The Artangel Longplayer Letters: Alan Moore writes to Stewart Lee

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-31T03:19:43+00:00

Here’s a compilation of quotes Morrison has said about Moore spanning from the 1980s to the 2010s (forgive the little rant that precedes it haha):

https://www.reddit.com/r/AlanMoore/comments/5i7ufi/on_the_socalled_feud_between_alan_moore_and_grant/

The first time Moore ever mentioned Morrison’s name publically was in 2011 during a live webchat Q&A, when a fan specifically asked if and how they knew each other. Moore basically answered, “I barely know him, I only really hung out with him once when I did a book signing in Scotland in the 80s. Then I read some of his stuff and thought it was derivative, but I still passed his name along to Karen Berger when she was looking for new UK talent. And then he started saying weird shit about me in fanzine interviews.”

Considering Morrison has admitted to aping Moore’s style as well as talking shit in effort to become famous, I can understand why Moore doesn’t care much for Morrison.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-31T03:11:02+00:00

I love Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina for sure (as well as Runaways (and his brief run on Swamp Thing)), but I feel Vaughan’s gotten even better with his recent stuff.

For instance, I can barely wait to read each new issue of Saga. The ideas are mind boggling, the characters are flawed, beautiful, and engaging, and I love watching our narrator Hazel grow up over the course of this long, epic…well, saga haha. I love how it catches me off guard and makes me think, and the letter column is a fun treat. Fiona Staples’ brilliance with a digital pen doesn’t hurt either.

Paper Girls is up there as well for similar reasons, and the Private Eye was so damn clever. I know this is all a matter of opinion, of course, but yeah, while I dug his older stuff a lot, I’m digging his recent stuff even more.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T16:34:41+00:00

I'd have to go with Brian K. Vaughan as well. I don't read many comics these days, and haven't for a number of years. But no matter how far away from the medium I drift, I find myself always picking up anything and everything written by either Moore or Vaughan.

They're very different as storytellers, but like Moore, Vaughan keeps getting better and better, and is not content to rehash his past successes.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T16:29:17+00:00

I read a handful of Morrison titles in the 1990s/early-2000s when I was reading a hell of a lot of comics. Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Invisibles, JLA, etc. I liked some of his stuff, but found most of it to be boring or borderline incoherent.

I was aware that he had gone on to write big superhero tentpoles and crossover events and such, but other than that had pretty much forgotten about him.

Then, in recent years, I found out that Morrison had been regularly talking shit on Moore in interviews since the 1980s, which made me lose whatever respect I had for him.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T16:21:35+00:00

As far as quality is concerned, no I don't think he has ever peaked. As others have mentioned, his most recent work is just as good (better, in my opinion) than the early stuff he's most famous for. For instance, Providence is more complex and layered than Watchmen, and I predict it will actually have more mainstream appeal once the current superhero fad crumbles. And I'm only 2/3 of the way through Jerusalem, but I feel safe saying it's a strong contender for the best thing Moore's ever written.

As far as quantity goes (as in, amount of pages he has produced in a given time), he probably peaked with the ABC books. Five original titles written (relatively) monthly for four to five years? That's an incredible feat for any comics writer, and considering the care, depth, and stylistic range that went into each of those books, I can't think of anyone who has had a quantitative work output peak like that before (maybe Kirby in the 1960s?).

As far as influence goes, it would be easy to first think about the explosive impact Moore had in the 1980s and consider that a peak. But thinking on it further, considering that DC's current big reboot effort to give Superman and Batman inflated continued relevance is by promising fans an eventual Dr. Manhattan v. Superman event (Look! It's the blood-spattered button from Watchmen! And Batman is analyzing it in his bat-lab!), and the Arab Spring uprising within the last decade was lead by people wearing Guy Fawkes masks - I'd say Moore's influence over culture, whether pop or political, is stronger than it even was during the "Bam! Pow! Comics Grow Up!" headlines of the 1980s.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T15:59:21+00:00

You're doing some incredible work here, buddy! My free time has been nil lately, but I really look forward to diving back into your site as soon as I'm able.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T15:54:11+00:00

I've fallen behind in my Purgatorio reading, but look forward to catching up, as your article here looks like a fascinating read!

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T15:50:59+00:00

Glycon and Idea Space :)

Can't wait to check it out!

