Gene Ha on Alan Moore

Excerpt from an interview I did, via email, in November 2004. 

Translated and printed in Italy on Vertigo Presenta n. 45 magazine (Magic Press).

Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon collaborated on books such as Top 10 and Top 10: The Forty-Niners.

How is not only working with but co-creating with a comics living legend such as writer Alan Moore?

Gene Ha: Intimidating. He's a bit like Gandalf, but he talks like a British plumber instead of a British professor. He's perfectly at ease with himself, and he makes you feel comfortable too.

He's full of wonderful stories, and he loves to hear a good stories. You really can't help but notice how good he is at understanding how to tell stories. He's always aware how any plotline will affect the story for 10 or 20 issues ahead. And something new always pops up on every page.

I'll feed him ideas, and I'm always surprised by which ones he'll use and how he'll change them. I had an idea for Superman as an alcoholic, with super-vomit. Alan took that idea, but applied it to a Japanese movie monster instead. That's how we ended up with Gograh [see picture above].

I'd love to meet him someday, but so far I've only exchanged letters and talked to him on the phone.