Алан Мур. Магия слова

by Lance Parkin

Последние 35 лет фанаты и создатели комиксов постоянно обращаются к Алану Муру, как к главному авторитету в этой современной форме искусства. В графических романах "Хранители", "V - значит вендетта", "Из ада" он переосмыслил законы жанра и привлек к нему внимание критиков и ценителей хорошей литературы, далеких от поп-культуры.
Репутация Мура настолько высока, что Голливудские студии сражаются за права на экранизацию его комиксов. Несмотря на это, его карьера является прекрасной иллюстрацией того, как талант гения пытается пробиться сквозь корпоративную серость.
С эксцентричностью и принципами типично английской контркультуры, Мур живет в своем родном городке - Нортгемптоне. Он полностью погружен в творчество - литературу, изобразительное искусство, музыку, эротику и практическую магию. К бизнесу же он относится как к эксплуатации и вторичному процессу. Более того, за время метафорического путешествия из панковской "Лаборатория Искусств" 1970-х годов в список бестселлеров Нью-Йорк Таймс, Мур неоднократно вступал в жестокие схватки с гигантами индустрии развлечений. Сейчас Алан Мур - один из самых известных и уважаемых "свободных художников" продолжающих удивлять читателей по всему миру.
Оригинальная биография, лично одобренная Аланом Муром, снабжена послесловием Сергея Карпова, переводчика и специалиста по творчеству Мура, посвященным пяти годам, прошедшим с момента публикации книги на английском языке.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Comics, Biography Memoir, Art, Memoir, Writing

608 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Lance Parkin is an author who has written professional Doctor Who fiction since the 1990s. He is one of the few authors to write for both the 1963 and 2005 version of the programme — though much of his fiction has actually been based on the 1996 iteration. Indeed, he was notably the first author to write original prose for the Eighth Doctor in The Dying Days. He was also the author chosen to deliver the nominal 35th anniversary story, The Infinity Doctors, and the final volume in the Eighth Doctor Adventures range, The Gallifrey Chronicles. More recently, he has written for the Tenth Doctor in The Eyeless.

He is further notable for his work with Big Finish Productions, where he is arguably most known for writing the Sixth Doctor adventure, Davros.

Outside of Doctor Who, he has written things like Warlords of Utopia and (with Mark Jones) Dark Matter, a guide to the author Philip Pullman.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

My favourite Doctor Who writer doing a biography of one of my favourite writers full stop; I was always going to like this. But what surprised me is how critical it's prepared to be. Neither hagiography nor hatchet-job, its even-handedness puts it in perhaps the best position for a life of a living subject - though written as unauthorised, it has since won its subject's wry endorsement. But then, what people often miss when they see Moore's more outrageous diatribes in writing is that, though he takes his principles very seriously, he takes himself a lot less so.

[Michael Allan Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

You probably know before you crack this tome open whether it's for you or not: a painstakingly detailed and researched 400-page biography of one of the most controversial figures in comics history.

However, whether you're a fan of the man's work or not, any scholar of comics history will find this book indispensable (I learned more about British comics as a whole reading this one book than I've encountered anywhere else, for one), and for an aspiring creator, here's a textbook with many cautionary tales to be learned from: most notably that if you want respect from your publishers, you'll have to learn to bare your teeth once in a while and demand it, not just quietly cashing a paycheck to do whatever they tell you. Oh, and make good art with more depth that might be immediately visible at a quick glance.

Lance Parkin does a remarkable job of presenting a fair and balanced portrait of Moore, both celebrating his genius and not shying away from taking a critical look at some of his missteps and misbehaviors. This is an extremely honest appraisal of Moore's talent and contributions to pop culture, and all the more valuable for it, and a deep examination of his groundbreaking work and how elements of his life shaped each of those.

