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Alan Moore: Storyteller
The definitive book on Alan Moore, renowned as one of the most important talents in contemporary comics and graphic novels, and his trailblazing works of visual storytelling. Alan Moore is one of the most important creative forces in the history of comics. His innovative works, which include V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, have become enduring features of the modern cultural landscape, inspiring countless artists, from writers and illustrators to graphic novelists and filmmakers. Moore has won more awards and prizes than can be named—including nine Eisners, seven Harveys, multiple Jack Kirby awards, and the only Hugo ever awarded for work on a comic. Drawing on new and unpublished interviews, as well as rarely seen art and photos, this is the first book on his work to have Moore’s cooperation and support, making it a must-have for his many fans and for anyone interested in the art of visual storytelling. Alan Moore: Storyteller is a survey of his expansive work, from his high-profile best sellers to rarely seen experimental projects, such as spoken word and performance art. Individual works are richly illustrated from Moore’s personal archives and paired with critical context. An audio CD will feature excerpts from some of Moore’s multimedia performances and songs, making this the Alan Moore handbook: a must-have for his many comic-book fans and anyone interested in the art of visual storytelling.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 13, 2016
There is a before and after in comic books due Alan Moore
PRICELESS TREASURE
I was lucky to find this book in its hardcover edition on one of the local comic book shops here in my country, Costa Rica. (Even luckier since that local comic book shop doesn't exist anymore)
I am a huge fan of Alan Moore's work. I already have The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, that it's really good with a lot of info about him and his history, however, it's a softcover version with black and white contents.
Instead, this book is on hardcover format, with full color pages in prestige glossy paper!!!
Without a doubt, a "must-have" for any hardcore fan of Alan Moore.
GET TO KNOW THE REAL ALAN MOORE
The book covers his youth before of getting into the world of comics, later his first incursions on British comics, later his journey to American comics starting on "DC Comics", and later on independent companies including "America's Best Comics".
When you read books like this one and The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, you can get a picture of the real Alan Moore.
It's normal that a lot of people have a bad image about him, but I think that they just have selective memory about his outbursts, that yes, he had them, but hey, he is a god of comic books but also he is a human being of flesh and blood and I think that nobody is in good humor all the time.
Also he has the right to express his opinion, not only readers and reviewers can do that, the writers can also express their honest opinions about any subject without fear of censorship or negative feedback.
I think too that some of the "bad reputation" attributed to Alan Moore can be due to two reasons:
One: Lack of knowledge about him as a person.
Two: Simple jealousy.
Or even a bit of both.
When one gets to know the real Alan Moore, you realize that he is just a person that genuinely love the comic books and their history.
Not many long ago, he was a kid that enjoyed to read comic books and he had the luck to express his love for the comic books once being an adult.
In fact, if people thinks that he is an old grumpy guy, they just don't know him at all.
Since he merges all things that he loves: comic books, rock&roll music, England's history, arcane magic, his family, etc...
LOVE FOR COMICS
In all his works, if you notice, I think that in all his works, at least the most personal ones, he always manage to show an act of love, not just sex, but real love making.
Other good thing about Alan Moore's work is that it provokes you different emotions each time that you read it.
Even better if you re-read it at different times of your life, since each story is not the same after experiencing different things in your life.
Moreover, Alan Moore always not only write on plain sight but also between the lines, always a secret message is there, and not always you can get it at the first time, so a re-reading of their works always open your mind to new things that you didn't get before.
PRICELESS TREASURE
I was lucky to find this book in its hardcover edition on one of the local comic book shops here in my country, Costa Rica. (Even luckier since that local comic book shop doesn't exist anymore)
I am a huge fan of Alan Moore's work. I already have The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, that it's really good with a lot of info about him and his history, however, it's a softcover version with black and white contents.
Instead, this book is on hardcover format, with full color pages in prestige glossy paper!!!
Without a doubt, a "must-have" for any hardcore fan of Alan Moore.
GET TO KNOW THE REAL ALAN MOORE
The book covers his youth before of getting into the world of comics, later his first incursions on British comics, later his journey to American comics starting on "DC Comics", and later on independent companies including "America's Best Comics".
When you read books like this one and The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, you can get a picture of the real Alan Moore.
