In 1977 Dial Press of New York published Robert Mayer’s first novel, Superfolks. It was, amongst other things, a story of a middle-aged man coming to terms with his life, an enormous collection of 1970s pop-culture references, some now lost to the mists of time, and a satire on certain aspects of the comic superhero, but would probably be largely unheard of these days if it wasn’t for the fact that it is regularly mentioned for its supposed influence on a young Alan Moore and his work, particularly on Watchmen, Marvelman, and his Superman story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Alan Moore and Superfolks:
Part 1: The Case for the Prosecution,
Part 2: The Case for the Defence,
Part 3: The Strange Case of Grant Morrison and Alan Moore.
posted by Artw
on Nov 18, 2012 -
37 comments
Hellblazer, the DC/Vertigo comic starring Alan Moore created occult investigator John Constantine, is being
cancelled at issue #300 to make way for a new comic set in DC's New 52 universe. Hellblazer was
DC's longest running continuously numbered comic and it's cancelation marks the last of the DC Comics characters with Vertigo titles being taken back into the mainstream DC universe (
previously). Vertigo was originally an imprint for mature readers occult themed titles and creator owned work, though it has changed over the years with an adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo becoming the first Vertigo to
receive TV advertising.
posted by Artw
on Nov 9, 2012 -
85 comments
Decompressed is a podcast in which comics writer and former Rock Paper Shotgun journalist Kieron Gillen (X-Men, Thor,
Phonogram) talks to artists and writers about the process involved in writing a single issue of a comic.
Decompressed 6 broke format and is instead a discussion with
Mark Waid and
Matt Fraction about scripting comics using the
"Marvel Method", or "plot first" - in which the artist draws the comic from a story outline and dialogue is added later, rather than the writer supplying a panel by panel script. For a while out of favour even at Marvel, the method is seeing a resurgance. The podcast page contains visual aids, and embedded version of the podcast, the script of DEFENDERS #9 complete with B&W art and additional links, including links to Warren Ellis’ 3-part tutorial on writing comics (
1,
2,
3).
Jamie McKelvie and a vultue put in guest appearances. Further example comicbook scripts are available at the
Comic Book Script Archive (
previously).
posted by Artw
on Aug 26, 2012 -
29 comments
In 2010, DC Comics offered Alan Moore the rights back to Watchmen.
This is a factually accurate account of what happened. (SLYT)
posted by MegoSteve
on Jun 30, 2012 -
46 comments
Professor James Moriarty is a mathematician and criminal mastermind, who appears in
The Final Problem, the story in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes.
Colonel Sebastian Moran is a colonial cad, who appears in
the Adventure of the Empty House, the story in which Holmes returned. Together the commit crime. Kim Newman talks about
Professor Moriarty: Hound of the D’Ubervilles, his novel in which they star as a reverse Holmes and Watson (
review here), and lists his
10 best villains in literature. Previous team ups of the diabolical duo include the movie
Silver Blaze / Murder at the Baskervilles (youtube), which features
Ian Fleming as Dr. Watson, (not THE
Ian Fleming), and Neil Gaiman's
A study in Emerald (pdf) (
Previously), as well as a brief appearance together in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
posted by Artw
on Nov 4, 2011 -
46 comments
Alan Moore and
Ian Gibson's epic story
The Ballad of Halo Jones concluded 25 years ago today (bar the odd strange
one page appearance hinting at why it did not return). Despite being unpopular with readers at first due to it's female protagonist and relative lack of action it is now rightly regarded as one of 2000ads classic stories. However despite Quality Comics reprinting a color monthly version (which was anything but quality) it has remained a rarity in the US,
until now. But how would the other 6 chapters of the planned 9 part chapter have gone? Moore
revealed how it would have ended in a
recent interview.
posted by Artw
on Apr 19, 2011 -
20 comments
Fossil Angels - written by Alan Moore in December 2002 to appear in KAOS #15, which never appeared. Published here for the first time.
posted by MetaMonkey
on Oct 24, 2010 -
22 comments
Breaking the Fourth Panel: Neonomicon and the Comic Book Frame (
1,
2) Alan Moore’s recent Lovecraftian comic dissected. (MLYT, Possibly NSFW language and SAN loss)
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Aug 3, 2010 -
18 comments
Kevin O'Neil, classic 2000ad artist, co-creator of Marshall Law, frequent colaborator with Alan Moore and the only artist ever to be outright banned by the Comics code Authority ("there’s nothing you can change — the style is unsuitable!”) talks at length in an epic interview at the comics journal:
Part one,
part two,
part three,
part four,
part five.
posted by Artw
on Feb 22, 2010 -
23 comments
Artist
Stephen R. Bissette dissects the making of Saga of the Swamp Thing #20, the first American comics appearance of writer Alan Moore (um...
previously), in a series of blog posts that feature much original artwork (by Bissette and others), as well as a sampling of Moore's apparently absolutely ginormous script for the issue. (Warning: Parts of Bissette's site are NSFW.)
Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4,
Part 5,
Part 6.
posted by kittens for breakfast
on Apr 13, 2009 -
14 comments
"In Wells, God writes the human narrative, in Moore's version, it is humanity that ghostwrites its own story and credits it to God. The decision left to humanity is whether it will script its own history consciously, or allow the narrative to be shaped secretly by leaders and figures of authority..." The
historiography (alternate, longer
explanation) of
Alan Moore. Warning: long.
[more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet
on Aug 14, 2008 -
14 comments
