**From Alan Moore’s interview with The Telegraph:**After four decades in the comic book industry, Alan Moore is relishing being in the world of literary publishing. “I’m having a very good time of it,” says Moore, whose debut collection of short stories, Illuminations, is just out in paperback.
He says that his publisher, Bloomsbury, “respect my decisions and opinions. And I own my own work. It doesn’t sound like a lot if you’re used to traditional grown-up publishing, but it means an awful lot if you’re used to the comic books industry. It does make me wish that I’d maybe gone into writing prose fiction back in the late Seventies.
”Moore’s sanity might have benefited from a career writing fiction rather than comic books, but readers would have been deprived of many of the classics of the genre. As the mind behind Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell and V for Vendetta, he has been called the Shakespeare of the comic book.
Talking to me over Zoom, the 69-year-old Moore – a hirsute figure whose aesthetic might best be described as WFH Gandalf – insists that he has formally retired from writing comics now, despite the challenges that prose fiction brings.
The stories in Illuminations are in equal parts weird, funny and exhilarating, but what stands out – whether he’s describing an apocalyptic battle between angels and demons in the skies above Bedford, or the lovemaking of two disembodied brains in the moments after the creation of the universe – is his visual impact of his prose.
“I’ve always had, I think, a fairly decent visual imagination, and when I was working in comics the visual descriptions would be going into the lengthy notes that I was writing just for the artist.
”The centrepiece of Illuminations is a long story on the theme of the decline of the comic book industry. His objection is to “the gentrification of comics that happened post-Watchmen: that neighbourhood has been lifted out of the reach of its original inhabitants” – i.e. children.
Similar to John Berger, who gave his Booker Prize money (after covering his costs for doing the research for A Seventh Man, he split the 10k 50/50) to the British Black Panthers because of the history of exploitation in the Carribbean that Booker profited from.
monkeysuffrage on
I wonder if he feels silly now that the numbers are out… Actually I wonder if people realize the numbers are out…
BornIn1142 on
I haven’t felt confident enough to try reading *Jerusalem* yet, but *Voice of the Fire* was a very interesting and imaginative piece that more people should check out.
(His take on the fantasy genre in the interview is classically curmudgeonly and basically just wrong.)
Juub1990 on
Can’t read because the article is behind a paywall but BLM is a terrible organization.
[deleted] on
[removed]
Chelsea_Kias on
And BLM thanks him for their mansions. Thanks for lifting black man and woman out of poverty, Mr Moor
fanboy_killer on
>Is it true that he refuses all money he is entitled to from the film companies, asking for it to be divvied up among the film’s writers and other creatives? “I no longer wish it to even be shared with them. I don’t really feel, with the recent films, that they have stood by what I assumed were their original principles. So I asked for DC Comics to send all of the money from any future TV series or films to Black Lives Matter.”
Given recent developments, both with BLM and screenwriters, this is adding insult to injury and a tremendous dick move from Alan.
Diravell on
I’m currently reading the Gormenghast trilogy, glad to see Alan is also a fan.
OmegaRed_1485 on
No! BLM is just a private slush fund for three individuals, it won’t help the cause at all…..
reebee7 on
Gotta pay for those girls’ mansions somehow!
H0w-1nt3r3st1ng on
It’s amazing the straw clutching here.
“People who disagree with me never have any sources.”
“Look at this asshole with sources. What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not politically biased, but anything from Right or Left-wing publications is clearly not legit.”
“Listen to black voices! NO NOT THOSE BLACK VOICES!”
Flipwon on
I see there are a lot of people posting negative things about BLM, and a lot of people calling them racist assholes, but I struggle to find anything but negative about them.
My search engine’s algorithms should be 100% “left leaning”, (I’m not American and stay out of politics for the most part, all politicians are just poor entertainers afaic) but all I can find is negative about the organization and some of the people close to it. It’s finances seem to be in question by both sides and while they may not have done anything “illegal” they surely have not been a non profit.
So, is all this I’m seeing just BS? Like for real? Is the anti blm movement that broad?
Do you actually agree that this is the best organization to donate to to further the lives of young black people and their cause?
Sorry if I sound ignorant, I guess I am regarding this subject.
Congolesenerd on
It is crazy how people here are trying to defend BLM (the organization and not the movement ) They have been denounced by many black leaders and it was proven that they are a scam company, no need to be conservative to believe in it. Also why they don’t go after any other anti racism org …
[deleted] on
[deleted]
helendestroy on
Alan Moore knows the score
smokelzax on
i’m sure the 3 self proclaimed communists at the head of BLM will do the right thing this time and use the money to help underprivileged black people rather than add to their property portfolios
khani921 on
Clearly this boomer is not informed (surprise surprise).
Might as well give it to a low income family cause BLM will not help any blacklives except for those at the top of the organization.
drakesylvan on
This man is an international treasure. Some of the best pop culture,fantasy and sci-fi has been written and influenced by this man.
