Alan Moore: The Roundtable Discussion

Definitely, agree. Swamp Thing has a different vibe, and while eco-friendly, from what I have read Swampy’s world was never on the brink of nuclear fallout.

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I was first exposed to Moore when I got The Killing Joke. I wanted to understand the origins of the Joker so I picked up a copy and analyzed every panel to death. Still love it and I have a 1988 printing stored in my collection. Later, I watched V for Vendetta and I loved it. I soon after checked out the book and learned he wrote Watchmen, so I picked up both and greatly enjoy them. It wasn’t until a few years later did I truely come to worship his stuff. Swamp Thing was something else and it changed everything for me. Every issue was just as good as the last one and #34 stands as my favorite single issue. Absolutely blew my mind and since his run I have not touched a single Swamp Thing issue because I don’t want to ruin the effect his run had on me.

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@TheSandmanofGotham has taken his seat at the roundtable. I think we’re learning that there’s a lot of entry points for Moore which is true for many comic book writers, but how many have so many iconic entry points?

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I read both The Ballad of Halo Jones, & Swamp Thing :green_heart: simultaneously.

It seems fitting to think about it now, but I acquired them one day along w/ quite a few other things that left a lasting impression on me (more on that later). The beginning of Halo Jones had a LOT of set up, so I took a break w/ Swamp Thing #33. I was hooked immediately, started from the beginning, and ended up finishing it first.

I know I’ll have a chance to articulate my impressions later on, but for now:
I was a teenager and up until that point, I really only considered comics as entertainment rather than an art form. Perhaps I was the exact right age or I’m equipped w/ some kind of special antenna, but both had something boundless, unique and lyrical about them and my opinion of comics has never been the same.

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Alright kiddies, show of hands: Who came to know about, and then read, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because of the movie of the same name?

raises his hand

I admit that I’d never heard of the comic prior to the movie’s release in 2003. I guess it was one of those Moore titles that, prior to that year, flew over my head, somehow.

However, upon hearing that the movie was based on a comic of the same name that was written by Alan Moore, I was immediately interested in checking out the source material.

I scooted my boot over to Barnes and Noble and began flipping through the first LXG book with great, rapt attention. “This is absolutely for me.” I said to myself.

A month or two later, I snagged more LXG stuff, this time from the comic store that would, as 2003 unfurled, become my “home” comic store until 2011.

Again, I was hooked. I was all set to jump into the world of LXG with reckless abandon.

Then, another comic came along at that time. One that absolutely hooked me:

Superman/Batman.

Now, while I had been interested in Alan Moore-written comics since I was 9, I was a substantially more consistent fan of writer Jeph Loeb, and had been since I first read Batman: The Long Halloween, around 1999 or 2000.

By 2003, Loeb had also written Batman: Dark Victory, several issues of Superman v2 (the '86-'06 volume), the Hush arc of Batman and more fantastic fiction from DC and Marvel that had this fan wrapped around his prodigious storytelling fingers.

In short, Loeb won out over Moore, as I fell in love with Superman/Batman. Not only was it my #1 favorite new ongoing of 2003 and my #1 favorite ongoing during Loeb’s run (which consists of Superman/Batman: Secret Files and Origins 2003 and Superman/Batman #'s 1-26), but it remains one of my absolute, hands-down, I’ll recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest interest in Superman or Batman, you bet I’m biased towards it, all-time absolute favorite modern ongoing comic series, DC or otherwise.

LXG OTOH…yeah, I’m ridiculously behind on it. At this point, I should just start over fresh with it. Every single time I say to myself “Self, now’s a good time to get back to League.” oodles of other titles (mostly DC, but some non-DC as well) take precedent, while I stick LXG on the shelf, saying “Another time, then. One day, I will fully embrace you.”

When will that day be? As Lois said to Jimmy at the end of Superman: The Movie, “Who knows?”

