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Mar 28, 2024

Anarchism, Athenians and A.I.

Panels from V for Vendetta. Art by David Lloyd.
In 2016 well-known British writer and journalist Dominic Wells interviewed Alan Moore.
Wells wrote: I recently spent six hours with Alan Moore. I wrote this feature about it. But the total interview transcript ran to 30,000 words. So, on my blog, in daily instalments, I’m going to be posting the edited highlights – as far as possible, all in Moore’s own words.
You can read them all at the following links.


Selected excerpts below.
Alan Moore: [...] I’m an anarchist. I don’t believe in democracy, and I think that this [Moore is referring to Brexit] shows the massive flaws. If you’re going to have democracy in an ill-informed, massive population you’re always going to get shit like this. That is my opinion.
“And, I’ve often said, you cannot have democracy and Rupert Murdoch on the same planet. It’s like, how’s that going to work? The only way that democracy would work is if we were to adopt the Athenian direct democracy system.
“Now, I’m not championing the Athenians: they kept slaves, they weren’t perfect. But if they had got an issue that affected the whole country, they would appoint by lottery a jury, of say 50 people, from all walks of life, probably actually except the slaves, but the principle is: you’ve got a decision of national importance to be made, you have 50 people, then you have two people giving the pros and the cons, like in a court. Two experts explaining thoroughly the reasons for and against. Then you let them vote, then immediately you dissolve the jury; they dissolve back into the normal population.
“So straight away you remove the possibility of an administration voting for extra perks, pay rises, because they are not going to be the administration, it’s in their interests to vote for what is best for the broad mass of the population which they will be returning into. That would work.
“People have said, ‘oh well, direct democracy is just endless referendums’. No. You don’t need to ask everybody in the country, as long as you’ve got a representative section. That would work, and that would be a form of democracy that anarchists could vote for, because it would not be about appointing leaders. So, that is what I would favour. [...]
 
[...] there is a traffic system in Hong Kong at the moment. It’s called a ‘niche A.I.’ This is not a full artificial intelligence, in that it is not aware, it’s not going to take over the world and send Arnie back in time. There aren’t self-aware machines, perhaps there never will be.
“What it is, is a very smart computer which knows everything about its particular niche – its niche being the Hong Kong traffic system. It knows where the work gangs are, it knows where there’s flaws being reported and it knows the quickest way to sort out these flaws with the least energy and man-hours. The Hong Kong traffic system works much better than it ever has done, and that is, I would imagine, quite a complicated system. So, niche A.I.s – why not? To work out all these things which don’t need votes or opinions.
“Leaders are never going to legislate for their own obsolescence. But unless we’re going to have a Weimar revolution, and we replace one power structure with another that will be as bad or worse, which never works… unless we do that, then we have to find a way around these people. I would argue that with technology being as it is at the moment, we have the means to do that. We can go round them. We can set up structures of our own.
“Let’s go back to those small communities. Let’s connect up those small communities, because we can do these days], and we perhaps have them all manage to buy a niche A.I, something like that. [...]

Mar 27, 2024

Alan Moore Portraits: Italian review

Fumo di China n.339, the March issue of Italian magazine devoted to comic art and pop culture, includes a nice, positive review of Alan Moore: Portraits written by comics journalist and expert David Padovani. Grazie mille, David! And special thanks to FdC's head editor Loris Cantarelli!
If you can read Italian you can enjoy the complete review above (click to enlarge the picture). Below, a translated excerpt.  

[...] the essays by the various authors involved offer the reader a well-rounded portrait of the Magus [...] focusing both on the analysis of some of his works and lesser-known aspects of his personality (for example, his deep bond with the world of fanzines), delving into the literary style, sources and models of inspiration.
The unaltered prominent role of the British author in the world of comics - a constant polestar even today - can also be seen by the variety of critics, journalists and writers assembled by smoky man for the volume. International acclaimed contributors, such as Paul Gravett and Ian Sinclair, are joined by established Italian critics such as Andrea Tosti and Adriano Ercolani, but also new voices like comic book writer and scholar Francesco Pelosi.
Regarding the visual homages, we find the same heterogeneity with Internationally renowned artists (like Danijel Zezelj, Gene Ha, Zander Cannon and Miguel Angel Martin) and Italian ones (like Sergio Ponchione, Werther Dell'Edera, Lorenzo Palloni and Giuseppe Palumbo). All the portraits share the same high quality.
[...] --- David Padovani

Mar 21, 2024

Power Moore by John Bishop

Art by John Bishop
Above, a powerful portrait of our beloved Man from Northampton by British illustrator and storyboard artist John Bishop.
 
For more info about the artist, visit his official site HERE.

Mar 19, 2024

Damn them all!

Below, some panels from Damn them all n.3, a great series written by Simon "Si" Spurrier with art by Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead) and colors by Sofie Dodgson, published by Boom!
 
The series includes mobs, occultists and... demons. One of them looks a bit familiar and says things that sound familiar too, imho.
It's a real fun reading experience. Highly recommended!

Mar 18, 2024

Alan Moore Portraits - Visual Part 2

Art by Sergio Ponchione
Below, the list of the portraits contained in Alan Moore: Portraits of an Extraordinary Gentleman, Part 2, ordered as they appear in the book.

 
Special thanks to all the artists involved! Grazie mille!!!
 
Note: the links below could present the art in a different version respect to the printed book
Click to view them all!!!

[15] Portrait by Rachele Aragno

[16] Portrait by Giuseppe Palumbo

[17] Portrait by Paolo Massagli

[18] Portrait by Danijel Žeželj

[19] Portrait by Miguel Angel Martin

[20] Portrait by Eduardo Risso

[21] Portrait by Massimo Giacon

[22] Portrait by Sergio Ponchione

[23] Portrait by Hilary Barta

[24] Portrait by Hunt Emerson

[25] Portrait by Lorenzo Mò

[26] Portrait by Dan McDaid

[27] Portrait by Jeffrey Lewis

[28] Portrait by Spugna
 

Mar 8, 2024

Paranormal Moore by Jonathan Edwards

Art by Jonathan Edwards
Above, Alan Moore portrait by British artist Jonathan Edwards, originally published in 2009 on Paranormal Magazine. Below, 4 supplementary illustrations. 
Posted on Edwards' blog, here, back in the day. 
I confess... I looove them all!
 
For more info about Edwards, visit his site HERE
Art by Jonathan Edwards

Mar 4, 2024

Alan Moore Portraits - Visual Part 1

Art by Andrea Casciu (wip)
Below, the list of the portraits contained in Alan Moore: Portraits of an Extraordinary Gentleman, Part 1, ordered as they appear in the book. 
 
Special thanks to all the artists involved! Grazie mille!!!
 
Note: the links below could present the art in a different version respect to the printed book
Click to view them all!!!

[1] Portrait by Nicola Testoni
 
[2] Portrait by John Coulthart
 
[3] Portrait by Leomacs
 
[4] Portrait by David Hitchcock
 
[5] Portrait by Laurent Lefeuvre
 
[6] Portrait by Jesse Lonergan

[7] Portrait by Giacomo Putzu

[8] Portrait by Francesco Corli

[9] Portrait by David Roach

[10] Portrait by Daniele Serra

[11] Portrait by Angelo Secci

[12] Portrait by Thomas Campi

[13] Portrait by Carlos Dearmas

[14] Portrait by Andrea Casciu

Art by Andrea Casciu (preliminary b/w version)