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Alan Moore

Alan Moore
Alan Moore in 2006
Alan Moore in 2006
Other names Curt Vile
Jill Ray
Translucia Baboon
Activity (s) writer , musician , writer , graphic Novel
Birth 18 November 1953 (1953-11-18) (age 57)
Northampton , Flag: England England
Honors Will Eisner Award
Prometheus Award
Hugo Awards
Angoulme Festival in 1989 , 1990, 2001
Jack Kirby Award
Harvey Award
Major works

Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953 in Northampton ) is a writer English best known for his work as writer of comics ( , , , etc.)..

Moore is famous for being of those who have made comics more mature, more literary. He also contributed much to the shape of the medium, by the effects of layout unreleased until then. His influences are very diverse. There are writers like William S. Burroughs , Thomas Pynchon , Robert Mayer and Iain Sinclair , writers of science fiction like Michael Moorcock and horror as Clive Barker , filmmakers like Nicolas Roeg. In comics, the influence of Bryan Talbot , a pioneer of comics "adult" with The Adventures of Luther Arkwright , was decisive.

Summary

/ / Biography

He was born in Northampton in a modest family. After a difficult school (he was expelled from his school for selling LSD .

Alan Moore has received nine times the prize for best screenwriter for Eisner Award since 1988, three times with Jack Kirby Award , and seven times the Harvey Award. This awards list is probably him the most awarded writer in the field of comics.

Her career

Early work

Expelled from school at 17 because he was selling LSD , Moore spent a few years to survive through odd jobs before starting a career as a writer of comics in the late 1970s. He produced strips for various underground music magazines like NME or Sounds under the pseudonym Curt Vile, sometimes with his friend Steve Moore (no relation). Under the pseudonym Jill de Ray , he began a weekly strip (which he continued until 1986), Maxwell the Magic Cat to the Northants Post.

Realizing that his future was not in the drawing, he concentrated on writing, providing scenarios to 2000 AD and Warrior at Marvel UK. It took a few strips for Doctor Who Magazine and Star Wars Weekly, before starting to work with artist Alan Davis on Captain Britain. In 2000 AD, he wrote complete stories in the magazine supplements Future Shocks and Time Twisters, with series like Skizz (drawing by Jim Baikie ), and DR Quinch (with Alan David) and The Ballad of Halo Jones (with Ian Gibson ). These last two sets quickly became the most popular, but 2000 AD Moore, disagree with the editor on issues of copyright, ceased all cooperation in the magazine in 1986, leaving stories unfinished. These disagreements with his publishers would become a constant in Moore's career.

During this period, the greatest critical success came with his script for Warrior: Marvelman (later renamed Miracleman for legal reasons), a radical re-forgotten superhero from the 1950s (drawings by Garry Leach and Alan Davis; V for Vendetta , a cons-utopia featuring an anarchist flamboyant, taking the guise of Guy Fawkes , a government fighting fascism in the England of the late twentieth century; Bojeffries The Saga , a comedy series about a family of vampires and werewolves workers, drawn by Steve Parkhouse. Warrior was arrested before the end of the series, but Moore was able to continue with other publishers.

The work for major U.S. publishers

Len Wein , of DC Comics , who had noticed Moore's work in Britain, asked him to write screenplays for his creation Swamp Thing , then one of the tracks on CD that sold the least. Moore, working with designers Stephen R. Bissette , Rick Veitch and John Totleben , deconstructed and then rebuilt entirely the characters, writing stories that were transitioning from the experimental form sometimes horror and fantasy for an environmental or social discourse. We heard a lot about the working methods of the author, to better understand the characters and make the perfect atmosphere, is much documentation on the culture of Louisiana and began listening to Cajun music.

Swamp Thing's sales went up, with the esteem of critics: Moore saw himself entrusted with other works by DC. He wrote short stories of Green Arrow (in Detective Comics ) and Omega Men , and others in some Vigilante Batman (including Batman: The Killing Joke , album with Brian Bolland ) and Superman (whose Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? ).

