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Grant Morrison's 18 Days #1
GRANT MORRISON - 18 DAYS - GRA
Collects Grant Morrison's 18 Days #1-5:
From legendary creator Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Batman & Robin, The Invisibles) comes the first chapter in his newest creation.
18 Days is the story of three generations of super-warriors, meeting for the final battle of their age, a climactic war that concludes the age of the gods and begins the age of man. Collecting the first story arc from the series.
"This is not a Lord of the Rings or a Star Wars where the good guys win because they are right. The good guys in 18 Days are forced to cheat and lie and break rules to win. Although it has fantastic, mythic trappings, this is a very modern story of realpolitik and the failure of ideals in the face of harsh truth." – Grant Morrison
From legendary creator Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Batman & Robin, The Invisibles) comes the first chapter in his newest creation.
18 Days is the story of three generations of super-warriors, meeting for the final battle of their age, a climactic war that concludes the age of the gods and begins the age of man. Collecting the first story arc from the series.
"This is not a Lord of the Rings or a Star Wars where the good guys win because they are right. The good guys in 18 Days are forced to cheat and lie and break rules to win. Although it has fantastic, mythic trappings, this is a very modern story of realpolitik and the failure of ideals in the face of harsh truth." – Grant Morrison
Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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138 people want to read
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,791 books4,565 followersGrant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 11, 2017
Read this as part of #GettingGrpahic and it wasn't really for me. Although there are some striking pages with full body rendering and colourful pops of art the story leaves the reader lost a lot of the time. It's a sort of story where you are thrown into the action and you have to try to figure out what is really going on without much backstory and with a lot of 'kill kill kill' 'stab stab stab' going on.
Overall, just an ok read for me, I wouldn't continue the series sadly. 2*s
Overall, just an ok read for me, I wouldn't continue the series sadly. 2*s
March 25, 2017
This is the graphic novel version of the animated series written by Morrison and illustrated by Jeevan J. Kang. It is important to note that the illustrations in this book, in spite of being commendable, do not hold a candle to those by Mukesh Singh in the script book. However, Morrison's interpretation of this Indian epic is supremely ambitious and very interesting.
October 14, 2016
Awesome retelling of the world biggest epic ever.
May 20, 2022
Prophecy says this third age of ours ends soon. And in its turn, on an epic battlefield, upon the crack of the ages when we of the great autumn afternoon depart, the terrible fourth age of winter night begins. The sinister age, the black age of iron. Wealth is law here. Commerce drives power. Trade is authority. Dollars and cents, the new Gods. Here, survival is the new discipline. Loneliness is the new faith. Everything and everyone is for sale. Insanity is instinct. To be born into this black age is to suffer constant terror. A time of interminable war. And at the end, evil engulfs the earth. Life is extinguished. At last, as the world shudders and dies, Rudra comes in the form of seven suns to obliterate creation.
Grant Morrison's 18 Days is the first part of a book on The Mahabharata. A retelling focusing on those 18 days of the war, the book actually begins right when the war is announced and ends at the moment that the war is begun. As far as the graphics are concerned, they added a lot of depth to the story. However, they also resulted in this book being a book without much of a story. People might say that because I am an Indian and know the story by heart, I think nothing happened. But actually, it is despite that that I can say that the book in itself was very restrictive. Perhaps it was to fit within a said number of pages, or something else, but the story in itself, was very bland here. For someone with no idea of Mahabharata, this book wouldn't make sense. There were random references thrown in at spaces with no explanation whatsoever. If they had been structured more properly, it would have been easier to consume them, however. In that sense, the story, albeit interesting (because I mean, of course, it is the longest and greatest epic ever!) is not handled very well. While I generally love the characters from this tale, I couldn't get myself to care much for the ones in this comic. It was full of random speeches and internal conflicts that felt a little forced on the surface. The book, in other words, was an introduction to lay the groundwork for the latter volumes in the series.
Other than that, what bothered me a lot was that although the book is called "Grant Morrison's 18 days," Morrison only worked on three out of the five chapters of the issue. For someone whose name is in the title, I would have expected more. But hey, maybe the latter volumes will do justice to the story!
