Grant Won’t Rant, But Comments On Klaus in Xmasville

by Vince Brusio

A many of many words, Grant Morrison doesn’t use a lot of them to talk about Klaus and the Crisis In Xmasville #1 (OCT171237) from BOOM! Studios. He prefers that his readers charge blindly into the snowstorm. Surprises and slushballs in the face are best delivered when you don’t see them coming at your head. But Grant does throw us a light fluffy snowball in the PREVIEWSworld interview, so sit back and see what the sage of syntax has to say about his new story!

Klaus and the Crisis In Xmasville #1 (OCT171237) is in comic shops December 6.

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Vince Brusio: At what volume is the fun factor for Klaus and the Crisis In Xmasville #1 (OCT171237)? Deafening Monty Python level? Or do you use only a third of the amplifiers?

Grant Morrison: Wow. Only soon-to-die Baby Boomers remember Monty Python! Klaus is not a particularly Pythonesque or comedic series. It’s an all-ages fantasy/superhero take on the popular spirit of Christmas yoo yoomans call Santa Claus.

Vince Brusio: One could argue that you’re offering social commentary in this story in regards to a soda corporation hijacking Christmas. Not that you would ever, ever do such a thing. But what if you did? And if you did, what might you hypothetically say if given such a platform?

Grant Morrison: Read the book. Art, even cheap pop art, shouldn’t explain itself. Eye of the beholder, etc. It is what it is... but it’s not a polemic.

Vince Brusio: So, this story has Klaus fighting capitalism. Ok. A bit of a laugh there. A holy holiday should not be overshadowed by soda commercials with cute polar bears. But then you go and add zombie Santas to the recipe. A question on many minds would be, of course, do they eat brains? Is this comedy in the vein of Shaun of the Dead?

Grant Morrison: They’re not zombies, I’m afraid, but mind-controlled living men in the service of a higher power. They don’t regard brains as a gourmet item. These Santas live in a town called Xmasville where everyone, including cops, garage attendants, and insurance agents, are Santa. Going back to Monty Python, there are elements of the classic Bicycle Repair Man sketch in our opening scenes.

Vince Brusio: How did you and Dan Mora knock around ideas for the visuals of this story? How did you two communicate during production?

Grant Morrison: I communicate with my artists via the medium of the script and the occasional e-mail. I trust the people I work with to bring their A-game and I tend not to require much back-and-forth communication. So, basically, we don’t talk — but somehow Dan knows exactly what I want and can draw it better than I ever imagined.

Vince Brusio: If you had to pick a scene that would best act as a teaser for the book, what would we see? And why does this scene best promote the story overall? 

Grant Morrison: The opening scene, set in the ’80s, like that “Stranger Things” show, is very Spielberg/Stephen King and really sets the whole thing up quite succinctly.

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.