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Annihilator
An amazing, genre-breaking story from Grant Morrison, one of the most original and inventive writers in comics today.Legendary Comics proudly presents Annihilator, an original graphic novel odyssey from the subversive mind of Grant Morrison. This 6-issue series is a reality-bending sci-fi adventure like no other, brought to life with stunning artwork from Frazer Irving (Batman and Robin, Judge Dredd, Necronauts). Washed-up Hollywood screenwriter Ray Spass is caught in a downward spiral of broken relationships, wild parties and self-destruction. Out of luck and out of chances, he's one failed script away from fading into obscurity. Little does he know he's about to write the story of his life.As his imagination runs rampant, Ray must join forces with his own fictional character Max Nomax on a reality-bending race to stop the entire universe from imploding... without blowing his own mind in the process. • New York Times Bestselling Author • Written by Grant Morrison (Animal Man, Batman, All Star Superman, Fantastic Four) • This is the compilation of the 6 issue series • Featuring interiors and covers by Frazier Irving (Batman and Robin, Uncanny X-Men) • Includes bonus materials on the making of the comic "Morrison is one of the most adventurous and commercially successful comic-book writers of the past 25 years, retrieving superheroic and science-fictional dispatches from the fringes of consciousness, splattering his chaotic visions onto the page." -- Rolling Stone "I think [Annihilator is] the best stuff I've done yet." -- Frazer IrvingFrom the Hardcover edition.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 19, 2015
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,793 books4,303 followersGrant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
December 1, 2015
Extravagant, intergalactic, over-the-top, ambiguous, self-reflexive, self-important, all over the place, druggy, spaced out, cryptic, foul-mouthed, tongue-in-cheek... You’ve read Grant Morrison before, you know the drill. On the one hand, the level of craftsmanship is often impressive here – Morrison has a few decades of experience with this kind of material, after all, and Frazer Irving’s illustrations ensure that it looks appropriately dark and spectacular. On the other hand, though, I have to admit that the whole enterprise ultimately left me rather cold. It felt muddled and empty, I guess, like a recycled parody of itself, lacking in originality and focus and human emotion, postmodern for its own sake. Bottom line: I think I'm getting too old for this sort of thing.
September 18, 2015
Ray Spass is a washed-up Hollywood screenwriter who needs a hit movie soon. Cramming himself with booze and drugs during a Satanic orgy in a haunted house, he stumbles across the idea for a new movie: an intergalactic villain called Max Nomax sits in a prison on the edge of a supermassive black hole trying to bring his dead girlfriend back to life. And then Max is no longer in the screenplay but sat in Ray’s house telling him they have to save the universe.
This book is Grant Morrison come full circle - he’s now become a parody of himself. If you’ve read enough of Morrison’s books, you’ll notice a number of familiar elements in Annihilator. The “fiction is reality and vice versa” idea, drugs/alcohol, characters who look the same but have different identities, aliens, magic, rock star main character, horror, alternate worlds, and pontifications on life and death - Morrison’s comics are littered with these things, particularly Annihilator. If you wanted to write a mock Morrison comic, you’d include all of the above.
I think I understood the comic - it’s a discourse on life/death. Like Max in his prison, we’re imprisoned in our human bodies, futilely trying to figure out ways to cheat death even though, like the prison orbiting the black hole/infinity, our existences are constantly circling it. In getting Ray to tell Max’s life story to him, that’s all we’re doing every day to ourselves, telling us our stories to try to make sense of it. An imaginative visual metaphor, sure, but hardly original thinking.
The narrative sort of makes sense in the first issue or two - and then it descends into gibberish for the rest of the book. Characters running about trying to kill one another, cutting back and forth in time, universes being created and destroyed, the usual Morrison madness. He’s got themes and ideas but not really a coherent story. As a result it’s difficult to follow and care about anything that happens.
I’m not a big fan of Frazer Irving but he’s definitely the ideal artist for this book. His dark art style is perfectly suited to the gothic space horror story full of skinny men wearing black. Some pages are superb - a lot of the stuff set in space were my favourites - and, of his comics, Annihilator contains his best work yet.
The book has a grand, ambitious premise but Morrison’s treatment of it is sloppy and ultimately rote given how substantially similar it is to his other work. It has some fine art that Frazer Irving fans will enjoy. However even as a Morrison fan I found Annihilator to be tedious and a chore to finish.
This book is Grant Morrison come full circle - he’s now become a parody of himself. If you’ve read enough of Morrison’s books, you’ll notice a number of familiar elements in Annihilator. The “fiction is reality and vice versa” idea, drugs/alcohol, characters who look the same but have different identities, aliens, magic, rock star main character, horror, alternate worlds, and pontifications on life and death - Morrison’s comics are littered with these things, particularly Annihilator. If you wanted to write a mock Morrison comic, you’d include all of the above.
I think I understood the comic - it’s a discourse on life/death. Like Max in his prison, we’re imprisoned in our human bodies, futilely trying to figure out ways to cheat death even though, like the prison orbiting the black hole/infinity, our existences are constantly circling it. In getting Ray to tell Max’s life story to him, that’s all we’re doing every day to ourselves, telling us our stories to try to make sense of it. An imaginative visual metaphor, sure, but hardly original thinking.
The narrative sort of makes sense in the first issue or two - and then it descends into gibberish for the rest of the book. Characters running about trying to kill one another, cutting back and forth in time, universes being created and destroyed, the usual Morrison madness. He’s got themes and ideas but not really a coherent story. As a result it’s difficult to follow and care about anything that happens.
I’m not a big fan of Frazer Irving but he’s definitely the ideal artist for this book. His dark art style is perfectly suited to the gothic space horror story full of skinny men wearing black. Some pages are superb - a lot of the stuff set in space were my favourites - and, of his comics, Annihilator contains his best work yet.
The book has a grand, ambitious premise but Morrison’s treatment of it is sloppy and ultimately rote given how substantially similar it is to his other work. It has some fine art that Frazer Irving fans will enjoy. However even as a Morrison fan I found Annihilator to be tedious and a chore to finish.
June 2, 2016
Grant Morrison jumps the shark.
This is just punking us to see who thinks he can still write...I think the drugs have ruined his brain.
Is this autobiographical? It would make a lot of sense. The art fits well, but skip this, even if you are a Morrison fan.
This is just punking us to see who thinks he can still write...I think the drugs have ruined his brain.
Is this autobiographical? It would make a lot of sense. The art fits well, but skip this, even if you are a Morrison fan.
December 2, 2020
Basically another creator-meets-his-creations story. The main character is an asshole, or "troubled", or "conflicted".
It's nothing special.
It's nothing special.
July 11, 2017
Grant Morrison certainly has a wonderful imagination. For the most part, his stories are interesting and entertaining. Sometimes he has a tendency to set up such high expectations for the story and has such large scale goals that it goes off the rails. So it was with some trepidation that I decided to check out Annihilator. The trepidation stemmed from not ever having heard of this story. Well I can say that this story, while not matching his truly grandiose stories, doesn't go "off the rails". It was an interesting and entertaining story.
Ray Spass (pronounced "Space") is a burned out mid 30ish Hollywood writer. In his prime he had created some huge hits and then promptly managed to blow his considerable fortune on the usual trifecta (booze, sex and drugs). Now he is writing a story for a huge paycheck. The only problem? He's stuck on Act 1.
Subtly mimicking Goethe's Faust Ray Spass purchases a mansion with bad mojo and "summons" his conceptual Devil- Max Nomax. Max is a character, well THE character, in Ray's new blockbuster-Annihilator. Nomax is the ultimate anti-hero. The greatest criminal mind in his galaxy. Now this galaxy is run by VADA (Vatic Artificial Divine Authority) a Zen super-computer which runs human affairs and has managed to keep humanity in a state of peace for centuries. The downside? Everyone is happy and everything works-which means humans, surprise surprise, are weighed down by ennui and have lost ambition. It is against this ennui that Nomax struggles but in the process he runs counter to VADA. In these rare cases of individuals who do not conform and will not adhere to VADA's control-they are tasked for termination. In order to do this termination VADA utilizes an elite group of superhuman genetically enhanced enforcers/killers known as the Annhilators, led by Jet Marko.