Grant Morrison's 18 Days is the first part of a book on The Mahabharata. A retelling focusing on those 18 days of the war, the book actually begins right when the war is announced and ends at the moment that the war is begun. As far as the graphics are concerned, they added a lot of depth to the story. However, they also resulted in this book being a book without much of a story. People might say that because I am an Indian and know the story by heart, I think nothing happened. But actually, it is despite that that I can say that the book in itself was very restrictive. Perhaps it was to fit within a said number of pages, or something else, but the story in itself, was very bland here. For someone with no idea of Mahabharata, this book wouldn't make sense. There were random references thrown in at spaces with no explanation whatsoever. If they had been structured more properly, it would have been easier to consume them, however. In that sense, the story, albeit interesting (because I mean, of course, it is the longest and greatest epic ever!) is not handled very well. While I generally love the characters from this tale, I couldn't get myself to care much for the ones in this comic. It was full of random speeches and internal conflicts that felt a little forced on the surface. The book, in other words, was an introduction to lay the groundwork for the latter volumes in the series.
Other than that, what bothered me a lot was that although the book is called "Grant Morrison's 18 days," Morrison only worked on three out of the five chapters of the issue. For someone whose name is in the title, I would have expected more. But hey, maybe the latter volumes will do justice to the story!
December 31, 2021
Interesting start but lots of the fundamental reasons and whys are not covered here so it makes it hard to care about the characters involved.
January 9, 2023
making Yudhishthir this good looking is a crime
Read
October 10, 2017Beware the possessive apostrophe in titles; this Mahabharata riff was created by Morrison, and he scripts the first issue, but soon he's down to co-writing some and entirely absent from others. And even at its best, it's a far cry from the project's earlier incarnation as a fizzing, sumptuously illustrated pitch/series bible. The art here, by Jeevan Kang and others, would be fine for the sort of fantasy where a small group battle demons, but really doesn't capture the sheer immensity of a battle with millions on each side, the cosmic dimension at the back of everything, the techno-magical hybridity of the armour and weapons. In my mind's eye I envision it more in the style of the current Thor trailer, or wonder how it could have looked in the hands of an Art Adams, Esad Ribic or George Perez. I suppose one could take this as meta-commentary, a story of the last great age's fall itself compromised by appearing in the last and darkest phase of the cycle. Alternately, maybe it's just a bit of a disappointing waste.
February 6, 2021
Magh 24, 2078, Saturday
Grant Morrison's 18 Days Volume 1: War Begins - Grant Morrison (2015)
Genres: Graphic Novel/ Fantasy/ Mythology/ Science Fiction
Pages: 150
Rating: 8/10
Themes: Loyalty/ Good vs Evil/ Love, Family and Friendship/ Cleverness/ Standing For What is Right/ Greed
Opener:
“First, there is Brahma, the self-aware immensity, from whose thought-substance are created all known and unknown things. In this vast, infinite expanse of awareness, one single day lasts four billion, three hundred and twenty million years… or one great day, in which the Four Ages of the Earth repeat like the cycle of seasons. In this ebb and flow of cosmic karma lies the web of all existence, echoes of humans, gods, warriors, super science, and sages.”
Summary:
18 Days is a comic book epic conceived by Grant Morrison that retells the apocalyptic war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas at the end of the Third Age with a Magitek flourish and a number of modern sensibilities to make the greater themes of the work accessible without robbing them of their potency.
Verdict:
The vast armies of Pandavas and Kauravas stand on the precipice of battle ready to unlock the dogs of war. The two families are destined to annihilate each other on the dusty fields of Kurukshetra to decide the fate of Bharata and of humanity. This retelling of Mahabharata starts off at the cusp of war, providing a slow-moving story interspersed with backstories and preludes. I must say that the issues are addicting. You breeze past each issue. This star wars-esque interpretation of the Mahabharata is ambitious, and I am loving it so far. I am looking forward to reading more.
