Magneto may have been a terrorist, but he was never stupid.  He also isn't old, as I'm sure everyone on this forum knows.  I haven't read any of this guy's stories and I'm damn sure not going to now. He not only "shat" on Claremont's work, but JB's,Smith, Cockrum, Stan, Jack's and on and on.  This guy has no regard at all for other creators or the fans.  Talk about over simplification of characters--"Well, Batman does this, so it has to mean that."  "Magneto has done this so he deserves to be that."  So let it be written, so let it be done, huh, Grant? Does he get a little shiver up his leg when he goes out of his way to shat on 40+ years of character development that other writers have at least tried to make cohesive?  He knows what these characters are really about.  The fans are so stupid they will read what he writes... and like it.  You know why?  Because he knows better than everyone else.  Stan Lee-HACK!  Chris Claremont-DIPSHIT!  Roy Thomas-MORON!

"I say old chap, I'm going to make this Bat-Lad a poof if it hair lips the Queen."--in my best proper English accent

This is why comic book sales are 1/10 of what they were 30 years ago, and this is why I'm a collector not a reader.

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Being the "most important comicbook writer" is like being the world's tallest midget. There's nothing particularly "important" about comics. They are escapist entertainment. Sometimes they can achieve high goals, but for the most part, when comics start thinking of themselves as "important", they tend to find themselves --- well, where we are right now, as a matter of fact.

The Playboy "interview" is just excerpts from Morrison's book Supergods, which is amazing.  Grant comes at things from a very radical viewpoint and sometimes it really works (WE3, All Star Superman, Batman and Robin) and sometimes it's an incomprehensible mess (Final Crisis, Flex Mentallo).  I find his run on X-Men to be both good and bad, depending on which arc we are discussing.

Most important comic writer today?  Probably is, given that Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman are MIA.  Mark Millar doesn't do much for me.  Jonathan Hickman's run on FF has been breath taking, but few readers seemed to have noticed.  Pick up his TPBs if you think JB was the last writer who understood the FF characters.

JB said pretty much what I was about to say.

Yes, comics are escapist entertainment and when anyone, Morrison included, feels compelled to put on a big show of analyzing characters that have been sucesful for decades, he comes across as pompous and arrogant. What he (or any comics writer) should be doing when thinking about any long-running character and how to write that character, is looking for the essence of what made that character appealing enough to last that long, and then following that recipe to allow the character to continue to appeal to its audience.

I haven't read that entire article and I don't intend to, but just from the excerpts Nathan posted, I find Morrison's attitude to be incredibly insulting to fans of the characters he thinks he's cleverly analyzing.

That's why people like Batman? And here, all these years, I thought I liked him because he had a great origin and motive for fighting crime, one of the best costumes ever, a wonderful rogues gallery, the best headquarters in comics, an interesting personality, good supporting cast, and has been portrayed by an amazing assortment of artists and writers over the last 70 years. Those are my reasons for considering Batman one of my favorite characters. It has nothing to do with the concept being "utterly gay."    

Most important writers in comics today?

My vote goes to those writers who are quietly doing the work that comics writers should do: writing quality stories, treating characters (and readers) with respect, and keeping good storytelling alive while most of the industry is a mess. As long as there are a few titles out there worth reading, comics won't be entirely dead, despite the best (worst) efforts of the majority of the industry. I wish there were more of them. I don't have to name them; the members of this forum know who they are.

Morrison might be the loudest writer in comics, but he's not as important as some people think.