Alan Moore, Out from the Underground: Cartooning, Performance, and Dissent

308 Pages·2017·10.36 MB·English

by  Maggie Gray (auth.)

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
ALAN MOORE,
OUT FROM THE UNDERGROUND
CARTOONING, PERFORMANCE, AND DISSENT
Maggie Gray
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels
Series Editor
Roger Sabin
University of the Arts London
London, UK
This series concerns Comics Studies—with a capital “c” and a c apital “s.”
It feels good to write it that way. From emerging as a fringe interest within
Literature and Media/Cultural Studies departments, to becoming a minor
field, to maturing into the fastest growing field in the Humanities, to
becoming a nascent discipline, the journey has been a hard but spectacular
one. Those capital letters have been earned.
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels covers all aspects
of the comic strip, comic book, and graphic novel, explored through
clear and informative texts offering expansive coverage and theoretical
sophistication. It is international in scope and provides a space in which
scholars from all backgrounds can present new thinking about politics,
history, aesthetics, production, distribution, and reception as well as
the digital realm. Books appear in one of two forms: traditional mono-
graphs of 60,000 to 90,000 words and shorter works (Palgrave Pivots)
of 20,000 to 50,000 words. All are rigorously peer-reviewed. Palgrave
Pivots include new takes on theory, concise histories, and—not least—
considered provocations. After all, Comics Studies may have come a long
way, but it can’t progress without a little prodding.
Series Editor Roger Sabin is Professor of Popular Culture at the
University of the Arts London, UK. His books include Adult Comics:
An Introduction and Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels, and his recent
research into nineteenth-century comics is award-winning. He serves on
the boards of the main academic journals in the field and reviews graphic
novels for the international media.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14643
Maggie Gray
Alan Moore, Out from
the Underground
Cartooning, Performance, and Dissent
Maggie Gray
School of Critical Studies
and Creative Industries
Kingston School of Art‚ Kingston
University
Kingston upon Thames, UK
Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels
ISBN 978-3-319-66507-8 ISBN 978-3-319-66508-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-66508-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017951519
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have
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maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover image: courtesy of Alan Moore
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Mary Oliver Scott
A
cknowledgements
First and foremost thanks go to commissioning editor Roger Sabin for
his ever-generous support and guidance. I would also like thank Glenn
Ramirez and Shaun Vigil at Palgrave for their assistance (and patience).
Sincerest thanks are due to Alan Moore for his generosity in sharing
his time, memories, and materials, and, of course, for the show, the com-
ics, and the kind permission to reproduce them.
I would also like to thank Gary Spencer Millidge and Pádraig Ó
Méalóid for their very kind help, and I am grateful to Hunt Emerson,
Bryan Talbot, Edwin Pouncey, Tom Porter, Jaki English, and Nigel
Waymouth for their generous permission to include their images. Many
thanks also to the Visual & Material Culture Research Centre, Kingston
School of Art, Kingston University for support with funding for sourcing
images.
My Ph.D. research at the History of Art Department, University
College London, which formed part of the research included here,
was generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC), and I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Andrew
Hemingway for his guidance, support, and friendship.
Thanks are also due to the staff of the Northampton Central Library,
the Oxfordshire History Centre, and the British Library for their help
in accessing research materials, as well as Annette Ager in Glastonbury,
Alexia Kirk at the Archive of Art and Design, and Dan Mitchell at UCL
Special Collections. Thanks to Janette Martin at the John Rylands
Library, University of Manchester, Michael Organ at the University of
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Wollongong, Ed Pinsent, and the Official Bryan Talbot fan page for
helping locate rights holders. I would also like to thank Nigel and every-
one at the Esteve-Coll library, and my colleagues at Kingston School of
Art, Kingston University.
Finally thank you to my parents, Chris and Geraldine Gray, and all my
friends and family. And to Ed, for reasons beyond words.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 The Marks of the Arts Lab: Comics, Performance,
and the Counterculture 21
3 The Play of the Press: Cartooning, Materiality,
and the Underground in Print 103
4 The Sound of the Underground: Comics, Music,
and the Politics of Punk 183
5 Conclusion 255
Bibliography 263
Index 283
ix
l f
ist of igures
Fig. 2.1 Friends of OZ: Oz Obscenity Trial badge. 1971 27
Fig. 2.2 ‘This Calls for Vengince!’, IT 111 (26 August–9
September 1971) p. 3 31
Fig. 2.3 Hunt Emerson. Birmingham Arts Lab 1970s (1998) 43
Fig. 2.4 Alan Moore. ‘Moonshadow’, Embryo 2
(December 1970) p. 20 58
Fig. 2.5 Alan Moore. Embryo 3 (February 1971) illustration 61
Fig. 2.6 Alan Moore. Embryo 5 (November 1971) cover 63
Fig. 2.7 Hapshash and the Coloured Coat. UFO poster
(June 1967) 65
Fig. 2.8 Alan Moore. ‘Once There Were Daemons’, Embryo 5
(November 1971) 69
Fig. 2.9 Alan Moore. Myrmidon (1973) cover 76
Fig. 2.10 Alan Moore and Lloyd Thatcher. ‘Old Gangsters
Never Die’. (1983) 79
Fig. 3.1 Alan Moore. ‘Dark They Were and Golden Eyed’, Cyclops 3
(September 1970) p. 8 108
Fig. 3.2 Cover IT 144 (14 December 1972–10 January 1973) 110
Fig. 3.3 Martin Sharp. ‘Magic Theatre’, Oz 16 (November 1968)
cover 118
Fig. 3.4 Jeff Nuttall. ‘Sleepy Bee’, IT 3 (14–27 November 1966)
p. 5 128
Fig. 3.5 Cover, ANON. Alternative Newspaper of Northampton
(May 1975) Illustration: Mick Robinson 137
xi