Interesting thing about Marko? He's technically dead. In the "past" (of the backstory to the movie script) he's been shot in the head by Nomax but the bullet is held in place by Marko's supreme control. If he ever loses his concentration and releases the bullet-he dies. But he is so powerful that he's able to function (and kill) normally. Weird huh? Hey! It's Grant Morrison. Still..you have to admit-this is pretty original. I respect that.
So into this bizarre scenario we throw in Spass' ex-wife (Luna), an ultra-advanced machine, that can't be distinguished from human, trying to find a soul (Olympia) and a genetically-engineered four foot tall teddy bear/lemur (Baby Bug Eyes). Uh..did I mention this is truly original?
Spass has a brain tumor and is dying. Within a week, with Nomax's help, he's going to finish this script. Except Nomax has a counter offer. Thus begins a crazy race against time to create a story that has an effect on a fictional universe, since if Spass dies Nomax's entire universe dies. This begins a crazy quest by Nomax to save his universe. That's all I'm saying. If your head doesn't hurt from that brief glimpse (trust me that was merely the tip of the iceberg of this plot) of the story then you might enjoy this one.
So if it's so original and brilliant..why did I give it a three? Well..the art. It has some vague desire to emulate the execrable style of Batman -Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (another GM story). I also felt that sometimes Morrison is so in love with the weirdness of what he's writing that in his desire to share his quirky vision with the reader that he adds in panels of strange scenes that aren't helping forward the plot nor setting the overall scene-it's just pure weirdness.
That being said- I DID like this. I thought it was a very original story. I wish he'd stayed more on focus. Max Nomax is a GREAT character. Some really good dialogue. Nomax was the only character I did empathize with. Hmmm...I suppose that does say something about Nomax's character. I suppose his character is a pastiche of three archetypes- anti-hero/criminal/savior. The image of Nomax really depends on YOU. Nomax is all of those things and none of those things. VADA deems him the very worst criminal. Marko deems him the worst of the worst meriting only death. Let's call Spass conflicted on the whole issue. This is just some of the weirdness that awaits you in this bizarre sci-fi/cosmic romp through Grant Morrison's fever dream. I wish the art were better and his random exposition-panels edited better. This is still a truly original story and that means something in comparison to the oft shallow plots in many modern comics. If you like weird sci-fi and can put up with Grant Morrison's particular brand of weirdness-you may well like it even more than I.
Ray Spass (pronounced "Space") is a burned out mid 30ish Hollywood writer. In his prime he had created some huge hits and then promptly managed to blow his considerable fortune on the usual trifecta (booze, sex and drugs). Now he is writing a story for a huge paycheck. The only problem? He's stuck on Act 1.
Subtly mimicking Goethe's Faust Ray Spass purchases a mansion with bad mojo and "summons" his conceptual Devil- Max Nomax. Max is a character, well THE character, in Ray's new blockbuster-Annihilator. Nomax is the ultimate anti-hero. The greatest criminal mind in his galaxy. Now this galaxy is run by VADA (Vatic Artificial Divine Authority) a Zen super-computer which runs human affairs and has managed to keep humanity in a state of peace for centuries. The downside? Everyone is happy and everything works-which means humans, surprise surprise, are weighed down by ennui and have lost ambition. It is against this ennui that Nomax struggles but in the process he runs counter to VADA. In these rare cases of individuals who do not conform and will not adhere to VADA's control-they are tasked for termination. In order to do this termination VADA utilizes an elite group of superhuman genetically enhanced enforcers/killers known as the Annhilators, led by Jet Marko.
Interesting thing about Marko? He's technically dead. In the "past" (of the backstory to the movie script) he's been shot in the head by Nomax but the bullet is held in place by Marko's supreme control. If he ever loses his concentration and releases the bullet-he dies. But he is so powerful that he's able to function (and kill) normally. Weird huh? Hey! It's Grant Morrison. Still..you have to admit-this is pretty original. I respect that.
