's greatest story. Year Zero was a missed opportunity to see Morrison's greatest collaborator unleashed on Marvel's cosmos.