Complete Future Shocks

The Complete Future Shocks #1-2

by Alan Moore

Before Watchmen, before V for Vendetta, there was Tharg!

Together for the first time in one volume are all of Alan Moore's Future Shocks - darkly funny and deliriously twisted tales of sci-fi terror, where nothing is what it seems. This thrill packed-collection features the art of many legendary names in the comics industry including Ian Gibson (The Ballad of Halo Jones), Bryan Talbot (Luther Arkwright) and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen). Also included are over a hundred pages of bonus material featuring dozens of complete stories scripted by Moore for 2000 AD. This comprehensive collection should not be missed by any comics fan!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Short Stories, Horror

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.

Reviews

[Danesda · Rating 4 out of 5]

No se pueden perder este espectacular compilado de novelas graficas escritas por el mejor "Alan Moore" ilustradas de forma fantástica una maravilla.
video reseña completa en:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSfAe3PF9D7/

[Variaciones Enrojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reseña de Roberto Pastor para Fancueva:
http://www.fancueva.com/comic/el-deca...

El Decálogo de Alan Moore (VII): 2000 AD
Hablar de 2000 AD es hablar de un hito en el mundo del cómic. Desde que se fundase en 1977, las páginas de este mítico cómic de ciencia-ficción han servido de trampolín para grandes nombres del gremio, como Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons o el maestro Alan Moore. Evidentemente, es por este último por lo que destacamos esta publicación en el decálogo de Moore, cuya obra dentro de las páginas de la publicación británica fue muy fructífera a la par que brillante.
De la mente de Moore, y directas a las páginas de 2000 AD, han salido historias como ‘La balada de Halo Jones’, ‘D.R. y Quinch’, las aventuras de Abelard Snazz (el hombre con el cerebro de dos pisos) y decenas de historias para las subcolecciones ‘Future Shocks’ y ‘Time Twisters’.
El nexo común de todas las historias en 2000 AD es la ciencia ficción, donde Moore se siente como pez en el agua al ser un género que le apasiona, y eso se nota. Moore es capaz de incluir el humor y la crítica social dentro de un terreno tan ajeno como es el espacio exterior. Pruebas de ello son historias como ‘Los Grawks nos traen regalos’, una aguda crítica al turismo dominguero, ‘La última batalla de la Horda Platino’, claro manifiesto anti belicista o ‘Una fábula de advertencia’, con una moraleja sobre el autocontrol personal.
A la hora de tratar el tiempo, Moore también hace gala de una elegancia y convicción al plantear las siempre temidas tramas que juegan con el tiempo, las cuales nunca dejan satisfecho a todos. Moore aquí no arriesga en exceso y plantea historias medianamente complejas pero conducidas de una manera suave para evitar que el lector se extravíe entre las líneas temporales, cosa que no llega a ocurrir. Entre las historias que tienen al tiempo como protagonista destacan ‘Los Cronopolis’, mezcla perfecta entre el género policíaco y la concurrencia temporal (memorable la frase “¡Nunca he olvidado lo que me harás!”), ‘El hombre reversible’, trama que se puede considerar una versión simplificada de ‘El misterioso caso de Benjamin Button’ y ‘Las perturbadoras digestiones del doctor Dibworthy’, que plantea la eterna cuestión del viaje al pasado con el fin de advertir a uno mismo sobre un mal futuro.
2000 AD
Un gran fruto del trabajo de Moore en 2000 AD resultó ser uno de los encuentros más memorables para el mundo del cómic. El punto de encuentro fue el relato ‘El retorno de la cosa’, una historia realmente floja pero que supuso que Alan Moore conociera a Dave Gibbons (y viceversa), quienes cinco años más tarde darían a luz Watchmen, de la que sobran ya todas las palabras elogiosas que se puedan decir.
Conseguir un ejemplar de 2000 AD en España es tarea prácticamente imposible, pero muchas de sus historias han sido publicadas en nuestro país gracias a Ediciones Kraken, incluidas algunas de las escritas por Alan Moore, recopiladas en un tomo único titulado ‘Completo Alan Moore Future Shocks’ al competente precio de 14,90 €. Otras historias de Moore para 2000 AD como ‘La balada de Halo Jones’ y ‘D.R. y Quinch’ también se han publicado en nuestro país pero de manera separada.
2000 AD2000 AD es una pieza realmente imprescindible para todos los que desean conocer la obra temprana de Moore y también para los que echan de menos la ciencia-ficción entre toda la marabunta de superhéroes DCeros y Marvelianos que aglutinan las estanterías de las tiendas especializadas. Echadle un buen vistazo, Tharg os garantizará historias de calidad.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of Alan Moore's short comics that he wrote for 2000AD. I've encountered some of them in the past while reading individual issues of 2000AD so it's nice to have it all collected together in one place.

