At any rate, I wanted to take a moment to make sure that I piss everyone off that I've yet to offend:
Alan Moore is overrated.
Yeah, I said it. You heard me. I'll say it again:
Alan Moore is one of the most overrated names in the industry.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like some of Moore's work - I like his work in general, in fact - but that's a far cry from his being the new Stan Lee or something, the Stephen King of comic books, or whatever. And I really think part of this urban legend stems from the fact that he is British.
Now, I love the English - prefer them, in fact, to us Americans - but let's be honest about this: no matter how bad the fare is, if it's done by English folks, it automatically gets a better rating than the same crap from American creators. Take sit-coms, for a perfect example:
I love Brit-coms - prefer them, in fact, to most American sit-coms - but let's be honest about this: most British sit-coms are no better than the American ones. A lot of them are worse. The only difference between, say, Are You Being Served? and Three's Company is that one's British. Keeping Up Appearances is about as mundane a sit-com as you can find on any dial, and yet it's a PBS staple. There are some absolutely brilliant Brit-coms, but the truly great ones can be counted on one hand. Let's think about it:
- Monty Python's Flying Circus
- The Office
- Coupling
- Little Britain
- Father Ted
- Absolutely Fabulous
There have been some others along the way, but that about rounds out the list of the truly good British sit-coms. American TV has that beaten by a country mile, yet unless it's on HBO, it doesn't get much mention and it sure as hell isn't going to be shown on PBS! Those Brits have us beaten when it comes to dramas, though - hands down.
Still, this is true about everything to which the Brits turn their collective hand, with the exception of Jazz. Punk rock (Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains -- the best, no question -- but they're sidenotes to crap like The Clash), heavy metal (granted, Black Sabbath literally invented the field, but it was done better by Americans), plain vanilla rock n roll, poetry... the list goes on and on!
At any rate, when it comes to comic books, I really think the Brits have the same sort of thing going. Alan Moore is good, no question, but he's no Frank Miller. I personally don't even think he's as good as Dave Sim (apt, as the two are good friends, but not exactly fair, since Sim is a Canadian, and we're largely concerning ourselves with the British and Americans), but unless you're talking about independents or their semi-famous discussion, you're not very likely to hear both names in the same conversation.
But Alan Moore is always talked about in reverential terms, often by the same people who talk about Gene Roddenberry in the same tones, and I just don't get it. What is it, exactly, that Moore has ever done that's so damn great? I don't mean really good, I mean GREAT? Because whatever it is, I guarantee you I can come up with three things Frank Miller has done that are simply, flat-out better - not just as good, but better!
And before you even start, just stop. Watchmen was good, but it wasn't the watershed comics event most fans make it out to be; that distinction would belong to Elektra: Assassin and there's simply no two ways about that. And who did Assassin? Who else? Watchmen wasn't even as good as Miller's venture that same year -- what was that one called... let me think, OH YEAH: Dark Knight Returns. V for Vendetta? Again, good, not great! You want a retro superhero in a dark future, try Ronin by... who else? And Ronin honestly wasn't even that good.
Don't misquote me, Alan Moore is a definitive talent within the entire field, and it's unfair to compare anyone to Frank Miller whose only true, living, peer is Stan Lee (and time and history will prove me correct on this) -- really, Miller is second only to that cat what did The Yellow Kid (whose name escapes me, presently), and that's only because that was the first real comic strip. But Moore is not The Voice of Comicdom, as many have asserted for 20+ years now.
Although, I freely admit, I would love to interview Moore one day, just because he really is infinitely fascinating and the amount of research and effort he puts into his work is evident in them all.
UPDATE: I realize GeoCities hasn't been around in more than a decade, but I left the link JIC in reroutes to an archived form. - 2018
8 comments:
This was originally drafted on the 3rd and then later finished on the 13th. I accidentally published it with the original time and date, so if your bookmarks or RSS are wonky, it's my fault. They should straighten themselves out in a day or two.
I'm only saying this for the third time today because it's relevant to the rest of my comment... I know nothing about comics. Now that I've got that phrase firmly cemented in these pages, let me explain my Alan Moore love. :D
Sure, he started in comics. That's how everyone knows him. When I say Alan Moore, most people give me a blank look. When I say, "You know, he wrote the comics for 'V for Vendetta', 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', and 'From Hell'" you can practically see the lightbulb go off over their heads. But although I talk about him as "the comic guy" I think of him as the "spoken word guy".
His spoken word albums are second to none. I wrote about it once, long ago, on my blog.
If I were into comics, I'd agree with you. Frank Miller is the man to beat. But Alan Moore comes in a close second due to the sheer name power of his works.
I haven't heard Moore's spoken-word work. In fact, until you mentioned it, I would never have thought about it, but once you did, I seem to remember something about it. I've obviously read about it or heard someone mention it before -- might even have been you!
The only spoken-word stuff I've heard by anyone who started off in a different field was that of Black Flag's former frontman, Henry Rollins, and I wasn't that impressed (family man, family man!! I want to crucify you on your lawn, family man!... I didn't want to be a rat, I wanted to be a game show host -- that's about all I remember). There was that E-Step chick and Janeane Garafalo, but other than that, I'm about like you to comics when it comes to the spoken-word form.
Or am I? Who would know, since I'M A LIAR!!!!!!
(That was a long way to go for that small a payoff, wasn't it?)
You're a liar??? I am totally missing something. :)
Rollins.... I am always excited when I see him on tv or hear that he's coming to town. I was so excited to see him in Lost Highway, and I don't know why. lol It's not like I ever listen to him or even care what he says. I think he's one of those "interesting in theory" people.
If you ever get the urge to check out Moore's albums, try "Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels". It's the best/strangest, and worth it for the effed up carny music at the beginning. Do not turn it up full blast to start with, because when that first note plays, you will crap yourself. lol It's a little startling.
AAARRRGGGHHH!
The English Major in me can't take it right now. Manny! I'm going to hug you to death or something i swear!
You said "in fact" about a million-ga-jillion times. There are also so many commas in your post that the whole post sounds like it's on permanent pausing if read out loud. That or the person reading it is having a stroke.
Anyways.
Down with Alan Moore.
Heh. Yeah, I kind of rushed it out the door. I'll clean it up later, Mayren. Sorry.
Liar is an old Rollins Band song, IG.
Anyway, Killing Joke. Killing Joke rocked; that was a good Alan Moore work. One of Bolland's best pieces, too. I can't recall anything else Bolland has done since then, actually.
Ahhhh! That explains it. I have no idea how I came to even know who Rollins is. I never listened to Black Flag or anything else he did for that matter.
Thank You, x3
Agree 100%. I'd add the qualifier that I greatly enjoyed Moore's limited work in 2000 A.D. as well as his work on Superman. But the hushed tones for this guy are ridiculous.
Also agree that Miller has by far turned out the better work of the two, though some of his work was trash.
Personally I think Moore is preferred over Miller for political reasons more than for the fact that Moore is English. Much of Miller's work glorifies intensely traditional values and political beliefs from the vigilante-ish, even fascistic, Dark Knight to the martial culture glorified in 300 to the traditional religious themes in his Daredevil work. Moore's politics as evidenced in his work seem to be the hackneyed kill the killer "Nazi" meme from Vendetta or the mental instability of those who hold traditional beliefs like the nut Rohrschach in Watchmen. All cliched themes in today's media, though Moore does them with some panache.
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