The Late Great Alan Grant

Comic book writer Alan Grant, who worked on such features as Judge Dredd and Batman, died on July 20 2022 at the age of 73. He had been ill for some time.

Alan Grant was born on February 9 1949 in Bristol, England. He was only one year old when his family moved to Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland. He attended Newtongrange Primary School and Dalkeith High School. He worked at a bank for a short time before answering an ad for trainee journalists in the local newspaper.

Alan Grant became an editor at DC Thompson, the company that publishes The Beano, The Dandy, Commando, and other comic magazines. He later returned to college and worked a number of odd jobs before encountering fellow comics writer and DC Thompson veteran John Wagner. John Wagner was working for IPC on the launch of a new science fiction comics magazine 2000 AD. John Wagner asked Alan Grant to help him with a Tarzan comic.

John Wagner later asked Alan Grant to contribute work to IPC's short-lived science fiction comics magazine Starlord (not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character). This eventually led to Alan Grant obtaining an editorial position on 2000 AD. Alan Grant would later work with John Wagner on such features for 2000 AD  as Ace Trucking Co., Robo-Hunter, Strontium Dog, and Judge Dredd. In addition to 2000 AD, Alan Grant also wrote IPC's revival of Eagle. There he worked on such features as Doomlord, Joe Soap, The House of Daemon, and so on.

It was in the late Eighties that Alan Grant did his first work for DC Comics in the United States. With John Wagner he wrote the limited series Outcasts, published from October 1987 to September 1988. The two of them then began writing for the character Batman beginning with Detective Comics no. 583 (February 1988). They introduced such characters as The Ventriloquist and The Ratcatcher. It was after about twelve issues that the partnership between Alan Grant and John Wagner dissolved, after which Alan Grant wrote the character of Batman on his own. It was in 1989 that he introduced the character of Anarky in Detective Comics no. 608 (November 1989). In the Nineties Alan Grant continued to work on various Batman titles, as well as on such titles at DC Comics as Lobo, L.E.G.I.O.N., The Demon, and Catwoman, among others. It was in the pages of Batman: Shadow of the Bat that he introduced the villain Victor Szsasz and the character of Jeremiah Arkham.

While writing for DC Comics, Alan Grant continued to write for other companies. With John Wagner he wrote the four issue adventures series The Last American. Reportedly it was The Last American, along with the "Chopper" storyline in Judge Dredd, that led to the dissolution of the partnership between John Wagner and Alan Grant. The two divided the strips upon which they worked between them. John Wagner kept Judge Dredd and Alan grant kept Judge Anderson and Strontium Dog. They would later work together on some special projects, such as Judgement on Gotham, a Batman/Judge Dredd crossover. One of these projects was The Bogie Man, which was published independently after DC Comics refused it. He also worked on the British comic Toxic! and served as a consultant on Judge Dredd Magazine. For Toxic! he wrote such features as Makabre, Garbage Man,

Among Alan Grant's work beyond 2000 AD  and DC Comics were "Doctor Who: Invaders From Gantac" in Doctor Who Magazine issues no. 148 to 150; The Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad for the British Marvel magazine Strip; The Bogie Man; Psychonauts (for Epic Comics); Jeremiah Harm(for Boom! Studios); LEGO Rock Raiders: High Adventure, Deep Underground; The Dead (Kingdom of Flies) for Berserker Comics; and Church of Hell for Berserker Comics.

Alan Grant and his wife Sue organized the annual Moniaive Comics Festival. In 2020 he helped his fellow residents of Moniaive, Dumfries and Galloway, produce a comic, Moniaive Fights Back, about life during the COVID-19 pandemic. All proceeds went to a financial recovery fund for the village, called Revitalise Moniaive.

Alan Grant was one of my favourite comic books writers of all time. He had a gift for staying loyal to well-established characters, such as Batman, while at the same time writing about them in ways that were starkly novel. His characters, whether they were ones he had created (such as Anarky or long-running characters like Batman or the Legion of Superheroes, were always four-dimensional with personalities all their own. Mr. Grant had a particular talent for often cynical satire, which was often on  display in his work on Judge Dredd.  He was well known for nurturing young talent and has even been credited with discovering Alan Moore. Alan Grant has had a lasting influence on both British and American comic books that will be continued to be felt for years to come. He was certainly a great talent.