It has been reported that Scottish comic book writer and industry legend Alan Grant has passed away.

Grant is widely regarded as one of the greatest Batman writers of all time, thanks in no small part to his work with the equally great artist Norm Breyfogle. The pair created the villain Anarky during their stint on Detective Comics, along with Jeremiah Arkham, Victor Zsasz, and Amygdala in Batman: Shadow of the Bat, and also introduced the Ventriloquist and Ratcatcher with writer John Wagner. Grant's style was grounded in the truest sense, wanting to focus more of social issues and the day to day events that were occurring in Gotham City. This led to him eschewing more fantastical villains and stories in favor of more psychological and philosophical threats, though that didn't keep him from turning in some great work with the Clayfaces in the phenomenal "The Mud Pack" arc.

Grant also lent his pen to several intercompany crossovers, such as Batman vs. Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham, Batman/Daredevil: King of New York, and Superman vs. Terminator: Death to the Future.

In addition to his work on Batman, Grant wrote for a number of 2000 AD properties, and had substantial runs with characters as diverse as Lobo, the Demon, Tarzan, Doctor Who, L.E.G.I.O.N., and Tank Girl. In 1992, he won an Inkpot Award, and just recently took part in creating a comic based on the Scottish village Moniaive and the resilience of its citizens in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was 73.