But he established his reputation with the maxi-series Watchmen , published in 1986. Imagining what would have been the world if the hero had actually existed since the 1940s, Moore and artist Dave Gibbons portrayed an America feared a nuclear war in the context of the Cold War. The superheroes must then work for the government of the country or be declared off-the-law. Neurotic, amoral, sexually disturbed megalomaniac, they show above all humans. The narrative is not linear and depends on several points of view. In addition, the writer includes in his history of philosophical elements (questions of predestination, morality, free will, etc..), A phenomenon unprecedented in the world of superheroes. We cheered for Moore Watchmen, whereas he had actually revitalized the genre, while at the same time as Frank Miller and Batman with, another registry Art Spiegelman ( Maus ) and the brothers Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez ( Love and Rockets ). He became increasingly courted by the media and began to avoid festivals and conventions, where his admirers harassed to the toilet.

Watchmen is also famous for the worsening dispute between Moore and DC Comics, which had in fact started from the collaboration of Columbia on Swamp Thing. The authors, who did not own the characters they had created, had indeed received anything from the proceeds of the sale of limited edition badges representing characters and scenes from the series, the publisher considered as articles Promotional.

Marvelman was reprinted and continued for the U.S. market (as Miracleman , because Marvel complained of possible confusion with the name) by the independent publisher Eclipse Comics. Despite the problems of copyright and late payment publisher's Moore ends the story (with Chuck Austen , Rick Veitch and John Totleben) before passing the baton to Neil Gaiman (screenplay) and Mark Buckingham (drawing).

Moore and Lloyd finally V for Vendetta to DC, where he was colorized. However, when DC tried to impose an age label on their publications, Moore (along with Miller and Howard Chaykin ) decided to stop working for the publisher after 1989.

Twilight of the Superheroes

The period independent

Many projects followed, including Brought to Light, a story about the shady operations of the CIA , with artist Bill Sienkiewicz , and at Eclipse Comics anthology AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia) (Artists oppose homophobia rampant government ) to fight against anti-gay policy of the then government, in Mad Love, editor created by Moore.

Prompted by the author Dave Sim , who self-published a long time, so Moore decided to use Mad Love to edit his next project, Big Numbers , 12-episode series taking place in Britain in the 1990s and based on chaos theory and mathematical discoveries to Benoit Mandelbrot. Bill Sienkiewicz illustrated the first two episodes in a painted style and intense, unable to keep up with work, passed the reins to his assistant Al Columbia. But the episode was designed by the latter was never published, Mad Love had meanwhile gone bankrupt.

He wrote to Oscar Zarate A little death (A Small Killing), an album featuring a haunted by his idealistic advertising my child, published in 1988 with Mad Love and France by Threshold in 2005.

With From Hell , he attacked Jack the Ripper , helped by the pen 's tortured Eddie Campbell. It took nearly ten years to complete the series created for Taboo (horror anthology edited by Stephen R. Bissette) then picked up by other publishers before finally being published in one volume at Eddie Campbell Comics (in France by Delcourt 2000).

Lost Girls , created with Melinda Gebbie (who would become his second wife) is a story erotic seeking to decode the sexual innuendo in Alice in Wonderland , Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz. Lost Girls experienced some problems in some U.S. states where people cried out to the conservative pornography.

Return to work public

After several years away from major publishers, Moore made his return to the world of superheroes by writing several series for Image Comics. He felt we had turned the innovative aspect of his work in the 1980s, retaining only two aspects: violence and dirty. With Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch and John Totelben he created as a reaction against the loss of innocence of super-heroes, 1963 , comic book parody of the first publications of Marvel, outings in the early 60s.

Inspired by the first issue of Spiderman , Doctor Strange, Iron Man , the Fantastic Four and the Avengers , that is to say, the first adventures of Marvel heroes written by Stan Lee in the early 1960s, Moore wrote the episodes Collection 1963 by characteristics of this period: sexism, anti-communism outrageous, who appeared very dated at the time. Also found in this comic satire editorials and pompous self-hagiographic then wrote as Stan Lee for Marvel.

