Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jun 16, 2025 | 7 comments

MORRISON MONDAYS!

By BILL MORRISON

In 2002-03, Marvel had a miniseries titled Marvel Double-Shot, which featured two, 11-page stories per issue by different writers and artists. One day at Bongo, I got a call from the editor of the series, Marc Sumerak, asking me if I’d like to write and draw a story. He laid out the concept of the book and told me I could choose any characters I wanted for my story except for Spider-Man and the X-Men, the reason being that those characters were already oversaturated among their titles. Naturally, I was very flattered and extremely excited that they wanted me, a lowly humor cartoonist, to do a Marvel story!

Then it dawned on me that they probably wanted me to do it in The Simpsons style. Why? Because that’s what everyone wanted. I began my career as a photorealistic illustrator, and went on to draw in many different styles, but my work for The Simpsons had me typecast! Plus, The Simpsons were red hot! So, I said “Before I say yes, do you want me to draw it in my own style, or in The Simpsons style?” Marc answered “Oh, definitely in The Simpsons style!”

Well, that let the air right out of my big, happy, Marvel balloon. Regretfully, I didn’t feel I had the right to co-opt The Simpsons style for another publisher, so I had to decline the invitation.

Within a few weeks, Matt Groening came into my office and asked if I’d heard about the new Spider-Man one-shot by Peter Bagge, The Megalomaniacal Spider-Man. Matt and I were both fans of Peter’s Hate comic, and I could see that Matt was excited about seeing what he would do with Ol’ Webhead. Matt directed me to a website on my computer that had a preview of the book, and we spent a few minutes gushing about how cool it was to see Spidey done in Bagge’s underground, cartoony style.

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Then, I swear to Jeebus, he looked at me and said “You should call someone at Marvel and tell them you want to do a story in The Simpsons style!” His very words! When I told him that just days earlier a Marvel editor had invited me to do literally what he suggested, and that I had turned him down, he asked “Why did you do that?” I explained that I thought it might create problems with Fox, and thus, problems for him as my boss, and I also didn’t feel it was my right to just draw in his style for a competing publisher without permission.

Matt’s response blew me away. He told me that if I was ever offered a project that I really wanted to do I was free to take it, as long as it didn’t interfere with my duties at Bongo. Furthermore, he told me I should call the editor and tell him I changed my mind, and that if Fox had a problem he would deal with it.

How’s that for a great boss, huh? So, I called Marc and asked if the offer was still good, and he responded in the affirmative! I was given a slot in the second issue, and though I didn’t get to do the main cover image, he wanted me to do a vignette that would share the cover with an awesome Joe Jusko painting of Doctor Doom, the other feature in the issue.

For my story, I couldn’t decide between three of my favorite characters, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man. Then it dawned on me that (Duh!) they were all in the Avengers! I pitched my idea to Marc for a story that would pit Loki against the Avengers, but in an unusually comedic way. I’ve always found it interesting that the Loki of mythology is referred to as a trickster and “the god of mischief,” whereas the Marvel version amps up the drama and tags him as “the god of evil.”

So, what if Loki got tired of concocting evil machinations, only to get his butt whipped once again by Thor, and decided to go back to his roots and prank the God of Thunder, along with the rest of his friends at Avengers Mansion? Marc loved the idea, but with one provision. I wanted to feature a classic Silver Age team for the Avengers, but he wanted me to use the then-current roster, which included Cap, Thor, and Iron Man, along with Falcon, She-Hulk, Black Knight, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye, Yellowjacket, and the Wasp.

I had no objections, though drawing the complicated detail of Iron Man’s updated armor was a bear! But it gave me a ton of respect for anyone who had to draw the regular Iron Man series and get that armor right, panel after panel!

For Loki’s pranks, I had him employ all the classic practical jokes of my youth, but on an Asgardian scale! Unwanted pizza delivery? Check! Flaming bag of dog poop on the front stoop? Check! Prank phone calls? Check and double check!

After the issue came out, I was told that the then-current Avengers writer, Geoff Johns, liked my story so much, he requested it be included in the Avengers: World Trust trade paperback. I’m sure the fact that the team roster fit in with Geoff’s continuity didn’t hurt!

And I finally did get to do a full cover image for the story! I was set to attend a comics festival in Germany at the request of Dino, Bongo’s publishing partner in Deutschland, and they wanted to have a special comic by me for the event. Since they also published Marvel comics, they chose to do a reprint of my Avengers story and asked me to draw a custom cover!

If there are any Marvel editors reading this, hey, it’s been 22 years! Let’s do another one!

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