Grant Morrison started writing comics in the United Kingdom in the late ’70s before trying to become a punk rocker. They would re-enter the British comic industry in the ’80s, working on various comic anthology magazines, and would eventually be recruited by DC Comics, with Animal Man in 1988 being their first major American work. They became a legend at DC, with their work on Animal Man, Doom Patrol, The Invisibles, JLA, and numerous Vertigo miniseries and one-shots making them one of the most popular writers in comics. However, all of that would change as the 20th century came to an end.
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Morrison learned that the Wachowskis were using their work on The Invisibles as inspiration for The Matrix, even copying designs and ideas, all which were owned by Morrison and not DC Comics. DC was owned by Warner Brothers, so the company allowing one of their films to use their ideas without payment or even attribution incensed them. Add in the aborted “Superman 2000” pitch, and Morrison decided to leave their American comics home and move to Marvel. The writer would launch their short stint at Marvel with one of the best miniseries of the 21st century, a book that doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as it should: Marvel Boy.
Marvel Boy Was Morrison Madness in the Mighty Marvel Manner
Marvel Boy was a weird choice for Morrison’s first Marvel book, but it did make sense. To begin with, it was a Marvel Knights comic. The Marvel Knights line was known for its more “realistic” takes on the heroes of the Marvel Universe and Morrison’s history at Vertigo made them perfect for that sort of imprint. It was also the hottest part of the House of Ideas at the time, so the writer starting there and not on one of Marvel’s more well-known titles made sense. Plus, at the time, the big name books that Morrison could have written were all taken.
There was a Marvel Boy in the history of the publisher, as well. In fact, more than one. The first appeared in the ’50s, a boy who escaped Nazi Germany with his parents, somehow ended up on Uranus, and came to Earth with two energy-band bracelets. The next one would appear in the ’90s as the heroic identity of Vance Astrovik when he joined the New Warriors. However, Marvel Boy didn’t star either of these versions of the character. The book’s hero, Noh-Varr, was an original creation that took Marvel history and used it in new ways, something that would become a common part of Morrison’s work at the publisher.
Noh-Varr was an alternate reality Kree soldier, enhanced to be able to survive anything. He was part of the crew of the Marvel, a multiverse-traveling ship that was shot down while passing through the 616 universe by Dr. Midas, a man obsessed with superbeings and their artifacts. Noh-Varr was the only survivor and escaped Midas’s clutches, deciding that he was going to break humanity’s corrupt system and take revenge for the death of his friends. The six-issue series followed him doing just that, attacking New York City and Midas, with Oubliette, Midas’s daughter, sent after him.
Marvel Boy stands tall among Grant Morrison’s greatest comics. Morrison was joined by artist J.G. Jones, whose dynamic and detailed art made the book’s high octane action stick out. Morrison also brought their penchant for wild superhero ideas to the book (like Hexus the Living Corporation, a virus that became a corporation and devoured entire worlds, a smart critique of capitalism), and a certain brattiness that was part of many of their ’90s works. Morrison’s foray into the Marvel Universe blew fans minds and would eventually led to their best of all time run on New X-Men.
Marvel Boy has mostly been forgotten in the last quarter century. It’s one of Morrison’s least talked about works, and that’s extremely unfair. It’s not as great as their time on Batman, Superman, the Justice League, the X-Men, or the Doom Patrol, but it’s better than 95% of the comics out there. If you’ve never read it, hunt it down. It will blow your mind and make you wish Morrison got to play in Marvel’s playground longer.
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