Alan Moore

Beginning his career writing strips for publications such as Doctor Who Monthly[?] (or Weekly as it was then), Moore went on to work on influential UK comics such as 2000 A.D. (including strips such as The Ballad of Halo Jones[?], Skizz[?], D.R. and Quinch[?] and Time Twisters[?]) and Warrior)[?] (including Marvelman (known as Miracleman in the US) and V for Vendetta). Having achieved a reputation for producing ground-breaking material in a largely formulaic medium, Moore was later hired by DC Comics to work on the fairly unknown comic book Saga of the Swamp Thing, in which he laid the groundwork for what was to become the Vertigo Universe. In 1986 he wrote the dark superhero miniseries Watchmen (illustrated by Dave Gibbons[?]), which, together with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, redefined the medium of the comic book and raised it to a new level of graphic literature.

Moore's style of writing stretched the boundaries of the comic book medium, putting it to use in ways that are quite unlike other forms of storytelling. His stories often contained adult themes and touched on subjects that had never been approached in mainstream comic books before (issue #9 of Miracleman included a graphic depiction of a natural childbirth, something that had been strictly taboo in comics before then). He experimented with symbolism in the medium through placement of comic strip panels and text, an increased emphasis on backgrounds and detail, "sound effects", word balloons and captions, and the other building blocks of the comic strip; he worked in the same way that film editors use the medium of motion pictures to manipulate the audience.

Moore stated that he wanted to expand the medium of the comic book, so that readers could experience more than endless rehashes of costume-clad superhero battles. To this end, he began such projects as Lost Girls (an adults-only comics reinvention of pornographic), From Hell (a story about Jack the Ripper), and Big Numbers[?]. He spent the early 1990s attempting to finish these projects, but only From Hell reached completion, with the final chapter of the novel published in 1999. However, after several years work, Lost Girls is soon to be released by Top Shelf[?], probably aided by the fact that Mr Moore's artist on this work is Melinda Gebbie, now his partner.

Moore returned to 'superhero' comics in the late 1990s, founding the ABC (America's Best Comics) titles The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom Strong, Tomorrow Stories and Top 10.

Moore has recently converted to Gnosticism, and his later writings reflect his renewed interest in consciousness, mysticism, and magick.

A tribute and in depth biography of Alan Moore in his Fiftieth Year entitled Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman is available from most good Comics Stores. All proceeds of this publication will go to charity.

Partial bibliography

Comics:

• 1963
• A Small Killing[?] (illustrated by Oscar Zarate[?])
• The Ballad of Halo Jones[?] (illustrated by Ian Gibson[?])
• Batman: The Killing Joke[?] (illustrated by Brian Bolland[?])
• Big Numbers (illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz[?]- this project was never completed)
• Brought to Light[?] (Double sided book, jointly with Paul Mavrides, a history and criticism of CIA covert operations during the Cold War, illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz and Tom Yates[?])
• The Courtyard[?]
• From Hell (illustrated by Eddie Campbell)
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Marvelman (or MiracleMan)
• Promethea
• Saga of the Swamp Thing (illustrated by Alfredo Alcala[?], Steve Bissette[?], John Totleben[?], Rick Veitch[?] and others)
• Skizz (illustrated by Jim Baikie[?]
• Superman: Man of Tomorrow[?] (illustrated by Dave Gibbons and others)
• Tom Strong
• Tomorrow Stories
• Top 10
• V for Vendetta (illustrated by David Lloyd[?])
• Watchmen (illustrated by Dave Gibbons)

Recorded works (available on compact disc):

• The Birth Caul
• The Highbury Working
• The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels.

External links

• The Biggest and Best Alan Moore Fansite (http://www.alanmoorefansite.com)
• A Bibliography from the AMF (http://www.alanmoorefansite.com/bib/index)
• A Partial Biography from the AMF (http://www.alanmoorefansite.com/bio/index)