On Thursday 7/28, 200 lucky comic enthusiasts were treated to a very special event at Meltdown Comics: an evening with renegade author and culture analyst, Grant Morrison.
Hosted by Gerard Way [frontman of My Chemical Romance and Eisner-winning writer of “The Umbrella Academy” comics], the event was part of the promotional push for Morrison’s latest work – Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human.
At its most basic, the book is a 464-page Jung and Campbell-influenced analysis of both superhero and comics history. Morrison embarks on an unrelenting search for the parallels between these histories and the evolutionary road humanity has taken since the 1930’s. Supergods takes on everything from Silver Age Flash to scrutinizing contemporary comics creators to our cultural cycles in relation to solar activity. It’s a lot to chew on, and so the multifarious nature of the Evening With… made a perfect kind of sense.
Way took his position as moderator seriously and came prepared with a notebook full of potential topics of discussion, touching on Grant Morrison’s childhood, parents and other first influences, delving into the pendulum-like nature of pop culture and the way it swings from “hippie” to “punk” every eleven years, and examining the birth of hope, evolution and superheroes from times of extreme darkness and despair… You get the idea, right?
After the floor was opened to Q&A, the evening was made complete by a surprise musical performance by Morrison, who played a guitar given to him by Way for the occasion and sang a tune allegedly given to him by John Lennon during a séance. He described the ceremony, detailing casting a circle with Beatles records and summoning the spirit of Lennon as if he were a deity.
The night closed with a signing, sending fans home happy and hopefully more than a little enlightened.
CREDIT: chinashopmag
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