Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods [DVD] [2010] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

If you're a fan of ANY of Morrison's many hyperdelic creative comics series (INVISIBLES, ALL STAR SUPERMAN, FINAL CRISIS and so on), then this documentary is an absolute MUST SEE. It covers Morrison's life, which in and of itself is engaging and unusual, as well as the creation and ideas behind many of his key works, his mind-buzzingly cool take on creativity, mythology, heroes and "magic." I'd even venture to guess that non-comics fans would find much to fascinate here, as Morrison is an amazingly interesting and inspirational dude!

"Talking with Gods" is a very captivating & insightful look into the workings of one of graphic fictions most humble & infamous architects. This documentary pulls out all the stops about his childhood through his formative years & the path that lead him to become such an innovator in the medium. There's engaging & sometimes quite bizarre sequences concerning chaos magic, liquor sampling, cross dressing, magic mushrooms, & research into what ultimately lead into some of his top rated works. There's aslo plenty of commentary from other industry professionals who offer their own experiences & impact of Grant's work. A genuinely cerebral & inspiring film.

I'm a big fan of Morrison's work. I've also gone through tons of interviews and his panel appearances since he seems to be one of life's genuinely interesting people.

The DVD went over his early years I wasn't too familiar with. His unique childhood and his dark days of adolescence, his flirting with being in a rock band, and his muddied entry into the comics scene. When he gets success from his first Batman graphic novel he really starts moving towards the man we're more familiar with today.

A lot of the material from that point on was familiar to me. His delving into Chaos Magick. His works (specifically The Invisibles) being hypersigils. What was nice was the interspersed outside opinion of his work and lifestyle from his peers and friends. It fed some of the myth but also painted him a little more human.

There was some surprise when he talked about his disillusionment with the comics scene and mixed feelings with how he has been glossed over.

The presentation was pretty solid. Probably a dozen or so people interviewed giving plenty of perspective and background on Morrison. The production was pretty nice with some psychedelic effects and good photography of Morrison's work. It didn't get boring for me.

It was cool to get a look into Grant's place in Scotland, his workspace, and have him show his sketchbooks. But it's just a glimpse into these areas.

I'm frankly disappointed at the lack of extras. There's approximately 90 mins of material. While it touches a lot of interesting material and might reveal some interesting piece of information it never really goes in depth on some things I was hoping it would go into. Given the great amount of access the makers had I was hoping it would one-up everything else I've come across. In a way it does in the breadth of material but falls short on going in deep, especially with someone like Grant who begs to be mind picked and prodded.