So into this bizarre scenario we throw in Spass' ex-wife (Luna), an ultra-advanced machine, that can't be distinguished from human, trying to find a soul (Olympia) and a genetically-engineered four foot tall teddy bear/lemur (Baby Bug Eyes). Uh..did I mention this is truly original?
Spass has a brain tumor and is dying. Within a week, with Nomax's help, he's going to finish this script. Except Nomax has a counter offer. Thus begins a crazy race against time to create a story that has an effect on a fictional universe, since if Spass dies Nomax's entire universe dies. This begins a crazy quest by Nomax to save his universe. That's all I'm saying. If your head doesn't hurt from that brief glimpse (trust me that was merely the tip of the iceberg of this plot) of the story then you might enjoy this one.
So if it's so original and brilliant..why did I give it a three? Well..the art. It has some vague desire to emulate the execrable style of Batman -Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (another GM story). I also felt that sometimes Morrison is so in love with the weirdness of what he's writing that in his desire to share his quirky vision with the reader that he adds in panels of strange scenes that aren't helping forward the plot nor setting the overall scene-it's just pure weirdness.
That being said- I DID like this. I thought it was a very original story. I wish he'd stayed more on focus. Max Nomax is a GREAT character. Some really good dialogue. Nomax was the only character I did empathize with. Hmmm...I suppose that does say something about Nomax's character. I suppose his character is a pastiche of three archetypes- anti-hero/criminal/savior. The image of Nomax really depends on YOU. Nomax is all of those things and none of those things. VADA deems him the very worst criminal. Marko deems him the worst of the worst meriting only death. Let's call Spass conflicted on the whole issue. This is just some of the weirdness that awaits you in this bizarre sci-fi/cosmic romp through Grant Morrison's fever dream. I wish the art were better and his random exposition-panels edited better. This is still a truly original story and that means something in comparison to the oft shallow plots in many modern comics. If you like weird sci-fi and can put up with Grant Morrison's particular brand of weirdness-you may well like it even more than I.
November 13, 2015
This thing was all over the place, and mostly not in a good way. At times Morrison's script felt like he was pulling a Mark Millar (producing a comic book solely to sell it as a Hollywood film) while trying to maintain his own personal brand of weirdness. There were definitely some enjoyable parts, and Frazer Irving's art is beautiful, but most of the book is just elements and visuals pulled directly from so many other well-known sci-fi plots.
The [human] protagonist starts out closely resembling a sketch character from SNL's old "Goth Talk" series - a caricature of dark, brooding, emo types intentionally moving into a haunted house. But as soon as the Max Nomax - a character he's supposedly invented for his next screenplay - comes into his life, he becomes a scared, useless muggle. What happened to his edgy life pattern of dealings with the devilish?! Bah, it's all for the sake of some dynamic character arc that does absolutely nothing interesting. It's Morrison matching several dudes against one another, all of whom surely represent various facets of himself, and his own struggle to justify being somewhat of an egotistical asshole.
The [human] protagonist starts out closely resembling a sketch character from SNL's old "Goth Talk" series - a caricature of dark, brooding, emo types intentionally moving into a haunted house. But as soon as the Max Nomax - a character he's supposedly invented for his next screenplay - comes into his life, he becomes a scared, useless muggle. What happened to his edgy life pattern of dealings with the devilish?! Bah, it's all for the sake of some dynamic character arc that does absolutely nothing interesting. It's Morrison matching several dudes against one another, all of whom surely represent various facets of himself, and his own struggle to justify being somewhat of an egotistical asshole.
