Given that it's 4/20, and given that Grant Morrison had his own spotlight panel yesterday at NYCC, where he talked a bit about how drugs have affected his writing, I started wondering how mind-altering substances--anything from coffee to hallucinogens--have influenced the creative side of comics. Morrison is the easy example, because he's discussed how such materials have informed some of his work, particularly The Invisibles. There must be some examples from the '70s and early '80s. Although there are surface similarities and a case can be made, I've always firmly believed that Weisinger-era Superman plots are in no way pharmaceutical related. But it might be an excuse (on the part of Dr. Doom or his writer) for out-of-character outburst from Doom that Greg noted recently.
Posted by Doug at April 20, 2008 11:04 PM
In The Silver Age Heroes, Gerry Jones repeatedly suggested that John Broome's plots were heavily influenced by his pot-smoking. But the rumor is unattributed.
Englehart once said about his version of Hank McCoy, "I was smoking a lot of dope, and I just assumed that Hank would be, too."
I'm sure there's a lot of alcohol-fueled idiocy in comics, but I'm betting that gets into the realm of libel, so I will say nothing.
Libel is always a concern if we broach subjects like this too carelessly. But there must be more examples that are already on the record.