Alan Moore's Future Shocks

[Montynero]

I'm going to do some fun research and analysis of Alan Moore's Future Shocks, as oppose to his Time Twisters and other shorts. While I'm hopeful I can add something new it's clearly a well-trodden path, and I don't want to waste anyone's time by duplicating work done elsewhere - so if you know of any forum threads or detailed analysis on this subject do let me know.

I've searched Barney, and The Complete Alan Moore Future Shock Collection, and found a few websites like Tim Calahan's Alan Moore reread in 2012 http://www.tor.com/2012/01/16/the-great-alan-moore-reread-future-shocks/ and Heroes of 2000ad 66: Alan Moore http://heroesof2000ad.blogspot.co.uk/2016_04_01_archive.html. But there must be many other enthusiasts who have gone in depth on their love for Moore's Future Shock work too.

The stories were very funny and unpretentious, as far as I can remember (though will the humour stand up now? Let's see)  Like many others I found Alan's early comic work to be laugh-out-loud funny, ironic, satirical, subversive, warm and very human in its approach. A lot of the jokes came from undercutting vast intergalactic concepts to a quotidian scale, with characters called Marge or Mavis or heroes squeezing into corsets or sweeping up the spaceways with a broom.

Obviously by ignoring the Time Twisters we can cut Moore's burgeoning obsession with time out of the equation, and see what else emerges thematically.

I love sci-fi, and Moore's Future Shocks seem from memory to be conjured from an affection for pulp sci-fi stories that I never read but he did. I was introduced to Galactic Tyrants like Lumis Lobar, The Man with the Jade Heart through their humourous deconstruction by writers like Moore. I'm not even sure what era he's referencing (30's to 60's sci-fi I guess?) though I'm sure some of you will know these stories just as well as Moore did.

I think maybe the first Moore story I ever read was The Hyper Histronic Headbang with art by Alan Davis. It was fantastic - full of imagination, wild visuals, and humour. Annoyingly it didn't run as a Future Shock, which shows the problem of tying down a list of just his Future Shocks. So that's one of the first things to double-check.

I thought it would be a simple matter of going through The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks, but I notice that one of the best Time Twisters (D.R. and Quinch Have Fun on Earth) isn't included. So are there any Future Shocks missing for similar reasons?

Here's the Moore Future Shock list from Barney. Is it complete?

Grawks Bearing Gifts 1 episode (Prog 203) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Ian Gibson

The Return of the Two-Storey Brain 1 episode (Prog 209) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Mike White

The English/Phlondrutian Phrasebook 1 episode (Prog 214) 6 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Brendan McCarthy

The Last Rumble of the Platinum Horde 1 episode (Prog 217) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: John Higgins

They Sweep the Spaceways 1 episode (Prog 219) 4 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Garry Leach

The Regrettable Ruse of Rocket Redglare 1 episode (Prog 234) 6 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Mike White

A Cautionary Fable 1 episode (Prog 240) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Paul Neary

Mister, Could you Use a Squonge? 1 episode (Prog 242) 6 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Ron Tiner

Twist Ending 1 episode (Prog 246) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Paul Neary

Salad Days 1 episode (Prog 247) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: John Higgins

The Beastly Beliefs of Benjamin Blint 1 episode (Prog 249) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Eric Bradbury

All of Them Were Empty 1 episode (Prog 251) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Paul Neary

An American Werewolf in Space 1 episode (Prog 252) 3 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Paul Neary

The Bounty Hunters 1 episode (Prog 253) 3 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: John Higgins

The Wages of Sin 1 episode (Prog 257) 6 pages - Read Online
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Bryan Talbot, Letters: Tony Jacob

Return of the Thing 1 episode (Prog 265) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Gibbons

Skirmish 1 episode (Prog 267) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Gibbons

The Writing on the Wall 1 episode (Prog 268) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Jesus Redondo

The Wild Frontier 1 episode (Prog 269) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Gibbons

The Big Day 1 episode (Prog 270) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Robin Smith

One Christmas During Eternity 1 episode (Prog 271) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Jesus Redondo

No Picnic 1 episode (Prog 272) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: John Higgins

The Disturbed Digestions of Doctor Dibworthy 1 episode (Prog 273) 3 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Gibbons

Sunburn 1 episode (Prog 282) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Jesus Redondo

Bad Timing 1 episode (Prog 291) 3 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Mike White

Eureka 1 episode (Prog 325) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Mike White

Dad 1 episode (Prog 329) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Alan Langford

Buzz Off 1 episode (Prog 331) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Jim Eldridge

Look Before You Leap 1 episode (Prog 332) 2 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Mike White

And if you have any thoughts on Moore's Future Shock work do share them. I'd be very interested to hear what you think.

Cheers

Monty

[TordelBack]

Without wanting to derail your purpose straight out of the gate, I'm about a third of the way into Jerusalem, and one of the (many) things that have struck me is how well so many of Moore's 2000AD stories fit into the larger scheme of his thoughts. There are ideas, characters and whole chapters in Jerusalem that seem to have first found expression in stories like the Reversible Man, Ringroad and The Time Machine... but these are all Time Twisters (Halo Jones Book 1 also fits in there perfectly, with its ostensibly mundane  circular shopping trip and its interruptions and consequences).  I'd be fascinated to see whether his rather fluffier SF shorts also contain seeds of his lifelong obsessions, or are they as throwaway as they might appear?

