Recommended Reads - Alan Moore

It pretty much goes without saying that Watchmen, V For Vendetta and Swamp Thing are automatic suggested reads for Mr. Moore. But what else?

Some of his more obscure works (perhaps a bit less obscure now that there is an Alan Moore trade paperback) are every bit as worth reading as the above three mentioned titles. This list would include such titles as Miracleman and Halo Jones.

Miracleman

I remember reading the initial issues of Miracleman and thinking that it read like an alterante take on Superman (more like Shazam...or Captain Marvel, really). Here was a God-like character who could fly and had incredible strength...it's pretty close. But there were differences.

He had a human alter-ego and a mysterious past. The fun of the title was reading along as Moore filled in the blanks. One of my favorite scenes in the series was when the terrorist was questioned by Evelyn Cream in the hospital. Just great stuff.

Then of course, there were the two battles between Miracleman and Kid Miracleman and the destruction of London and pain that these battles caused the bystanders. What happens when two people with God-Like powers battle? Read this series to see one possibility.

Then -- Moore gives us the great twist. Miracleman leaves his human side behind and goes off to be a God (or...something like that - I haven't read these issues for a few years now)! This aspect of things was explored in rather middling fashion by the otherwise talented Neil Gaiman. Too bad - if Moore had done the second half of the Miracleman series, I think it would have been great.

Halo Jones

Then there's Halo Jones. The future-based story of a woman who left her simple life to explore the galaxy, this is truly one of my favorite all-time comic series. The characters and situations Moore created are brilliant and could serve as a primer for comic creators.

This series was told in three parts, comprised of (I think) 8-page installments in 2000 AD (or was it Warrior Magazine?). When I finished the first part, I thought that it was the best thing I'd read up to that point. And there were still two parts to go.

While the second two parts were, to me, not as good as the first part - they were still excellent reads. It was one of those times where I came across this title totally by accident (in a 50 cent box!) and picked it up just because Alan Moore had written it. Then I got the trade paperback and was able to enjoy the whole tale.

So these are two titles that I would recommend to any Alan Moore fan. I don't know if I would recommend them over Watchmen, V or Swamp Thing....but they are at least on par with these great titles.