Jul 17, 2022

Duplicator Days: zines, Steve Moore and Dane Jerrus

Excerpt from Duplicator Days, an article written by Moore celebrating the glory days of UK fanzine scene and the key role of his friend Steve Moore, published in 2018 in Fanscene n.1.
You can read the complete article downloading the fanzine HERE, page 6-8.
 
You can enjoy the whole Fanscene archive HERE
Also check the amazing project by editor David Hathaway-Price HERE: a digital repository of the Comics Fanzines published in the UK! Fantastico!
Alan Moore: I sometimes think that fanzines, blotchy and haphazard and ephemeral, are no less than the distilled breath of their various moments. All the memory-prompts and tangles of association that we have embedded in these frail, stab-stapled publications make them into crumbling paper repositories for fleeting and elusive atmospherics from a time when we were at our most enthusiastic; when we were indelibly imprinting all our strongest recollections. [...]

With the proviso that much of this brief essay may be entirely a product of my own disintegrating memory, I recall that it was here that I first learned of the existence of Frank Dobson’s Fantasy Advertiser, Tony Roche's Heroes Unlimited and Steve Moore’s KA-POW, and dutifully sent off postal orders for the requisite amounts. At this time I was setting out to walk the mile or two to school each day before the first post had arrived, and can remember the excitement on returning home if there was a manila envelope addressed to me, propped up behind the recycled brass shell-case ornament from World War I that stood upon the mantelpiece above the hearth. [...]

For my part, l was perhaps most struck by the last-minute inclusion of a Ken Simpson page illustrating a quartet of obscure British comic characters from the l940s or l950s. Amongst these was the memorably-named Dane Jerrus, who by a remote coincidence I'd just referred to in my script for issue three of the last volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It isn't an earth-shattering unlikelihood as coincidences go, but I was personally pleased by this absurd connection between my oldest friend's first work in the comic field and my own last work in that medium. And it is perhaps reassuring that even after almost fifty years, the basic materials that we are working with are still unchanged, even if the way in which we work with them has changed almost beyond recognition.

Without this tattered remnant, electronically resurrected, we would all, I think, be living in a very different cultural environment. Long may it abide, along with the memories of those times and people that it represents.

Jul 16, 2022

Reading Watchmen in advance

Few days ago, American writer and journalist Sean Howe, author of Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, tweeted a piece, dated 1986, by Don Thompson who read Watchmen n.1 in advance and reviewed it for the Comic Buyer's Guide. Howe wrote: "Don Thompson's review of Watchmen #1, for Comics Buyer's Guide, 1986. Imagine what it would be like to read this comic in advance of publication, before any critical consensus had been formed."
Below, an excerpt from the review and the scan of the complete piece. Enjoy!
Don Thompson:[...] The Watchmen is perhaps the ultimate treatment of what would be like to have superheroes in real world. The title comes from the Latin phrase, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?" or, "Who will watch the watchmen?" If you have superpowered policemen, who polices them
[...] 
This bare-bones outline of the first issue does not even attempt to capture the flavor of the writing - some of Alan's best - and there's no way I can prepare you for how good Dave Gibbons'art is [...]. It's good, really good.
[...] Please don't miss this one.

Jul 15, 2022

Summertime

A tweet by Amber Moore. Dated the 14th of July. Check it here
You know... it's hot outside!
My dad recently revealed that his *daily* fruit pastel lolly in the bath over summer had spiralled to two lollies. He said “I eat one right away, and then put the other somewhere cooler for later”; swear to god I laughed so hard I was nearly sick #SomewhereCooler #NotAProperAdult

Jul 14, 2022

On Edgar Allan Poe

 
I would like to thank Edgar Allan Poe for taking time off from the torment of his life to invent the short story—still the best form for a young writer to learn their craft, & still the most versatile vehicle when they're elderly and bent beneath the weight of all those words.
Alan Moore, from the Acknowledgements section of Illuminations
Illuminationspublished by Bloomsbury, will be available in hardback, eBook and audiobook on 11 October 2022. 

