I’ve Got The Brains, You’ve Got The Looks.

This is basically for me and Bully, pulled from this post over at TimeMachineGo, which linked to this page reprinting an article about a certain famed comics creator in his younger days. There’s some very minor formatting changes here, but I have the feeling the original article was basically OCR’d.

The Press, Friday, November 12, 1976

He�s Quick on the Draw � That�s Grant!
By Michael Kernan

You�d be excused for thinking that the characters featured here had been dreamed up by a top comic strip writer and had been drawn by a professional cartoonist.

But they are, in fact, the brainchild and the work of a local, 16-year-old artist.

They�re part of the hobby that has grown into a whole way of life for Grant Morrison of Corkerhill.

Talent
Four years ago, Grant started reading American comics featuring such legendary super heroes as IRON FIST, MIGHTY HULK, BATMAN and SUPERMAN.

As he�d been keen on drawing since an early age, he began sketching some of his favourite characters � and found he had talent for it.

Soon he progressed to creating his own characters and gave them names like MONAD and LUCH of the LONG.

Now, with the help of two young friends, he produces complete stories in comic form, featuring his own heroes.

Recently, Grant wrote to Marvel publications, the firm which produces most of these �power-packed� American comics � and asked for a job.

Of his work, the comic�s editor, Neil Tennant told him:
�We�re all very impressed with it � I�ve kept a piece of your art and your name and address should any vacancies arise at Marvel in the future.�

He has already contributed work to Marvel.

Grant has no set formula for his comic strip stories.

�I think up a basic plot and make up the story as I go along,� he explained.
And he easily flits from story to story, adding a frame here and a frame there. His average work rate is about two pages a day.

A fifth year pupil at Alan Glen�s Secondary School, Grant already has his art �O� level, and hopes to go to Art School eventually.

He says: �I�m hoping to take up art as a career. If that doesn�t come off I�ve nothing else in mind.�

Grant, who also writes poetry and is half way through a novel based on the Arthurian legends, says of his own art work: �I create super-heroes because I think people want to read about super heroes just now.

�I like to put characters into a superhero situation and see how they would react.

A lad with a great future is Grant Morrison.

When I get home tonight and have access to my vast archives, I’ll try to find a relevant bit concerning Neil Tennant’s time with Marvel.