"It's about a way of seeing that transforms the world": Grant Morrison on Luda and everything else

As I’ve said more than once, to paraphrase Jarvis Cocker, I am not Grant Morrison though I have the same initials.

I’ve always had an affinity for the writer, going all the way back to their Zoids and Zenith work way back in the late '80s (I’m old), and that’s something that’s only grown more true in the subsequent decades where they’ve moved in different directions at a time when I’ve found myself particularly receptive to what they’re writing. The '90s one-two punch of The Invisibles and Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery, arguably two of their defining works, felt particularly potent, but I could say the same about things like The Filth or Seven Soldiers of Victory: The Bulleteer.

That’s especially true when it comes to their latest venture, Luda. Their first full-length novel — they’ve written short prose before, as well as the non-fiction prose Supergods — it’s a glamorous, over-the-top confession on behalf of the protagonist, one-time drag supernova Luci LaBang, that encompasses a history of pantomime, a series of lessons in magical thinking, and an increasingly paranoid relationship with Luci’s co-star, the eponymous Luda, amongst many other things. It’s extravagant, hilarious, heartbreaking, and — thrillingly to someone who grew up just outside of Glasgow — entirely Scottish. It feels like the most Grant Morrison thing they’ve ever written, and it resonated with me as I eagerly read it.

(Those who get to “Vultures and Crows” in the book will find another reason why it resonated with me in particular, but I won’t spoil anything here.)

After finishing the book, released September 6, I had the opportunity to talk to Morrison over Zoom about… well, a lot of the above, and more. Read on for a freewheeling conversation about Luda, Scottishness, and the existential nature of reality.

Popverse: Where did this book come from? It feels like the most personal thing you've written in a long time, and it feels personal in a way that even things like Flex Mentallo or The Invisibles didn't. This felt like something akin to St. Swithin's Day and things way back in the '90s. This felt like very You.

Grant Morrison: I'd agree with that. Honestly, it came from being asked to do one.

So everything in it is kind of real, but it's happening to someone from a parallel universe.

I've never quite managed to write a novel. I've tried since I was 18, when I wrote a big fantasy thing, but I've never managed to finish one. I just can't, it's not my form. But once I got asked to do it, I thought [that] I had this story that I was almost going to do as a comic with Frank Quitely, and this was an episode of it. It was kind of