Grant Morrison's 18 Days Volume 1: War Begins - Grant Morrison (2015)
Genres: Graphic Novel/ Fantasy/ Mythology/ Science Fiction
Pages: 150
Rating: 8/10
Themes: Loyalty/ Good vs Evil/ Love, Family and Friendship/ Cleverness/ Standing For What is Right/ Greed
Opener:
“First, there is Brahma, the self-aware immensity, from whose thought-substance are created all known and unknown things. In this vast, infinite expanse of awareness, one single day lasts four billion, three hundred and twenty million years… or one great day, in which the Four Ages of the Earth repeat like the cycle of seasons. In this ebb and flow of cosmic karma lies the web of all existence, echoes of humans, gods, warriors, super science, and sages.”
Summary:
18 Days is a comic book epic conceived by Grant Morrison that retells the apocalyptic war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas at the end of the Third Age with a Magitek flourish and a number of modern sensibilities to make the greater themes of the work accessible without robbing them of their potency.
Verdict:
The vast armies of Pandavas and Kauravas stand on the precipice of battle ready to unlock the dogs of war. The two families are destined to annihilate each other on the dusty fields of Kurukshetra to decide the fate of Bharata and of humanity. This retelling of Mahabharata starts off at the cusp of war, providing a slow-moving story interspersed with backstories and preludes. I must say that the issues are addicting. You breeze past each issue. This star wars-esque interpretation of the Mahabharata is ambitious, and I am loving it so far. I am looking forward to reading more.
December 31, 2019
Very entertaining, for sure. After reading Morrison's interview about this series, I feel that he got everything he aimed for in this book.
April 3, 2021
5 stars for Grant Morrison's Issue 1 and Grant Morrison's Chapter 4, and 1 star for Not-Grant-Morrison's 18 days.
June 7, 2017
In his introduction, Deepak Chopra explains that the core story of the Mahabharata revolves around an eighteen-day war between the five righteous Pandava brothers and their one hundred rival cousins, the Kauravas, on the sacred battlefield of Kurukshetra.
But both he and the fabulously magical Grant Morrison concur on the fact that the Mahabharata is so much more. Shades of gray pepper this great tale and it doesn’t take long for righteous heroes to crumble into reluctant villains and for dastardly villains to morph into admirable heroes. This tale has it all but every rendering of it, done right, leaves an ache in the heart….an ache that lingers and raises questions in our otherwise Good v/s Evil story trope.
And man….do these guys get it right.
In the first volume of a promising series, we stand at the cusp of war….a quiet bystander as super warriors of the third age ready themselves to fight the greatest battle that has ever been unleashed on this world. Doubts linger, evil sneers menacingly and Yudish makes one last noble gesture that could tip the scales in the favour of the Pandava army. But will that be enough in the face of Arjuna’s reluctance to unleash hell on what are essentially the members of his family? As a power crazed Duryodhana spews verbal venom, the weary and mighty Bheeshma and Drona take a step back into the past as they remember the sinister birth of Duryodhana.
The war has just begun and it already promises to be soul-shattering. The groundwork has been laid with much finesse and this is a tale that I will be following to the bitter, epically cataclysmic end.
That one special tweak at the end of this volume is a conversation with the perceptive Grant Morrison. His views bring everything that you felt about the Mahabharata into sharp focus but were unable to convey adequately.
Much respect.
But both he and the fabulously magical Grant Morrison concur on the fact that the Mahabharata is so much more. Shades of gray pepper this great tale and it doesn’t take long for righteous heroes to crumble into reluctant villains and for dastardly villains to morph into admirable heroes. This tale has it all but every rendering of it, done right, leaves an ache in the heart….an ache that lingers and raises questions in our otherwise Good v/s Evil story trope.
And man….do these guys get it right.
In the first volume of a promising series, we stand at the cusp of war….a quiet bystander as super warriors of the third age ready themselves to fight the greatest battle that has ever been unleashed on this world. Doubts linger, evil sneers menacingly and Yudish makes one last noble gesture that could tip the scales in the favour of the Pandava army. But will that be enough in the face of Arjuna’s reluctance to unleash hell on what are essentially the members of his family? As a power crazed Duryodhana spews verbal venom, the weary and mighty Bheeshma and Drona take a step back into the past as they remember the sinister birth of Duryodhana.
The war has just begun and it already promises to be soul-shattering. The groundwork has been laid with much finesse and this is a tale that I will be following to the bitter, epically cataclysmic end.
