Books by author: Alan Moore

I requested and received a stack of Alan Moore books for Christmas, and I started off by tearing through The Killing Joke. It's nowhere near the league of Watchmen, but it's a damn serious comic book.

From Hell is thoroughly-researched historical speculative fiction, and it's a tremendous work of art. Jack the Ripper has been studied to death in the literature, and there isn't much consensus about the identity of the murderer. Moore has taken a recent theory (one of the more plausible ones in many ways) and woven it into a complex story of conspiracy that oozes with period authenticity. The extensive end notes reveal the details of Moore's scholarship, and highlight the intensive research that Campbell put into the artwork as well.

All though it is a work of scholarship, this graphic novel is also brutally adult. There are extensive scenes of graphic violence and sex, some of which border on being gratuitous. It is also hard to follow in places, though the end notes help considerably, and many of the confusing scenes become clear in retrospect after finishing the work.

For me, this surpasses V for Vendetta and Watchmen, and therefore is likely Moore's greatest work.

You can tell that Alan Moore had a blast writing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It takes place in an alternate universe where many of our most iconic and peculiar fictional characters (Mina (Murray) Harker, Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jeckyll, the invisible man, etc.) are real, and the aforementioned characters (along with a few others) have banded together in the late 19th century as the ultimate crime-fighting team.

It's a fantastic romp through a lot of literature I haven't read, but it's great fun — probably moreso if you've read the source material.

More great fun from Moore, and I enjoyed it a lot in spite of not having read most of the source material Moore draws from. I'm looking forward to following this series further.

More Moore.

I didn't particularly get into the story here, but I very much enjoyed the layouts, especially the way that the artists used non-standard frames. I don't think I'll bother seeking out the subsequent volumes, but this was a fun read.

It's hard for me to judge this, having seen the movie (which I loved) first. The graphic novel is harder to follow than the film, but it does afford the opportunity to savor some of the better bits. I'm impressed by how well Moore and Lloyd were able to make it work with no "sound effects" and no narration. Masterfully done.

Watchmen is a graphic novel that boasts a complex, mature storyline. I was not impressed with the artwork per se , but there is plenty of detail, and the panels complement the text in sometimes surprising ways. The story is very structured, and there are hints that there is more of a backstory than is actually presented. The ending is forshadowed early on, but it comes as quite a surprise. Because of the lack of detailed prose, much is left to the imagination — we never get as much insight into the characters minds as we'd like. I'm not that familiar with this form of art/literature, and I doubt that I'll ever be a huge fan, but Watchmen is a worthwhile read.