[Montynero]

Me too. Though if not, that's also interesting.

A lot of people find humour integral to liking someone's work. They're much more receptive to a message, or story, told in that way. But as he grew older Moore wrote less humour. Maybe he just found less and less to laugh about, maybe he just wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, or maybe he always considered the future shocks hack work and not what he was about at all?

I love From Hell. But I also love Dr and Quinch, which he pretty much disowned, equally. They're utterly different, but equally valuable for contrasting reasons.

And Moore's brain was/is encyclopaedic on certain subjects. It'll maybe reveal something about popular perceptions of SF at that time too.

[Link Prime]

But as he grew older Moore wrote less humour.

Ever read the Tomorrow Stories anthology series, Monty?
Going back 15 years or so, but they contained some spot-on humour and lighter tone stories by Moore.

[Lobo Baggins]

There's also:

A Holiday in Hell 1 episode (2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1980) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Harwood

Southern Comfort 1 episode (2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1981) 8 pages
Script: Alan Moore (as RE Write), Artist W Howarth

There's a few Ro-Jaws Robo-Tales as well, which are essentially Future Shocks with robots in them.

[SuperSurfer]

Ever read the Tomorrow Stories anthology series, Monty?
Going back 15 years or so, but they contained some spot-on humour and lighter tone stories by Moore.

Brilliant and underrated. One Moore and Veitch Grey Shirt story set in a tenement block was a comics storytelling masterclass.

[pauljholden]

I love From Hell. But I also love Dr and Quinch, which he pretty much disowned, equally. They're utterly different, but equally valuable for contrasting reasons.

I think his big reason for disowning it is how much it obviously lifts from National Lampoon's OC and Stiggs, rather than it being funny.

-PJ

[Montynero]

I love From Hell. But I also love Dr and Quinch, which he pretty much disowned, equally. They're utterly different, but equally valuable for contrasting reasons.

I think his big reason for disowning it is how much it obviously lifts from National Lampoon's OC and Stiggs, rather than it being funny.

-PJ

Yeah, I hear that a lot. But what level of lifting are people talking about: word for word, plot for plot, or  more 'similar vibe and approach'?

[Montynero]

There's also:

A Holiday in Hell 1 episode (2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1980) 5 pages
Script: Alan Moore, Artist: Dave Harwood

Southern Comfort 1 episode (2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 1981) 8 pages
Script: Alan Moore (as RE Write), Artist W Howarth

There's a few Ro-Jaws Robo-Tales as well, which are essentially Future Shocks with robots in them.

Thanks a lot. Were they specifically presented as Future Shocks i.e. with the FS header?

I figure the simplest thing is to just go with what 2000ad itself deems a Future Shock.

[Montynero]

But as he grew older Moore wrote less humour.

Ever read the Tomorrow Stories anthology series, Monty?
Going back 15 years or so, but they contained some spot-on humour and lighter tone stories by Moore.

No, but I shall. I enjoyed the Tom Strong stuff. And they're Eisner award winning, I see.

Thanks for flagging that up. They seem to share a common theme in the humourous deconstruction of pulp tropes, from this distance at least.

I was never clear if Alan was writing just for fun at this point, or just wanted/needed some more cash to finance, let's say, a long retirement or a hugely ambitious and wordy novel? Not that it necessarily matters to an evaluation of his work.

[glassstanley]

If you haven't already seen a copy, it's worth tracking down the 2 Titan reprints of Alan Moore's shorts. For both books, Moore provides an introduction where he discusses each story individually.

[pauljholden]

I love From Hell. But I also love Dr and Quinch, which he pretty much disowned, equally. They're utterly different, but equally valuable for contrasting reasons.

I think his big reason for disowning it is how much it obviously lifts from National Lampoon's OC and Stiggs, rather than it being funny.

-PJ

Yeah, I hear that a lot. But what level of lifting are people talking about: word for word, plot for plot, or  more 'similar vibe and approach'?

The more I see of it the more it looks like Alan filed off the serial numbers and added some sci fi elements...

http://www.beltssuspenders.com/download/8108371045/utterly-monstrous-mind-roasting-summer-of-oc-and-stiggs/

[TordelBack]

Moore sadly disowns almost everything now, which is why I was so struck to see so much I recognised from his comics work appearing in his prose - it wasn't as obvious to me in the underrated Voice of the Fire, but it's clear as day in Jerusalem (and not just Big Numbers, which as Frank points out is front-and-centre). I'd definitely trace his work in psychogeography back to his 2000AD period, it's there in Skizz, for example, and obviously Halo Jones and various Time Twisters (just as it is in Watchmen, with that New York junction around which everything and everyone rotates, and obviously and explicitly From Hell)... but Future Shocks? Be very interesting to look at that.     

[Montynero]

If you haven't already seen a copy, it's worth tracking down the 2 Titan reprints of Alan Moore's shorts. For both books, Moore provides an introduction where he discusses each story individually.

Ooo didn't know that. Thanks.

Found another article making general points about Alan's short work here
https://comicsforum.org/2012/09/30/airing-alan-moores-shorts-by-maggie-gray/

[Lobo Baggins]

Thanks a lot. Were they specifically presented as Future Shocks i.e. with the FS header?

I figure the simplest thing is to just go with what 2000ad itself deems a Future Shock.

A Holiday in Hell is (it's even got Tharg in it), Southern Comfort isn't.  I get the impression it had been hanging around in a drawer for quite a while before it saw print, too.