Morrison sells new superhero history

British publisher Jonathan Cape has bought the rights to a book charting the history of superheroes by celebrated Scottish comics writer Grant Morrison.

Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Random House, outbid rivals for the EU, UK and Commonwealth rights to Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero. The publication charts the development of the superhero genre from the invention of Superman in 1938 up to the modern film versions of Watchmen and Wolverine.

Speaking to The Bookseller, Jonathan Cape editor Alex Bowler described the book as "the definitive history of the superhero... like no other".

"Our world and the world of the superhero are going to be fed into the brilliant blender of Grant's brain, so expect philosophy, anthropology, Buddhism, mad ­science, capes and punk rock," he said.

Morrison has been writing comics for 20 years, and has worked on critically-acclaimed runs of classic superhero titles including New X-Men, All-Star Superman and JLA. He is currently writing the new series Batman & Robin.