THE Scots comic book writer who relieved Batman of his trademark cape and made the X-Men’s Magneto a drug addict is now poised to bring a group of killer pets to Hollywood.

Grant Morrison is in talks with New Line Cinema — the film company behind The Lord of the Rings — to turn one of his most bizarre comic strips into a Hollywood film.

We3, the story of a group of pets kidnapped by the government and transformed into robo-assassins, is set to follow in the footstep of other successful comic book adaptations including Sin City, The Hulk, Spiderman and Batman.

Drawn by the acclaimed comic artist Frank Quitely, who is also from Glasgow, We3 is a violent and bloody reworking of The Incredible Journey, the 1963 Disney film in which three animals — a cat, a dog and a rabbit — have to find their way home after becoming separated from their owners while on holiday.

However, Morrison has introduced a sinister edge to the heart-warming tale. His story, published earlier this year by DC comics’ Vertigo division, starts when the killer pets are to be “decomissioned” by the government. The animals — which have been hard-wired into military battle suits — escape and embark on a dark and violent journey to find their owners.

The movie, which is expected to have a multi-million-pound budget, will be produced in association with Angry Films, which released Batman Begins in America last week. Morrison will write the script for the film, in which actors will star alongside the computer generated animals.

“It’s such a simple story that I’m sure it will appeal to everyone from kids to grannies,” said Morrison, who has pitched the film as “The Incredible Journey meets Terminator”.

“It is the classic story of animals on the run but this time the entire US army is after them.”

While in captivity the animals have been trained to speak, heightening the pathos of their situation. “They all try to express themselves in words, but they have very simple needs. The dog worries, ‘am I a good dog?’, the cat doesn’t want to be there and the rabbit just thinks ‘feed me, feed me’. They are a hopeless bunch and the dog has to try to hold them all together,” said Morrison.

“I want it to be a real weepy. I think it’s got the potential to be the next ET.”

We3 was in part inspired by a New Scientist article last year about an American military experiment to create “remote-controlled rats” for use in combat. Morrison added: “It is also allegorical. Life is used as biomass in war. I don’t preach but that is the subtext.”

Comics are enjoying a golden period, reflected in the success of film spin-offs and a series of exhibitions of comic book art at some of the country’s most prestigious galleries.

Scotland has produced many successful comic writers including Mark Millar, who created Wanted and worked on Superman, and Alan Grant, who wrote Batman strips.

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth