Sigh

[yendi]

So, listening to the Wait, What? podcast* this morning, I became aware of Alan Moore's Neonomicon, a book in which a woman gets repeatedly raped by a Lovecraftian monster. Listening to the description of the rest of the plot, it sounded like a few interesting ideas wrapped around mediocre writing and half-assed plotting (which, in fairness, is pretty much everything non-ABC that Moore's done since 1990). That said, I did take a look (thanks to means that certainly don't involve any sort of downloading, of course), and can say that it's quite possibly the worst thing Moore has written, and that's before the sexual assault. The resolution has a nifty concept embedded in it (although it's one I've seen before), but there's hardly a payoff.

Which leads me to a conclusion: Avatar just needs to go ahead and change its motto to: Avatar: Where writers you like turn in utter shite. I'm pretty sure that the worst works by Ennis, Ellis, and now Moore all reside there, and although I know they've occasionally grabbed licensed titles or runs of books like The Goon, this seems to be what I end up remembering them for, and it's pretty much why I avoid their logo on the rare occasions I set foot in a comic store these days.

*Thanks to murnkay for the tip; listening to the podcast is like listening to a conversation between two versions of myself.

Comments

[elorie.livejournal.com]

One of the reasons I dislike Moore is that there tends to be a rape every 20 pages. It's his black hat; ie, it's the way he shorthands "EVIL HERE, YEP. PURE EVIL." On an artistic level it's in the same category as Darth Vader announcing his evilness, and it's also deeply effed up and offensive on a visceral level.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Writing wise it's abhorrent and I don't enjoy seeing depictions of rape... BUT... unfortunately the Ennis, Ellis and Moore books from Avatar are the only books featuring the art of the fantastic Jacen Burrows.

I can only hope he'll get hired for another company eventually.