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The latest Marvel/DC crossover has arrived with the November 19 release of DC's Batman/Deadpool #1. While there's been a considerable amount of hype for Batman and Deadpool's misadventures thus far (see: Marvel's Deadpool/Batman #1, released back in September), what makes this issue extra special is that the main story was written by the legendary Grant Morrison, author of All Star Superman, Doom Patrol, JLA, New X-Men, and countless other iconic comic book runs from the past four decades. Even if you're not keen on seeing Deadpool, like, anywhere, chances are you're willing to sit through a story co-starring the Merc With A Mouth when the person crafting it to begin with is one of the most inventive voices in comics - especially when the issue turns out to be a stealth sequel to one of their most beloved works.

Warning: spoilers for Batman/Deadpool #1 are ahead! You've been warned! 

As luck would have it, Grant Morrison tapped into their creative legacy by basing their story of Batman/Deadpool around elements from their seminal run on 1980s DC comic Animal Man. Specifically, we're talking about Grant Morrison's in-universe counterpart (subsequently called The Writer), who existed within the DC Universe before he was killed on a mission in John Ostrander, Kim Yale, and Geof Isherwood's Suicide Squad #58. If you remember, in Animal Man #25 and 26 from 1990, the titular character wandered into a different plane of existence and met the writer of his own comic, Grant. Upon seeing that everything that's happened in his life recently had been decided by The Writer typing it into a comic book script on their computer, Animal Man had an existential crisis - as we all would. 

Now, in Batman/Deadpool #1, The Writer and their computer return for a confrontation with Batman and Deadpool, except the scribe looks different from last time. The story acknowledges that The Writer from Animal Man was killed on a mission with the Suicide Squad, but that The Writer's cosmic keyboard - the device that allows them to rewrite reality around them - went missing. But now, the cosmic keyboard is in the hands of a new Writer, one that looks like present-day Grant Morrison (bald). As The Writer explains, their cosmic keyboard is the "MacGuffin everyone's chasing" in the story. 

But that's not all. When The Writer is attacked by Cassandra Nova (herself a creation of Grant Morrison during their New X-Men run), they're able to take back control of their cosmic keyboard because Cassandra experiences "writer's block." The original version of The Writer was drafted onto the Suicide Squad and was killed on a mission because of a sudden case of writer's block. The Writer of Batman/Deadpool seems to know this, as they say to Cassandra, "They say it happens now and again," referring to writer's block.

If you had told me that the Batman/Deadpool crossover would be a follow-up to Grant Morrison and Chaz Truog's Animal Man, I wouldn't have believed you. But as Grant Morrison's writing shows, seeing is believing. 

Batman/Deadpool #1 is available now wherever comics are sold. 

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.