The series should have ended a year in which the characters have met in the 1990s, the ultra-violent hero stereotyped Image Comics. They were shocked by their descendants, even commenting scornfully the transition from color to shades of gray. But a conflict between Image and the team of 1963 ended the project.

After 1963, Moore worked on WildCAT and some titles of Rob Liefeld as Supreme , Youngblood and Glory , allowing the series to undeveloped characters become more interesting. In the hands of Moore, Supreme became an inspired postmodern homage to the comic superhero of the Silver Age, particularly the era Mort Weisinger Superman (1958-1970).

America's Best Comics

After his work on Wildcat, Moore created the series America's Best Comics , a new set of characters published by Wildstorm , the publishing house of Jim Lee. However, just before the first titles will appear, Lee sold Wildstorm to DC, and Moore found himself again working with this editor. Moore continued to work there, started with 1963 and Supreme, consisting of back to basics kind of superhero. The ABC collection includes:

Conflicts with DC and Marvel Comics

Since the 1980s, Moore was in conflict with DC Comics, and he was annoyed to be placed back into the fold of the publisher after the acquisition of Wildstorm. Wildstorm attempted to protect him from DC, by a sort of "firewall editorial." However, several events contributed to the irritation of Moore. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen # 5 contained an authentic old advertisement for a Marvel douche bulb. Paul Levitz , DC's editorial director, was destroying the entire stock and then reprint it without advertising.

Moore was even more irritated when Paul Levitz decided not to publish a history of Cobweb Forthcoming in Tomorrow Stories # 8 because it contained references to L. Ron. Hubbard , Jack Parsons and the "Babalon Working". DC indeed feared a lawsuit from the Scientologists, known for being litigious.

In 2002, Joe Quesada , editor in chief of Marvel Comics managed to persuade Moore to work for Marvel again, swearing that the editor had changed and that the problems he had previously (Marvel U.S. had reprinted strips Moore appeared in Doctor Whoo Weekly without her permission) would never be repeated. Moore accepted, therefore the release of a collector's edition of Captain Britain. Alas, his name did not appear in the credits due to an error of composition, and he decided, despite the apologies of Quesada, never to work for Marvel.

Reactions to the film adaptations of his works

The film adaptations of Moore works were also controversial. For From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , he had decided not to intervene at all, so no confusion can be drawn between comics and film product. Moore admitted that such reasoning was pretty naive. "

The trouble began when Martin Poll (producer) and Larry Cohen (story board), engaged in legal action against 20th Century Fox , claiming that the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen plagiarized their script entitled Cast of Characters. Despite the similarities between the two scripts, most elements of the final film, added to him, were not included in the boards of Moore. According to the latter two accusers "seemed to believe that the leaders of the 20th Century Fox had called him and persuaded him to steal their storyboard, and then make a cartoon, so they could adapt into a film in order to conceal the original flight. The author lived a very difficult trial, saying it would have been treated better if he had "raped and killed a bus full of children with mental disabilities after being addicted to heroin."

Moore then decided to separate completely from the world of cinema. For works which he does not have sole rights, it decided not to bring up his name in the credits, and not receive any payment. It was so Constantine , V for Vendetta and Watchmen.

"These are stupid movies without any quality, an insult to all filmmakers who have made the film what it is, magicians who did not need special effects and computer images to suggest the invisible. I do not want my name used in any way endorse these companies obscene, that spends the equivalent of the GNP of a developing country to allow teenagers who struggle to read to spend two hours life jaded. The majority of production is pathetic, whatever the medium. There are crappy movies, crappy discs, and crappy comics. The only difference is that if I make a crappy comic, it does not cost a hundred million dollars. "

- Alan Moore interview in the magazine D-Side # 29 July-August 2005

Current Work

In addition to following the league, he is working on a novel, Jerusalem.

Moore is sponsoring the magazine since 2009 Dodgem Underground Comics, which publishes a variety of texts and illustrations by artists from Northampton. The 2nd issue of this journal in February 2010, contains an insert on the first comic-book (eight pages) entirely written and drawn by Alan Moore, Astounding weird penis.