It's normal that a lot of people have a bad image about him, but I think that they just have selective memory about his outbursts, that yes, he had them, but hey, he is a god of comic books but also he is a human being of flesh and blood and I think that nobody is in good humor all the time.
Also he has the right to express his opinion, not only readers and reviewers can do that, the writers can also express their honest opinions about any subject without fear of censorship or negative feedback.
I think too that some of the "bad reputation" attributed to Alan Moore can be due to two reasons:
One: Lack of knowledge about him as a person.
Two: Simple jealousy.
Or even a bit of both.
When one gets to know the real Alan Moore, you realize that he is just a person that genuinely love the comic books and their history.
Not many long ago, he was a kid that enjoyed to read comic books and he had the luck to express his love for the comic books once being an adult.
In fact, if people thinks that he is an old grumpy guy, they just don't know him at all.
Since he merges all things that he loves: comic books, rock&roll music, England's history, arcane magic, his family, etc...
LOVE FOR COMICS
In all his works, if you notice, I think that in all his works, at least the most personal ones, he always manage to show an act of love, not just sex, but real love making.
Other good thing about Alan Moore's work is that it provokes you different emotions each time that you read it.
Even better if you re-read it at different times of your life, since each story is not the same after experiencing different things in your life.
Moreover, Alan Moore always not only write on plain sight but also between the lines, always a secret message is there, and not always you can get it at the first time, so a re-reading of their works always open your mind to new things that you didn't get before.
July 20, 2017
“Ay, Alan, ¿por qué tienes que ser siempre diferente?”- SYLVIA MOORE.
¿Quién es ese tipo que mide casi dos metros? ¿Quién es ese tipo que lleva tantos anillos en cada dedo de sus manos? ¿Quién es ese tipo que viste tan raro, con ese bombín azul y ese bastón con forma de falso dios serpiente? ¿Quién es ese tipo de larga melena y embarrullada barba? ¿Quién es ese tipo con voz profunda y lleno de ideas tan extrañas? ¿Quién es ese tipo que cuenta historias que nunca han ocurrido, pero nos hace llorar, sonreír o maravillarnos con ellas? Es un escritor, un mago, un polifacético artista. Se llama Alan Moore y cambió el mundo del cómic.
La historia de los tebeos no se entendería sin la figura de uno de sus principales arquitectos: Alan Moore, un escritor marcado, aparte de por sus rarezas y su humor negro, por la sensibilidad con la que toca cada historia y sus ganas de experimentar con ella. Este guionista nacido en 1953 en Northampton (Reino Unido) dejó una huella en los cómics que aún es patente. Pero ¿cómo y por qué lo hizo? Gary Spencer Millidge se propone darnos la respuesta a través de un recorrido a la vida, obra y legado del Bardo de Northampton en Alan Moore Storyteller.
A lo largo de sus 320 páginas, conocemos más de la obra y vida del escritor. Alan Moore es todo un personaje y, quizás, debamos pensar si él no es más que otro personaje que ha escrito (a lo mejor, todos nos escribimos a nosotros mismos). No se preocupen si creen conocer todo sobre él, porque seguro que le sorprenden algunos detalles muy escondidos de la historia que ha escrito Moore a lo largo de su vida. Además, aporta varias citas y opiniones del autor que resultan, cuanto menos, interesantes. Alan Moore Storyteller no solo se convierte así en una completa biografía, sino también en algo más: una enciclopedia de obligada lectura para cualquiera que quiera elaborar un trabajo o estudio de la carrera de Moore o su influencia en el mundo del tebeo.
Podéis leer el resto de la crítica en el blog: http://elantrodelosvampirosyotrosmons...
¿Quién es ese tipo que mide casi dos metros? ¿Quién es ese tipo que lleva tantos anillos en cada dedo de sus manos? ¿Quién es ese tipo que viste tan raro, con ese bombín azul y ese bastón con forma de falso dios serpiente? ¿Quién es ese tipo de larga melena y embarrullada barba? ¿Quién es ese tipo con voz profunda y lleno de ideas tan extrañas? ¿Quién es ese tipo que cuenta historias que nunca han ocurrido, pero nos hace llorar, sonreír o maravillarnos con ellas? Es un escritor, un mago, un polifacético artista. Se llama Alan Moore y cambió el mundo del cómic.
