Morlocks

by Geoff Johns

Genres: Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comics

Unknown Binding

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a pretty good book! Its about these group of morlocks in Chicago who live underground and steal things secretly to survive as the sentinels roam above the city and will take them down if they identify them. We pick up with our crew - Angel Dust, Postman, Trader, Litterbug, Electric Eve, Shatter and a new guy named Cell and they have formed a group to carry out the last wishes of all of them like some want revenge, some penance, some wanna see their loved ones for the last time and some just want closure. We follow these characters on their journeys of last wishes and some interesting things and realizing in the end to take the fight to this villain named Dr Matellus and his sentinels, who will survive? Will their last wish be fulfilled? What is the hope of the future for them? It was a good book and like does so many things in just 4 issues and makes you feel for these characters, they're valid and justified and then the sacrifice and reunions at the end wow! The art was sketchy and kinda distracting but the writing makes up for it! Johns gets what it means to be a mutant and its reflective in his writing perfectly!

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're an X-Men completist, it might be fun to track these issues down. They don't feature any characters you'll be familiar with but it does have some Sentinels.

This is a very focused story about a group of mutants living literally underground in Chicago and trying to find some closure from their personal traumas while avoiding a group of Sentinels beung used by the government to hunt down and kill mutants.

The characters really don't have time to be fleshed out so don't expect an emotional read. Its purpose mainly seems to present the idea that there are unrelated cells of Morlocks (named after but not directly connected to the Morlocks who lived in the sewers of New York in the 1980s X-books) spread throughout America trying to protect mutants and rise up against the sentinels.

Johns's strenghts as an idea writer who writes capable dialogue are on display here but there isn't quite enough story here to latch on to. I don't remember ever seeing any of these charatcers again in future books. Even in the Dawn Of X titles where they resurrected and used pretty much any character they could think of.

It's totally unnecessary in the grander X-Men scheme, and there aren't any truly memorable scenes but it's written better than some of the major Marvel events that have become X-Men canon over the years.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

An early Johns' comic that shows many of the hallmarks of his best work. The characters weren't particularly interesting though and I didn't think the focus on the villain's mutant murder fetish added anything to the story.

[TK · Rating 4 out of 5]

More books like this please

[Jonah Maple · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing by Geoff Johns is top notch and the imagery conveyed by the Martinborough art is hauntingly powerful in its bluntness. This book wasn't very popular, and I don't know if it's collected anywhere physically, but it is available on Marvel Unlimited. I'm usually lukewarm on Geoff Johns, I can tell that he is a great writer but a lot of times the way his superhero stories interact with continuity and legacy kind of get in the way, so seeing him work with the Mutant Metaphor but using totally new characters and a disconnected story is fascinating. It's also cool to see him write a darker, more political story than usual, and there are real connections to be made to our current climate in the US in there.

I've read a lot of Geoff Johns comics, and despite being somewhat obscure this might be my favorite one. This has also made me realize I need to read more of his indie stuff.