Awards

Works in other media

Moore wrote Voice of the Fire , a collection of news about the history of Northampton from the Bronze Age to the present. He is now writing Jerusalem, a novel that takes place also in this city .

He wrote a screenplay ever adapted, Fashion Beast, from Beauty and the Beast by Jean Cocteau and the life of fashion designer Christian Dior. This scenario was commissioned by Malcolm McLaren.

He sometimes tried to music, forming with a href = "David_J" class = "new" title = "David J (non-existent page)"> David J (bass player Bauhaus and Max Akropolis , under the pseudonym Translucia Baboon, a group, The Sinister Ducks , who released a single, March Of The Sinister Ducks (sleeve designed by Kevin O'Neill). Moore and David J has released a single including a recording of "Vicious Cabaret" this song in V for Vendetta. He has also performed with the group from Northampton Emperors of Ice Cream.

Moore practical magic, Gnostic since the mid-1990s. There is also a member of a group of performance art , "The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels," which some pieces have been recorded on CD and two, The Birth Caul and Snakes and Ladders , adapted by comic Eddie Campbell.

Works ( comic books and albums) English

Comics

His first work, published in England

DC Comics

  • Watchmen with Dave Gibbons (Drawing), 1987. Pre-published in 12 installments (1986-1987).
  • Swamp Thing , with Stephen R. Bissette , Rick Veitch , etc.. (Figure), Nos. 20-58, 60-61, 63-64 and Annual # 2 (1983-1987). Incorporated in 6 volumes:
    • Saga of the Swamp Thing, 1987 (includes 21-27)
    • Swamp Thing: Love and Death, 1990 (includes 28-34 & Annual 2)
    • Swamp Thing: The Curse, 2000 (includes 35-42)
    • Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows, 2001 (includes 43-50)
    • Swamp Thing: Earth to Earth, 2002 (includes 51-56)
    • Swamp Thing: Reunion, 2003 (includes 57-61, 63 and 64)
    • The history of No. 20 has been reprinted in the hardback edition.
  • V for Vendetta , with David Lloyd (drawing), 1995. First two chapters pre-published in Warrior 1-26 (1982-1985), then everything in ten installments from 1988 to 1989 by DC Comics.
  • "This is information," 9 / 11: Artists Respond, with Melinda Gebbie (drawing), 2002.
  • DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore ', 2006. Incorporates various stories that appeared in DC Comics publications. INSIDE:

Image Comics

  • 1963 , with Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch, etc.. (Drawing), 1986, 6 issues.
  • Glory, 4 issues.
  • Judgement Day.
  • Spawn with Todd McFarlane (figure), Nos. 8, 32, 37.
  • Spawn / WildC.ATS 4 issues. Reprinted in Alan Moore: Wild Worlds, DC Comics, 2007
  • Supreme , with Joe Bennett , Rick Veitch, Keith Giffen , Dan Jurgens , Stephen Platt , Chris Sprouse , etc.. (Figure), Nos. 41-56, 1996-1998.
  • Supreme: The Return, Chris Sprouse, Rick Veitch, etc.. (Figure), Nos. 1-6, 1999-2000. Reprinted in two volumes by Checker Books (The Story of the Year and The Return).
  • Violator 3 numbers.
  • Violator vs.. Badrock 4 issues.
  • Voodoo: Dancing in the Dark 4 issues. Reprinted in Alan Moore: Wild Worlds, DC Comics, 2007
  • Wildcats , with Travis Charest (drawing), Numbers 21-34, 50, 1995-1998. Numbers 21-34 repeated in two volumes: Gang War and Homecoming, Number 50 included in Alan Moore: Wild Worlds, DC Comics, 2007.
  • Wildstorm Spotlight # 1. Reprinted in Alan Moore: Wild Worlds, DC Comics, 2007
  • An episode of The Maxx by Sam Kieth.
  • Deathblow By Blows 3 issues, 1999. Reprinted in Alan Moore: Wild Worlds, DC Comics, 2007

America's Best Comics

Self-publishing and various publishers

Novels and Illustrated Books

  • Voice of Fire, Calmann-Levy, Coll: Interstices, 2008 ( ISBN 978-2-7021-3753-6 ) (Voice of the Fire, Victor Gollancz, 1996. Reprinted in 1997 by Orion Books and 2003 by Top Shelf Productions).
  • The Mirror of Love, Top Shelf Productions, 2003.

