Avatar and Alan Moore

[St.-]

Are any of the books put out by Avatar work picking up. I got Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and it didn't seem like work a writer would want out there in that format. meaning in bits and pieces.

[RODGER]

most of that stuff is not written by alan. but are adaptions of his prose.

[St.-]

ah that makes more sense.

[RODGER]

yeah, i don't really bother with that stuff

[BenitoCereno]

The Courtyard is great. I can't really speak for the rest of it.

[St.-]

The Courtyard is great. I can't really speak for the rest of it.

Is it a comic comic? or alot of prose and then comic?

[BenitoCereno]

Is it a comic comic? or alot of prose and then comic?

It's a for real comic. But it's Anthony Johnston's adaptation of a Moore prose story.

It's good, though. Good art by Jacen Burrows.

[Mike Haseloff]

Isn't that the case with most of Avatar's work from top creators?

Isn't it all adaptations, and patchworks?

[BenitoCereno]

I think Ellis' stuff is original, but some of it is prose.

[St.-]

I think Ellis' stuff is original, but some of it is prose.

Yeah Ellis' stuff is original. and thanks for the info.

[Andreas]

YUGGOTH CULTURES is worth picking up. The "Nightjar" prelude (and Moore's script), the Leviticus story from OUTRAGEOUS TALES, and his collaboration with Oscar Zarate from IT'S DARK IN LONDON (according to Moore the story is a sort of a coda to FROM HELL) make it worthwhile. And in pieces like the "Itchy Peterson" story you get to see a side of Moore you only seldom see in the stuff he does today.

MAGIC WORDS is kind of a follow-up to ALAN MOORE'S SONGBOOK, some of his lyrics turned into graphic short stories. It's shorter and doesn't have the variety of the earlier collection. It also has a short essay on Moore's musical background and his live performances.

WRITING FOR COMICS is Moore's essay on writing comic books.

Avatar also offered a new edition of Moore and Zarate's A SMALL KILLING with remastered colors and lettering and a new afterword with comments by both creators. It's one of Moore's finest works.


Of the adaptations by Antony Johnston, THE COURTYARD is the best (alongside "Recognition" in YUGGOTH CULTURES). There's also a companion volume that reprints Moore's short story, Johnston's script, and more than 10 pages of annotations.

ANOTHER SUBURBAN ROMANCE consists of three pieces from a play Moore had planned in the Seventies, adapted for this one-shot by Johnston. The stories serve mainly as a showcase for Juan José Ryp's art.

HYPOTHETICAL LIZARD is Johnston's adaptation of Moore's great short story. It looks promising so far, and the third of four issues ships this week.

Johnston's NIGHTJAR, which is not an adaptation but meant to pick up where Moore and Talbot's prelude ends, lacks the original's inspiration. The best that can be said about it is that it manages to capture a certain mood. Yet it's far from the horrors Moore and Talbot evoke with fewer words and images.


Warren Ellis' first two series in the combat magician series, STRANGE KISS and STRANGER KISSES were written by him. For later volumes, the STRANGE KILLINGS series (STRANGE KILLINGS (3), THE BODY ORCHARD (6), STRONG MEDICINE (3), and NECROMANCER (3)), he provided the story, but I assume the actual scripts were written by Mike Wolver. Despite some uneven pacing in the two six-issue arcs, all the stories hold up quite well (and read better in one sitting). And you get some Ellis material no other publisher would touch.

Avatar also published Ellis' DARK BLUE and SCARS, both excellent works, and offered the script of DARK BLUE, back then one of the first comic book scripts made available in print. They reprinted ATMOSPHERICS, an early work that was formerly published by Caliber Press. And this year we got the Apparat one-shots, all of them recommended.

BAD WORLD was a series of snapshots, a distorted look on America and the world through the eyes of "conspiracy theorists, visionaries, the mentally ill and the deluded." We already got a few glimpses of it in TRANSMETROPOLITAN, but here we get it pretty much unfiltered. It's not meant to be a great work of art, but it's a biting statement on the state of the world. I doubt Ellis had to make up any of the stuff.

There were two volumes of his column FROM THE DESK OF WARREN ELLIS, a blend of essays and online journal entries. In comparison COME IN ALONE works better as a book of essays, but you can find several good essays in FROM THE DESK OF, too. The two volumes of BAD SIGNAL collect his journal by email, which comes close to an online diary (and may be more of interest for biographers).


Andreas
_____________
"In the critic's vocabulary, the word 'precursor' is indispensable, but it should be cleansed of all connotations of polemic or rivalry. The fact is that every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future." --Jorge Luis Borges

[St.-]

wow this thread came back from nowhere. thanks for all the help. Now do you write all this stuff or do you cut and paste? and do you read all this stuff and how do possibly have money or even the time to do so? :)

I was reading yuggoth cultures again and forgot about the cool correspondence between moore and that other guy. The pitch espically for the story was even better then reading scirpt well more informative on moores thinking process anyways.

[RichJohnston]

Are any of the books put out by Avatar work picking up. I got Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and it didn't seem like work a writer would want out there in that format. meaning in bits and pieces.

Yuggoth was an anthology book collecting and printing lots of Moore's lost works.

A Small Killing is Moore's third greatest graphic novel, collected by Avatar.

My other Avatar favourites are Warren Ellis' Apparat, Bad World and Scars, Garth Ennis' 303 and Dicks, Mark Millar's Wanted, Frank Miller and Steven Grant's Robocop, Antony Johnston's Nightjar and naturally a little known comic called Holed Up...

[dEnny!]

Yuggoth was an anthology book collecting and printing lots of Moore's lost works.

A Small Killing is Moore's third greatest graphic novel, collected by Avatar.

My other Avatar favourites are Warren Ellis' Apparat, Bad World and Scars, Garth Ennis' 303 and Dicks, Mark Millar's Wanted, Frank Miller and Steven Grant's Robocop, Antony Johnston's Nightjar and naturally a little known comic called Holed Up...

Did you mean The Unfunnies. ;)

I LOVED Warren Ellis' SCARS!

I'm looking forward to the 303 trade.

[Andreas]

wow this thread came back from nowhere. thanks for all the help. Now do you write all this stuff or do you cut and paste? and do you read all this stuff and how do possibly have money or even the time to do so? :)

I was reading yuggoth cultures again and forgot about the cool correspondence between moore and that other guy. The pitch espically for the story was even better then reading scirpt well more informative on moores thinking process anyways.

I read the books when they were originally released. I even had the chance to see the original art of the "Nightjar" story and several pages from A SMALL KILLING. A thread like this one is an opportunity to revisit the books, check if some new essays have been written on them in the meantime, perhaps get new insights from an old interview, but else you mostly get my ramblings (with the occasional quote inserted). Wish I had more focus. :)

Did you order some of Alan Moore's Top Shelf stuff yet? And did you read some of his earlier works?

And "that other guy" is Bryan Talbot. You should ask your comic store about THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT and THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT (http://www.bryan-talbot.com/articles/warren-elli-review-AOLA.html) (which is still one of my favorite graphic novels and a precursor of works like PROMETHEA, THE INVISIBLES, and PLANETARY). He also contributed to obscure British books like THE SANDMAN and DIRTBAG... ;)

Andreas
_____________
http://weblogimages.com/static/mpW360357BQ6.jpg

[Andreas]

My other Avatar favourites are Warren Ellis' Apparat, Bad World and Scars, Garth Ennis' 303 and Dicks, Mark Millar's Wanted, Frank Miller and Steven Grant's Robocop, Antony Johnston's Nightjar and naturally a little known comic called Holed Up...

I read BAD WORLD around the same time I watched Richard Metzger's "Disinformation." It reminded me of all that's missing on tv today.

Andreas
_____________
"Repeat for six months that Britain is a failed state, then invade."

[RichJohnston]

If you liked Luther Arkwright, may I recommend SMOKE 1 and 2 from Alex De Campi and Igor Kordey, from IDW.

And Dirtbag??? Heh heh...

http://members.aol.com/grandmoffzoe/neil/dirtbag.jpg

[St.-]

I read the books when they were originally released. I even had the chance to see the original art of the "Nightjar" story and several pages from A SMALL KILLING. A thread like this one is an opportunity to revisit the books, check if some new essays have been written on them in the meantime, perhaps get new insights from an old interview, but else you mostly get my ramblings (with the occasional quote inserted). Wish I had more focus. :)

Did you order some of Alan Moore's Top Shelf stuff yet? And did you read some of his earlier works?

And "that other guy" is Bryan Talbot. You should ask your comic store about THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT and THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT (http://www.bryan-talbot.com/articles/warren-elli-review-AOLA.html) (which is still one of my favorite graphic novels and a precursor of works like PROMETHEA, THE INVISIBLES, and PLANETARY). He also contributed to obscure British books like THE SANDMAN and DIRTBAG... ;)

Andreas
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http://weblogimages.com/static/mpW360357BQ6.jpg

I made a pretty good size order with top shelf awhile back when i asked about moores stuff on the top shelf label ( havnt gotten it yet and i only ordered one alan moore book and an anotholgy with him in it). Right now i have the first vol of swamp thing, LoeG, and some other one shots (inlcuding a much loved first printing of the killing joke which i believe has never been opened) and other small runs ( like smax). I'm also reading watchmen for the first time very good stuff so far. But I still consider myself "new" to the world of Moore.

So which do you think i should get first? it seems like Ellis "recommends" luther because it invents the tools while bad rat uses the tools for a masterpiece.

Also i think there should be more rereading threads. I really enjoyed the last one someone made as a giant tent of ideas. Maybe some writer or artist threads would be cool to start for discusion on their books and themes and all that other good stuff snooty people talk about. :D

[Andreas]

If you liked Luther Arkwright, may I recommend SMOKE 1 and 2 from Alex De Campi and Igor Kordey, from IDW.

Too late. :) I couldn't resist a tale that features an albino (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0861301099/qid%3D1122423250/202-5698719-8137440). It's great, a powerful debut by Alex De Campi. And she's smart and witty and has great (http://www.alexdecampi.com/amphi/annotated3.htm) taste. Comic's yellow press will be all over her soon, so let's enjoy this fleeting moment. ;)

Andreas
_____________
"If I were a character in one of my books, I would have dismissed me as cliché." --Alex De Campi

[Andreas]

I made a pretty good size order with top shelf awhile back when i asked about moores stuff on the top shelf label ( havnt gotten it yet and i only ordered one alan moore book and an anthology with him in it). Right now i have the first vol of swamp thing, LoeG, and some other one shots (including a much loved first printing of the killing joke which i believe has never been opened) and other small runs ( like smax). I'm also reading watchmen for the first time very good stuff so far. But I still consider myself "new" to the world of Moore.

There are so many good books by Alan Moore, you don't know where to begin. You picked some of his best books with SWAMP THING, WATCHMEN, and LOEG. The storytelling and the detail in the artwork amazes me every time I read them. Together with V FOR VENDETTA, A SMALL KILLING, FROM HELL, LOST GIRLS, and PROMETHEA they could be considered the Moore canon.

One of my favorites by Moore is THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES (that was rereleased by DC/2000 A.D. in June). It's hard to believe it was created in instalments of 5 pages. And Ian Gibson draws beautiful women. I love THE BOJEFFRIES SAGA with art by Steve Parkhouse, don't know if it's in print at the moment, a great spoof on monster characters and the British temperament. THE BIRTH CAUL is great. "The Bowing Machine" with Mark Beyer in RAW VOL. 2 #3. BROUGHT TO LIGHT with Bill Sienkiewicz, disturbing and unsettling. "How Things Work Out" with Rick Veitch in TOMORROW STORIES #2.

Did you see Jess Nevin's two companions to LOEG, published by Monkeybrain Books? They provide very useful annotations to both mini series.


So which do you think i should get first? it seems like Ellis "recommends" luther because it invents the tools while bad rat uses the tools for a masterpiece.

Bryan Talbot uses different tools in each of the books: "The story dictated the illustration technique. This is true for every comic I've worked on; I've always tried to vary my drawing style to project the different atmospheres required by each individual story." Simply go with what you would like to read next. If you're into the multiverse or alternate history, read LUTHER ARKWRIGHT first. It's a demanding, complex, dystopian story, and will give you much food for thoughts. THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT is an emotionally very powerful tale, set in London and the English Lake District, and is a lot more accessible.

There is a kind of a sequel to LUTHER ARKWRIGHT, called HEART OF EMPIRE. I mention it because Talbot also offered a CD-ROM (http://www.tfaw.com/merch/profile.html?&DB=ALL&SKU=11284) of HEART OF EMPIRE, that has the graphic novel in its pencilled, inked, and colored version, 60,000 words of commentary, sketches and reference material, interviews, plus THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT in its entirety. So if you can find it cheap, you may get both books (as electronic files) for the price of one. Though I always prefer to hold a real book in my hands.


Also i think there should be more rereading threads. I really enjoyed the last one someone made as a giant tent of ideas. Maybe some writer or artist threads would be cool to start for discusion on their books and themes and all that other good stuff snooty people talk about. :D

This is a good idea. We could try this, perhaps in the form of "The Official [insert book title] Thread," like they do for the self-published books. You're reading WATCHMEN at the moment, which may be a good book to discuss. Another would be BATMAN: YEAR ONE, because many people picked it up in the inexpensive anniversary hardcover edition last month.

Andreas
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http://weblogimages.com/static/uZb360874PY0.jpg

[Adrian B AWESOME]

Most of it is boobies.

Do you like boobies?

[St.-]

Most of it is boobies.

Do you like boobies?

which book or do you mean all of them? yeah they weren't really needed in yuggoth cultures as far as i could tell.

[St.-]

One of my favorites by Moore is THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES (that was rereleased by DC/2000 A.D. in June). It's hard to believe it was created in instalments of 5 pages. And Ian Gibson draws beautiful women. I love THE BOJEFFRIES SAGA with art by Steve Parkhouse, don't know if it's in print at the moment, a great spoof on monster characters and the British temperament. THE BIRTH CAUL is great. "The Bowing Machine" with Mark Beyer in RAW VOL. 2 #3. BROUGHT TO LIGHT with Bill Sienkiewicz, disturbing and unsettling. "How Things Work Out" with Rick Veitch in TOMORROW STORIES #2.


THE BOJEFFRIES SAGA sounds great and i ordered the birth caul from top shelf.


Did you see Jess Nevin's two companions to LOEG, published by Monkeybrain Books? They provide very useful annotations to both mini series.

I've seen it but i've yet to pick up vol.1 of LoeG, so im waiting on that.



Bryan Talbot uses different tools in each of the books: "The story dictated the illustration technique. This is true for every comic I've worked on; I've always tried to vary my drawing style to project the different atmospheres required by each individual story." Simply go with what you would like to read next. If you're into the multiverse or alternate history, read LUTHER ARKWRIGHT first. It's a demanding, complex, dystopian story, and will give you much food for thoughts. THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT is an emotionally very powerful tale, set in London and the English Lake District, and is a lot more accessible.

There is a kind of a sequel to LUTHER ARKWRIGHT, called HEART OF EMPIRE. I mention it because Talbot also offered a CD-ROM (http://www.tfaw.com/merch/profile.html?&DB=ALL&SKU=11284) of HEART OF EMPIRE, that has the graphic novel in its pencilled, inked, and colored version, 60,000 words of commentary, sketches and reference material, interviews, plus THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT in its entirety. So if you can find it cheap, you may get both books (as electronic files) for the price of one. Though I always prefer to hold a real book in my hands.

Sounds like the tale of one bat rat would be the better starting place but luther sounds more my style. :D



This is a good idea. We could try this, perhaps in the form of "The Official [insert book title] Thread," like they do for the self-published books. You're reading WATCHMEN at the moment, which may be a good book to discuss. Another would be BATMAN: YEAR ONE, because many people picked it up in the inexpensive anniversary hardcover edition last month.

i might start a batman year one thread next week. kinda busy this week cause my sisters moving to japan. :D / :sad: But batman year one ive read and its alot easier to look through and discuss then watchmen is. plus i don't want any spoilers for watchmen and its true that alot of people just picked up the HC which i wish i had the money for. :)


hopefully i did all the quotes right. ive never quoted so much. :)