July 3, 2015
Grant Morrison's best work in years; Frazer Irving's finest art ever, and he's always been bloody good. Dying screenwriter Ray Spass works on a Poe-meets-SF epic about Max Nomax, the ultimate criminal, imprisoned in a gothic space station on the edge of the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's heart. Unless of course the cancer killing Spass is something stranger, like a data download of which he can write himself free. Soon the pair of them are on the run, pursued by something even stranger, and along the way the story finds time for all the big issues: love, death, art, rebellion, the purpose of it all. As has been noted elsewhere, it is somehow, astonishingly, "entirely cynical and entirely romantic at the same time right to the bitter or ridiculous end".
August 25, 2015
Cosmic pulp science fiction meets buddy movie romp, as the ultimate intergalactic criminal, Max Nomax, is forced to team up with the only man in the universe who might be a bigger arsehole than he is: the wreck of a writer who created him. The core of Annihilator is two astonishingly self-important men on the run and ceaselessly bitching about one another. If you can't stand that dynamic, you're better off avoiding this. But if you can, it absolutely fizzes - it's the paciest Grant Morrison comic in a long time, as its two leads' antipathy bounces the Moebius Strip plot along. And it's powered by magnificent art from Frazer Irving, whose wonderfully fluid style and gothic overtones make sure the story keeps its distinctive balance between horror and slapstick.
June 21, 2017
Much better than the very similar Nameless. Much more coherent. It was only at the end where Morrison dropped the ball. Nice artwork throughout. I liked it!
September 14, 2021
Cuando tuve "Aniquilador" por primera vez en mis manos pensaba que iba a tratar sobre una especie de superhéroe espacial, pero nada que ver. El cómic cuenta dos historias: por un lado la de Ray Pass, un guionista de Hollywood que está metido hasta las trancas en una espiral de autodestrucción y espera que su nuevo guión consiga darle la fama que merece y así salvar su carrera, y por otra parte la de Max Nomax, un artista criminal que ha sido encerrado en Dis, una prisión de máxima seguridad que orbita alrededor de Aniquilador, el mayor agujero negro que existe. Ambas historias se cruzan, no diré cómo, y ahí es cuando entras tú...
Es lo más enrevesado que he leído en bastante tiempo. Quizá algunas partes se hacen algo complejas de leer por su narrativa, pero sin duda es original y tiene un arte de otro mundo.
Es lo más enrevesado que he leído en bastante tiempo. Quizá algunas partes se hacen algo complejas de leer por su narrativa, pero sin duda es original y tiene un arte de otro mundo.
October 6, 2015
Weird.
June 2, 2021
El mejor Morrison. ¿Se pueden los libros proféticos de William Blake en un contexto de ciencia ficción? ¿Gnosticismo con lo sublime de las fronteras de la física como los agujeros negros? ¿Y todo esto a través de la historia de unos personajes que no te resultan simpáticos? Morrison lo consigue en este cómic. Una historia potente, interesante y excesiva. En este caso el guion es tan potente que se corre el riesgo de dejar de lado el trabajo del dibujante, pero el trabajo de Frazer Irving me ha gustado mucho y es capaz de reflejar a la percepción el entorno, la espectacularidad y la locura de la historia.
December 29, 2015
Annihilator is easily the best thing Grant Morrison has written in a while. Tops just about everything he's done since The Invisibles. The best way to describe the six issue mini-series is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets existentialist, mind-melting, drug-induced sci-fi, with larger than life cosmic ideas littered throughout, with a high dose of satire of Hollywood and everything it stands for. Annihilator is mandatory reading, and is one you will not be forgetting any time soon.
August 14, 2015
3rd star is pretty much there for the art alone. It's fantastic and full of mysterious details. The story is a bit too self-important for its own good. Gets muddled particularly in the middle and suffers from Morrison's oblique musings on whatever the hell he wants. A little more focus would've made this book a bit less of a slog.
