Alan Moore: The man himself

[Ogami]

I don't agree.

Are you sure that all artists have had mystical ideologies? I don't think that's true... Did Hemmingway? It never seemed very obvious in his writing, if so. O'Casey didn't, I'm sure of that. This reminds me of a discussion I had (or almost had) with a friend of mine, which began with his assertion that no real scientist believes in God. I contradicted him on that, listing a few very important scientists that have done. I'm not sure what his further point was, since once that was pointed out he got quite frustrated and dismissive.

The truth is, Moore's sanity should be judged like everyone else's; can he function in the society he finds himself in? Can he differentiate between his internal world and the external one? Can he interact and relate to the people he encounters and deals with? If Moore can, then he's not a nutcase, I don't believe the fact that he's an artist rather than a streetsweeper shouldn't factor into it, imo. I don't claim special knowledge or insight into Moore's life or situation, but it seems to me that he can do all those things.

Of course, for a lot of people, they see the beard and read the stories, and that's enough to start dropping aggressively dismissive words. Which in my reckoning is a less sane reaction than anything I've seen come from Moore over the years.

Not all artists have had mystical leanings, but a lot of the best have. I personally do not consider Hemmingway a great artist, he just wrote a couple of okay novels (in my opinion), but I do see your point. I'm a Raymond Chandler fan myself, and I don't think he had any interest in this kind of thing, but if we're talking about the truly visionary writers and artists of the past, a lot of them have had at least some interest in things outside of the ordinary. And I believe it's this breed of writer that Moore models himself on and is inspired by.

I'm basically just trying to point out that Alan is in good company, and so to dismiss his ideas and thoughts as loopy is dismissing a lot of great art by a number of individuals.

[Grazzt]

To be honest, the so-called sciences are all theories and to a large degree require as much faith as religion until proven as fact.

I'd like to point out that the scientific definition of "theory" is a lot stronger than you give it credit for. For instance, the supposition of the existence of God wouldn't even count as a theory in science because it can't be tested by experimentation, or disproved by empirical evidence.

[mgs]

I'm currently reading that article in Comic Book Artist, #25 about Moore. Interesting. Also, in digging through some old comics, the Pekar, Our Movie Year gn, has a nice strip about when he visited Mr. Moore. :)

[david r]

I'm currently reading that article in Comic Book Artist, #25 about Moore. Interesting. Also, in digging through some old comics, the Pekar, Our Movie Year gn, has a nice strip about when he visited Mr. Moore. :)

Any highlights from those articles you could divulge for us??

[mgs]

Any highlights from those articles you could divulge for us??

I'd want to check in with Stony and the author on this first to see what I could divulge.

[Sanagi]

Not all artists have had mystical leanings, but a lot of the best have. I personally do not consider Hemmingway a great artist, he just wrote a couple of okay novels (in my opinion), but I do see your point. I'm a Raymond Chandler fan myself, and I don't think he had any interest in this kind of thing, but if we're talking about the truly visionary writers and artists of the past, a lot of them have had at least some interest in things outside of the ordinary. And I believe it's this breed of writer that Moore models himself on and is inspired by.

I'm basically just trying to point out that Alan is in good company, and so to dismiss his ideas and thoughts as loopy is dismissing a lot of great art by a number of individuals.

Mysticism and creativity are connected. I believe Moore has said this himself. Both generate ideas and sensations by experimenting with state of mind and the history of metaphor.

[Stony]

I'd want to check in with Stony and the author on this first to see what I could divulge.

