Today is legendary comic book creator Alan Moore’s 63rd birthday. In honour of the special occasion, we look at his 10 best ever works…
Captain Britain
Though he is usually thought of as a DC man, Moore worked for Marvel in the early part of his career – most notably in his run on Captain Britain. Looking back, they are important for being some of the earliest Marvel stories to explore alternate universes (the usual Marvel universe is also called Earth 616 for the first time).
From Hell
Moore is known for his murky, morally-ambiguous work and it doesn’t come much darker than From Hell, his adaptation of the real-life Jack the Ripper murders. In this comprehensive, atmospheric version of events Moore explores the seedy underbelly of Victorian London to depict a society sick to its core.
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?/Superman Annual #11
Alan Moore has written two of the great Superman stories. In Superman Annual #11 he wrote ‘For The Man Who Has Everything’ – where Superman is trapped in a perfect dream world where Krypton was never destroyed. ‘Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?’, on the other hand, was intended to be the final Superman story ever as it tells the tale of the hero’s tragic downfall…
Marvelman
As he is fond of doing, Moore took the classic British comics character/analogue for Shazam Marvelman – later named Miracleman – and thoroughly revised him to fit the grimmer outlook of the 1980s. . Before Watchmen and other similar titles, this was the first deconstructionist superhero story around. One which sort to prove that these old child-orientated characters could have a lot of depth.
Supreme
When Moore took over Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld’s Supreme series for Image Comics he completely reinvented it. Under him, Supreme became a loving homage to Superman and the stories deliberately evoked the optimism and wonder of the Golden Age of Comic Books, as a deliberate antidote to his darker work.
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