September 24, 2023
Muitos trabalhos de Grant Morrison trabalham com a metalinguagem e, geralmente, são esses trabalhos do autor escocês que têm um maior destaque em sua carreira, como Homem-Animal e Flex Mentallo. Aniquilador é outro ótimo trabalho dessa leva, mas que é menos comentado, talvez por não ter sido publicado pela DC Comics. Nele, um roteirista de Hollywood é diagnosticado com câncer no cérebro ao mesmo tempo que recebe a visita de sua própria criação, um criminoso interdimensional que busca asilo na Terra para entender sobre seu propósito e história pregressa que estão presos na mente do roteirista. A arte de Fraser Irving fica sensacional com as cenas do espaço interdimensional de onde vem o criminoso e ajuda ao leitor a fazer o cruzamento entre a realidade da Terra e da space opera que Grant Morrison preparou para os leitores. Entre esses temas, temos o abuso do álcool e das drogas, do sexo e as relações tóxicas entre homens e mulheres sendo abordados também nesta história em quadrinhos. Uma ótima pedida para fã de Morrison, mas que serve também muito bem a leitores de primeira viagem.
July 20, 2021
Probably my favourite of Grant Morrison’s original works, mostly due to the awesome portrayal of creative forces. As usual, their use of shifting realities can make the narrative a little confusing at times, but overall this was a good read that looks like a sci-fi horror but is actually a thesis on what it means to tell a tale.
July 31, 2023
Grant Morrison remains my all time favorite comic writer. This story is surprisingly straightforward for him, perhaps to its detriment at times, but I can see how it influenced other great comics and this is honestly still quite good. 3.75
February 13, 2021
I'm a big Grant Morrison fan and artwork is great but this was not a good story or concept. Tired rehashed creator meets creation - metafictional formula - with no real substance. Disappointed.
October 10, 2023
Mi approccio a questa storia con poche aspettative, non sapevo di cosa parlasse e non mi ero neanche minimamente documentato, l'unica scintilla di speranza per codesto fumetto che altrimenti non mi avrebbe minimamente attirato era il nome di Grant Morrison.
Ecco signori, non avevo considerato il genio di Morrison, che come al solito crea una storia che solo lui riesce a vedere, con linee temporali che si intrecciano ma che restano sfalsate allo stesso tempo, una storia fuori di testa.
In queste volume ci troveremo ad avere a che fare con intelligenze artificiali, alieni, sceneggiatori, sesso, droghe, malattie mortali, storia d'amore, buchi neri, case stregate, e potrei continuare per altre dieci righe.
A me è piaciuto parecchio, ma capisco che non sia una lettura né facile in termini di attenzione, né che possa trovare il gusto di tutti.
Se le storie che scrive Morrison non vi spaventano, dategli un opportunità.
Ecco signori, non avevo considerato il genio di Morrison, che come al solito crea una storia che solo lui riesce a vedere, con linee temporali che si intrecciano ma che restano sfalsate allo stesso tempo, una storia fuori di testa.
In queste volume ci troveremo ad avere a che fare con intelligenze artificiali, alieni, sceneggiatori, sesso, droghe, malattie mortali, storia d'amore, buchi neri, case stregate, e potrei continuare per altre dieci righe.
A me è piaciuto parecchio, ma capisco che non sia una lettura né facile in termini di attenzione, né che possa trovare il gusto di tutti.
Se le storie che scrive Morrison non vi spaventano, dategli un opportunità.
January 16, 2017
Another top notch work by Scottish kaos magikian Grant Morrison. Delving into a sci-fi horror script wedded with an author with a brain cancer or data packet (you choose). Jadded hookers and drugs and forced to delive, like a moebius strip the tale comes back into his existence. The whole 4th wall technique can come across as pompous though felt this story made effective use of examining any artist. Creation makes it "real." Morrison used this technique way back when where Animal Man meets Grant Morrison. Was interesting in Annihilator that writer helps character remember what happened to them and world may be destroyed if not told correctly. p.s. Knocked out steller psychedelic artwork. Top notch that reminds bit of Stephen King Dark Tower graphick novels.
April 22, 2016
Even better than Nameless. Beautiful Beautiful art. Clever Clever script. Read it twice in two days. Highly recommended, unless of course you don't like Morrison, or you don't like Morrison's non mainstream work.
October 1, 2020
Grant Morrison doesn't write normal books. If you've read any of his comics, that much is clear. Much of the things you'll find in a typical Morrison outing is present in Annihilator, and it's turned up to 11.
