Quotes On Comics

The Justice League is like the pantheon of Greek gods.

Magneto’s an old terrorist bastard.

When I was doing The Invisibles, I was spending all my money from Arkham Asylum doing all the things I’d never done as a Presbyterian boy.

In Kathmandu there’s this temple with 365 steps, one for each day of the year, and apparently if you can go up in a single breath, you’re guaranteed enlightenment.

I identify with the Joker to a certain extent—at least the way I write him, which is as this cosmic fool.

When I was writing The Invisibles, I thought, If I’m going to be sitting in the house writing all day, then on weekends I want to look like this cool comic character so more girls will like me.

William Moulton Marston, the guy who created Wonder Woman, was a noted psychiatrist.

Gayness is built into Batman.

American writers often say they find it difficult to write Superman.

I prefer to work out my thoughts on the page and to challenge my own certainties by creating characters who disagree with me.

I really think comics are more fun when they play to their strengths, and do the things that movies can’t do, and go to places in the imagination where movies can’t go.

The grave is no object in comics.

What do I think about Ben Affleck?

If we take away everything you hate about Superman, is there anything left that you like?

I plan my stories very, very carefully, years ahead of completion but I l do like to let chaos and dirt into the proceedings, scuzz it up a little, forget the original intent, let new characters rise up and take over, cut stuff out, put new stuff in, add some noise.

Kids understand that real crabs don’t sing like the ones in The Little Mermaid.

Alan Moore isn’t a misogynist but fuck, he’s obsessed with rape.

I can’t take on those Comics Journal guys, they flattened me, as they did, it’s just defensive, smartass kids.

When a fan commented that he was “exhausted” of reading Superman’s origin over and over again, [Grant] Morrison recommended that maybe he take a break from superhero comics, because “superhero comics are supposed to be fun” and “you should get exhausted by walking up stairs, not reading superhero comics.”

Let the artists go crazy, let the writers go crazy, and we will see a return to the values of comics, the imaginative values.

Superman was very much a socialist superhero.

Bruce Wayne is a rich man.

I have to confess I’m not a huge comics fan in the wider sense of comics as an art form.

I’ve been close to nervous breakdown, sheer exhaustion, or profound existential crisis several times doing this stuff, and somehow, I always bounce back refreshed with new ideas.

Burnout is grist to the mill.

A lot of artists are naturally wary of fan pressure and the excessive criticism that come with a higher profile, so they put their all into a project, knowing that if they do less than the best they’re capable of, 50 jeering bastards on the Internet will turn up to personally insult them.

I find it incredible that drawings on paper can make people laugh or cry or get angry.

Comics, with their minimal budgets, can afford to take risks and break rules in this area that Hollywood and TV producers are generally afraid to do.

I’m fascinated by the “reality” of comic book characters like Superman and Batman, who are really much bigger than we are.

For me, the only essential question of a superhero universe — and a good superhero story — is not “How did that happen?” or “Why did that happen?” but “What happens next ?!!!”.

I’ve always liked to leave resonant spaces, gaps and hints in stories, where readers can do their own work and find clues or insert their own wild and often brilliant theories.

We’re all superheroes in our own stories and in comics we get to see our heroes wrestle with Guilt, Fear, Commitment, Love, Loss, in very direct, imaginative and entertaining ways.