Grant Morrison is the most polarizing writer in the entirety of comics.
Any write up about Morrison has to begin with a statement addressing that up front, as some will say that he’s the best writer in comics (our very own Matt) while others will curse his name (no one here, but plenty of others). I fit somewhere in between, as I find the guy to be an absolute genius at times (his run on JLA, All Star Superman, WE3) and a complete train wreck at other times (Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis). In my mind, Morrison’s problems aren’t in the idea creation, as he is unparalleled in his ability to brew up outlandish ideas and making them work, but in the actual application. Sometimes his intent can get muddled in suspect execution, which is what I found to be the problem the aforementioned RIP and FC faced.
His run on New X-Men on the other hand did not face any of those problems. In fact, after reading through the entire New X-Men Omnibus recently (which I found out afterwards is an extremely hard to find collection) not only do I think it is his greatest work ever, but also the single best X-Men run I’ve ever read. Given that the X-Men were my first comic love, reading through the entire series, from the Stan Lee run to the Chris Claremont and all the way to the Joss Whedon run on Astonishing X-Men (and beyond), that is saying something.
The most amazing thing about this Morrison’s run on New X-Men is that he manages to tell a cohesive narrative throughout 50+ issues, tying aspects from the very first issue into the very last issue of his run. Morrison never wasted our time with filler issues, he never wasted an opportunity to expand on the X-mythology, and he never missed a chance to perfectly capture our favorite characters (or create new ones) while enhancing them with his own madcap ideas at the same time. The story threads always feel active whether they are on the page right then or twenty pages ago — one way or another, Morrison for once gives us a cohesive X-universe that feels as big as Stan Lee always intended it to be.
Not only that, but within the cohesive whole are some absolutely incredible arcs. Morrison blesses us with the E for Extinction arc (and the near destruction of the mutant race), Cassandra Nova’s attempts at eradicating all mutant life and the hijacking of the Shi’ar Empire, Quentin Quire and his band of mutant revolutionaries, the rise and fall of Xorn (the most enigmatic character from the entire run), brilliant handling of the Emma-Scott-Jean love triangle, delving deeper into the Weapon X program (and Wolverine’s history and the creation of the brilliant Fantomax character), and the last bit, where we see Magneto’s big move against humanity. 
As I’ve said before, the most brilliant thing is he ties in these story elements into one absurdly well put together run.
As it started as a collaboration with Frank Quitely (Morrison’s partner-in-crime on All Star Superman and the new Batman & Robin title), all characters were redesigned and blessed with Quitely’s exceptional pencils frequently throughout the series. Art is typically superb, with Quitely being joined by elite talents like Ethan Van Sciver, Chris Bachalo, Marc Silvestri, and Phil Jiminez. Of course, the biggest problem with the entire series is when those stellar artists are unavailable, for some reason Morrison or Marvel turned to Igor Kordey, whose art ranged from surprisingly decent to completely abhorrent. If it weren’t for the fact that Kordey participated as much as he did, this would be a near-flawless production. In fact, that is the one advantage Whedon’s run on Astonishing has over this book — John Cassaday (aka the GOAAT — the greatest artist of all time) pencils the entire series.
But I digress. The point is, this is in my mind the culmination of all of Morrison’s writing talents. All of the madcap ideas, all of the slow building cohesion, all of the tension, all of the character beats, none of the mess. That’s the way I like it. New X-Men really was a turning point for the entire X-universe, as it gave future writers creative license to take the book in more mature and interesting directions. The entire universe is all the better for it, and they really can thank one man.
Grant Morrison.