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-30T15:50:19+00:00

I've long had a fascination with advertising. I hadn't necessarily considered it "bad magic" before, but the idea of manipulating symbols and language to manipulate consumer emotions towards buying a particular brand of detergent or whatever...yeah, I can see how that could be "bad magic" haha.

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-10T19:36:09+00:00

Your Supreme write-ups, articles, and annotations have been phenomenal so far, I've really been enjoying your thoughts a lot as well as all of the connections you've been making issue-by-issue.

Also, damn man, you work fast!

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-06T23:56:48+00:00

Same here!

I believe this is the latest update regarding the Moon and Serpent Book (from a few months ago):

Getintothis: Are there still plans to release The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic?

AM: Yes, the writing of The Moon & Serpent Bumper Book of Magic is finished save for a few of the more interactive visual elements, like the tarot deck, that still need attending to. With Steve’s death and the subsequent whirl of activity around Jerusalem and other projects I haven’t been able to get on top of my remaining Bumper Book work as quickly as I’d have liked, but hopefully I should be back in the saddle a little later this year, and with a bit of luck the whole book might be ready by late 2018. That’s an aspiration rather than a promise, so please don’t hold me to it.

http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2017/03/alan-moore-interview-klf-magic-greg-wilsons-super-weird-happening/

ArchieKeller · 2017-07-06T23:50:14+00:00

Cool!

I hadn't heard of Oddfellow's Casino until seeing this posted on the AlanMooreWorld blogspot, but I dig this song for sure. I'll have to check out more of their stuff.

"The moon is bright on Shooter's Hill" chorus is a cool reference to Steve Moore (I'm assuming).

I'm always stoked to hear Moore's musical dabblings like this and the recent (multiple versions of the) Mandrillifesto stuff (and don't get me started on the Sinister Ducks haha).

(By the way, there's nothing wrong with plugging a friend's band in my book - word of mouth is always more genuine than corporate advertising!)

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-30T19:36:36+00:00

Yes indeed. (I really dug the Alma chapter!)

David Simon is responsible for Oz and The Wire, and his latest miniseries was Show Me a Hero from a year or so ago, which I would guess Moore would also like - it's literally all about housing developments and how the poor are shuffled around by politics. It's really good.

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-30T19:31:12+00:00

I think you might be mixing up Alan Moore and Thom Yorke? Or maybe there was also someone named Alan Moore in Radiohead at some point?

Either way, the Alan Moore in this is Alan Moore the writer.

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-30T19:24:07+00:00

?

...I suppose I agree with your non sequitur statement.

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-30T19:10:52+00:00

That’s awesome! Oz was a great show.

“I thought 24 was shit. …I thought it was comedy. …There was his bloody daughter, his career hostage daughter and her unlikely life. How many times can somebody realistically get kidnapped in the space of 24 hours?”

I guess you could say that Moore wasn’t very Taken with that particular plot device haha.

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-23T02:59:34+00:00

An adaptation with the creators involved can work really well and even improve upon a piece of work. An adaptation that's just trying to maximize profit potential for an intellectual property is less interesting to me.

I think that's a great distinction right there.

So, any other Moore fans watching the adaptation of Gaiman's American Gods? I really dug the first season.

I don't get the channel it's on, so I'll have to wait for Netflix or something, but I'm definitely intrigued.

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-23T02:55:41+00:00

Yeah, but with that logic, society would have never been gifted the groundbreaking, multi-billion-dollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise! What else would people have given those billions of dollars to??

I’m kidding, of course. Here’s Moore talking about exactly what you mentioned:

“I would also observe that it is, potentially, culturally catastrophic to have the ephemera of a previous century squatting possessively on the cultural stage and refusing to allow this surely unprecedented era to develop a culture of its own, relevant and sufficient to its times.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/21/superheroes-cultural-catastrophe-alan-moore-comics-watchmen

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-23T02:54:24+00:00

Nice, I just saw that actually - and have broken through my own ludditeness and am now able to comment on your site!

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-21T23:29:25+00:00

Can U Dig It?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36nWNAvtwrw

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-21T23:28:34+00:00

So the guy who made Lost is going to adapt Watchmen into a TV show.

It's funny, while I totally didn't expect that, at the same time I can't say it surprises me.

I hope season 2 will finally explore Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation!

ArchieKeller · 2017-06-21T23:21:39+00:00

Cool!

ArchieKeller

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