La historia de los tebeos no se entendería sin la figura de uno de sus principales arquitectos: Alan Moore, un escritor marcado, aparte de por sus rarezas y su humor negro, por la sensibilidad con la que toca cada historia y sus ganas de experimentar con ella. Este guionista nacido en 1953 en Northampton (Reino Unido) dejó una huella en los cómics que aún es patente. Pero ¿cómo y por qué lo hizo? Gary Spencer Millidge se propone darnos la respuesta a través de un recorrido a la vida, obra y legado del Bardo de Northampton en Alan Moore Storyteller.
A lo largo de sus 320 páginas, conocemos más de la obra y vida del escritor. Alan Moore es todo un personaje y, quizás, debamos pensar si él no es más que otro personaje que ha escrito (a lo mejor, todos nos escribimos a nosotros mismos). No se preocupen si creen conocer todo sobre él, porque seguro que le sorprenden algunos detalles muy escondidos de la historia que ha escrito Moore a lo largo de su vida. Además, aporta varias citas y opiniones del autor que resultan, cuanto menos, interesantes. Alan Moore Storyteller no solo se convierte así en una completa biografía, sino también en algo más: una enciclopedia de obligada lectura para cualquiera que quiera elaborar un trabajo o estudio de la carrera de Moore o su influencia en el mundo del tebeo.
Podéis leer el resto de la crítica en el blog: http://elantrodelosvampirosyotrosmons...
September 24, 2011
If there's more to know about Alan Moore than what's included in this huge tome, I don't think I want to know it. Granted, we don't learn creepy minutiae like what brand underpants he wears, or what he has for breakfast, but Millidge has painstakingly recreated Moore's career in chronological order. Millidge establishes himself once again as a solid writer of nonfiction in the way he did for fiction in Strangehaven, making what could have been a dry and dull book something that went by before I'd noticed.
The book opens with basic biographic information on Moore (family, birthplace, schooling, etc.) and in no time moves right along to the writing that would (eventually) make Moore a geek-household name. Every chapter thereafter -- until the last section -- is devoted to a different piece of work. The last section is dedicated to Moore's more recent performance work, longtime musical and prose involvements and closes with an interesting look at his work habits and technique (the final chapter was the only time the text felt a little cobbled together and lacked flow, but not in any distracting way). The whole thing wraps up with a largely necessary timeline (many of Moore's projects overlapped and the layout of the book can make the chronology occasionally confusing, so this clears it all up) and an illustrated bibliography of works, with their different editions and availabilities (or lack thereof).
The entire volume is absolutely loaded with wonderful images, ranging from reproductions of comic images to stills from performances and film appearances to even copies of scripts and Moore's own notebooks (the absolute standout being the gatefold presentation of the fabled Big Numbers story chart/diagram). Also accompanying this edition is a splendid 19-track CD collecting readings, performances and music from a wide variety of Moore sources (sadly lacking the never-produced Black Dossier 7" recordings).
Millidge has accomplished a remarkable, informative and completely readable guide to one man's imposing and varied career. It's a must-read for any hardcore Moore fan, or anyone with a more-than-passing interest in the working of a brilliant writing mind.
The book opens with basic biographic information on Moore (family, birthplace, schooling, etc.) and in no time moves right along to the writing that would (eventually) make Moore a geek-household name. Every chapter thereafter -- until the last section -- is devoted to a different piece of work. The last section is dedicated to Moore's more recent performance work, longtime musical and prose involvements and closes with an interesting look at his work habits and technique (the final chapter was the only time the text felt a little cobbled together and lacked flow, but not in any distracting way). The whole thing wraps up with a largely necessary timeline (many of Moore's projects overlapped and the layout of the book can make the chronology occasionally confusing, so this clears it all up) and an illustrated bibliography of works, with their different editions and availabilities (or lack thereof).
The entire volume is absolutely loaded with wonderful images, ranging from reproductions of comic images to stills from performances and film appearances to even copies of scripts and Moore's own notebooks (the absolute standout being the gatefold presentation of the fabled Big Numbers story chart/diagram). Also accompanying this edition is a splendid 19-track CD collecting readings, performances and music from a wide variety of Moore sources (sadly lacking the never-produced Black Dossier 7" recordings).