While I initially disliked the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie (whose initial trailer I remember seeing play before Daredevil), it’s grown on me over the years, to where I like it, and see it (along with Road to Perdition and Red) as one of the more notable DC movies not released by Warner Brothers.

SN 1: Regarding Superman/Batman, while all of Loeb’s run kicks ass, #26 is an issue of great importance.

It’s partially written by (but also serves as a tribute to) Jeph’s son, Sam, who sadly passed away from cancer. In addition to Sam and his dad, the issue was written by a Who’s Who of writers, as well as illustrated by some of the greatest artists of the modern era.

If you’ve never read Superman/ Batman (and shame on you, if you haven’t :wink:), and want a solid, one and done issue to dip your toes into the water with, #26 is for you.

On a final, Moore-related note, has anyone read his run on Supreme? I’ve read a few issues and liked them well enough. Moore’s work on Spawn was pretty sweet, as well.

SN 2: Speaking of Spawn, check out the recently released Spawn’s Universe one-shot. It has me interested in the franchise once more, after being absent from it for years. I fully admit that She-Spawn had some influence, as well. :slight_smile:

goes to find where he left off on Moore’s Swamp Thing, while gently prodding folks to check out DC Comics Presents #85

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

What a concept!

I really enjoyed the first two series. The later efforts not so much

And in a panel
Moore gives us a concept
I always found intriguing

18th Century League

The original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that was active during the latter half of the 18th century.

The panel shows F anny Hill (appears word is forbidden unless space is used), Lemuel Gulliver, Doctor Syn, Percy Blakeney, Marguerite Blakeney and Natty Bumpo is presented in a portrait which was hung in the League’s secret annex in the British Museum in the late 1800s.

And the concept was taken by others to spawn great stories

Planetary
Issue 1, in our library

Planetary

The pulp hero analogues include:

Doc Brass, a Doc Savage analogue and a Century Baby. Unlike Doc Savage, Brass is the product of a selective breeding program. He is the only survivor of the group, and we will see him further in the series.

Hark, a Fu Manchu analogue who works to preserve China. His daughter, Anna Hark will appear in the series, and we will learn more about the Harks and their purpose.

Edison, a Tom Swift analogue or an “Edisonade” as they are called, a youthful inventor/adventurer.

Lord Blackstock, a Tarzan analogue. We will learn more about him in future issues.

The “Shadowy Spider,” an analogue of both The Shadow and The Spider. Again, a character we will learn more about in future issues.

The Aviator, a G-8 analogue. Your basic air war pulp hero.

“Jimmy” the Agent, your basic Operator #5/secret agent pulp hero.

Then the Managerie
Available at Kindle,
A book series

The central character of the group is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (yes, Sherlock Holmes author) who in this series is a powerful wizard. Being a magus, Doyle has prolonged his life span, so he exists in modern times

Plus his group

A Vampire, Eve (Garden of Eden evictee)

Doyle’s chauffeur and weapons master, Squire who is a hobgoblin

Clay- known as “The Clay of God”, he was the clay God used to create every entity known to man (and a few unknown to man). Thus Clay can assume any of these shapes at will.

Dr. Leonard Graves, who was a famous adventurer and scientist in his lifetime. Now he is a spirit determined to solve his own murder mystery.

Danny, a teenager who is suffering the worst case of puberty ever- he’s turning into a demon

Princess Ceridwen, his ex, a fairie with elemental powers

Also

Rough Riders

Rough Riders 1

https://aftershockcomics.com/rough-riders/

Led by a young Theodore Roosevelt, a motley crew of soon-to-be American legends must work together to solve a mystery that threatens life itself.

Harry Houdini — street magician and master of misdirection.

Annie Oakley — a washed-up entertainer, eager for a chance to prove herself in a real war.

