ALAN MOORE
Alan Moore was born November 18, 1953 in Northampton, England, an
industrial town between London and Birmingham. The oldest son of
brewery worker Ernest Moore and printer Sylvia Doreen, Moore's
childhood and youth were influenced by the poverty of his family and
their environment (as well as the eccentricities of his highly
religious and superstitious grandmother). He was expelled from a
conservative secondary school and was not accepted at any other
school. In 1971, Moore was unemployed, with no job qualifications
whatsoever.
It was during this time that Moore began working with Embryo, a
magazine he had been publishing with friends, which led to his
involvement in the Northhampton Art Lab. Moore married in 1974,
eventually having two daughters, Amber and Leah.
In 1979, Moore began working as a cartoonist for the weekly music
magazine Sounds, in which a detective story called Roscoe Moscow
appeared under the pseudonym Curt Vile. Eventually, though, Moore
concluded that he was a poor artist and decided to focus his efforts
on writing instead.
Moore's early contributions were to Doctor Who Weekly and the famous
science-fiction title 2000 AD, under which Moore created several
popular series, such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Skizz, and D.R. &
Quinch. Moore then worked for Warrior, a British anthology magazine.
It was on this title that Moore began two important series:
Marvelman (known in the United States as Miracleman), a revisionist
superhero series, and V For Vendetta, Moore's groundbreaking tale of
the fight for freedom and dignity in a fascist and dystopian
Britain, both of which earned him the British Eagle Awards for Best
Comics Writer in 1982 and 1983.Moore's exceptional writing talent
won him his first American series, Saga of the Swamp Thing. Moore
reinvented the character, while at the same time revolving his plot
around tough topics (gun control, racism, nuclear waste, etc.).
Moore displayed great depth and insight in his work, demonstrating
that he was able to write on a wide range of topics and situations.
Moore's stories set the pace for the "Sophisticated Suspense" by
which most comics under DC's Vertigo line operate under today.
In addition to Saga of the Swamp Thing, Moore also penned several
other DC titles, such as Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, a Batman
Annual and several Superman stories.
In 1986, while DC Comics was reconstructing their comic's universe,
Moore quietly came out with Watchmen. Watchmen, in conjunction with
Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, redefined the comics
book medium, and changed the tone of comics to this very day.
Watchmen's complex script provided a realistic portrayal of
superheroes in a world that neither understood, nor trusted them.
Considered by some to be the greatest comic ever produced, Moore was
riding on a high. Watchmen, became the first comic book to be a
recipient of the prestigious Hugo Award.
Moore finished his run on Swamp Thing, completed the V For Vendetta
storyline under DC Comics and wrote quite possibly the best Joker
story ever in Batman: The Killing Joke.
However, Moore was very unhappy with the fact that he didn't own the
rights to Watchmen, nor did he feel that he was receiving adequate
royalties from the series.
Furthermore, at the time there were discussions of implementing a
comic book ratings system, of which Moore was firmly against. In the
late 80's, Moore left DC and mainstream comics to work strictly for
the smaller, independent publishers.
Once free of DC, Moore began several projects. In 1988, Moore set up
his own publishing imprint called Mad Love Publishing. Moore began
working on a screenplay with Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren,
called Fashion Beast, though the film never came about.
He also began work on Big Numbers with artist Bill Sienkiewicz and
began two series for Stephen Bissette's Taboo, called Lost Girls
with artist Melinda Gebbie, and Moore's ground-breaking series, From
Hell. From Hell reconstructed the Jack the Ripper murders in
meticulous detail. Moore also did a personal story called A Small
Killing, with artist Oscar Zarate. Self-publishing, however, was not
good to Moore. Of the series begun during this period, only A Small
Killing and From Hell have seen completion.
Moore eventually began working with Image Comics, a new comics
company run by a group of very popular young artists and writers.
With this company, Moore penned 1963, sort of an atonement for the
bad writing from other writers that resulted in the comics medium as
a result of the Watchmen. He also wrote several stories for Todd
McFarlane's Spawn character.
Perhaps the greatest treasure to appear under the Image imprint was
Moore's revamp of the Supreme series. Supreme was a thinly-veiled
version of Superman created by artist Rob Liefeld. Moore's take on
the character was both nostalgic and inventive, harking back to the
early days of DC Comics. Unfortunately, the series was halted due to
financial problems and the final two issues have yet to see print.
Currently, Moore has his own imprint, America's Best Comics (ABC),
under which he's once again paving new territory with several new
series: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom
Strong, Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, Tomorrow Stories and Top Ten.
Moore's other projects include CD's and a book or two…in addition to
his desire to become a magician.