Millidge has accomplished a remarkable, informative and completely readable guide to one man's imposing and varied career. It's a must-read for any hardcore Moore fan, or anyone with a more-than-passing interest in the working of a brilliant writing mind.
May 28, 2020
I’ve read most of Moore’s more famous works but never knew much about the man. This book fixes my problem. Now I know what he has done since America’s Best Comics, what he did after Watchmen, why he ditched DC, and how he began his career. This is a big, coffee-table sized book, very well written, seemingly complete, with many illustrations. Now I want to find the Promethea collected series, and I’m not sure I want to read Jerusalem (I didn’t like James Joyce). I really couldn’t put this book down.
February 21, 2019
It's a coffee-table book. And a biography. It's a coffee-table biography. This is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. I mean, one might be tempted, as I was, to display it somewhere where it can be appreciated visually and to occasionally leaf through it, reading a small section here, a small section there, out of order, just consuming the 1-4 page sections that it's so carefully divided into before putting it down again for a while, or even just flipping through to admire the art, something that wouldn't have worked in a smaller volume, or, obviously, in a straight text piece... The problem with that is that one would miss out on the actual narrative of the thing…
So one might instead, as I eventually did last week, decide to bite the bullet and read it from start to finish, you know, as if it were a proper book. Now the greater picture of Moore's life in general, and prolific creative output in particular, begins to take shape, and the arrogant charm of Moore's frequent too-clever-by-half quotes that litter the manuscript coalesce into an intimate picture of Moore the writer, Moore the artist, Moore the bat-fuck crazy Roman snake-god worshipping urban wild-man. The most immediately apparent issue with this approach is that it's a fucking coffee-table book and is therefore utterly unsuited to being held, for any length of time, in any manner that one might likely hold a book when reading in a comfortable position in any of the places one might choose to partake in this particular quite pleasure; you know, lounging in an armchair, reclining on the couch, lying in bed, relaxing under a tree in the moonlight while naked Wiccans dance chanting about an open fire in the clearing below... I ended up reading most of it sitting at the kitchen table.
It takes a bit longer to realise that the arrangement of the book --both on the level of eschewing a strictly chronological tale in order to divide chapters by theme, by periods of the artist's work in a particular medium; and on the level of keeping individual sections, for the most part, bite-sized-- makes for a somewhat disjointed and occasionally repetitive narrative. It's clear that the book was written in sections, and then arranged afterwards, and that the author did not always take the care he might have in ensuring that individual subsections transitioned logically into each other. The effect ranges from inducement of mild temporal confusion to a sense of utter dislocation. The last couple of sections, which deal with Moore's work outside comics, suffer the most; the majority of these pages end up as rather dull lists of all the little projects Moore was involved in, with no effort spent to do more than catalogue the his exhaustive accomplishments. Like even Millidge himself was tiring of his own sycophantic idol-worship and really felt it might be time for some tea.
This issue of tone, noticeable throughout, does really start to drag a bit at the end; an unbridled love of his subject matter, accompanied by a point-blank denouncement of any and all adaptations, regardless their individual merits, leave Millidge too impartial an observer, inviting a backlash from the reader whether it's deserved or not. Probably this issue would not present so much if one chose to read it as a coffee-table book...
As it happens, the question of whether this was the best way to do things is probably moot; I can think of no other way that it would have worked. It couldn't be just a biography; that would lose too much by sacrificing the pages of art, photos, and scripts that inject colour and life into the work. It couldn't be just a coffee-table book; that would be too shallow, that would somehow not feel right for a book about Alan Moore. It doesn't always really work as it is, but I really can’t imagine it being any other way.
So one might instead, as I eventually did last week, decide to bite the bullet and read it from start to finish, you know, as if it were a proper book. Now the greater picture of Moore's life in general, and prolific creative output in particular, begins to take shape, and the arrogant charm of Moore's frequent too-clever-by-half quotes that litter the manuscript coalesce into an intimate picture of Moore the writer, Moore the artist, Moore the bat-fuck crazy Roman snake-god worshipping urban wild-man. The most immediately apparent issue with this approach is that it's a fucking coffee-table book and is therefore utterly unsuited to being held, for any length of time, in any manner that one might likely hold a book when reading in a comfortable position in any of the places one might choose to partake in this particular quite pleasure; you know, lounging in an armchair, reclining on the couch, lying in bed, relaxing under a tree in the moonlight while naked Wiccans dance chanting about an open fire in the clearing below... I ended up reading most of it sitting at the kitchen table.