This collects not only Moore's Future Shocks, but also his Time Twisters, other shorts and a hilarious series of stories involving Abelard Snazz, a mutant genius with four eyes that can solve problems with flashes of genius; only to create new problems.

Among my favourites collected here are:

- "The English/Phlondrutian Phrasebook": a funny collection of English to Phlondrutian phrases you can use at various locations like the Spaceport, the Hotel, while being interrogated and imprisoned on a slave satellite, and so on.

- "They Sweep The Spaceways": the job opportunities you have as a member of the Trans Galactic Garbage Disposal Corps. You get to replace burned out suns, get rid of pesky civilisations and clean whole galaxies with novas.

- "The Regrettable Ruse Of Rocket Redglare": when the world is at peace for many years, what is a forgotten hero who is running low on cash to do? Why, create a crisis with his old nemesis. But things may not turn out the way you want them to be.

- "The Wages of Sin": if the universe of full of heroes, what you need is a school of villains to turn out bad guys to keep them busy. Do you have what it takes to be a bad guy and rule the Universe?

- "The Reversible Man": what would it feel like to live your whole life, but going backwards in time?

- "Chronocops": on the life and times of cops who patrol the past, meeting each other and giving tips to their past selves, yet never creating paradoxes: unless the life of your partner is tied up in a peculiar way with yours.

- "Dr. Dibworthy's Disappointing Day": on the life of a scientist who discovers the secret of time travel and tests it out by trying to change history. But nothing keeps happening: or does it?

- "The Lethal Laziness of Lobelia Loam": when a slothful and messy girl discovers a time machine, it appears to solve all her messy problems. But you have to be careful that the mess doesn't come back to you someday.

[Абрахам Хосебр · Rating 5 out of 5]

Це абсолютне захоплення.
Мур знову доводить свою геніальність на цей раз у жанрі сатиричної фантастики.
Ця збірка складається з коротких історій, котрі Мур писав для журналу "2000 AD".
За вайбом ці історії сприймаються, як сюжетна суміш Лема і Діка. Також вражає якість графіки, серед художників є багато майбутніх легенд, наприклад Ділон.
Найбільше мені сподобався цикл історій про горезвісного генія Абелярда Снезза, котрий має четверо очей і двокамерний мозок.
На контрасті з попередньою прочитаною збіркою коротких історій для DC, в цій значно більше вільної творчої енергії, Мур зміг розгулятися наповну.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are some very interesting and brilliant stories. Very early Alan Moore stuff, but fun all the same.

[MatiBracchitta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Future Shocks son historias sueltas que Alan Moore escribió para 2000 AD. Fue uno de sus primeros trabajos, y aunque su valor simbólicos es inmenso, lo cierto es que no son nada de otro mundo.
Sus historias son simpáticas, en su mayoría graciosas. Tienen ya el toque de contenido de crítica social que Moore mantendrá durante toda su obra, usado en su cantidad justa y de la forma correcta.
También es destacable que todas las historias si bien son breves, en su mayoría el desarrollo es bastante bueno.
No mucho que agregar, valen la pena para pasar el rato, pero no mucho más.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I'm surprised that I liked this as much as I did. I think having read several anthology collections of short comic stories made me expect the worst, because many of the ones I've read lately have been very hit and miss. In comics, it seems like the short subject is kind of hard to nail. I guess it helps a lot when you're Alan Moore.

This collection reprints dozens of Alan Moore's earliest work for the British comic magazine 2000 AD, all of it sci-fi, most of it huge and/or goofy, a la Douglas Adams. I found this to be an incredibly interesting read, for a few reasons. First and foremost, the stories are all incredibly imaginative and speak to Alan Moore's developing use of deconstruction and post-modernist storytelling. Some of the tropes present here have since been done to death, but none of it feels particularly stale thanks to Moore's penchant for adding his own flare to stories about time travel paradoxes, alien invasions, and gods which are no longer worshipped. Even in the few stories that aren't particularly well-plotted, the ideas are so interesting that I could appreciate them on that merit alone.

Secondly, if you are an Alan Moore fan like myself, it's actually very inspiring to read work this unrefined from him. For the most part, he's considered to be a genius, like the High King of Comics or something. He wrote Watchmen, From Hell, The Killing Joke, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And also Tharg's Future Shocks, shoved in the middle of an old black-and-white comic magazine for British nerds. In reading this, you get a sense for the developing talent, but it's very refreshing to know that talent didn't just start. While he clearly had a knack for idea generation, he wasn't born writing works of genius. He worked his way there. And that gives me hope for myself, as a burgeoning creative type.

So, if you're a fan of Moore, definitely pick this up and give it a read. If you aren't, but you're into twisty, oddball sci-fi stories, this won't do you wrong. If you aren't into either of those, well. I don't know. Do whatever makes you happy.

