The Alan Moore Cast

This week on The Alan Moore Cast, we’re taking a look at Alan Moore’s work for Marvel Comics… or, more specifically, the lack thereof.Some of Moore’s earliest professional work was for the Marvel UK imprint, but after the early 1980’s, the writer’s work for the House of Ideas was few and far between. What happened between Moore and Marvel that ultimately caused Moore to swear off working for the publisher? How close did Moore come to writing for Marvel again in the early 2000’s? And which Marvel hero was Alan Moore most interested in tackling?EPISODE BIBLIOGRAPHY:Fantasy Express #5, “An Interview with Alan Moore,” Eddie Stachelski, 1983Arken Sword #11, “Alan Moore: Part Two,” Paul Duncan, 1984BLIMEY!: The Blog of British Comics, “The Daredevils (1983),” Lew Stringer, 2015Escape Magazine #6, Alan Moore, “An Impossibly Rich Celebrity’s Guide,” 1984Speakeasy #54, “Moore and Claremont Speak Out on Writing,” Unknown Author, 1986Miracleman #2, “M^^^^^^MAN: FULL STORY AND PICS,” Alan Moore, Eclipse Comics, 1985KIMOTA!: The Miracleman Companion, “Revival and Revelation,” George Khoury, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2001The Extraordinary Work of Alan Moore, George Khoury, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003“The Alan Moore/Marvelman Interview Part II: A Crumpled Letter from Archie Goodwin,” Pádraig Ó Méalóid, comicsbeat.com, 2013Wizard: The Comics Magazine #119, “The Buzz Bin” in “News & Notes,” Wizard Staff, 2001“#46: Friendless,” Tom Brevoort, Man with a Hat, 2023Wizard: The Comics Magazine #125, "2002 Preview,” Mike Cotton, 2002Wizard: The Comics Magazine #130, “The Wizard Q&A: Alan Moore,” Mike Cotton, 2002

Editor Scott Dunbier joins us this week to reminisce about his time as the main editor for America’s Best Comics, Alan Moore’s exclusive imprint set up at Jim Lee’s WildStorm Studios.Scott tells us all about how the ABC line came to be, talks about what it’s like being Alan Moore’s editor and tells the full story of how he and Jim Lee broke the news to Moore that WildStorm was being sold to DC Comics.

Writer/filmmaker Bryan Hill (Ultimate Black Panther, Blade) joins us this week to dissect From Hell, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s epic historical masterpiece. We get into what the Jack the Ripper case says about our own modern world, discuss the challenges facing the creative mindset when working on dark material and consider the lengths that power will go to protect itself.

Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston joins us this week to talk about The Great When, the first installment in Moore’s Long London fantasy novel series.We talk about Moore’s transition from comics to prose, look into the real-life historical figures that Moore populates throughout the narrative and come to the realization that Liam and Noel Gallagher will absolutely show up at some point in The Long London Quintet...

Podcaster Tom Kwei (Punnit, Battle Rap Resume, Alphabetallica) joins us this week to discuss a selection of Alan Moore’s Future Shocks stories from 2000 AD, some of the prolific writer’s earliest professional work.We focus on six stories in particular, taking an in-depth look at some of the best-known—and oft little-seen—of Moore’s Future Shocks. From genre deconstructions to meditations on the simultaneity of time, we get deep into the weeds to discover just how much of “Alan Moore” was already present in these early works.

Writer/artist Tony McMillen (Attaboy) joins us to discuss Spawn #8, Alan Moore’s introduction to the Image Comics fold.The first in the famous “Guest Writer” run of issues on Todd McFarlane’s signature character, Spawn #8 is an important comic for a number of reasons. We discuss the ways in which Moore enriches Spawn with some quality world-building, study how the writer changed up his scripting style to match McFarlane’s art process and consider that all-too brief moment in the 1990’s when Spawn conquered the world. Also, here is a link to the Escape magazine article discussed in the episode, written by Moore in 1985: https://www.timemachinego.com/linkmachinego/alan-moore-visits-new-york-in-1984/