It takes a bit longer to realise that the arrangement of the book --both on the level of eschewing a strictly chronological tale in order to divide chapters by theme, by periods of the artist's work in a particular medium; and on the level of keeping individual sections, for the most part, bite-sized-- makes for a somewhat disjointed and occasionally repetitive narrative. It's clear that the book was written in sections, and then arranged afterwards, and that the author did not always take the care he might have in ensuring that individual subsections transitioned logically into each other. The effect ranges from inducement of mild temporal confusion to a sense of utter dislocation. The last couple of sections, which deal with Moore's work outside comics, suffer the most; the majority of these pages end up as rather dull lists of all the little projects Moore was involved in, with no effort spent to do more than catalogue the his exhaustive accomplishments. Like even Millidge himself was tiring of his own sycophantic idol-worship and really felt it might be time for some tea.
This issue of tone, noticeable throughout, does really start to drag a bit at the end; an unbridled love of his subject matter, accompanied by a point-blank denouncement of any and all adaptations, regardless their individual merits, leave Millidge too impartial an observer, inviting a backlash from the reader whether it's deserved or not. Probably this issue would not present so much if one chose to read it as a coffee-table book...
As it happens, the question of whether this was the best way to do things is probably moot; I can think of no other way that it would have worked. It couldn't be just a biography; that would lose too much by sacrificing the pages of art, photos, and scripts that inject colour and life into the work. It couldn't be just a coffee-table book; that would be too shallow, that would somehow not feel right for a book about Alan Moore. It doesn't always really work as it is, but I really can’t imagine it being any other way.
April 6, 2022
This is a large, weighty tome and it certainly looks nice. I'm somewhat ehh about it as a book though.
I absolutely adore Moore. There is a very clear "before" and "after" in comic books in respect of Moore's influence. Some of his work is some of my most favourite, and the influence of all his work can be seen across the genre and beyond. This book does a good job of detailing this influence, his process, and (some, and I mean very minimally, some) of Moore's key ideas and beliefs (the lack of any real attention to his politics is sort of a shame..).
On the other hand, this book is very much a coffee-table book. It's about looking nice, and then being about Moore. Lots of wonderful images and spreads of comic books, and cool photos. The information that is there is good, but it's presented in such a lukewarm, readily distilled fashion that it's clearly for "anyone who stumbles upon this book on your friends coffee table" and not die-hard fans.
It's fine. I wanted more.
I must confess, I've owned this book for 4 years and I only just read it myself... It just seemed sooo... "decorative."
I absolutely adore Moore. There is a very clear "before" and "after" in comic books in respect of Moore's influence. Some of his work is some of my most favourite, and the influence of all his work can be seen across the genre and beyond. This book does a good job of detailing this influence, his process, and (some, and I mean very minimally, some) of Moore's key ideas and beliefs (the lack of any real attention to his politics is sort of a shame..).
On the other hand, this book is very much a coffee-table book. It's about looking nice, and then being about Moore. Lots of wonderful images and spreads of comic books, and cool photos. The information that is there is good, but it's presented in such a lukewarm, readily distilled fashion that it's clearly for "anyone who stumbles upon this book on your friends coffee table" and not die-hard fans.
It's fine. I wanted more.
I must confess, I've owned this book for 4 years and I only just read it myself... It just seemed sooo... "decorative."
February 6, 2018
Really hoped I would love this book. As I love biographies and Alan Moore's work and mind as well.
Thing is, this isn't really a biography. It reads more like a summary on every work Alan Moore has ever done, with some art along the way. Thing is, to me this is like one of those animations art books where instead of insights on the production of the movies, and sketches and storyboards, you get stillframes.
If a wanted a goddamn stillframe, shouldn't I just watch the damn movie itself?
