Writers: George Khoury (with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Scott Dunbier, Todd Klein)
Artists: Dave McKean, Mark Buckingham, Rick Veitch, John Totleben, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, JH Williams III, Ian Gibson, Garry Leach, Hilary Barta, Chris Sprouse, Sam Kieth, Kevin O'Neill
Publisher: TwoMorrows Publishing
extraordinary adj. 1 unusual or remarkable; out of the usual course. 2 unusually great (an extraordinary talent).
To all fans of Alan Moore - buy this book now! Why? It's the biggest, it's the best, it's the 50th birthday tribute interview and collection of rareties. Rather than merely comprise of tributes from other people, here are the words of the man himself – the gospel according to Moore. Ordering information at the foot of this review.
To all fans of great writing in comics - buy this book now! Why? Because the writer of the book (more correctly, curator of a Moore Museum).George Khoury sensibly steps back and lets Moore tell his story, from the very beginnings right up to the current day. Ordering information at the foot of this review.
To all aspiring comics writers - buy this book now! Why? Because the scripts presented herein will illuminate that magical process of comic-book creation, because amongst the copious rarities uncovered in this treasure trove are Moore's very first published work, a short story written when he was 17, for a circulation of just fifty people - how do you measure up? Ordering information at the foot of this review.
To all aspiring comics artists - buy this book now! Why? Because as well as Moore's words, nearly every single page contains a graphic showing Moore's collaborators' story-telling in action, because there are strips from some of the leading lights in comics art today, and because Mark Buckingham said of his strip in this book: "the two-page Alan Moore tribute strip I did with Neil Gaiman earlier this year has profoundly affected my current attitude and approach to my work, which in turn inspired a major leap in quality and artistic expression on my regular Fables book". Because the script presentations will give you something to work off in creating your own portfolio samples for review. Ordering information at the foot of this review.
To anyone and everyone who's read any or even part of V For Vendetta, Marvelman, Watchmen, The Killing Joke, Promethea, Tom Strong, Top Ten, Tomorrow Stories, Supreme, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Captain Britain, From Hell, or dozens and dozens of others, and wondered either how these strips came about, or what else this man has done and where on earth should one start (the answer is - this book. Well, this book and the V For Vendetta trade collection from DC) – buy this book now! Ordering information…er, I think you've got the idea by now.
Does this leave anyone? The doubters - "Moore isn't as good as he used to be, I never liked him anyway". The cash-conscious - "it's twenty-five bucks, that's a lot for one book". To the former, although this is unashamedly a celebration of Alan Moore, it's not a puff piece. The key to the book is a detailed and extensive warts-and-all interview with Moore, covering every single major work of his in depth, the restrictions he had to work to, the run-ins he had, the compromises made - it's also the tale of one man's odyssey through comics and beyond, quite possibly the greatest writer of British and American comics ever (at least in the Top Ten, yes?), and he has something to say to YOU. To the latter, ok, so the book costs the same as eight to ten comics - but it keeps you reading as long as eight-times-ten comics, stays with you longer, introduces you to further works to check out, and looks a heck of a lot nicer on your shelf.
Dave McKean provides the cover - the original piece was for a Neil Gaiman book on Moore in the late-80s, which was never finished. Resurrected, retouched to bring it up to date, it's the perfect start point to the main event - most of the following 200 A4 pages are devoted to conversations between Khoury and Moore (with Moore doing all the talking…). Khoury steers Moore through his life before comics to understand how Moore became involved in the first place (there are some disturbing cautionary tales from Moore's early years which resonate strongly with this writer - Moore was top dog at his primary school, then passed an exam at eleven (no-one ever said the British educational system had to make sense) and hit a grammar school - and dropped to 19th in his class - bang went his ego). Another example, you’ll find out that Moore adopted the nom de plumes of Curt Vile and Jill de Rey for his first professional works so he could keep on claiming unemployment benefit…tut tut, no more mr. squeaky-clean. You also find out exactly why he chose “Jill de Rey”…There are numerous tidbits like this to be gleaned from the interview text – many (auto)biographies bog down in the early years, but we’re into the first comics works in short order, and find out that Moore learned pacing from…performance poetry. Read it and see. The book wraps up with twenty pages of bibliography information - maybe a little too much is in here, as each issue of Promethea, for example, gets an entry. The only adverse criticism comes at this point too - there's no index.
So, the main feature is the interview … the credits are taken care of … what about the bonus DVD features? I've already mentioned Moore's first published story; you also get the complete script to the only Judge Dredd story Moore wrote (not published); a representation of the eight-page Sinister Ducks story with art by Lloyds Thatcher originally part of the March Of The Sinister Ducks record; Moore's Lust story with Mike Matthews' art from the Seven Deadly Sins collection; Pictopia, a very rare post-Watchmen 13-pager, recoloured by Jose Villarrubia specifically for this book; Belly of Cloud, an unseen detailed Moore script for an eight-page story; and "I Can Heard The Grass Grow", a rare example of Moore's art to the lyrics of a Move song.
It’s a big book, it’ll take you time to work through thoroughly, you’ll finish it off inspired to re-read the Moore classics already in your collection, or to hit EBAY to pick up the others. There’s really only one word to describe this book – extraordinary.
Order from:
TwoMorrows Publishing
1812 Park Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27605
919-833-8092
FAX 919-833-8023
twomorrow@aol.com
or online at: www.twomorrows.com
Payment accepted: Visa, Mastercard, check or money order (in US funds, drawn on a US bank).
Cost is $29 postpaid in the US (add $2 for Canadian order, elsewhere: add $3 for Surface Mail, or $7 for Airmail delivery).
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