The whole thing is an exercise in how much meta-fiction Morrison can cram into 200 pages (hint: it's a lot). A screenwriter's main character comes to visit him mid-write while in the middle of a bender. It's like Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson in Stranger than Fiction, but way more out there. The whole story flies at a breakneck pace for the duration of the book, bouncing between the world of the writer and that of the character, never really taking a breath, so it's definitely a lot to take in. But the twists are fascinating, and it's one hell of a ride.
What really ties to book together is Frazer Irving's art. I first came across his work in 2010's Batman & Robin, Vol. 3: Batman & Robin Must Die!, also penned by Morrison, and it blew me away instantly. He truly has a unique vision that I've not seen from any other comics artist. He wouldn't be a good fit for most comics; fortunately, this is not most comics. As the story flips between focal points, the setting goes from full-on sci-fi action to mundane scenes with the main character hunched over his laptop, and it's handled all without a shift in tone. Iriving manages to add just enough strangeness into even the simplest moments to keep the action moving. And while his paneling and layouts are relatively straight forward, he manages to play with perspective and action within those limits, making every scene engaging.
Sure, this may be Morrison's schtick at its schtickiest, but it really works. And, simply put, Frazer Irving is a genius.
The whole thing is an exercise in how much meta-fiction Morrison can cram into 200 pages (hint: it's a lot). A screenwriter's main character comes to visit him mid-write while in the middle of a bender. It's like Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson in Stranger than Fiction, but way more out there. The whole story flies at a breakneck pace for the duration of the book, bouncing between the world of the writer and that of the character, never really taking a breath, so it's definitely a lot to take in. But the twists are fascinating, and it's one hell of a ride.
What really ties to book together is Frazer Irving's art. I first came across his work in 2010's Batman & Robin, Vol. 3: Batman & Robin Must Die!, also penned by Morrison, and it blew me away instantly. He truly has a unique vision that I've not seen from any other comics artist. He wouldn't be a good fit for most comics; fortunately, this is not most comics. As the story flips between focal points, the setting goes from full-on sci-fi action to mundane scenes with the main character hunched over his laptop, and it's handled all without a shift in tone. Iriving manages to add just enough strangeness into even the simplest moments to keep the action moving. And while his paneling and layouts are relatively straight forward, he manages to play with perspective and action within those limits, making every scene engaging.
Sure, this may be Morrison's schtick at its schtickiest, but it really works. And, simply put, Frazer Irving is a genius.
April 8, 2024
É sempre uma viajem muito emocionante passear pelas maluquices de Grant Morrison, aqui vemos um amalgama de temas preciosos ao autor, viagens dimensionais, magia do caos e uma pitada de romance embalam mais este grande titulo de sua biografia.
Diria que aqui o texto de Morrison é bem mais palatável, talvez por estar escrevendo para a editora de uma produtora de hollywood, seu texto deva ter sido passado e repassado ate o ponto de ser "entendível" (nem tudo, claro),para os fãs do careca isso possa ser um contra, mas para quem só quer se divertir numa historia sem pé nem cabeça, é uma grande pedida, ainda mais que na arte, este titulo também ganha muito, Frazer Irving deixa tudo muito claro, dando luz, beleza, e tendo um trabalho de sombras num colorido fantástico que salta ao só se folhear as páginas.
Titulo mais do que recomendado, é a porta de entrada perfeita para os trabalhos de Grant.
Diria que aqui o texto de Morrison é bem mais palatável, talvez por estar escrevendo para a editora de uma produtora de hollywood, seu texto deva ter sido passado e repassado ate o ponto de ser "entendível" (nem tudo, claro),para os fãs do careca isso possa ser um contra, mas para quem só quer se divertir numa historia sem pé nem cabeça, é uma grande pedida, ainda mais que na arte, este titulo também ganha muito, Frazer Irving deixa tudo muito claro, dando luz, beleza, e tendo um trabalho de sombras num colorido fantástico que salta ao só se folhear as páginas.
Titulo mais do que recomendado, é a porta de entrada perfeita para os trabalhos de Grant.
May 21, 2019
Grant Morrison always generates a wide range of responses. Vive la difference! I have been following him since his early days at DC and this is one of my favorite things. The tightly knit tail eating plot spirals around itself on so many levels. Lots of fun to loathe characters but redeeming as well. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS ART.
I am perplexed by the weird comments about whether it is written in hopes of a media tie in. Like, with Marc Millar at this point everything he does is quite clearly and contractually a development for Netflix, and pretty much everything for the last few years. How does this matter when evaluating a work based on its own merits?
Morrison is one of the greatest writers of the last 30 years. So what if he gets a tie in?
I am perplexed by the weird comments about whether it is written in hopes of a media tie in. Like, with Marc Millar at this point everything he does is quite clearly and contractually a development for Netflix, and pretty much everything for the last few years. How does this matter when evaluating a work based on its own merits?
Morrison is one of the greatest writers of the last 30 years. So what if he gets a tie in?
October 6, 2017
This is Grant Morrison doing work for Legendary Pictures-- and it's perhaps the work that has his most common tropes, as well as excesses (other than the Filth). Indulgent in its extravagance, hedonism, trippy, lurid, self-reflexive and self-congratulatory.
When I first heard about this project, I was excited because the pitch and premise excited me. When I first read it, I was so disappointed I'd give it 2 stars. Now, rereading it two years later, this is a solid 4 of 4.5
It's about everything--Relationships, the void, creating art, choosing to create meaning and embracing that choice, death and dying, Hollywood, etc. When it's that ambitious, it's bound to get a little messy.
When I first heard about this project, I was excited because the pitch and premise excited me. When I first read it, I was so disappointed I'd give it 2 stars. Now, rereading it two years later, this is a solid 4 of 4.5
It's about everything--Relationships, the void, creating art, choosing to create meaning and embracing that choice, death and dying, Hollywood, etc. When it's that ambitious, it's bound to get a little messy.
September 20, 2020
I can't say enough good things about this graphic novel. The plot is twisty, mind-bending, and engrossing, a classically Grant Morrison nutso pastiche of pulp science fiction by way of Barton Fink and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There are multiple "meta" stories-within-a-story, adding to the depth and complexity. And I absolutely LOVE Frazer Irving's art, which is psychedelic, beautiful and utterly unique. Ultimately, this is a story about creation and destruction, and who is ultimately in control of the stories we tell about ourselves.
June 25, 2022
Grant Morrison can be pretty hit and miss in my opinion and this one is a miss. The plot was uninteresting and the pacing was all over the place and was hard to follow. I can't even say the art saves it because it's not that nice to look at.
Deeper down there might be more to the plot but I didn't care enough to dig for it. It seems like Morrison tries to be different for the sake of it.
The final two parts of the book were probably the best where it finds its feet but in the end I see it as quite forgettable.
Deeper down there might be more to the plot but I didn't care enough to dig for it. It seems like Morrison tries to be different for the sake of it.
The final two parts of the book were probably the best where it finds its feet but in the end I see it as quite forgettable.
May 2, 2023
If you crave labyrinthian sci-fi cosmic horror metafiction, Annihilator may just wet your whistle. Grant Morrison crafts another mindboggling psychedelic fever dream, which is complemented by absolutely outstanding and nightmarish artwork by Frazer Irving.
March 29, 2018
Grant Morrison pulls this off, I think. “Annihilator” seems on the verge of going off the rails from the get go, but the multiple, divergent threads cohere into a surprisingly clever story. And Frazer Irving’s art supports the narrative splendidly, balancing realism and abstraction with a fluency reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz.
July 15, 2019
Sci-fi saga from the fevered imagination of Grant Morrison,with the usual excellent artwork from Frazer Irving,although personally feel colour detracts from the line quality of Irvings work which looks so superb in black and white in other works. I sometimes feel that Morrison tries too hard to be as strange as possible and some elements of the work are jarring but overall a satisfactory read.
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