Alan Moore Thread. Get it ALL out. [Archive]

TrueDave

Jan 25, '10, 11:43 PM

I was talking movies to a new friend and was surprised at how often we came back to Alan Moore films. My friend doesnt know anything about comics so I thought about trying to explain Alan Moore.

I got into him with Swamp Thing. I liked him and Horor at the time because in Horror ANYTHING can happen. Actually just about everything he has done freaked me out. Even that old Green Arrow story that was a back up in Batman.

Lets face it , good comic writers are hard to come by.

Is the guy insane or what? :juggleyes_y:

I cant seem to remember Moore doing any Marvel.

Anyway , what are YOUR Alan Moore stories? Opinions? News? Facts?

Meule

Jan 26, '10, 3:27 AM

Let's see, I love Swamp Thing, Batman: The Killing Joke, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta.

thunderbolt

Jan 26, '10, 4:42 AM

Watchmen, V, Killing Joke, Whatever happened to the Man of Tommorow?, and League all great stuff, but I don't really get his goofiness when it comes to movie versions.

The Toyroom

Jan 26, '10, 6:44 AM

Was a big Moore mark back in the day (Watchmen, Swamp Thing, The Killing Joke, V for Vendetta....his Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is a classic Superman story)...but I think his bitterness has got in the way of his talent. And lately he comes off as quite the aloof ****** in interviews, especially those concerning films based on his works....

The Bat

Jan 26, '10, 7:09 AM

I hates every one of the Movie adaptations of his Comics. But liked I "The Watchmen" & V for Vendetta.:yes:

samurainoir

Jan 26, '10, 11:50 AM

Moore is an incredibly principled and complicated guy. Regarding his Marvel work, early on in his career, he had a run in when Marvel threatened to squash him legally over Marvelman (which is why he showed up as Miracleman in North America).

The irony of this is, BOTH of the Marvelman creative team back then, Alans Moore and Davis were working on Captain Britain for Marvel UK at the same time!
http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n21/n108407.jpg

Alan Moore at that point decided not to work for Marvel any more, with the exception of the script he donated to the Marvel Ethiopian famine relief project, where he was paired with Richard Corben on the Magneto chapter.
http://www.typingmonkeys.com/Images/heroes-for-hope-x-men.jpg
Although I have to admit that I am a bit confused why he was on the Marvel one, and not the similar DC Comic dedicated to the Ethiopian Famine relief, since he was working almost exclusively for DC during that period.

thunderbolt

Jan 26, '10, 11:57 AM

I hates every one of the Movie adaptations of Comics. But liked "The Watchmen" & V for Vendetta.:yes:

all comic adaptations?

samurainoir

Jan 26, '10, 12:01 PM

Of Moore's recent work, I have a real soft spot for Jack B Quick, particularly since I really love Moore's hugely underrated humour work (DR and Quinch, Bojeffries Saga).
http://www.bdgest.com/critiques/images/planches/54119.jpg

Still marvelling at the complexity of Promethea.
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/files/2009/04/promethea.jpg
JH Williams brought his "A" game illustrating it. It's "The Wealthy Barber" for the concept of Magic as Moore understands it, by way of a Wonder Woman archetype.

As much as I like Powers, Moore really runs rings around it when it comes to seemlessly melding the Superhero to the Police Procedural genre.
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/moore1.jpg

ctc

Jan 26, '10, 1:08 PM

Hmmmm....

I liked his old 2000AD stuff (hee hee.... DR and Quinch....) but his superhero stuff always kinda seems like, well; superhero stuff. It's okay, but nothing special. Especially his independant superhero stuff, much of which feels like thinly veiled takes on big name characters.

Don C.

kingdom warrior

Jan 26, '10, 1:37 PM

I've always been a fan of his work. I've always seen him as a real writer who just happened to work in comics. I honestly think he just doesn't give a hoot for how Corporations run DC and Marvel and The whole Hollywood movie machine.....
I mean he wrote and visualized those stories in his head why would he really care about the Hollywood adaptations which rarely even comes close to what he did. Watchmen was the closest to a near perfect adaptation.

I've come across so many people who like his adapted movies and I tell them all the time buy the Graphic novels they're so much better than the movies

My Favs: Swamp Thing,Watchmen,V for vendetta,Killing Joke,From Hell,Marvelman,Shadowplay:The Secret team, The Leaugue of ExtraOrdinary Gentlemen,
Lost Girls,Tomorrow Stories and Tom Strong.

toywizzard71

Jan 28, '10, 1:45 AM

Hey guys got a quick question,which issue of Batman had the Green Arrow backup story by Alan Moore in it?