[Ademption · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. Alan Moore's early short pieces for 2000 AD, the UK comic magazine famous for producing Judge Dredd. These are Moore's entries for a regular 2000 AD feature called Future Shocks, which is typically a 2-5 page comic short story with a futuristic but jokey premise. While the plot and punchline are telegraphed from the beginning of each strip, Moore made them his own by applying his hyper-creative powers. Despite the shortness of the medium and Moore's artistic youth, there is so much material here. Moore's shorts are so dense, I could only read two or three a day. There is a story about retired gods, who are banished to a retirement netherworld and forgotten because they are no longer worshiped. This premise prefigures, and is central to, Neil Gaiman's work on Sandman and American Gods. There is a story about a metal band whose concerts lead to planetary destruction and kill large populations, prefiguring Metalocalypse and Dethklok. I am not suggesting theft, but surely creators of such works were inspired by Alan Moore's work at 2000 AD. As mentioned elsewhere, Gaiman views Moore as a mentor. Moreover, Gaiman and Grant Morrison also worked on Future Shocks at 2000 AD and their work is collected in another book: All Star Future Shocks.

[James Kinsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early Alan Moore is my favourite Moore era - of his longform work, as much as I love Watchmen I love Halo Jones more. This collection of Moore's short 2000AD work - Future Shocks, Time Twisters, one-offs and Abelard Snazz stories - is an absolute gold mine of neat concepts, 2000AD style humour and bite-size delights. Some of the twists can be seen coming from a mile off, but most of this dates from the early 80s so can be forgiven seeming hokey now. What's critical is that even the hokey ones are never lacking in the playfulness that 2000AD excels at. I borrowed this, but will be getting my own copy to re-read, and fans of both Moore and Tharg should do the same.

[Berna Labourdette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una de las pocas cosas que me faltaba leer de Moore (es uno de sus primeros trabajos) y con la que me llevé una gratísima sorpresa. Es excelente. Una serie de historias cortas de ciencia ficción al más estilo pulp con un presentador (Tharg, en este caso) donde Moore aprovecha de hacer sátiras sobre el turismo desenfrenado, las paradojas de los viajes en el tiempo, siempre con un trasfondo irónico y moraleja  que causa gracia aun cuando lo que cuente sea horrible. Una muestra más del talento de Moore. 

[William Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still trying to decide overall how I feel about this, but it is impressive to see the stories being told happening so quickly. But that is also one of the drawbacks, the brevity of these pieces do not really suit the kind of storytelling I enjoy - and which Moore excels at. There isn't quite enough to sink my teeth into most of the time.

At the least this warrants a reread in a different prose-consumption/creation context.

[Gustavo Melo Czekster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genial. Alan Moore antes de ser Alan Moore - uma força da natureza. Historias muito criativas e irônicas, algumas com finais surpreendentes, e todas brincando com temas de ficção científica. Difícil destacar uma, mas gostei muito da história em que uma nave espacial fica com demência senil, da história dos alienígenas que eram ideias, da história do zoológico de seres humanos reunindo reconstruções genéticas de homens e mulheres famosos e da história do curso de vilões interespaciais.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que la peor de las historias de este tomo rozaría las cuatro estrellitas si le hiciera una reseña por separado, pero en su gran mayoría son pequeñas joyitas de relojería. Historias de terror, de ciencia ficción, de fantasía; todos los géneros pasan por la mordaz regurgitación de un Moore jovencísimo y afiladísimo que ya entonces perfilaba como uno de los mejores artistas del noveno arte.

[Rainb0warri0r · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paranoie in stile anni '80, humour british, un po' di fantascienza e un po' di horror, uno scrittore geniale e una cascata di eccellenti disegnatori.
L'Alan Moore giovanile e quello di nicchia: i suoi primi lavori ed i racconti brevi lasciati da parte. Nessun vero fan di Moore può lasciarselo sfuggire.

[Dom Fonce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Shakespeare of Sequential Art"'s first stories? Yes, gimme!

With level of ranking art, I hold Essentials higher than simple Classics. This is a lesser-known Essential book for comic readers and writers—entertaining and educational.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before he hit it big over at DC, Alan Moore worked for 2000AD writing short 3-4 page stories with twists at the end.

[Adan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me longer than it should have to finish this, which is weird since I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the stories were hilarious, and a lot of them had a nice twist.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Watchmen, V For Vendetta, or Swamp Thing, Alan Moore broke into the big time at 2000 AD, a weekly anthology magazine in the UK. Reading the list of artists that he collaborated with on this title reads like a who's who of British comics royalty, but think of it like the first season of Saturday Night Live. These were the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players blazing the trail that the entire industry would soon follow. Everyone realized they were great later on.