Alan Moore was born November 18, 1953 in Northampton, England, an
industrial town between London and Birmingham. The oldest son of
brewery worker Ernest Moore and printer Sylvia Doreen, Moore's
childhood and youth were influenced by the poverty of his family and
their environment (as well as the eccentricities of his highly
religious and superstitious grandmother). He was expelled from a
conservative secondary school and was not accepted at any other
school. In 1971, Moore was unemployed, with no job qualifications
whatsoever.
It was during this time that Moore began working with Embryo, a
magazine he had been publishing with friends, which led to his
involvement in the Northhampton Art Lab. Moore married in 1974,
eventually having two daughters, Amber and Leah.
In 1979, Moore began working as a cartoonist for the weekly music
magazine Sounds, in which a detective story called Roscoe Moscow
appeared under the pseudonym Curt Vile. Eventually, though, Moore
concluded that he was a poor artist and decided to focus his efforts
on writing instead.
Moore's early contributions were to Doctor Who Weekly and the famous
science-fiction title 2000 AD, under which Moore created several
popular series, such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Skizz, and D.R. &
Quinch. Moore then worked for Warrior, a British anthology magazine.
It was on this title that Moore began two important series:
Marvelman (known in the United States as Miracleman), a revisionist
superhero series, and V For Vendetta, Moore's groundbreaking tale of
the fight for freedom and dignity in a fascist and dystopian
Britain, both of which earned him the British Eagle Awards for Best
Comics Writer in 1982 and 1983.Moore's exceptional writing talent
won him his first American series, Saga of the Swamp Thing. Moore
reinvented the character, while at the same time revolving his plot
around tough topics (gun control, racism, nuclear waste, etc.).
Moore displayed great depth and insight in his work, demonstrating
that he was able to write on a wide range of topics and situations.
Moore's stories set the pace for the "Sophisticated Suspense" by
which most comics under DC's Vertigo line operate under today.
In addition to Saga of the Swamp Thing, Moore also penned several
other DC titles, such as Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, a Batman
Annual and several Superman stories.
In 1986, while DC Comics was reconstructing their comic's universe,
Moore quietly came out with Watchmen. Watchmen, in conjunction with
Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, redefined the comics
book medium, and changed the tone of comics to this very day.
Watchmen's complex script provided a realistic portrayal of
superheroes in a world that neither understood, nor trusted them.
Considered by some to be the greatest comic ever produced, Moore was
riding on a high. Watchmen, became the first comic book to be a
recipient of the prestigious Hugo Award.
Moore finished his run on Swamp Thing, completed the V For Vendetta
storyline under DC Comics and wrote quite possibly the best Joker
story ever in Batman: The Killing Joke.
However, Moore was very unhappy with the fact that he didn't own the
rights to Watchmen, nor did he feel that he was receiving adequate
royalties from the series.
Furthermore, at the time there were discussions of implementing a
comic book ratings system, of which Moore was firmly against. In the
late 80's, Moore left DC and mainstream comics to work strictly for
the smaller, independent publishers.
Once free of DC, Moore began several projects. In 1988, Moore set up
his own publishing imprint called Mad Love Publishing. Moore began
working on a screenplay with Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren,
called Fashion Beast, though the film never came about.
He also began work on Big Numbers with artist Bill Sienkiewicz and
began two series for Stephen Bissette's Taboo, called Lost Girls
with artist Melinda Gebbie, and Moore's ground-breaking series, From
Hell. From Hell reconstructed the Jack the Ripper murders in
meticulous detail. Moore also did a personal story called A Small
Killing, with artist Oscar Zarate. Self-publishing, however, was not
good to Moore. Of the series begun during this period, only A Small
Killing and From Hell have seen completion.
Moore eventually began working with Image Comics, a new comics
company run by a group of very popular young artists and writers.
With this company, Moore penned 1963, sort of an atonement for the
bad writing from other writers that resulted in the comics medium as
a result of the Watchmen. He also wrote several stories for Todd
McFarlane's Spawn character.
Perhaps the greatest treasure to appear under the Image imprint was
Moore's revamp of the Supreme series. Supreme was a thinly-veiled
version of Superman created by artist Rob Liefeld. Moore's take on
the character was both nostalgic and inventive, harking back to the
early days of DC Comics. Unfortunately, the series was halted due to
financial problems and the final two issues have yet to see print.
Currently, Moore has his own imprint, America's Best Comics (ABC),
under which he's once again paving new territory with several new
series: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom
Strong, Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, Tomorrow Stories and Top Ten.
Moore's other projects include CD's and a book or two…in addition to
his desire to become a magician.