Newkker on
Isn’t the BLM organization shady and the founders have used it to enrich themselves while not actually meaningfully helping a single solitary soul?
I don’t see any well funded pushes to end qualified immunity for example, I don’t think they’ve been paying peoples court fees or investing in black communities or paying for diversity seminars for police or really anything you could use money for to accomplish their claimed institutional goals. I think their biggest expense is their founders new mansion.
This seems really profoundly strange. I hope he is ok mentally. Well, as ok as he ever was. Whatever makes him happy I guess.
GhostMug on
Has anybody read Jerusalem? I have it on my kindle but haven’t dove in yet. I know it’s a commitment.
kerouacrimbaud on
Lmao, the comments here did not disappoint.
RedBeardBruce on
He might want to research what BLM has actually spent money on before he does that.
mrcontroversy1 on
Bro buy me a decent house. BLM leaders already have several mansions.
Totalitarianit on
I’m sure the leaders of BLM will feel very thankful in their new, million dollar houses.
MegaL3 on
whole lotta people here who don’t seem to know that there are multiple BLM organisations and that the UK one (where Moore, you know, lives) is disconnected from the American one.
York_Villain on
I hope that this disaster of a comment section is a result of a brigade rather than straight up misinformation. Smh
DueMaternal on
I mean, fuck. This is why you do research or just give directly to the community. Give your money to some political group with faulty ranks and you may as well have just kept the fucking money and bought something nice for yourself.
marbotty on
Don’t do it! Support the movement, not the org
Drs83 on
Gotta help pay for them mansions, I guess.
redisherfavecolor on
The bullshit woman with the ten million dollar house needs your money.
UrWrstFear on
Woohoo. More mansion for blm leaders.
Tpeest on
Lol. Sucker.
squeda on
Worth a read for seeing the evolution of the comic industry and how it impacted him. The part about his donation is like one sentence lol. But I’m guessing they’ll get more clicks this way.
OhiOsFan17 on
Somebody’s getting an exquisite mansion out of this.
Agent_Kobayashi on
What a waste of fucking money lol
lyinggrump on
Maybe give them to an organization that actually does something instead of just embezzling the money.
_AsboHoody on
Lol what a tool
hmoooody on
Nice now the BLM leaders can buy another mansion…
Starbourne8 on
Can’t believe he fell for the scam. What a waste of money.
amellt33 on
Lmao someone needs to tell him its a scam
Themousemustfall on
Wait, people still give those criminals money? What is this, 2020?
orcvader on
Moore can sometimes be… perhaps insufferable.
But he has a point on creator-rights. I mean, the comic book industry has been brutal to creators historically. Look up Bill Finger for example.
43 Comments
**From Alan Moore’s interview with The Telegraph:**After four decades in the comic book industry, Alan Moore is relishing being in the world of literary publishing. “I’m having a very good time of it,” says Moore, whose debut collection of short stories, Illuminations, is just out in paperback.
He says that his publisher, Bloomsbury, “respect my decisions and opinions. And I own my own work. It doesn’t sound like a lot if you’re used to traditional grown-up publishing, but it means an awful lot if you’re used to the comic books industry. It does make me wish that I’d maybe gone into writing prose fiction back in the late Seventies.
”Moore’s sanity might have benefited from a career writing fiction rather than comic books, but readers would have been deprived of many of the classics of the genre. As the mind behind Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell and V for Vendetta, he has been called the Shakespeare of the comic book.
Talking to me over Zoom, the 69-year-old Moore – a hirsute figure whose aesthetic might best be described as WFH Gandalf – insists that he has formally retired from writing comics now, despite the challenges that prose fiction brings.
The stories in Illuminations are in equal parts weird, funny and exhilarating, but what stands out – whether he’s describing an apocalyptic battle between angels and demons in the skies above Bedford, or the lovemaking of two disembodied brains in the moments after the creation of the universe – is his visual impact of his prose.
“I’ve always had, I think, a fairly decent visual imagination, and when I was working in comics the visual descriptions would be going into the lengthy notes that I was writing just for the artist.
”The centrepiece of Illuminations is a long story on the theme of the decline of the comic book industry. His objection is to “the gentrification of comics that happened post-Watchmen: that neighbourhood has been lifted out of the reach of its original inhabitants” – i.e. children.
**The comic book giant on why he’s unhappy with film adaptations of his work, and why there should be more to fantasy than dragons and dwarfs:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/alan-moore-comic-books-black-lives-matter-watchmen/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/alan-moore-comic-books-black-lives-matter-watchmen/)
Similar to John Berger, who gave his Booker Prize money (after covering his costs for doing the research for A Seventh Man, he split the 10k 50/50) to the British Black Panthers because of the history of exploitation in the Carribbean that Booker profited from.