The book is divided into four sections: Tharg's Future Shocks, which are sci-fi heavy tales; Time Twisters, tales about time travel and the ramifications thereof; a section with four unrelated tales; and, finally, Abelard Snazz, a series about a self-proclaimed genius who uses his intellect to create problems where there are none, albeit unintentionally so. Clever stuff.

The best stories are found in Time Twisters. Ring Road is a Twilight Zone style weird story. The Time Machine is another good one, but it is The Reversible Man which steals the show. Not only is it the best story in this book, it is one of the best stories that Alan Moore has ever written. It is a story about a man's life, from death to birth, and it's an incredibly moving tale. Moore rarely goes this emotional, preferring the cerebral to the gut punch, but when he does he can put your heart down for the count. There are reasons why the conversation about who is the greatest comic book writer of all time always turns back to him.

Those interested in the salad days of one comic's greatest writers should check this out. This is essential reading and belongs on your bookshelf next to Watchmen, V For Vendetta, and From Hell.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, if you're expecting Alan Moore from these stories, you're probably going to be a little disappointed. The potential is there - there are some very imaginative ideas and some creative structures, but most stories are played as jokes or turn on a Twilight Zoneesque twist ending. Still, the humor is often very good, and the twists are fun. Of note: a scientist on a dying world sends his son into space. When the craft reaches Earth (in 1982), it is mistaken for a missile and triggers a nuclear holocaust!

Paired with Dave Gibbons, Moore turns in a nice gem about a pair of temporal cops, who crisscross over their own narrative several times in creative and fun ways. Plus, if you like getting some bang for your buck, the stories are extremely dense, consistently offering 6+ panels per page. The book features early art by current stars like Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Steve Dillon and Dave Gibbons.

All the strips aren't winners, and some just plain aren't very good (often being just too predictable), but you can see Moore's talent in many of them, as well as his evolving discipline and understanding of how to use the comic page most effectively.

[Wade Duvall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books is a gold mine. LITERALLY a gold mine. You have to go in and extract the gold. But man is it worth it. This is basically a compilation of Tharg's Future Shocks and Time Twisters (plus a few other one shots Alan Moore did for 2000 AD but which I didn't actually read). They are basically 3-5 page short stories that have a wide variety of tone. Some are kinda bad, some are basically set ups to a pun so bad you have to laugh, and some are really thought provoking stories. Some of them are pretty uneven or unpolished, but I really really really enjoyed the good bits, so much so that I have totally ignored the bad ones when rating it. This would be a great 2000 AD starting point, or even a good Alan Moore starting point! Check it out!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Moore often suggested to learning comic writing--but getting forced into the constraints of 2000AD short story writing. This would stimulate your creativity and understanding of the form.

This is Alan Moore's earliest comic writings (other than his self-published stuff), and I'm doing a bit of a reread before LOEG IV: Tempest comes out in July, 2018. In many ways, this is Alan Moore at his most ingenuitive. While not as academic, groundbreaking or well-written has his later stuff, this has a fun, manic and strange energy to it.

Probably some of the best black and white comics I can think of (other than perhaps Puma Blues) for their sheer simplicity of design, but not of ideas.

[Alessandro Agazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si tratta di una raccolta di racconti di fantascienza di Alan Moore a sfondo. Ovviamente stiamo parlando di fumetti.

Tutti i brevi (a volte brevissimi) racconti si basano su viaggi nel tempo oppure su forme di vita aliene. Il registro della maggior parte delle storie � ironico, con l'eccezione di qualche racconto un po' pi� serio.

Un paio di racconti sono geniali, alcuni strappano un sorriso, ma i restanti (la maggioranza) scivolano via senza particolari sussulti.

[Dario Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma coletânea de dezenas de estórias curtas do Alan Moore publicada na 2000 AD, revista que mudou o rumo dos quadrinhos ingleses nas décadas de 1970 e 1980. A maior parte tem poucas páginas. São praticamente vinhetas, em que ideias são reduzidas ao essencial, sem espaço para divagações.
Muito humor negro, surrealismo, absurdo. Enfim, Alan Moore na sua melhor forma.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty, compact early work from the grandmaster of Comicland. Variously silly alien landings, wonky time delights and the trails of a four eyed genius with a talent for unintended consequences. Best of all, a rhyming bedtime story for Tharg's nephews: " Are you levitating comfortably?"

[T.A. Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overall, with some fascinating stories. The weakest are the Snazz stories, which aren't bad, but drag a little (they take up several pages at the end of the book.
Loved all the Future Shocks and Time Twisters

[Odhran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a lot less Black Mirror and a lot more 2000AD than I was lead to expect.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante recopilación de la época de Moore en 2000 AD para conocer sus primeros pasos en la historieta. Historias cortas y divertidas, y no mucho más.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some brilliant short stories.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty fun collection. Moore does a lot more humor here than I've seen in any of his other work. He's also got some pretty clever twists in these 3-5 page stories.

[Zebulynn Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moore never disappoints