Alan Moore

The writer behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta and Watchmen, self-proclaimed anarchist and occultist Alan Moore revolutionised the comic book medium with socially and politically-conscious works which attracted an ever-growing adult audience. Born in Northampton in 1953, Moore developed an obsession with comic books and anti-establishment sentiments from a young age, becoming involved with a local alternative arts group and getting expelled from high school for dealing LSD in his teens. Following various dead end jobs Moore decided to pursue a career as a comic book writer, and soon forged a fruitful working relationship with 2000 AD, contributing over 50 stories to the publication's Future Shocks and Time Twisters sci-fi series, a permanent extra-terrestrial strip, Skizz, and the short-lived but much-loved The Ballad of Halo Jones. During this period Moore also wrote for Marvel UK's Captain Britain and Warrior, a new monthly magazine where he revived Miracleman and debuted V for Vendetta, a dystopian thriller based in a neo-fascist future which, like many of Moore's works, was later adapted for the big screen much to his dismay. Concerned with the lack of creator's rights, Moore soon stopped working for homegrown publications and instead focused his efforts on becoming the first British comic book writer to crack America. In 1983 DC Comics hired Moore to breathe new life into poor-selling The Saga of the Swamp Thing, and was subsequently given the chance to write stories for Vigilante, Superman and Batman, including popular graphic novel The Killing Joke. But his crowning glory arrived in 1986 with Watchmen, a superhero Cold War-based limited series which allowed Moore to experiment with narrative, further explore adult themes and essentially pave the way for a generation of darker comic book writers. As he did in his homeland Moore then became disillusioned by the issue of creator's rights and in 1989 vowed to abandon the mainstream altogether, setting up an independent company, Mad Love, with wife Phyllis and mutual lover Deborah Delano. There, Moore gravitated towards stories of ordinary citizens and socio-political issues, including anti-homophobia anthology AARGH and an unfinished miniseries based on his hometown, Big Numbers. After both his company and marriage folded, Moore produced the work A Small Killing, for Victor Gollancz Ltd. and worked with comics anthology Taboo on fictionalized Jack the Ripper account From Hell and erotic adventure Lost Girls. Moore surprised fans in 1993 by returning to the mainstream via the predominantly flashy Image Comics, writing stories for Spawn and Supreme, creating miniseries 1963 and taking control of monthly comic WildC.A.T.S. Moore was then given his own imprint, America's Best Comics, in 1999 where he created Victorian England dream team The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, post-modern superhero Tom Strong and police procedural Top 10. After yet more business disputes, Moore went independent again in 2009, launching the '21st Century's first underground magazine,' Dodgem Logic, limited series Neonomicon and digital comics app Electricomics. In 2016 Moore announced he was retiring from the comic book industry to focus on filmmaking.