As one of the decade’s lead Batman writers, he co-wrote crossover event storylines like ‘Knightfall,’ ‘Contagion,’ ‘Legacy,’ and ‘Cataclysm.’ He penned more intercompany crossovers, like “Batman-Spawn: War Devil,” “Superman vs. The pair continued to write “2000 AD,” but fell out creatively over the Judge Dredd story ‘Chopper,’ and the Epic Comics miniseries “The Last American,” leading them to divide up their duties, with Grant continuing to pen “Strontium Dog” and “Judge Anderson.” (The two would reteam on occasion, such as on the crossover “Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham.”)ĭuring the ’90s, Grant’s work for DC included “Batman: Shadow of the Bat,” “The Demon,” “L.E.G.I.O.N.,” and the first solo “Lobo” and “Anarky” series. Together, Grant and Wagner wrote some of the biggest “Judge Dredd” stories of the ’80s, including the ‘Apocalypse War.’ Their success led to them writing for DC by the end of the decade, including the 1987 maxiseries “Outcasts,” and “Detective Comics” in 1988. This led to him writing the “2000 AD” spin-off “Starlord” (not to be confused with the Marvel character), as well as “Judge Dredd,” “Robo-Hunter” and “Strontium Dog” with Wagner. After returning to college and working other odd jobs, he befriended John Wagner, who at the time was preparing “2000 AD” for its launch in 1977. He entered the comics industry in 1967 as an editor at Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson, and moved to London in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. Grant was born in Bristol, England, on February 9, 1949, and grew up in Newtongrange, Midlothian. He was also a political anarchist, which led him (with artist Norm Breyfogle) to create the DC supervillain/anti-hero Anarky. Grant was best known for his work on “2000 AD,” and for being the co-creator of the Batman villains Zsasz, Ratcatcher, and Ventriloquist. He had apparently been ill for some time.

Per an announcement from his wife Sue on Facebook, Scottish comic book writer Alan Grant died this morning, aged just 73.

Lobo/Judge Dredd by Alan Grant