Surfsup

Jan 28, '10, 3:22 AM

Hey guys got a quick question,which issue of Batman had the Green Arrow backup story by Alan Moore in it?

Detective Comics 549-550. I'm a big fan of Alan Moore; Promethea is a work of genius! Not to mention the League, Vendetta, Tom Strong and of course, Watchmen.

I can see why he distances himself from the movies, as all they have done is butcher his work. With the exception of Watchmen (if you forget about the ending), all the adaptations have been pretty poor. I still can't believe what they did with the League...somebody should have been shot for that.

thunderbolt

Jan 28, '10, 4:02 AM

^^ League is ok if you take it as a bmovie, you'd only get mad if you were expecting a full adaptaion of Moore's work. V for Vendetta was a better adaptation than Watchmen.

The Bat

Jan 28, '10, 5:10 AM

all comic adaptations?

I meant to say adaptations of HIS Comics. Also...in my post I forgot to say "I" liked V & Watchmen.:please_y:

samurainoir

Jan 28, '10, 5:23 AM

Hey guys got a quick question,which issue of Batman had the Green Arrow backup story by Alan Moore in it?

There is a collected edition of Alan Moore's various DCU work that contains that story.
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/1/3/1324_400x600.jpg

Worth picking up. It's got lots of little gems inside. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, one of the all time best Superman stories. Moore's possible Phantom Stranger origin (which pretty much lines up with his portrayal in Moore's Swamp Thing as well as Gaiman's stuff). The Abin Sur story that Blackest Night launched out of.

The Toyroom

Jan 28, '10, 7:01 AM

^ Moore wrote a Vigilante story?

toywizzard71

Jan 28, '10, 7:38 AM

Thanks alot.

palitoy

Jan 28, '10, 8:39 AM

^^ League is ok if you take it as a bmovie, you'd only get mad if you were expecting a full adaptaion of Moore's work. V for Vendetta was a better adaptation than Watchmen.

I dig it in the same way I like "The Omega Man", it's an entertaining movie but I don't find it reflects the source material. I love the original comic but I doubt a straight up adaptation would have faired well.

Personally I love Moore's hero work, especially when he's just having fun with the characters, he injects some wonderful things to a story. I got Top 10 for Christmas last year, what a fun read.

As a person, I kind of view Moore as a fairly sensitive guy who has a lot of his enthusiasm dampered by what he considers poor treatment, sometimes I feel he's right, other times not so much but that's what makes him tick. If you read interviews with him 20 years ago, he's a different man, now he's a lot more bitter sadly. This probably will see him becoming less and less commercial.

TrueDave

Jan 28, '10, 11:29 AM

The Superman story was too distrubing . Toy man having dead bodies pop out of a Jack in the box/

The Swamp Thing team up with Superman was great. About the red kryptonian disease ? Really good work. Cant remember the name of DC Comics team up title.

Did they HAVE to use the creepy picture of Alan Moore on the cover of the collected works?
His stories scare me plenty enough !

His Werewolf story that talked about menstration and womens treatment in Swamp thing was great. Also the only time I remember him actually coming into the leters page and responding to a lot of bad readers letters.

Oh and the Phantom Stranger story. I read that issue of Secret orgins ?? He wrote the one where the phantom Stranger ends up being the wandering Jew of biblical reference. ( I think)

samurainoir

Jan 28, '10, 2:56 PM

Oh and the Phantom Stranger story. I read that issue of Secret orgins ?? He wrote the one where the phantom Stranger ends up being the wandering Jew of biblical reference. ( I think)

Moore wrote the one where the angel couldn't decided which side he was on during the original war in Heaven and was rejected by both sides. The interesting part is where we get to meet Etrigan before the fall, although this doesn't quite jibe with the later accounts which have Etrigan born of demon parents.

It fits nicely into the Phantom Strangers role in the big supernatural rumble at the climax of The American Gothic saga in Moore's Swamp Thing.

samurainoir

Jan 28, '10, 3:00 PM

^ Moore wrote a Vigilante story?

They were a "special issue" about child abuse.
http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/93162718990.17.GIF

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HBKWtrKbYAk/SpCHnlJg5QI/AAAAAAAAA4k/iNM_OIb9HNA/s1600-h/Vigilante+Vol+1+%2318.jpg

http://image2.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/93162718990.18.GIF

bgrimm77

Jan 28, '10, 3:49 PM

I've alway's been a fan of his writing style and do believe that he is mad. I personally believe that he simply couldnt be bothered with Hollywood and cant stand to see his work butchered. Although I loved V , Watchmen , and From Hell. I imagine him brooding in a castle smoking opium and drinking absinthe , slowly plotting his quest for global domination.

samurainoir

Jan 28, '10, 4:33 PM

I imagine him brooding in a castle smoking opium and drinking absinthe , slowly plotting his quest for global domination.

