The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore by Lance Parkin

Recently, I have felt the desire to increase my knowledge of creators and the circumstances that have led them to be where they are in the industry and their personal lives. Few comics personalities are as divisive and intriguing as Alan Moore, so that seemed like a good place to start. Coincidentally, this decision came within a week or so of Lance Parkin publishing his second book on Mr Moore, the 423-page Magic Words.

The book seems thoroughly researched, including interviews and anecdotes from some of Moore's greatest promoters and detractors, including Dez Skinn, Eddie Campbell, Alan Davis, and many more. The hot topics of contention are addressed, such as his notorious perspective on movie adaptations, his criticism of modern comics, and the poisoned chalice: Marvelman/Miracleman.

A significant amount of time is spent on Moore's formative years as a comics fan and reader, with a few reproductions of some of his earliest work for local newspapers and magazines. I have never seen so many of Moore's illustrations in one collection.

I have been a long-time Moore fan, and was though I do not always agree with his politics, I was fully satisfied with his explanation and reasoning behind his positions. His essential crusade seems to be for creative and artistic integrity. He does not complain about movies because he hates the industry; he complains about adaptations because of the inevitable changes they make. For example, in one of the early pitches for a V for Vendetta movie the setting was changed to the US, Guy Fawkes was changed to Paul Revere, and the right-wing fascist government was changed to communism. In another early treatment, the secret police "Fingermen" were changed to sci-fi half-goat/half-man hybrids who worked in a building shaped like a finger. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with either story, just don't call it "V for Vendetta" because it clearly indicated that you missed the point of that story. It certainly doesn't help when uninformed executives publicly assert that Moore fully supports their product. Moore didn't refuse to endorse "Before Watchmen" because he's a vicious old malcontent hermit, he just wanted those writers and artists to feel like they should create their own stories instead of try to squeeze more juice from his story.

The book itself is visually striking, with black edges and an unusual title band in lieu of a dustjacket.

I found Mr Parkin's writing style and composition to be enjoyable and interesting, as well as his organizational breakdown of Mr Moore's life and career thus far. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to know more about Mr Moore's work and personality than is typically tossed out by the crowd.

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