As long as you link or quote from the article and not to another Forums site, it should be ok with us

It is a good idea to check with the author though

[Superbeast]

I dug up his details and sent him a few letters a few years back after his Wizard interview about his experience with Mercury and his beliefs. He came across as a very intelligent, literate and coherent fellow with a good sense of humour and friendly disposition. I've never been able to attend his wife's drama productions as of yet but that's still something I aim to do. From what I got from our brief correspondence the fans that want him to explain and praise his work are the ones that he is less tolerant of, the ones who analyse and challenge him seem to get more respect and time from him. All in all he seemed like a nice bloke who wanted his work to speak for itself rather than a guy who sought constant sycophantic praise for his efforts. Then again he might have been being nice because I was a lot younger then. Even so, he came across as very honest and candid, just a good writer who wanted his work to be enjoyed but wanted to avoid the bullshit exploitation and adaptation that comes with working in any kind of media. I can't really knock that.

[Netley]

I dug up his details and sent him a few letters a few years back after his Wizard interview about his experience with Mercury and his beliefs. He came across as a very intelligent, literate and coherent fellow with a good sense of humour and friendly disposition. I've never been able to attend his wife's drama productions as of yet but that's still something I aim to do. From what I got from our brief correspondence the fans that want him to explain and praise his work are the ones that he is less tolerant of, the ones who analyse and challenge him seem to get more respect and time from him. All in all he seemed like a nice bloke who wanted his work to speak for itself rather than a guy who sought constant sycophantic praise for his efforts. Then again he might have been being nice because I was a lot younger then. Even so, he came across as very honest and candid, just a good writer who wanted his work to be enjoyed but wanted to avoid the bullshit exploitation and adaptation that comes with working in any kind of media. I can't really knock that.

Wow, cool story! That's how he seems like he'd come off based on the interviews I've seen. Someday I'm going to visit Northampton and buy him a beer or three!

[Sanagi]

The Onion has a primer on Alan Moore(and no, it's not one of their joke articles). They even quote a CBR article in the first paragraph.
http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/primer_alan_moore

[The Xenos]

Dunno if someone already posted this, but last night I saw a fascinating 1987 interview someone posted on YouTube. Quite an interesting glipse of Moore. One scene even has him on stage dealing with a familiar looking heckler in the audience, himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucba9NtF3cE

Also, if you check out the user's other videos, you'll find some more stuff.

[mgs]

As long as you link or quote from the article and not to another Forums site, it should be ok with us

It is a good idea to check with the author though

haha. I hadn't even checked in with you first, so thanks for the reply. :) Yeah, I still need to ask the author first.

[Netley]

Dunno if someone already posted this, but last night I saw a fascinating 1987 interview someone posted on YouTube. Quite an interesting glipse of Moore. One scene even has him on stage dealing with a familiar looking heckler in the audience, himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucba9NtF3cE

Also, if you check out the user's other videos, you'll find some more stuff.

I've seen that one, and love the audience Alan heckling the stage Alan! The stage Alan was able to act like an inflated-ego version (a nod to all the mega-hype right after Watchmen) and the audience Alan was able to tear him down. Very clever!

There's lots of great interviews with him on Youtube, and there's a really cool DVD called "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" - google it and you can find where to order it. However, it's 20 pounds, which is over $40, so it might not be worth it for everyone.

[TROUBLEZ]

I like this one interview when he was talking about religion. I expected him to kind of criticize Christianity but he was just pointing out a certain revival in the early 1900s and how it has affected the country today.

From what little I've seen and read about him he sounds very intelligent and interesting. I always enjoy watching those youtube interviews.

[Libaax]

What, like Shakespeare wasn't talented enough to produce a symphony or Picasso wasn't talented enough to write a great novel?

I dunno where you get that idea, but Moore is on record on many, many occasions speaking about how highly he thinks of comics as an art form. His love of them, of their history, of the ones he read growing up has been made plain many times, even in much of his own work.

Personally i wish Alan Moore would go Gaiman way and become a novelist.

He has more than enough talent to become a very good novelist.

I mean he doesnt do alot comics work anymore sadly anyway.

I dislike ignorant the big two fans that automaticly think Moore hates comics because he doesnt want to work with DC. That he is a nut for that and disliking what happens to his comics in hollywood.

Just like the post you qoute.