I wonder if he feels silly now that the numbers are out… Actually I wonder if people realize the numbers are out…
I haven’t felt confident enough to try reading *Jerusalem* yet, but *Voice of the Fire* was a very interesting and imaginative piece that more people should check out.
(His take on the fantasy genre in the interview is classically curmudgeonly and basically just wrong.)
Can’t read because the article is behind a paywall but BLM is a terrible organization.
[removed]
And BLM thanks him for their mansions. Thanks for lifting black man and woman out of poverty, Mr Moor
>Is it true that he refuses all money he is entitled to from the film companies, asking for it to be divvied up among the film’s writers and other creatives? “I no longer wish it to even be shared with them. I don’t really feel, with the recent films, that they have stood by what I assumed were their original principles. So I asked for DC Comics to send all of the money from any future TV series or films to Black Lives Matter.”
Given recent developments, both with BLM and screenwriters, this is adding insult to injury and a tremendous dick move from Alan.
I’m currently reading the Gormenghast trilogy, glad to see Alan is also a fan.
No! BLM is just a private slush fund for three individuals, it won’t help the cause at all…..
Gotta pay for those girls’ mansions somehow!
It’s amazing the straw clutching here.
“People who disagree with me never have any sources.”
“Look at this asshole with sources. What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not politically biased, but anything from Right or Left-wing publications is clearly not legit.”
“Listen to black voices! NO NOT THOSE BLACK VOICES!”
I see there are a lot of people posting negative things about BLM, and a lot of people calling them racist assholes, but I struggle to find anything but negative about them.
My search engine’s algorithms should be 100% “left leaning”, (I’m not American and stay out of politics for the most part, all politicians are just poor entertainers afaic) but all I can find is negative about the organization and some of the people close to it. It’s finances seem to be in question by both sides and while they may not have done anything “illegal” they surely have not been a non profit.
So, is all this I’m seeing just BS? Like for real? Is the anti blm movement that broad?
Do you actually agree that this is the best organization to donate to to further the lives of young black people and their cause?
Sorry if I sound ignorant, I guess I am regarding this subject.
It is crazy how people here are trying to defend BLM (the organization and not the movement ) They have been denounced by many black leaders and it was proven that they are a scam company, no need to be conservative to believe in it. Also why they don’t go after any other anti racism org …
[deleted]
Alan Moore knows the score
i’m sure the 3 self proclaimed communists at the head of BLM will do the right thing this time and use the money to help underprivileged black people rather than add to their property portfolios
Clearly this boomer is not informed (surprise surprise).
Might as well give it to a low income family cause BLM will not help any blacklives except for those at the top of the organization.
This man is an international treasure. Some of the best pop culture,fantasy and sci-fi has been written and influenced by this man.
Isn’t the BLM organization shady and the founders have used it to enrich themselves while not actually meaningfully helping a single solitary soul?
I don’t see any well funded pushes to end qualified immunity for example, I don’t think they’ve been paying peoples court fees or investing in black communities or paying for diversity seminars for police or really anything you could use money for to accomplish their claimed institutional goals. I think their biggest expense is their founders new mansion.
This seems really profoundly strange. I hope he is ok mentally. Well, as ok as he ever was. Whatever makes him happy I guess.
Has anybody read Jerusalem? I have it on my kindle but haven’t dove in yet. I know it’s a commitment.
Lmao, the comments here did not disappoint.
He might want to research what BLM has actually spent money on before he does that.
Bro buy me a decent house. BLM leaders already have several mansions.
I’m sure the leaders of BLM will feel very thankful in their new, million dollar houses.
whole lotta people here who don’t seem to know that there are multiple BLM organisations and that the UK one (where Moore, you know, lives) is disconnected from the American one.
I hope that this disaster of a comment section is a result of a brigade rather than straight up misinformation. Smh
I mean, fuck. This is why you do research or just give directly to the community. Give your money to some political group with faulty ranks and you may as well have just kept the fucking money and bought something nice for yourself.
Don’t do it! Support the movement, not the org
Gotta help pay for them mansions, I guess.
The bullshit woman with the ten million dollar house needs your money.
Woohoo. More mansion for blm leaders.
Lol. Sucker.
Worth a read for seeing the evolution of the comic industry and how it impacted him. The part about his donation is like one sentence lol. But I’m guessing they’ll get more clicks this way.
Somebody’s getting an exquisite mansion out of this.
What a waste of fucking money lol
Maybe give them to an organization that actually does something instead of just embezzling the money.
Lol what a tool
Nice now the BLM leaders can buy another mansion…
Can’t believe he fell for the scam. What a waste of money.
Lmao someone needs to tell him its a scam
Wait, people still give those criminals money? What is this, 2020?
Moore can sometimes be… perhaps insufferable.
But he has a point on creator-rights. I mean, the comic book industry has been brutal to creators historically. Look up Bill Finger for example.