Jack Johnson — an undefeated brawler and the son of ex-slaves, determined to get his shot at the heavyweight championship…

a financially strapped and aging Thomas Edison

All that together
Inspired me to
Write a novel
Of similar characters
From
The Bible, Homer, Shakespeare,
Camelot and Historical Characters

Lucifer Morningstar
Michael Archangel
(My two Jewish angels
Who organized the others
Because Lucifer really sucked at judging men
Alone
See the Book of Job)
Goddess Athena
Achiles
Puck
Ariel
Morgan le Fay

And Historical characters

Eleonore von Schwarzenberg
The Vampire Princess
A source for Bram Stoker’s Dracula
(We see her in the original beginning of his story, now found in his short story Dracula’s Guest

That and the phrase
“The Dead travel fast”
From the poem
Lenore

Indicate her influence)

Finally

Michael Collins
Head of the
Irish IRA
who defeated the
British Empire
In the 1920s
And was assassinated
When President of Ireland. He is my poltergeist ghost.

One of my three arcs
Have the Nine
Contend against
The Nazi in 1938,
With the aid of
An armed
Jewish Resistance
Which spawned
An alternate world
Where War World II
Never happened

Because of them, there was no Holocaust, no Israel, No World War 2, no atom bomb; America never became the manufacturer for the world, no space race, no PC, no public Internet, no i-anything. Russia never became a nuclear threat and China never became a manufacturing giant.

America is still in the 1950s in the early 21st century, in terms of race and gender. There are three TV networks and only one phone company.

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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is Hollywood’s next ass-kicker of a mega-franchise. They just don’t know it yet.

Now, yes someone probably said that before the LXG we have fully materialized and was released. However, if LXG could get a really snazzy reboot and then take off to the stars, Jules Verne-style, then I think LXG would indeed rule the movie landscape.

Sure, Alan would just cross his arms and huff and puff, but so what? If he didn’t change after V for Vendetta, the Constantine TV series and/or the Watchmen TV series, he’s pretty much the proverbial sword in the stone that is nearly immovable from its perch.

He can stew while we enjoy a really solid LXG flick. Everybody wins! :smiley:

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Re the LXG Movie

The villians are terrible
Except for Dorian

The Venice segment
Illogical to the extreme

But Peta Wilson

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I forgot
Kim Newman’s
Anno Dracula series

http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/AnnoDracula.htm

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Am I getting this right?

Anno Dracula was 1992

While
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was published beginning in 1999?

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Study in Emerald pdf download
By Neil Gaiman

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Graphic Novel
Available at Comixology

Neil Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald: Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald - Comics by comiXology

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Kim Newman
On Anno Dracula

Including
League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen
Published
AFTER his first novel
In the series

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The Devil is Not Mocked
Manly Wade Wellman
Written during
World War II

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Night Gallery Adaptation
Second story

Last 15 minutes

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Some Links to
Watchmen
That I posted elsewhere

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Wellman also wrote for various comic books (what he called “squinkies”) and wrote the first issue of Captain Marvel Adventures for Fawcett Publishers. Later he would be called into court to testify against Fawcett in a lawsuit by National (DC Comics) about plagiarism of Superman by the creators of Captain Marvel. Wellman testified that his editors had encouraged their writers to use Superman as the model for Captain Marvel. Though it took three years, National won their case. He also contributed to the writing of the comic book The Spirit while the franchise’s creator, Will Eisner, was serving in the US military during World War II. Wellman also wrote for the comic Blackhawk

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In the video
Secret Origins the Story of DC Comics

Alan Moore speaks
Around
One hour five minutes in

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I read League from the local library before the movie, and still enjoyed both. Couple of quick points maybe for longer explanation later. First, the entire concept is ironic considering Moore’s complaints about how others have used his creations. The League series is good, but contains one of Moore’s weaker writing cruches.

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Mina Harker is great as the leader of the team
In the comics
But was not a cinematic action heroine like the vampire Peta Wilson played

And there was
NO WAY
Sean Connery
Was going to play
THAT Alan Quartermain

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