Jul 13, 2022

1963: Done in MS Paint

Art by EverydayBattman
Above, a great homage to 1963 series by EverydayBattman, created by using MS Paint

[...] Moore's homage to Marvel clichés included fictionalizing himself and the artists as the "Sixty-Three Sweatshop", describing his collaborators in the same hyperbolic and alliterative mode Stan Lee used for his "Marvel Bullpen"; each was given a Lee-style nickname ("Affable Al," "Sturdy Steve," "Jaunty John," etc.—Veitch has since continued to refer to himself as "Roarin' Rick"). The parody is not entirely affectionate, as the text pieces and fictional letter columns contain pointed inside jokes about the business practices of 1960s comics publishers, with "Affable Al" portrayed as a tyrant who claims credit for his employees' creations. Moore also makes reference to Lee's book Origins of Marvel Comics (and its sequels) when Affable Al recommends that readers hurry out and buy his new book How I Created Everything All By Myself and Why I Am Great.  

Issue six told the story of the Tomorrow Syndicate, based on the Avengers. This comic brought back Horus, Lord of Light, Hypernaut, N-Man, and USA, and also introduced Infra-Man, based on Henry Pym, and Infra-Girl, based on Janet Van Dyne. [...]

More here.

Jul 11, 2022

San Diego 1985: Kudos to Kandor

Excerpt from Kudos to Kandor, an article by American comic book historian and retailer Bob Beerbohm published in Fanscene n.8 (Summer 2022 edition). 
You can read the complete article downloading the fanzine HERE, page 103-105.
 
You can enjoy the whole Fanscene archive HERE
Also check the amazing project by editor David Hathaway-Price HERE: a digital repository of the Comics Fanzines published in the UK! Great! 
Bob Beerbohm: My one encounter with Alan Moore was in 1985, during his first [and evidently only) San Diego Comic-Con appearance. He came up to me in my booth; first buying copies of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #63 & 69 from me. This led in to he and I having an intense, almost hour long Superman Emergency Squad conversation, replete with the bottled city of Kandor, Brainiac, Nightwing & Flamebird.

This lanky bearded Brit guy walks up to my tables, asking for every appearance of the bottle city of Kandor, Superman Emergency Squad, Nighwing and Flamebird, etc. He was remembering broken images and story lines from when he was a young guy; now seeking the American color versions.

[...] For much of our intense Morl-era geek out, I had no idea who this full guy with on accent was. I am rather glad for that lapse in knowledge at that moment in time, as it enabled me to go one on one, asI would any other 'normal' comic book collector.

[...] I had been a huge fan of WARRIOR published by Dez Skinn, importing from #1 onwards. Each next issue order I was simply doubling in number count. This went on for several issues until I settled in to topping out at 800 an issue. Mark Stichman, myself, plus a slew of regular customers/readers were all talking about why Warrior had gone so, for lack of better term, "hot". The one name which was intersecting every one's wavelengths was some guy named Alan Moore.

After about half an hour it began to dawn on me just who I was evidently doing a two person street fair impromptu comedy act with. There had been much laughter as he and I relived our almost exact same timeline memories of that fun stuff from late 50s through mid 60s. Innocents growing up quick, as realites of the world set in on those of us born 1950-‘I 954, being drafted in the USA.

The UK was beginning to comprehend an end of empire as the USA's took off... Alan and I laughed a lot about, back then, believing that those Weisinger edited "Imaginary" stories were just that. Because all the other issues of Superman's family of titles were of course "Real" !!

We were both being 7 to 9 or so there again, for a short period of time. With me having every issue but one on his want list [plus many others he had no idea then existed]. He also made a solid stab at most of my Bizarro appearances, like Adventure 285-299 (classic!) that I had on hand.

Eventually, we shook hands, then bowed to our ad hoc audience. [...]
The complete article is available HERE, page 103-105.

Jul 2, 2022

Alan Moore by Shannon Wheeler

Art by Shannon Wheeler
From the sold-out Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman book, above a great 1-page contribution by American cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, creator of the satirical superhero Too Much Coffee Man.

For more info about the artist: Official site - Twitter- Instagram - Wikipedia

Jul 1, 2022

Dr. Manhattan by Jesse Lonergan

Art by Jesse Lonergan
Above, a stunning Dr. Manhattan by über-artist and illustrator Jesse Lonergan.
 
For more info about the artist: Website  - Instagram Etsy shop - Image page
I highly recommend his Hedra book