Current Alan Moore-Related Comics

Fashion Beast is not a comic written by Alan Moore. It is a comic written by Alan Johnston based on a film script written by Alan Moore. It does not read like an Alan Moore comic although, when the character Celestine identifies glamour with magic, we hear the voice of the Magician.

I think that there are too many silent panels. I am sure that, if Alan Moore had written the original script for a comic or had even just adapted his own film script as a comic, then it would have been different. Also, the range of things that Alan Moore can write or write about is immense - in different works, superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, advertising, political propaganda, comedy, horror, contemporary fiction, pornography; in this case, fashion. Thus, while loyal readers support whatever he does, they are not always equally interested in the subject matter.

On a first reading, Nemo: Heart Of Ice, a spin-off from The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, has not done a lot for me yet. The main obvious sources are Verne, Haggard and Lovecraft and there is a reference to Charlie Chaplin's parody of Hitler, Hynkel, who, we already know, exists instead of Hitler in the Extraordinary Gentlemen version of history. Why is Ayesha not veiled? We can learn about other characters, Reade, the Steam Man etc by googling. A glance at google informs me that Frank Reade's Steam Man was based on an earlier fictitious steam-powered robot which explains why Reade Jr here acknowledges that his father had adapted the original design.

The main Extraordinary Gentlemen series seems to be building towards a climax involving obscure superheroes and 2001 monoliths so I will continue to read it with interest.

The Courtyard And Fashion Beast

It is my policy to buy and read any comic written by Alan Moore. I bought The Courtyard and am buying Fashion Beast although these are not comics written by Alan Moore. They are comics written by Antony Johnston, the first based on a prose short story by Alan Moore, the second based on a film script by Alan Moore. The Courtyard was successful. I am not yet sure about Fashion Beast.

Moore wrote a four part sequel to The Courtyard, The Neonomicon. This series reached a very high degree of horror in issue no 3. There were two surprises in no 4, the change of tone and the (to me) unexpected end of the series. The monster that had been subtly introduced in no 3, seen by the characters but not by us, then seen by the heroine but with her glasses off in the last panel, was no longer a mystery and kind of a Sea Thing. One fan told me that the way the story would end was clear from the first page.

We look forward to more Extraordinary Gentlemen but will there also be more Neonomicon?