That is the feeling this book left me. If I read the comics I wouldn't need this, as there's no in dept interview with him or anybody that worked with him except from quotes I could probably find on the internet, along with the artworks.
Beautiful book design though. (that's why the two stars)
Thing is, this isn't really a biography. It reads more like a summary on every work Alan Moore has ever done, with some art along the way. Thing is, to me this is like one of those animations art books where instead of insights on the production of the movies, and sketches and storyboards, you get stillframes.
If a wanted a goddamn stillframe, shouldn't I just watch the damn movie itself?
That is the feeling this book left me. If I read the comics I wouldn't need this, as there's no in dept interview with him or anybody that worked with him except from quotes I could probably find on the internet, along with the artworks.
Beautiful book design though. (that's why the two stars)
January 28, 2012
I've been reading this since November and finally finished! I'm a huge Alan Moore fan, but when I started reading it I got quite scared. The first chapter was SOO over the top its praise in the HUGE GENUIS of Mr. Moore that I felt a bit uncomfortable. Thankfully it turned out to be an intro written by Michael Moorcock and not the author of the rest of the book. The book covered a little bit of autobiography of Moore's early life but mostly it just focused on his writing which was very nice. It went through everything Moore had ever written. It convinced me I should try and read swamp thing, which I started and enjoyed. It made me add many things to my amazon wish list. Granted for the books I'd read it wasn't as useful. It also seemed to down play From Hell and Lost Girls in favour of the superhero books, which is the opposite of how I feel.
It also comes with a cd. I thought it'd be more spoken word but it is mostly songs. Some of the songs like Sinister Ducks and the one about Dorothy Parker I really liked. Though overall I have to say it became obvious why Alan Moore is famous for writing and not singing! Some of the songs sounded a bit like early pulp, which was nice. Though I can't say overall I was that impressed. Definitely prefer the spoken word magical stuff!
It also comes with a cd. I thought it'd be more spoken word but it is mostly songs. Some of the songs like Sinister Ducks and the one about Dorothy Parker I really liked. Though overall I have to say it became obvious why Alan Moore is famous for writing and not singing! Some of the songs sounded a bit like early pulp, which was nice. Though I can't say overall I was that impressed. Definitely prefer the spoken word magical stuff!
September 6, 2011
It is blatantly obvious that Millidge undertook this daunting task as a labor of love. To chronicle Moore's influences, his body of work, and multitudes of hurdles both professionally and personally as seamlessly as he did reflects his dedication to Moore's accomplishments beautifully. I now refer to this book as my Bible of All Things Alan. Each section delivers a concise yet thought-provoking insight to the collaborations that Moore has undertaken in his vast career, while also providing a collector information on the obscure pieces essential to an Alan Moore library. Moore's anecdotes throughout are charming and not lacking in his characteristic biting wit. This is an essential purchase to anyone even remotely interested in the magical deity that is Alan Moore.
November 9, 2011
Solid bio and overview of Moore and his work, though it's more a coffee-table book with high production values and interesting new graphics I'd not seen in other bios.
Thus, if you're looking for new material on or by Moore, this isn't really the book, but it's well worth looking at for the details.
If nothing else, it's got a more concise talk by Moore about his writing processes than in other interviews or bios. And being able to see copies of his typewritten scripts and/or notebook scribblings gives some color to what you might already know about the man.
Thus, if you're looking for new material on or by Moore, this isn't really the book, but it's well worth looking at for the details.
If nothing else, it's got a more concise talk by Moore about his writing processes than in other interviews or bios. And being able to see copies of his typewritten scripts and/or notebook scribblings gives some color to what you might already know about the man.
September 26, 2011
A giant, beautiful, and very well done book on Moore's life and work. It works as an occasionally-browsed coffee table book, or as a reference for specific works.
March 21, 2013
Great read, a fitting tribute to a true original
October 1, 2013
In-depth review of most of Alan's work, some more interesting than others.
Want to read
January 11, 2015Libro que supone un estudio en profundidad de la inagotable labor del guionista.
July 14, 2014
A gorgeous book and a worthy tribute and retrospective for this incredibly talented artist.
March 28, 2015
Excellent!
October 10, 2015
A promotional biography.
July 24, 2011
pretty extensive, copiously illustrated.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews