Alan Moore: A Critical Guide PDF
Preview Alan Moore: A Critical Guide
ALAN MOORE BLOOMSBURY COMICS STUDIES Covering major genres, creators and themes, the Bloomsbury Comics Studies series are accessible, authoritative and comprehensive introductions to key topics in Comics Studies. Providing historical overviews, guides to key texts, and important critical approaches, books in the series include annotated guides to further reading and online resources, discussion questions, and glossaries of key terms to help students and fans navigate the diverse world of comic books today. Series Editor Derek Parker Royal (c. 1964–2019) Titles in the series SUPERHERO COMICS Christopher Gavaler AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL COMICS Andrew J. Kunka CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT COMICS Gwen Tarbox WEBCOMICS Sean Kleefeld Forthcoming titles MANGA Ronald Stewart and Shige (CJ) Suzuki ALAN MOORE A CRITICAL GUIDE Jackson Ayres BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2021 Copyright © Jackson Ayres, 2021 Jackson Ayres has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on p. xii–xiii constitute an extension of this copyright page. Cover design: Namkwan Cho Cover image © Rebecca Clarke All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-6047-0 PB: 978-1-3500-6046-3 ePDF: 978-1-3500-6049-4 eBook: 978-1-3500-6048-7 Series: Bloomsbury Comics Studies Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters. To Marcia and Ted Ayres: my supportive parents and gracious, albeit accidental, comics archivists. CONTENTS List of Figures x Series Editor’s Preface xi Acknowledgments xii Introduction 1 Do We Need Moore? 2 The Original Writer 4 A Guide to This Guide 9 1 Historical and Biographical Contexts 11 Mage of the Midlands 11 Thatcherism 14 The British Invasion 17 Creator Rights 20 2 Key Texts Part One 25 Invading British Comics 25 Origins 25 2000 A.D.: Short Stories, Skizz, D.R. and Quinch, and The Ballad of Halo Jones 28 The Bojeffries Saga 35 Reinventing Superheroes: Britain 36 Marvelman/Miracleman 36 Captain Britain 42 V for Vendetta 45 Reinventing Superheroes: America 52 The Saga of the Swamp Thing 52 Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? 58 The Killing Joke 64 Watchmen 71 Contents 3 Key Texts Part Two 87 Horrors of History 87 From Hell 87 A Small Killing 95 Big Numbers 98 Brought to Light 102 Re-imagining Superheroes 104 1963 105 Supreme 110 Moore’s ‘90s Superheroes 115 Cultural Commons 117 “In Pictopia” 117 Lost Girls 119 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 123 America’s Best Comics 128 Tom Strong 128 Tomorrow Stories 133 Top 10 137 Promethea 141 Histories of Horror 147 Lovecraft Cycle: The Courtyard, Neonomicon, and Providence 147 Crossed + 100 153 Cinema Purgatorio 155 4 Critical Questions 159 Themes and Techniques 159 Intertextuality 162 Magic 165 Psychogeography 168 Englishness 170 Representations 176 Race 177 Sexuality 181 Sexual Violence 185 viii Contents 5 Social and Cultural Impact 189 Authorship and Ownership 189 The Revised Superhero 194 Mature Readers? 197 Politics and/of Comics 202 Cultural Remixing 206 Moore After Comics, Comics After Moore 211 Glossary 215 Works Cited 220 Index 234 ix
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