In an era where most mainstream comics professionals lack much of a spine or ethics and will roll with whatever marketing-driven drivel their overseers tell them to write and draw as part of their job-secure exclusive contracts -- basically undoing decades' worth of efforts of creators to improve their lot and producing reams of uninspired, pre-calculated mediocre product as a result -- Moore's maverick attitude of battling the suits and being willing to say 'no' to the easy money for making pablum is all the more relevant ... and a painful reminder of what comics used to be when creators wanted to make quality art as much as they did money, and with the right attitude and hard work, could achieve both.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ephemeral nature of comics (and frankly, it’s not just comics—all art has started as ephemeral, and it’s only after it becomes established that certain items and creators become acknowledged as influential and the form emerges into something that is worthy of being talked about, be it painting, novels, popular music, blogging…but I digress), printed on the worst quality paper featuring stock characters with repetitive plots, meant that most readers could care less who made up the creative team. As a reader for most of my childhood, I never paid attention to the writer and my opinion of the artist was just to note whom I thought could actually draw people (to the extent that I had a hard time getting used to the style of two acclaimed artists, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby). I knew who Stan Lee was, but that was more for Stan’s Soapbox than for a writing credit.

The first writer who made an impression on me, such that I started looking for comics based on the writer rather than the characters, was Steve Gerber. I adored Howard the Duck and The Defenders in the mid-1970s, and I quickly realized who Gerber was. Part of that may have been due to how he injected himself into the comic—but that was the point, right? Up until then, the author to me had been someone behind the scenes and when Gerber broke the fourth wall (the tenth panel?), you had to finally acknowledge the manipulator behind it all. While I still collected some comics based on characters after Gerber (and by saying characters, what I really mean is “runs,” as the collector in me wanted to get complete sets, etc.), my focus began to change to focus on writers (and, again, this likely corresponded with my non-graphic reading change from books that had magic/fantasy in them to books by the same author).

Alan Moore emerged to my reading consciousness through a chance purchase of Swamp Thing. I’m not sure what prompted the initial buy, because it wasn’t a character that I collected, it came from DC and I was pretty much a Marvel fan, and the art (from Rick Veitch) was more grotesque than I usually cared for. Perhaps it was a recommendation by a store owner. But as soon as I read Moore, I knew that I wanted to read more. And for over three decades, I’ve done so, being more than willing to read whatever he wanted to write, enjoying the diversity that is Batman: The Killing Joke, Watchmen, Maxwell the Magic Cat, From Hell, Promethea, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Top Ten. And, while I knew some of the stories behind these stories, it was mostly hearsay, as by the 1990s, my focus on comics had waned as I concentrated on prose.

This biography of Moore fills in the in-between information, explaining how and why that incredible diversity happened, including Moore’s shift from Marvel and DC characters to the creation of America’s Best Comics and Lost Girls. What really comes through is Moore’s strong ethical and moral sense, to the detriment of his business savvy, such that once he feels he’s been wronged, he decides to cut all relationships from that point forward. It’s not that Neil Gaiman, to use a contemporary example, has less morals, but Gaiman has proven to be as successful a businessman as he is a creator, or at least smarter and less trusting of others to honor agreements unless they are written in contracts.

I don’t fully understand Moore; his background and beliefs do not coincide with my upbringing or experience. But I do find him, and his work, endlessly interesting and fascinating. I sometimes wonder if his “worship” of this pagan god of his own creation is tongue-in-cheek, perhaps like Robert Anton Wilson’s Illuminati, wherein the reality of it is entirely subjective.
I’m not sure how much someone who hasn’t read a majority of Moore’s work will get from this biography, as it constantly references that work, especially The Killing Joke, Watchmen, From Hell, and Lost Girls. But if you’re a fan, this is a fascinating expose and exploration of a modern creator who has made an indelible mark on the field and did it in his way.

[GD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book only gets 3 stars not because most of the stuff inside isn't very interesting, it really is, but there are too many details about the business and publishing side of comics that I don't know enough about to find very interesting. Alan Moore as a subject, on the other hand, is one of the most interesting people I've ever read about.

He's interesting not only because of what he produces but also just as a person, he's really weird. A few nights ago I was reading this and sent a text to a friend of mine asking why no one was freaking out that Alan Moore had done albums with a guy from Bauhaus, and he replied, "Because that's probably only the 17th weirdest thing about Alan Moore." That pretty much sums him up, haha.

If you aren't into Alan Moore already, I don't think this book would have much value, but if you do like him, you should probably read this.

[Jon Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few comic writers are fascinating enough to merit a biography; often their stories are best understood with relevance to the context of the companies for which they worked and what they did with the shared universe characters they wrote. Alan Moore is undoubtedly one of the few fascinating enough to merit such a biography. It’s the story of how someone who was expelled from school early and has always resided in the Midlands town of Northampton essentially conquered the comics world before deciding he didn’t particularly enjoy ruling the world and retiring to his own private fiefdom to become a magician and pursue the projects he wanted to. It’s got magic, betrayal, bloody-mindedness and a bunch of mythical heroes. Everything you want in a story.

Parkin’s an adept and knowledgeable guide to Moore’s life and work. He successfully manages to track both successfully and there’s some excellent analysis of even Moore’s least known works. He’s careful to let others express their own view of Moore and isn’t overly reverent towards his subject; he’s perfectly willing to call out when Moore’s stories don’t work (and why), is happy to acknowledge the roles of timing and circumstance in his career and is quite happy to acknowledge that Moore can often be difficult to deal with in business. Indeed, he puts this in context of how the citizens of Northampton have been historically viewed and draws out how, despite his love for his hometown, its influence may have been as detrimental as it has been helpful. The comparisons with how Moore and Neil Gaiman dealt with the US comics industry are particularly instructive. Whilst he clearly admires Moore (and you don’t write a biography of this thoroughness without strong feelings one way or the other for a subject) he commendably doesn’t force his own view on the reader but allows them to make up their own mind (explicitly so in the last line).

What it does make clear is why Moore is a cut above other comic writers in technical terms; as a voracious reader in his youth he has a deep understanding of graphical storytelling, an intense attention to detail and, above all, is always seeking to engage the reader’s brain and not merely entertain them for 24 pages at a time. His comics are a conversation with the reader rather than a performance seeking to dazzle an audience. It’s not an earth-shattering conclusion, but a case amply built up over the course of the book and one which explains why others who’ve played with the toys Moore left them haven’t quite grasped why he got them right. And that their being a specific reaction by Moore to time and place often leads to their qualities being bent out of shape in adaptation and misunderstood, imagery over substance. It comes across as a thorough guide to Moore and his works; the first point of reference for anyone wishing to learn more about the man after reading his works.

And this is also one of those books it’s worth tracking down a physical copy of; the hardback version is beautifully designed to the point I’d feel heretical having bought a paperback or eBook. Given the medium Moore works in now makes great play of deluxe editions it’s something that feels entirely appropriate.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good biography and bibliography of Alan's work. If you want to know what he wrote, in what order, and who he had disagreements with along the way this is the book for you. I've been quite a bit of an Alan Moore fan for several years now and I have to admit I didn't really learn anything from reading this (except a bit of an overview of his Doctor Who comics). The interviews quoted were also things I'd mostly heard before. (Annoyingly with the references, even the year, hidden away in footnotes at the back).

Lance does a reasonable job of explaining Alan's magical beliefs. Though in a rather dry and clinical way. I have to say I disagreed with both suppositions at the back of the book. I think of Alan as a writer who now has the freedom to write what he wants without worrying about how it will be viewed.

The book is beautiful though, with glimmering green covers and black edges. Though I must admit as books about Alan go I think I preferred Storyteller which focused more on the art and less on the disputes.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish, managed to trudge through about 75% before I gave up...
While Alan Moore is an interesting figure, this book is quite dull....It reads a lot like a cut and paste research paper, very dry....not really anything original within, seems like it was more of a compilation of things I had already read about Moore....added one star for the physical quality, it is a beautiful book....

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

things i did not know the first alan moore i bought was my first bauhaus record mask for which moore wrote the poem inside- the DR. Dee songs albarn wrote was first envisioned to be wrote/co-wrote with moore.

[Eamonn Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrow, suspicious, mean, self-reliant, pig-headed, but generally honourable and as good as their word.’ This quote from ‘The Unprivileged’ by Jeremy Seabrook, describes the working class people of Northampton. They might also, according to his biographer, be used to describe Alan Moore.

The writer Alan Moore has a background I recognise. Born 18th November 1953, he grew up in a working-class neighbourhood, lived in a council house and had a happy childhood. They were poor but they didn’t know they were poor because everyone else was, too. A fish does not notice water. When he went to grammar school, he realised there was such a thing as the middle class. Previously, he had assumed that everyone was like him except the Queen. At junior school, little Alan was top of the class but found himself half-way down in the first year at grammar school and sort of gave up because if he couldn’t win, he wasn’t going to play. He wrote and drew his own comics and sold a few to classmates. He became an autodidact and self-educated himself with pulp fiction, such literature as he fancied and, most importantly, comics. He was a big fan of sixties Marvel. Kicked out of school for drug dealing, he felt a missionary impulse to spread the delights of LSD, he went into a number of dead-end jobs but continued to do creative things at the local Arts Lab, the centres of music, poetry and the hippie counter-culture. David Bowie sponsored one in London. Moore has pretty much remained part of the counter-culture with a dislike of big corporations and a general notion that authority figures are out to get him.

His wife became pregnant, so he decided to get serious with the writing. He went on benefits for two years while submitting work here there and everywhere. When the income from the freelance work exceeded the benefits money, he came off them. That’s the ‘generally honourable’ bit of the character. Right-wingers tend to froth at the mouth about ’dole queue scroungers’ but there is arguably some social merit to not letting budding artists starve while they learn their trade. I believe John Lennon never worked a day in his life at a ‘proper’ job while practicing his tunes. Alan Moore did a few years menial labour, has continued to reside in Northampton and has surely paid a lot of taxes on his large income since that time, more than enough to cover two years at £42.50 per week, the benefit money he and his wife received. Although in interviews he gives the impression of a lazy hippie, his wife has said that he works from eight in the morning until eight at night and doesn’t watch much television.

Moore wrote ‘Marvelman’ and ‘V For Vendetta’ in Dez Skinn’s ‘Warrior’ comic, ‘Captain Britain’ for Marvel UK and ‘The Ballad Of Halo Jones’ for ‘2000AD’, as well as other stuff in music magazines and underground comics. He came to the attention of DC Comics in the USA and took over ‘Swamp Thing’, which he made a great success. Just as the Beatles broke open America for other British bands, so Moore paved the way for other British comic talent. Marvel and DC came looking to see what we had on this sceptred isle and ran away with the top writers and artists. Lance Parkin notes that while the American companies imported British talent, they don’t really comprehend British irony and black humour. The writers of ‘Judge Dredd’ meant it as a dark satire on violent policing and many Americans think that’s the way cops ought to be.

Anyway, Moore went on to write ‘Watchmen’ and the rest is history, a history of trouble between little Alan and big corporations. He fell out with Marvel over the rights to ‘Marvelman’. He fell out with DC because he came not to trust them, not over money. Moore gets 4% royalties on Watchmen and it has sold rather well. He does not love the Hollywood studios. Unusually, he doesn’t swoon with gratitude at the notion of his comics being made into films. He doesn’t regard a comic book as something trivial and a film as something super. He writes comics because he loves the medium and thinks it is the best way to tell stories. He is no doubt ‘grim, unreasonable and annoying’ as he says himself on the cover blurb but, oh my God, don’t he write good.

One of the best things about this very enjoyable book is that in detailing Moore’s life, it also details his works, many long forgotten, so you can seek them out. Moreover, it mentions works that he likes and that have influenced him so you can seek them out, too. I love his greatest hits – ‘Watchmen’, ‘V For Vendetta’, ‘Captain Britain’, ‘The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ – but regret, somewhat, his influence on comics. They became violent and gory for a while and there were far too many rapes. Nicely, he regrets this legacy as well and wishes that everyone would stop copying what he did when he was a young man and go do something else. He did try to get back to fun comics with the 1963 series, a spoof/homage to sixties Marvel. It broke down because of the usual wrangles with publishers. These wrangles are by no means always his fault because the comics business has been a den of unscrupulous practice since its beginnings in 1930s America. Read ‘Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters And The Birth Of The Comic Book’ by Gerard Jones.

As well as the counter-culture ethos, the commercial success, breaking into America and paving the way for others, I think there is one more parallel with John Lennon. I think Moore has a wicked sense of humour. When you get to a certain level of celebrity, especially as an ‘intellectual’, your every statement can be taken very seriously. Lennon said, years after ‘bagism‘, that he and Yoko were cracking up laughing inside those bags. Alan Moore’s madder pronouncements on magic and his snake god Glycon should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt or maybe those magic mushrooms he ingested when he first met the little glove puppet.

The fellow is sixty now and still at work. He publishes idiosyncratic books like ‘The Lost Girls’ in expensive formats with smaller companies and makes them rich. A huge novel, ‘Jerusalem’, is forthcoming one day and he says it is practically unreadable and the last bit probably won’t make much sense to anyone but him. It’s about Northampton. I expect it will be a best-seller. May he live long and prosper and may many thousands of fans buy Lance Parkin’s excellent biography and find out more about what makes Moore tick.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

[Divuar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never been a huge fan of Alan Moore, I mostly grabbed this book because I heard he was an extraordinary person. Also, The Killing Joke and Watchmen are amazing reads, so I have this book a try.
I was so surprised about how this biography book got me. I dived deep into it. The book is written so good, it just doesn’t let you go. In addition, there’s ton of information about how the comics industry works. I also found ‘Magic Words’ as well as the person of Mr. Moore very inspiring.
Highly recommended for anyone who’s into creativity, writing and art.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and rather long read about one of the iconic writers of graphic novels in Britain, I have read some of his more popular works like Watchmen, V for Vendetta etc. but I’m not a massive comics fan so it was interesting to read about his early years and the plethora of comics that he worked for as well as his personal life, various feuds with people and his worship of a serpent god Glycon.

An in depth biography that while it is a few years out of date now but it is easily accessible for both the comic fan and more casual observer alike.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating and informative for anyone who appreciates Alan Moore. Rather than a hagiography, it actually is occasionally critical of Moore, and helps explain the occasional bad press and dismissals of Moore that have popped up in the last 20 years.

[Evan McB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew everything about Alan Moore, but then I read this biography and realized there was still some things I did not know about Alan Moore. But now, thanks to this concise and compleat career retrospective, I definitely know everything about Alan Moore. I'm very much looking forward to the next biography of Alan Moore, and further revelations of Alan Moore's life and career of which I am currently unaware.

Also, if anyone at HBO is reading this AND I KNOW YOU ARE: Stop spending a dump truck's worth of money on both the hollowed-out husk of the intellectual properties Moore worked on three decades ago, and the work of people who are only capable of doing a substandard pastiche of Alan Moore! Take that dump truck full of money and back it up to Moore's house, and give him carte blanche to write 18 episodes of ANYTHING HE F***ING WANTS!!! You're welcome for the obvious advice.

[Jason Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well researched book. The writer had some very interesting things to say about V for Vendetta and Watchmen. I found the writing to be sub-par at times, though, especially when he ventured opinions on Moore's personality. Sometimes the writer seems to know that editors' and Moore's fallings out were more complex than he framed them to be, but it feels like he sacrificed an extended discussion on the nature of conflicting personalities and corporate/freelance working relations in order to have the book end on a cliffhanger: Was Alan Moore a stubborn grump--or was the comics industry a fool to ignore him?

Otherwise a decent book on the life of Alan Moore.

[Elizabeth Sandifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got to read an early draft of this over the summer - absolutely marvelous, and the most complete picture of the development of Moore's career published to date. Parkin demonstrates a clear understanding of the complex thought and philosophy of Alan Moore, and depicts its evolution in terms that are sympathetic but not hagiographic. I cannot imagine an Alan Moore fan for whom this is not a must-read book.

[Jack Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, Moore is such an interesting fellow, which is not the same as being easy to get on with or straightforward. He's indefatigably Alan Mooreish though.


Something I love is when you've read about the same event from more than one perspective, and David J writes about that whole magical experience in his autobiog too. SO satisfying.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muita gente sabe que Alan Moore é considerado um gênio da escrita dos quadrinhos. Mas poucos sabem da sua trajetória de formação. Em sua escola básica, ele era uma estrela, mas quando foi para a escola de rapazes, não se acertou por lá e acabou expulso por traficar LSD. Passou por muitos trabalhos braçais até encontrar sua boia de salvação: os ArtsLabs. Os ArtsLabs eram oficina gratuitas, incentivadas pelo governo inglês e que tinham um artista renomado como curador e administrador. David Bowie chegou a ter alguns ArtsLabs nos anos 70 na Inglaterra. O da cidade de Northampton ajudou Alan Moore a encontrar seu caminho através da experimentação artística, que sempre foi um dos seus motes em seu estilo. Além disso, foi a partir deles que Alan conheceu Steve Moore (sem parentesco) que foi seu mentor no mundo dos quadrinhos e o orientou para diversos trabalhos. Este livro, diferente dos demais, apota esta fase de Moore, claro, até os dias de hoje. Mas o seu diferencial é ir direto ás raízes do escritor. Enquanto os demais apenas se focam nas suas obras e estilos, este foca muito mais nos bastidores e, principalmente nos bastidores das criações de Moore. Mostra também muitos dos problemas com as ideologias de Alan em renegar seus trabalhos passados principalmente com editoras grandes e evitar que seja creditado nos filmes que adaptam seus trabalhos. Não é uma biografia que toma lados, mas que deixa claro que a visão de Alan Moore, confrontada com as demais, está bastante equivocada. Tem uma citação da Internet que é citada por Lance Parkin, autor do livro, que resume bem a vida de Alan Moore e suas brigas e desafetos intermináveis: "Qualquer dia alguém vai se encontrar preso, porque Alan Moore está fechando TODAS as portas". Triste que a genialidade de Moore acaba sendo restrita por seu enorme ego.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth review of the work of the one the key voices that redefined what the world of comics and graphic novels could achieve, Magic Words/i> is a massive love letter to his work that does not shy away from allowing voices that don't agree (and often clash) with Moore's opinions to enter the arena and provide a wider context to his work. A weird and eccentric character himself, Moore has also created some of the most interesting comics and graphic novels of the past decades (V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, and Lost Girls) as well as some equally interesting novels (Voice of the Fire and the massive Jerusalem). Moore and his many collaborators (Gibbons, O'Neill, Gebbie) have helped redefine and expand the boundaries of graphic narrative beyond even the "gritty, realistic superheroes" cliché that he is commonly associated with. Beyond the review of his most famous works, Parkin also makes an exhaustive research of his early work in the British independent comic scene, as well as his experience with magick and performance arts (which, of course, are entagled from his graphic and narrative work). Magic Words is certainly not an introduction to Alan Moore's work and requires at least some previous approach to his better known works, but it will certainly help readers to understand Moore's individual works as well as his overall achievements and themes.

[Adam Roll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe not the last book on Alan Moore I will read, that is how big a fan of this writer I am. To dwell on the works of a comic book writer might seem fanboy, but Parkin reminds us Moore is much more than the Watchmen guy. A magician, a musician, and the author of incredibly wonderful novels, this guy deserves his due. Reading Jerusalem from start to finish was an experience, this biography fits into my assumptions from his work so smoothly that I must have been well prepared by the bigger book. All that and Promethea is my favorite comic book of all time. I would miss reading this one now that it is over, but I have a copy on my shelves and I'll probably go back to learn more magic words from Magic Words.

[Dan Relluchs · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this I didn't come away with a good sense of who Moore is but I did get an enjoyable journey through the comic industry and related history. There's a little too much focus on business gossip / drama and revisiting things for me but it was a good read overall.

"'There isn't a Too Far. And if there is, it's absolutely the place to be seen.', now admitted to an interviewer, 'Looking back, yes, maybe I have gone too far - but it's still a good story'".

[RND · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, and not afraid to call Moore on his own stubbornness and other faults (and I'm a huge fan; I mean, I guess I'd have to be to have read this). Surprised to see it endorsed by the subject himself.

[Маx Nestelieiev · Rating 5 out of 5]

дуже змістовна і докладна біографія творчості Алана Мура, хоч, через дату виходу, і не охоплює його найновіших тексті і коміксів. найцінніше - контексти про британську й американську індустрію коміксів, коли подано версії всіх сторін, задіяних у певних конфліктах.

[Mario · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover says 'Belongs on the bookshelf of any halfway decent criminal profiler'... I guess I am not halfway decent nor a criminal profiler

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting if you want to learn the history of the comic renaissance of the mid-80s or are a fan of Moore. Can't see anyone else caring.

[Wyktor Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this one as it was way too long-winded for me, particularly as I'm not au fait with the whole graphic novel genre.

[Jason Bergman · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much you enjoy this book will depend entirely on your interest in the subject matter. As a lifelong fan of Moore's, it's safe to assume I am quite interested, but I'm also well educated on his life and work going in. But I still enjoyed Magic Words. Parkin does an admirable job illuminating the various feuds that define Moore's life (and let's be honest...Moore's life really does seem to be defined by the people he's fighting with in each era), as well as adding some nice context to his work.

I would have liked more information about Moore's failed, or still unfinished projects (particularly Jerusalem, his unfinished prose magnum opus). But as I said, I enjoyed the book. Recommended for fans.

[Edward Lee]

A bit of a mixed bag all round. Learning about the worlds Alan Moore has lived in, the arts labs of the 60s/70s, the British comics scene of the 70s/80s, proved really interesting. Outside of these areas though, the book is a bit scatterbrained in what it decides to focus on/leave out. It'll brush past a number of his major works with no discussion of, or insights into, his inspiration or writing process behind these iconic works, but will go to lengths to describe how he fell out with certain people from his life.

I'm glad I read it altogether, but if anything more as a way to prime me to go read more of his work/read and watch interviews with him to plug the gaps there this piece left me hanging.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a die hard Alan Moore fan, but I usually enjoy his interviews, and I think artist biographies can always help inform an artist's work. I don't think there's always a direct connection - this happened, so this is what the work of art means - but I think this book helps situate Moore's comics work in a different context. An interesting read about a writer who's led an interesting life.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly an exhaustive history of the comics industry, seen the lens of Alan Moore's career. However, it definitely had a lot of interesting information about his life and work. I thought it was a very thorough and fair depiction of the man, the mystery, and his artistic achievements.

[Manuel Moreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly well researched and written, not only does this book offer the reader a detailed and fascinating profile of Alan Moore, it also provides an interesting glimpse into the worlds of the comic book and movie industries. This is a great piece of investigative journalism.