Miracleman by Simon Bisley

Art by Simon Bisley.

Above, a Miracleman convention sketch by the legendary Simon Bisley.

Alan Moore by Arturo Lauria

Art by Arturo Lauria.

Above, a sharp portrait of Alan Moore by Arturo Lauria, artist of Colonus published by Dark Horse.

V by Ben Oliver

Art by Ben Oliver.

Above, a great V for Vendetta commission by artist Ben Oliver.

More info about the artist at his Facebook page and blog.

The Show: "doing it our way again"

Signed Show Pieces!

Excerpt from Orphans of the Storm news page:

"[...] Next stop.....THE SHOW! Alan's screenplay is now in the hands of our trusted fellow Orphan, David Crabtree. David has been the most supportive first AD that any director can have. He is now in the process of producing our shooting schedule, the plan being to start shooting the feature next summer. We have had so many serious offers of big cash from Networks, both terrestrial and digital, the issue being that they all seem to require more jeopardy and want to get Alan to re write things to fit their vision! Hmm, lets think about. So, we are doing it our way again. More money doesn't mean better but it can mean less imagination." [Orphans of the Storm]

Teenage Moore

Art by mladen.

Above, a portrait of Alan Moore as a teenager that I found on Deviantart. Art by mladen. 

I suppose it's based on photographs like.. these ones (which were originally published in The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore).

Big Nemo: Alan Moore on Winsor McCay

Big Nemo. Story: Alan Moore. Art: Colleen Doran. Colours: José Villarrubia.

Electricomics is out there (for more info and details visit the official site here) and Alan Moore contributed with a story titled Big Nemo (art by Colleen Doran and colours by José Villarrubia) which is a clear homage to the legendary Winsor McCay's creation. 

In an interview published on BleedingCool, Moore says:

"[...] With “Big Nemo”, the whole pitch is basically within the two word title. I was thinking, “What would have happened to Little Nemo if he had grown up? Would he still have the same relationship with dreams? The America around him, how would that have changed?” Of course, if he had grown up at any kind of realistic rate, he would have grown up into a Depression.

I’m a huge fan of McCay and Little Nemo, in particular. I’ve probably been toying with pastiches of it since I was a teenager. I thought that actually, with this new technology, there were possibilities. Not to outdo McCay, because I don’t think that anybody ever will. The fact that he was doing this with paper and ink alone puts us to shame. But that said, there were opportunities. I was thinking, “How would McCay have used this if he was alive?” These elements of movement which are very subdued animation. Because the last thing you’d want these comics to be is unsuccessful animation.

[...] It’s a very fine line. If you give them too much “enhancement”, they are on the verge of being a low-rent animated film and that’s not what you want. You have to really think through the processes that you’re using. I was trying to use each of the pages in mine to feature a different type of storytelling. I’m very pleased with the result. I think that, although it’s kind of depressing, it does look delightful." [Alan Moore]

Read the complete interview here.

Alan Moore, Sax Rohmer and Dr Fu Manchu

Lord of Strange Deaths published by Strange Attractor Press.

Strange Attractor Press is publishing Lord of Strange Deaths, a book dedicated to English novelist Sax Rohmer, creator of the master criminal Dr Fu Manchu (who played a key role in the first adventure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).   

"This is the first extended attempt to do justice to Rohmer, and it ranges across the spectrum of his output from music-hall writing to Theosophy. Contributors focus on subjects including Egyptology, 1890s decadence, Edwardian super-villains, graphic novels, cinema, the French Situationists, Chinese dragon ladies, and the Arabian Nights. The result is a testimony to the enduring fascination and relevance of Rohmer’s absurd, sinister and immensely atmospheric world." 

 The book, printed 500 copies, is only via Strange Attractor Press from 21 September: here.

Alan Moore contribution is titled Limehouse Variations and details the thinking behind the inclusion of Dr Fu Manchu in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. 

Also a colour plate from League drawn by Kevin O'Neill is included in the volume.

More info: here.

Art by Kevin O'Neill.

S. T. Joshi and Alan Moore

I am Providence by S. T. Joshi.

Excerpt from S. T. Joshi's blog, dated September, 1, 2015.

S. T. Joshi, is an Indian American literary critic, novelist, and a leading figure in the study of H. P. Lovecraft. He is the author of the fundamental H. P. Lovecraft: A Life biography.

"[...] a colleague of the great comic artist Alan Moore asked me to give him a call, since he (Moore) doesn’t have e-mail or even a computer. I was happy to make the call to England, and spent some 30 or 40 minutes in an engaging talk with Moore, who flatteringly holds my work in high regard. He promises to have his publisher send me copies of his ongoing Providence graphic novel, which looks like a most tempting item." [S. T. Joshi]

From more info and news about S. T. Joshi visit his site: here.

Rorschach by Paul Martin Smith

Art by Paul Martin Smith.

Above, a great Rorschach illustration pencilled and inked by Paul Martin Smith.

More information about it can be found here.

[...] I’d say Rorschach was like Mr. A only... with a shred of humanity left in him. [PMS]

Vital stats on Alan Moore 1999

Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore at Cheltenham Science Festival in 2011.

From Wizard Wildstorm special, 1999, "Vital stats on Alan Moore" box at page 54.

OCCUPATION: Comic book writer
BORN: Nov. 18, 1953 in Northampton, England
BASE OF OPERATION: Northampton, England

Frame from Insignificance.

FAVORITE MOVIE: "Insignificance", directed by Nicholas Roeg. "It's based on some tenuous real-life connections between famous people: Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Joe DiMaggio and Joseph McCarthy. Apparently, Monroe once said the person she'd most want to sleep was Einstein. Of course, DiMaggio was married to Monroe. McCarthy apparently had a sexual fixation with Monroe, and he also investigated Einstein at one point. These are the real-life connections. What the director did was imagine that they all meet one night at a hotel. There are all these coincidences that bring them all together. It's wonderful."
FAVORITE AUTHOR: Iain Sinclair [*]. "He's probably my biggest influence at the moment, and has been for a couple of years. There is stuff he can do in writing that I've never seen anybody attempt before."

Harvey Kurtzman's cover for Mad N. 1, 1952.

FAVORITE COMIC: Mad Comics. "Nothing has been able to touch that in terms of originality, experiment, sheer quality and the cleverness of the writing and the drawing."
MOTTO HE LIVES BY: "Keep in the dry place, and stay away from children."
HIS TAKE ON PEOPLE SEEING HIM AS A COMIC BOOK LEGEND: "I'm not one. People like to build up these big, imaginary pantomime figures in their heads. I say, 'Why not?' It's fun for them. It just doesn't have much to do with me."

[*] In the actual box the name is misspelled as "Ian Sinclaire".

ABC house ad art by Gene Ha

Art by Gene Ha.

Above, America's Best Comics house ad, dated 1999. Gorgeous art by Gene Ha, featuring Promethea, Tom Strong, Greyshirt and Toybox (from Top Ten).