Joe Quesada and Watchmen

In his interesting investigation on The Invisible Language of Visual Storytelling, Part 11, Joe Quesada talks about "Reveal" and... Watchmen! 

You can read the whole thing HERE. 

I highly recommend reading Quesada's Substack! 

[...] Nothing Changed. Everything Did.

Before the reveal, the audience is assembling pieces.

After the reveal, everything organizes.

Cause and effect become clear.

And the audience feels the shift immediately.

Watchmen might be the clearest example of this in comics.

Throughout the story, every piece is already in place.

Ozymandias’ intelligence.
His resources.
His obsession with saving the world.
The missing scientists.

It’s all there.

You just haven’t connected it yet.

Then Ozymandias begins to fill in the gaps. 

You’re still processing what he’s saying.

Trying to understand the scope.
Still catching up.

Then comes the line that changes everything.  

“I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”

No buildup.
No countdown.
No chance to stop it.

The event is already over.

And suddenly it’s undeniable.

The plan. The scale.
Then the inevitability.

You weren’t waiting for it to happen.

You were already too late. [...] 

Read the complete piece HERE.

Magic, Comics and... Long London upcoming books

Art by Nicola Testoni

Excerpts from an interview posted yesterday on RetroFuturista.com. A great one! 

Highly recommended! 

Alan Moore: [...] My understanding of magic has evolved massively over the thirty-three years since I commenced my study and practice. For one thing, I have come to understand that magic and the arts, particularly writing, are to all intents and purposes synonymous. Thus, while magic is the way in which I see the world and therefore affects every area of my life, nowhere is this more true than in my writing. Indeed, these days, writing is pretty much my only form of magical expression. My guess is that this, writing being the most powerful instrument of magic, has been true for most self-identified magicians – and what other kind is there? – since the dawn of human consciousness. [...]

Nothing against middle-class people, of course. It’s simply that the comic strip form was originally conceived as by, for and about the working classes, who were its audience and, for my money, its very best creators. That is the comics field I’d like to see, brimming with new ideas and available to everyone, but, realistically, I don’t imagine that is ever going to happen, so I’ve chosen to put my remaining energies elsewhere. [...]

If you like, I see myself as a piece of language that is somehow generating other pieces of language. [...]

To be honest, I’ve never really thought about the audience’s reaction too much, as it’s something I have no say in or control over. The only audience I’ve ever been attempting to please is, perhaps selfishly, myself. [...]

I’m currently nearing the end of the third book in my Long London quintet, this being titled Blow Away, Dandelion and set in the late 1960s, whereas the next book, In England’s Dreaming, will set in the late 1970s. The final book, And No River of Fire, will be set in 1999, on the eve of the current millennium. I have genuinely no idea what I’ll be doing after that point, so we’ll all just have to wait and see.  

Read the complete interview HERE! 

The Mandrill is here!

Art by Bobby Campbell.

Above, Moore in the guise of his character from Mandrillifesto.

Art by Bobby Campbell.

Thanks Bob for sharing it! 

Ai Weiwei by Alan Moore!

Art by Alan Moore

It's known that Alan Moore draws special X-Mas cards to be sent to a his circle of friends. 

Recently one of them has been offered and immediately sold on eBay... featuring the acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (see below), dated 2015. It's simply... fantastic! 'Nuff said!

ALAN MOORE drawn Christmas card, printed on A4-sized card, folded in half. Front reads AI WEIWEI, IN A MANGER and has ALAN MOORE '15 in the lower right-hand corner.

Inside reads 'To Padraig + Diedre, have a great Christmas, with loads of love from Alan + Mel XX' written in black ballpoint pen in Alan Moore's distinctive handwriting. Received by me in December 2015, but has been living in a box for a decade now.

The card depicts Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei sitting in a straw-filled manger, with a golden halo around his head.

More details HERE. 

2000AD & the comic career of Alan Moore

Excerpt from a profile posted at Comic Scene.

Read the complete piece HERE. 

[...] In the nerve centre of modern storytellers, few figures loom as large as Alan Moore. With his long beard, occult rings and voice that sounds as though it has been steeped in pipe smoke and centuries of folklore, Moore has cultivated an image somewhere between a Victorian mystic and a punk-era radical. But the mythology around him risks obscuring something simpler and more astonishing: Alan Moore is arguably the most influential writer comics have ever produced. That’s why ComicScene readers voted him the Best Comic Writer ever in the ComicScene Awards 2026, alongside Jack Kirby as your favourite artist of all time. [...]

Alan Moore’s legacy is both immense and deeply paradoxical. On one hand, he elevated comics into a form capable of literary complexity and cultural critique. Without Moore, the modern graphic novel might look very different. On the other hand, he remains one of the most vocal critics of the industry that celebrates him.

He has denounced the corporate exploitation of characters, distanced himself from adaptations of his work and eventually announced his retirement from mainstream comics altogether. [...]

Nearly forty years after Watchmen, the comics industry is still grappling with the implications of that insight. And somewhere in Northampton, the bearded magician who started the argument continues to loom over the medium he transformed as a reluctant comic legend.

Mina and Mr. Hyde by Bruce Timm

Art by Bruce Timm

Above, a stunning illustration by phenomenal Maestro BRUCE TIMM featuring Mina Harker and Mr. Hyde from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Enjoy!

V by Nick Derington

Above, a stunning V portrait by the amazing Nick Derington.

"Ideas are bulletproof."

 

Visit the artist's official site HERE. 

The Magician is present

Above and below, the awesome art that I received from the extraordinary BEN WICKEY: that brand new Alan Moore portrait and the Moores from The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic!

I am speechless. Grazie mille, Ben!

Totems & Taboos

From ‪Stephen R Bissette‬, posted few days ago on his Bluesky account: 

Finished this book 6 years ago; still haven't published it. Too many misgivings, but a lot of time has passed, so maybe this year. Cover art by me (painted in 1984 for Kim Thompson, AMAZING HEROES interview w/Alan issue); cover design, logo Cayetano "Cat" Garza, Jr. 

I'd love to read it!

The Unquotable Trump

Above, page from The Unquotable Trump by American artist R. Sikoryak, published in 2017 by Draw & Quartely. 

The absurdity of his pre and post election speeches form the source material for The Unquotable Trump, a limited edition publication by satirical artist R. Sikoryak. Real quotes are blended into faultless reproductions of classic comic book covers, perfectly mirroring the original source material while framing Trump’s hubristic comments as the ramblings of a solipsistic supervillain. [from Broken Frontier]

Alan Moore on Philip José Farmer

From the back cover of Philip José Farmer's The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, published in 2012 by Titan Books:

"If only a few of our modern writers were as brilliant as Philip José Farmer, then I think the world of culture would be a much better place." - Alan Moore