One of the most original and widely respected writers in comics, Glasgow-born Grant Morrison got his start with British indie comics during the late 1970s and early 1980s before working on Marvel UK features such as Zoids. After co-creating the popular strip Zenith with artist Steve Yeowell in 2000 AD, Morrison made his mark in America with DC Comics, where he revived an obscure hero to critical acclaim in his Animal Man series. In 1989, he wrote the best-selling Batman graphic novel Arkham Asylum and began a memorably surreal run as writer of the freakish heroes of DC’s Doom Patrol. Subsequent DC projects included Kid Eternity, Sebastian O, Flex Mentallo, Kill Your Boyfriend, Aztek, Invisibles, DC One Million, Flash and a hugely popular revamping of DC’s JLA. Morrison then shifted focus to Marvel Comics, where he had already made a brief pit-stop co-writing 1995’s bizarre Skrull Kill Krew with Mark Millar. In addition to his groundbreaking four-year New X-Men run, Morrison’s Marvel credits include Fantastic Four: 1234 and Marvel Boy. He has since returned to DC, where his later credits include Seaguy, WE3, Vimanarama, JLA: Classified and Seven Soldiers. While serving as a special creative consultant to DC editorial, Morrison has written All-Star Superman, and the flagship Batman title and its spinoff Batman Inc.; co-written the event series 52; and served as the mastermind behind Final Crisis.
Artist Jae Lee made a name for himself on Marvel’s Namor the Sub-Mariner, his gothic style a stark departure from traditional comic art. After a short X-Factor arc, Lee decamped to the newly formed Image Comics — illustrating the Youngblood Strikefile and WildC.A.T.s Trilogy miniseries, and introducing his own creation in Hellshock. In 1998, he won an Eisner Award for his distinctive work with writer Paul Jenkins on the Marvel Knights series Inhumans. He and Jenkins reteamed in 2000 for Sentry, the multilayered tale of a deliberately forgotten Silver Age hero. Continuing his Marvel Knights work, Lee illustrated Grant Morrison’s Fantastic Four: 1234, an arc of Captain America and the Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks limited series. After drawing an arc of Ultimate Fantastic Four, Lee was tapped to lend his distinctive style to Marvel’s adaptations of Stephen King’s Dark Tower novels.