Discography

  • March Of The Sinister Ducks, single of the Sinister Ducks, 1983.

Starting in 1996, CDs are recordings of plays performed with his band of performance art.

  • The Birth Caul, DOR, 1996.
  • The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, Cleopatra, 1996.
  • Brought to Light, Codex Books, 1998.
  • The Highbury Working, RE, 2000.
  • Angel Passage, RE, 2002.
  • Snakes and Ladders, RE, 2003.

Works translated into French

Comics

  1. Comedian, 1987
  2. Dr. Manhattan, 1987
  3. Rorschach, 1988
  4. The Owl, 1988
  5. Laurie, 1988
  6. Ozymandias, 1988
Publication of an integral in two volumes in 1992. Publication of an integral in one volume in 1998, at Delcourt.
Happy Birthday, 1988
Smile! , 1989. Reissued in 2000 under the title Laughing Delcourt and die, then in 2009 by Panini in the original title, "The Killing Joke".
  1. Faces, 1989
  2. Truths, 1989
  3. The waltz of the Vice, 1989
  4. Valrie, 1989
  5. Travel, 1989
  6. Victoria, 1990
Ultimate, Delcourt, 1999.
  1. Volume 4, with Todd McFarlane , 1995
  2. Volume 19, with Greg Capullo , 1997
  1. Roots, with John Totleben (drawing) and Steve Bissette (inking), 1998
  2. Invitation to fear, with Shawn McManus , 1999

Delcourt then reissued Swamp Thing as integral 2. Love & Death, with John Totleben (drawing) and Steve Bissette (inking), 2004 3. The Curse, with John Totleben (drawing) and Steve Bissette (inking), 2005

  1. Volume 1, 1998
  2. Volume 2, 1999
  1. Volume 1, 1998
  2. Volume 2, 1998
  3. Volume 3, 2000
  4. Volume 4, 2000
Reprint under the title The Golden Age, Delcourt, 2003.
  1. Volume 1 with Gene Ha , 2000
  2. Volume 2 with Gene Ha, 2001
  3. Volume 3 with Gene Ha, 2002
  4. Volume 4 with Zender Cannon , 2004
  1. Origins
  2. The return of Modular Man
  3. Aztecs
  4. Fiction

    Adaptations of Moore's work

    Comics

    • The Birth Caul, Eddie Campbell Comics, 1999. Adapted from a representation by Eddie Campbell.
    • Snakes and Ladders, Eddie Campbell Comics, 2001. Adapted from a representation by Eddie Campbell.
    • Alan Moore's Magic Words, Avatar Press , 2002. Lyrics, poems and other writings of Alan Moore adapted by various artists under a blanket of Juan Jose RYP.
    • Another Suburban Romance, Avatar Press , 2003. Play adapted by Antony Johnston and Juan Jose RYP.
    • Alan Moore's The Courtyard , Avatar Press , 2003. New adapted by Antony Johnston and Jacen Burrows.
    • A Hypothetical Lizard, Avatar Press , 2003. New adapted by Antony Johnston, Lorenzo Lorente and Sebastian Fiumara.

    Films

    Television

    • The episode "For the Man Who Has Everything" "of Justice League Unlimited is from the story of the same name in the history of Moore appeared in Superman Annual.

    Sources

    Notes

    1. (en) A Interview. Moore's Oct. 22, 2001
    2. "Moore's murderer" , an article by Steve Rose appeared in the Guardian of 2 February 2002
    3. Interview with Alan Moore Interview by Brad Stone, Comic Book Resources , 22 October 2001
    4. Rich Johnston, Lying in the Gutters , Comic Book Resources , 23 May 2005
    5. Interview March 9, 2006 in the program "The Culture Show" on BBC.

    Bibliography


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