Telegraph Opinion Piece

[Buttonman]

Did anyone catch Sam Leith's piece on Alan Moore in today's Telegraph?

Reasonably well informed although he does mention that well known conic Ad2000. Must have missed that one.

News to me that Alan Moore is Patrick Moore's nephew. still given the research he may have meant Bobby Moore.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/03/11/do1104.xml" target="_blank">Close, But No Cigarillo

[DavidXBrunt]

Alan jokingly referred to 'my uncle Patrick' when reading from his panel descriptions from L.o.E.G. 2 on The Culture Show. I don't think he really is Patrick Moores nephew.

Maybe he is, and maybe Lionel is Tony's uncle and Mariah and Jim are Georges wayward kids.

[DavidXBrunt]

Oh, and there's a link at the side of that page taking you to Spurrier and Irvings car advert.

[paulvonscott]

Yes, I think he's taken Alan Moore's joke as fact, which is funny in itself.

[Funt Solo]

Not only does he get all his research from simply watching the Culture Show, and his own failing memory (AD 2000), but then, without any warning at all, he goes and drops in spoilers for V For Vendetta.

I deem him twat.

[philt]

Don't Judge Dread and Rouge Trooper appear in AD2000, along with up Steve Moore's Hello Jones?

[philt]

Of course if a newspaper is getting something as trivial as the name of a comic incorrect - the question arises - what else are they getting wrong?

[Rob Spalding]

The look of it, from the stills, is wonderfully faithful to the comic, but the same was true of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,

Was it, really?  Don't remember Sean Connery looking like a strung out dope fiend.  Maybe it was just me.

Has this guy actually read these comics, or did he lie to get an article?

[Richmond Clements]

I suspect it's the second one.

[Floyd-the-k]

I thought the piece was okay - interesting remark about the potential of the comic

[Will I. Cooling]

I think Moore made a comment about being related to Patrick Moore in his beeb interview; I assumed it was a joke :).

As for the rest of the column; sigh, I'm starting to get a bit annoyed at how the mainstream media when it actually pays attention to comics seems determined to say "Alan Moore is the be all and all of comics". Now I'm as big an Alan Moore fan as the next guy but that simply isn't true. As the excellent article on Alan Moore in the new Red Eye points out Moore isn't actually that great an ideas man, he usually just revamps an existing idea/archetype. Unlike say Wagner he hasn't created characters that are still proving rich ground for stories some thirty years later nor has had the impact of Claremont or Miller in reimagining iconic characters. Also I really, really dislike the thought of him dictating to the artists the minuate of every single detail, the whole point of comics is the exchange of ideas between the writer and the artist; the artist shouldn't be spoon fed everything by the writer. Again, he's a brilliant writer but I think Wagner, Mills and Morrison have just as good a body of work.

Will

[Funt Solo]

I wrote a huge reply and then pressed some stupid fucking key that deleted it all.  In summary:

Wagner. Dredd==Dirty Harry; Alpha==space cowboy; therefore not original.

Mills. All Characters==Robin Hood; therefore not original.

Millar - revamped Batman :: Moore - revamped Swamp Thing.  Quits.

Claremont: never heard of him.

Morrison: which one?

Dictatorship over artist.  Dealt with beautifully in the interview, where much of the detail is shown to be playful banter, anyway.  Ask O'Neill.  Maybe he appreciates strong direction.  Maybe he ignores things he doesn't like.

Summary: argument too strongly biased in favour of negativity.  Easy to dismantle.

[Will I. Cooling]

Er, firstly Mr. Funter Mr. Miller revamped Batman, not Mr. Millar :)

Secondly, I never said Wagner and Mills had created original characters but that they had created characters that are still going strong some thirty years later. Moore hasn't. That doesn't make them better writers but it certainly suggests that Moore isn't the best at all aspects of comic writing.

I think anybody could've guessed I was talking about Grant Morrison. And I'm sorry but I love Moore's Swamp Thing but you can't serious compare that to the impact Claremont's X-Men or Miller's Batman stories (eighties only naturally) have had. Although to be fair, that's more a mixture of bad luck and Moore's poor people skills than his comic writing skills...ah if only he had been able to do post Crisis Superman.

Yes I'm sure some of it is banter but I remember reading another interview where it was revealed that the Killing Joke script had a over a page of notes for the first panel. Sorry, I find that slightly excessive and not giving the artist freedom. Obviously, the method works for Moore because he's great but I would be unhappy to see all writers adopt the same style due to the limits it would place on artists.

Finally I don't quite understand the "negativity" comment when I repeatedly said how much a fan of Moore I am. Its the way the mainstream media and some comic fans fawn over him as if no other writer comes close that's annoying me, not his work itself.

Will

[Funt Solo]

The negativity comment comes from you being very negative.

"I love Moore, but..." and "but, I love Moore" as paraphrased bookends of your diatribe don't remove the negativity present within.

You provide no examples of how you appreciate Moore, but provide many of why you don't.  You say he isn't a great ideas man, he usually revamps existing ideas, his characters have no longevity nor impact and he's a dictator that spoon feeds the artists he works with.

Do you understand now why I thought you were being negative or are you going to tell me that somehow all those comments are positive?

[Marbles]

You can't just dismiss Miller as 'revamped Batman'. His initial run on Daredevil was one of the best runs in comics ever. His 'Sin City' books were similarly ground-breaking. Admitedly most of hs recent stuff has been pish.

Grant Morrison is the best writer in comics today bar none I'd say, has been for the last 5 years. He has more inventive thoughts in a single page than Chris Claremont has had in his entire career (thank God Alan Moore rescued his pathetic Captain Britain).
Anyway, I'm rambling.