According to first hand accounts by both Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis when I've seen them at live speaking engagements, it's actually a cave he's dug out in his backyard and his work is fueled by marijuana as his vice of choice (and you can often see that quality in his work).

I had the pleasure of having dinner with an artistic collaborator of Moore's a couple of years back. He had actually made the trip overseas to meet Moore face-to-face, and he had some interesting insight into Moore's reclusiveness. I don't think I'm speaking out of turn, because I believe Moore has gone on record with the fact that he's partially deaf. You can imagine how larger social gatherings can be uncomfortable for him, which is why he prefers one on one interaction.

Brazoo

Jan 28, '10, 5:15 PM

"From Hell" would easily be my nomination for best graphic novel of all time. The movie was horrible though.

Meule

Jan 29, '10, 3:32 AM

"From Hell" would easily be my nomination for best graphic novel of all time. The movie was horrible though.

I loved both the book as the movie

Brazoo

Jan 29, '10, 5:26 AM

I guess the movie and book are so different I can see how someone would like both. I was a big fan of the book and was more than a little disappointed that all the stuff I was interested in was left out of the film.

I don't think Moore is as crazy as people might think he is. Initially he was not against making some money from film adaptations of his work. His falling out with DC and Hollywood was based on financial and legal matters.

Here's a cool interview and article:

Alan Moore Still Knows the Score! | Books | EW.com (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20213004,00.html)
Lying In The Gutters: 5.23.2005 - Comic Book Resources (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=14937&page=article)

johnnystorm

Jan 29, '10, 9:32 AM

I like From Hell & LOEG. As far as his comic work, the final Superman story he did was classic, and the Annual with the flower that controls your mind (given his opinion on movie adaptions of his work, wonder how he felt about the JLU cartoon adaption of that story).
Swamp Thing was actually not to my taste, I guess I preferred the original stories. It made the character less tragic in my opinion, knowing he was an elemental not a man. Just my opinion. And of course, because of the Moore version, we've effectivly lost the Swamp Thing as a DCU character. DC is only interested now in Vertigo type use of the character - which is not I believe what Moore intended, judging from his use of DC characters like Batman & the Demon etc. in his run. I would really like to see Swampy back in the DCU, showing up in Brave & Bold (both the book & the cartoon). But I digress...
Some of Moore's recent stuff is kinda out there...the last couple LOEG books were not much to my liking, and were too heavily involved with obscure literary characters. For my mind, the league works best if the characters are more 'famous' ones. Sometimes too much detail is too much, you know?

I did enjoy Tom Strong very much though. I'd welcome more of that, I would!

kingdom warrior

Jan 29, '10, 9:46 AM

I always thought he gave great interviews....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7ehbE1vc0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKebCtCTbCA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtDphCDULeQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS5Svr3iQn8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucba9NtF3cE&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXSk-sMAa4s&feature=related

These Last Three Interviews from a radio Show Chain reaction. Kinda Blows the idea that he's some brooding nut job....he's actually a riot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2kDtXzTUA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1WDvvhhXb8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wginOW0mzk&feature=relate

samurainoir

Jan 29, '10, 7:05 PM

And of course, because of the Moore version, we've effectivly lost the Swamp Thing as a DCU character.

You never know. Doom Patrol, Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult, Wesley Dodd and Animal Man have all returned to the DCU. I believe the trade-off for Animal Man was that Vertigo got Dead Man (at least in title).

I really don't think there is much more that Vertigo could have down with Swamp Thing after Mark Millar's run. I really enjoyed Brian Vaughn's Swamp Thing focusing on Swampie's daughter Tefe, but I guess it was too far ahead of the curve given the fact that he gave Yorick a similar journey in Y the Last Man.

The last Swamp Thing series just didn't have anyplace to go and instead they devolved the character. Three issues of great Corben art aside, it's really difficult to top what Moore, Vietch, Morrison and Millar did on their run.

I had heard rumours that JMS really wanted to do Swamp Thing in his Brave and Bold. Maybe he's got the juice to make it happen?

bgrimm77

Jan 29, '10, 10:48 PM

After my initial post on this thread I went into my vault and picked out a copy of Swamp Thing #53 , Oct.86 . The story is great , it's when Alec turns Gotham City into a jungle and has to deal with a very P.O.'d Batman....It has everything that was mentioned earlier , an appearance by Batman , use of Marijuana and other illicit substances , and an overall AWESOME story with great artwork. Check your archives everyone and if you have it.....re-read it

Brazoo

Feb 9, '10, 3:51 AM