The big event at Comic-Con yesterday was a conversation between Grant Morrison, one of the industry’s most popular writers, and spiritual/self-help guru Deepak Chopra about “the seven spiritual laws of superheroes.” But, as Chopra sheepishly admitted early on, “We haven’t yet decided what those are,” so they wound up in a broader discussion about archetypes and consciousness in which comic books became 21st-century cave paintings and roadmaps for human evolution. The two authors were full of praise for each other; Morrison gave Chopra credit for getting him interested in yoga 15 years ago, while Chopra enthused, “Everything I have been trying to say in my nonfiction has been beautifully expressed in Grant’s comics.”
The key to their understanding of comics as an expresssion of “the superhero as transcendant human potential” is the principle of magical intent, a deliberate attempt to change minds and realities. Chopra invoked New Age concepts like chakras, which Morrison then deftly integrated into the archetypal patterns of the Justice League. That led one questioner (okay, me) to wonder whether Morrison’s recent Seven Soldiers mini-series should be read as an allegory of spiritual transformation. Morrison confirmed that interpretation, but insisted that it wasn’t that simple. “It has to be couched in excitement and adventure and human drama,” he emphasized. “People express this stuff naturally all the time. Where it becomes magical is when you add intent.”