Why MIKE GRELL Was Happy to Work on LEGION — and Even Happier to Leave It

And he wasn’t crazy about Tyroc, either…

UPDATED 9/13/19: Mike Grell turns 72! Perfect time to re-present this piece from 2018! And if you’d like to see this year’s 13 COVERS birthday salute, click here. Dig it. — Dan

TwoMorrows has another great comics-history book headed your way 10/10 — Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser, by Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer.

The lavishly illustrated edition — available in both hardcover and paperback — is centered around an in-depth interview with the artist and hits all the highlights of his career, including his time as a DC fan-favorite and his years developing creator-owned material.

Just check out the table of contents:

As we often do with TwoMorrows’ books, we’ll be serializing excerpts, in this case over three weekends.

To kick it off, here’s the book’s segment on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Grell is remarkably candid, discussing how Legion was his big break — but also a headache. In between, he talks about his distaste for the controversial Tyroc, the challenges of working with Jim Shooter, his excellent relationship with Cary Bates and the creation of Dawnstar.

There’s much more, so check out this EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

MORE

— MIKE GRELL Talks BATMAN, Wrightson — and a Christopher Lee Homage That Wasn’t. Click here.

— MIKE GRELL Reveals the Secrets of GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS. Click here.

Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser is due out 10/10. It will be available in comics shops, online retailers or directly through TwoMorrows. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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6 Comments

  1. Grell and Cassell were doing okay till they started in with the Superman disrespect.

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  2. Thanks for sharing this story. I helped write this book!

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    • Hi Jeff (and all over there! 🙂 I’m from old Italy and I am been a regular reader of Twomorrows mags since TJKC # 8 (!) and also several TM books; I was wondering if, in the Other Stuff section, MIke speaks about his tenure as EIC of Ardden Entertainment from December 2010 to Summer 2015 and then Scout Comics from Summer 2015 to…I don’t know when he stopped being that!
      Thank you all in advance for your help! :))

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  3. Mike Grell Legion is what got me into comics!

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    • #202 was one of my first comic purchases ever — from the spinner rack in the convenience store just west of Ross Clark Circle in Dothan, Alabama, and to this day remains one of my favorites.

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. MIKE GRELL Talks BATMAN, Wrightson — and a Christopher Lee Homage That Wasn’t | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture - […] we’re running pieces across three weekends. Part 1 focused on the Legion of Super-Heroes. (Click here.) In this segment,…
  2. MIKE GRELL Reveals the Secrets of THE LONGBOW HUNTERS | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture - […] — Why MIKE GRELL Was Happy to Work on LEGION — and Even Happier to Leave It. Click here.…
  3. ALL THAT PIZZAZZ: A Spotlight on the Classic Marvel Mag | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture - […] — Why MIKE GRELL Was Happy to Work on LEGION — and Even Happier to Leave It. Click here.…

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