Alan Grant, 1949-2022

We were saddened to learn of the death at the end of last week of Alan Grant, one of the best comics writers the UK has produced, yet one of the least celebrated. Brought up in Scotland, Grant began his comics career in the late 1960s as an editor at Dundee-based D.C. Thomson. At the end of the ’70s, he began working for IPC, which led him to 2000 A.D.

Grant was not there at the absolute creation of 2000 A.D., but he joined early, first as an editorial assistant, and then as a freelance writer, working generally in collaboration with John Wagner, notably on strips such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, and Robo-Hunter. Along with Wagner and Pat Mills, Grant helped determine the feel of the comic; in particular, the grim humour that characterises much of Dredd came from Grant.

Judgment on Gotham, co-written by Grant, and featuring two characters with whom he was particularly associated, Judge Dredd and Batman.

In the later 1980s and 1990s, Grant joined the exodus of British writers going to work for American comics, though he continued to work for UK publishers. About this time the Wagner/Grant writing partnership broke up, though the two remained friends, and continued to team up occasionally. So from the early 1990s onwards, much of Grant’s work was solo writing. In particular, he did a lot of work for DC on Batman, in the course of which he created Victor Zsasz, who later appeared in 2020’s Birds of Prey movie. His UK work included a lengthy run on Judge Anderson, including the acclaimed ‘Shamballa’.

In recent years, Grant has struggled with ill-health. But he continued to write, and if the productivity dropped, the quality rarely did. RIP.