Last night I went to the West Coast premiere of Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods. The film documents the life and career of comic writer Grant Morrison in his own words, with some help from old friends and fellow comic creators. I didn’t go expecting much because I often find indie documentary filmmakers skimp on visuals and sound production, but what I saw really opened my eyes to the wild world of Grant Morrison.

I’ve met Morrison a couple of times. The first time was about a year and a half ago when he was signing at Meltdown Comics in West Hollywood. Chris Rosa, Manager of the store, took me to the front of his line to introduce us since he knew I was looking to interview him for A Comicbook Orange. It was loud and I wasn’t sure he got my name, but we shook hands and talked for a moment. Later I talked to his wife about setting up an interview and got their contact details.

Months followed.

Every time I picked up the phone to call him I got so nervous and sweaty. I called once (maybe twice) and left a message. I didn’t hear back, and that was fine since I was so nervous to talk to him in the first place. When I found out he was going to be at the San Diego Comic-Con this year I tried again. On one extremely busy day I got a text message from his wife suggesting we do an interview at the DC booth at 12pm. We dropped whatever plans we had at that time and went to talk to him. He was a priority. I got so nervous as we were waiting for him to finish his autograph session and I could hardly breathe as he approached me and my camera crew. I could’ve hidden this and put on a professional front… but instead, what did I say? “Sorry, I’m so sweaty right now.” (NO! Why did I say that?!!! To this day I’m still embarrassed by that statement.) In response, he assured me that he was sweaty too. Awww… :)

We then went on to record an amazing interview about his upcoming work on Batman Inc., the extraordinary history of Batman, how he got the idea for Joe the Barbarian, the upcoming film adaptation, and so much more. Unfortunately, we had to cut it down to 1-2 questions to edit it into the short video we were making for Sony. The entire interview was golden, but the uncut footage is still in San Diego with the company I hired and I’m not sure it’ll ever see the light of day. Still, below is the footage we used.

Back to the movie.

The film was absolutely amazing and very inspirational. There were some great moments that made me burst out laughing, thanks to Warren Ellis, Matt Fraction and Frank Quitely, but the really unique elements of the film to me were the way he talked about magic, drugs, and an alien abduction. He opened something up inside of me that I don’t look at very often, the fact that I too did magic when I was younger… and it worked.

I’ve never really been able to explain it, but when I was about 13 years old I tried magic for the first time. I was upset that one of my girl friends started dating the boy I liked, so I cast a spell with a candle for them to break up. I told no one. The next day I found out they broke up the night I cast the spell and I was shocked… and feeling a bit guilty. Sure, maybe it was pure luck… but I tried other spells in my teens and they worked as well. I bought spell books, but didn’t get too involved in magic because I saw modern witches are ridiculous wannabes. My dad still makes fun of me.

Now, I know what you’re wondering… “Isn’t she an Atheist?” Of course, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe there are other things that exist beyond my perception. We humans go through life in four dimensions (3D + time), but what if a fifth or sixth dimension exists? What would a five dimensional being look like to us? What “powers” could they have that we don’t? I remember reading in one of my Physics books that if a human were to travel through a 2D universe, it would look like a mysterious blob that appears, gets bigger, and eventually disappears. What, then, would a higher dimensional being look like (or act like) in our universe? We still have a lot to learn about science, so I don’t pretend to know all… nor do I take on a religion to fill the gaps. We are slowly pulling back the curtain… and when we do, gods will be obsolete.

Morrison also talked about his experimentation with drugs and alcohol as an adult. It was all very interesting, especially since I’ve taken some crazy trips in my youth. This is why I never touch the stuff. Like him, I have lots of wacky stories about it (as well as a story of a possible alien encounter), but maybe I’ll save that for another blog post. Or maybe I’ll just write a comic about it :P

All in all, I highly suggest checking out the film. Even if you don’t know Grant’s work, you will still be thoroughly entertained and inspired by his experiences.