That one special tweak at the end of this volume is a conversation with the perceptive Grant Morrison. His views bring everything that you felt about the Mahabharata into sharp focus but were unable to convey adequately.
Much respect.
September 30, 2017
For me anything to do with Mahabharata is important and has to be consumed, whether it is in novel or graphic novel or even an Amar Chitra Katha comic form. This story is very sacred to me.
This is my first ever graphic novel reading. I did read comics as a kid but this genre wasn't there when I was growing up. The language and the treatment of this one is for a mature audience. The fact that a known name like Grant Morrison decided to take up this story just goes to show the potential of this great tale and it's universal appeal.
Keeping up with his style he has given this a more sci-fi look, which I have liked as it is presenting the core story in a new way. It starts with the first day of the Great War and then keeps flashing back to the overall tale.
A fabulous initiative and I would urge all the young ones as well as people from around the globe to read this story well.
This is a great series!
This is my first ever graphic novel reading. I did read comics as a kid but this genre wasn't there when I was growing up. The language and the treatment of this one is for a mature audience. The fact that a known name like Grant Morrison decided to take up this story just goes to show the potential of this great tale and it's universal appeal.
Keeping up with his style he has given this a more sci-fi look, which I have liked as it is presenting the core story in a new way. It starts with the first day of the Great War and then keeps flashing back to the overall tale.
A fabulous initiative and I would urge all the young ones as well as people from around the globe to read this story well.
This is a great series!
February 14, 2016
Story is interesting but it's not handled very well. Nothing here to make you care about any of the characters. It's pretty much just a bunch of guys standing around making speeches and then slugging it out. Very, very basic comic book action. I expected much more from something Morrison put his name on, even if it's just as a producer (he doesn't write much if any of it). The art is just horrible. Style isn't very interesting and every page is laid out in the exact same widescreen format. No sense of action or storytelling from these artists. It's one of the most visually boring comics I've ever seen.
October 10, 2017
Next time a Hare Krishna comes up to me and asks me to buy the Bhagavad Gita, I hope to have a copy of Morrison's graphic novel 18 Days on me, because I swear I will try to sell it to them!
This is Morrison at his best again. This awesome modern, comic visual rendition allowed me to glimpse more insight than when I read [parts] of the Mahabharata, like the Bhagavad Gita, in just text! It was also much easier to keep track of the characters in the graphic novel vs the text. It really embodied some of the characters I never could get a grasp on before. Thanks to all involved in this comic production for bringing this to life for me!
This is Morrison at his best again. This awesome modern, comic visual rendition allowed me to glimpse more insight than when I read [parts] of the Mahabharata, like the Bhagavad Gita, in just text! It was also much easier to keep track of the characters in the graphic novel vs the text. It really embodied some of the characters I never could get a grasp on before. Thanks to all involved in this comic production for bringing this to life for me!
October 24, 2018
I'm going to (very very cautiously) give this 4 stars for now.
For me, coming in clean, it's an intriguing introduction to a story that I know nothing about, with fantastic art, and a decent amount of world-building and characterisation.
I spent some time checking the reviews; there are a decent amount by people to whom the story is part of the their heritage and history who are equally praising the story. Without any further context, I'll respect their opinions that the story itself is told with skill and a respectful updating.
For me, coming in clean, it's an intriguing introduction to a story that I know nothing about, with fantastic art, and a decent amount of world-building and characterisation.
I spent some time checking the reviews; there are a decent amount by people to whom the story is part of the their heritage and history who are equally praising the story. Without any further context, I'll respect their opinions that the story itself is told with skill and a respectful updating.
April 15, 2017
Great Graphic Series
18 days is the creative re imagining of the Mahabharata epic. The Pandavas and Kauravas meet in Kurukshetra for the battle to end the 3rd age. Both ancient and futuristic, the setting and characters are compelling in telling this classic Indian story.
18 days is the creative re imagining of the Mahabharata epic. The Pandavas and Kauravas meet in Kurukshetra for the battle to end the 3rd age. Both ancient and futuristic, the setting and characters are compelling in telling this classic Indian story.
May 21, 2016
War. So pointless.
July 17, 2016
A fumbling attempt to capture the magic of the Mahabharata.
Read
August 7, 2017Strange.
Curious.
Curious.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews