The Extraordinary Works Of Alan Moore: Indispensable Edition

by George Khoury

Rare book

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Biography, Graphic Novels, History, Art, Reference

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 6, 2003

About the author

George Khoury has written and edited the Eisner-nominated Kimota!, The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, True Brit, and Comic Book Fever. He served as senior editor to the award-winning Comic Book Artist magazine and as a regular contributor to the popular Modern Masters series. In the last 20 years, he's been a freelance writer for magazines, newspapers, and internet.

Reviews

[Printable Tire · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels like every 5 years or so I get interested in Alan Moore again, without ever actually getting around to reading any of his groundbreaking work. This might be my deepest side-foray yet: an incredibly long interview with the man that spans an entire large-format book (I read the 2002 edition, not sure what the newer one looks like).

It kept me completely enwrapped, especially the parts where he goes into fairly minute detail about how he got his foot in the industry and somehow early on made a living out of it. His thought process for various story ideas, and his opinions on the comic medium and business in general, are all very interesting. I even liked it when he gets a little preachy about the whole magic thing. But the interview is poorly edited- there's a good deal of repetition and rehashes, and all the "when did you? was it when?" "I think it was, no maybe you're right it was earlier" got a bit tiresome. Also, by these interviews being amassed in a book, one after the other, and by being the subject of all this idolizing scrutiny and all, through really not much fault of his own, Moore comes off a bit full of himself. There, I said it! Which is why the two bookends, witty put-downs by his daughters, are so nice to read.

The homages/tributes are fairly whatever, and I would have liked less of them (as well as the embarrassing Moore pin-up pictures that start every chapter) and more Moore, or at least enlarged, readable fuckin' prints of the ephemera (scripts, comics he drew, etc.), from his professional and pre-professional lifetime.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the creative process, and the business of the creative process, maybe even especially if they are cynical or uninterested in the medium and business of mainstream captain underpants comic books.

[Robert Pocock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The meat of this book is a long extensive interview with Alan Moore taking us from his childhood and through his career, up until the current state-of-play in 2008. (The bulk of the interview was conducted for the previous 2002 edition and there is an extra chapter bringing it up to date.) All stages of his career are discussed in detail with many examples of both well-known and more obscure works. There are also lots of extras which really make this a great read, some unpublished - comic strips, scripts, photos and even an early short prose story from when he was just 17. There is also a detailed bibliography of his work and some short tribute strips contributed by collaborators and associates. (e.g. Neil Gaiman, Kevin O'Neill etc.)

I've always enjoyed reading interview books with Alan Moore and this is one of the best. Excellent.

[Ancient Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever wanted to know more about the legendary Alan Moore, this is your chance. This book is the only thing in print I've managed to find with biographical info about the whole of Moore's life - well, autobiographical, I guess, since he's the one being interviewed. Very accessable, very interesting.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puede que no haya leído todo el libro y pocas cosas recuerdo de su contenido. Pero lo que recuerdo me gustó tanto que ponerle cuatro estrellitas es lo mínimo que podría hacer. Y lo máximo sería poder conseguirlo directamente :D

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection of Moore florilegia, plus an account of his career in his own words.

[Macha · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 & 1/2 stars.

[Paulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

One impressive review of His Work.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great view of the master work !!!!!

[Маx Nestelieiev · Rating 5 out of 5]

по суті, інтерв'ю завдовжки у книгу - про все життя Алана Мура з дитинства до Ліги, дуже багато подробиць і взагалі того, як він дійшов до коміксів + є його рідкісні стріпи і мінікомікси + спогади друзів і доньки + скріпти - коротше кажучи, скарб. ще й чудово проілюстрований

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A solid book-length interview with Alan, along with various tributes on the occasion of Alan's 50th birthday in 2003. Worthwhile if you're interested, but not essential.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a fawning zine dedicated to Moore, in book format. It's fine but only necessary reading if you're an obsessive fan.

[Sanjeev Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insights. Makes me want to read everything I’ve got and get everything else.

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mr Monster story is excellent and it's always a treat to read an interview with Mr Moore

[Hoch Hech]

Una vez lo pude tener entre mis manos y parecía muy interesante.

[Patrick Hurley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of rambles a bit. Interesting in some ways. I think after awhile I just got tired of it and began skimming.