Grant Morrison - House of Hearts Desire
Further to my previous entry on Grant's early work in Starblazer comic, here's another little peek at a rare early comics work, this time published in 1989's A1 issue 3, from Atomeka Press.
The House of Hearts Desire was a collaboration with Dom Regan for the A1 anthology, squeezed between stories by some of the UK's finest, plus more than a few international stars.
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This short story is notable for an early mention of Barbelith, of which Morrison writes: "The word 'BARBELiTH' is derived from a dream I had when I was about 20 or 21 and coincided with my first structured 'magical' experiences and a minor nervous breakdown (in the dream, BARBELiTH was the name of some higher dimension or alternate reality)." The concept would be repeated throughout Morrison's later work, including New Adventures of Hitler (on which I plan to be writing something soon), Doom Patrol, Flex Mentallo, and of course the epic Invisibles.
As Morrison's script begins, it could almost be a prologue to a Doom Patrol adventure, featuring as it does the strange and unusual contrasted against a familiar, almost pedestrian background.
As the story progresses, it veers into more abstract territory, and the mood becomes the main character, and the dream overtakes the reality. Regan's art keeps pace perfectly, communicating the story well, while retaining its own expressiveness.
Atomeka Press is currently repackaging some of the work from early issues of A1, so this story may see print again at some point in the future. In the meantime, enjoy these few snippets from the 7-page tale.
The House of Hearts Desire was a collaboration with Dom Regan for the A1 anthology, squeezed between stories by some of the UK's finest, plus more than a few international stars.
Continue Reading...
This short story is notable for an early mention of Barbelith, of which Morrison writes: "The word 'BARBELiTH' is derived from a dream I had when I was about 20 or 21 and coincided with my first structured 'magical' experiences and a minor nervous breakdown (in the dream, BARBELiTH was the name of some higher dimension or alternate reality)." The concept would be repeated throughout Morrison's later work, including New Adventures of Hitler (on which I plan to be writing something soon), Doom Patrol, Flex Mentallo, and of course the epic Invisibles.
As Morrison's script begins, it could almost be a prologue to a Doom Patrol adventure, featuring as it does the strange and unusual contrasted against a familiar, almost pedestrian background.
As the story progresses, it veers into more abstract territory, and the mood becomes the main character, and the dream overtakes the reality. Regan's art keeps pace perfectly, communicating the story well, while retaining its own expressiveness.
Atomeka Press is currently repackaging some of the work from early issues of A1, so this story may see print again at some point in the future. In the meantime, enjoy these few snippets from the 7-page tale.
Comments
"hello mr fish
dom regan here, nice to see an ancient comic strip of mine resurfacing every
now and then. shame the letratone doesn't scan that well but never mind...
you could have knocked me down with a feather when grant told me i'd drawn the first story to have a barbelith in it... i'd totally forgotten doing that panel with the signpost. other recurring morrison themes that appear in that
story though are the balloon/sperm thing that ran through the invisibles (or at least the first book & the very last issue).
dom regan"
Which reminded me that the Sperm thing also showed up in the New X Men run of all places. If any readers have more to add, please feel free to use the comment function!
Thanks Dom!