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Hub - Issue 34

Page 3

by Marianne de Pierres / Scott Harrison / Lee Harris / Paul Kane / Andrew Edwards


  The character was originally created in 1954 by Mick Anglo and was published in Britain by L. Miller & Son. British reprints of the American series Captain Marvel were stopped after a successful lawsuit in America against Fawcett Comics by DC comics, citing the character as a clone of Superman. Anglo was instructed to create another series to replace these reprints, and Marvelman was the result. Much of the essential nature of Captain Marvel was retained in Marvelman: both could transform from a young boy to an adult superhero through uttering a single word – Captain Marvel's 'Shazam', Miracleman's 'Kimota'; both featured a 'family' of sidekick superheroes; and both heroes were created via the intervention of a mystical old man, although this would be revealed as a fake memory in Moore's revisionist approach to his new Marvelman strip.

  Moore took the iconic imagery and stereotypes associated with superheroes and deconstructed them. Mike Moran was Marvelman's secret identity, now grown to manhood, with no memory of his alter-ego. This was remedied in the first instalment as terrorists attempted to take over a nuclear power plant. He went on to discover his origins; specifically that he was an orphan and that his adventures in the 1950s were actually elaborate virtual reality-style scenarios created by Dr Emil Gargunza, the real life counterpart of Marvelman's VR-world nemesis. In this, Moore moved the superhero genre away from generic, innocent juvenile entertainment to more mature plots and rounded characterisation that inspired a generation of comic book writers.

  Marvelman caught the attention of Marvel Comics in the USA, who took issue with the use of the word 'marvel'. This caused problems, and the strip was suspended in Warrior (the magazine was cancelled a few issues later). It was reprinted and continued under the name Miracleman by Eclipse comics in America, and collected in three volumes. These are now out of print and rare; editions can be bought, but their rarity usually leads to a high price tag. In these later stories Miracleman, following a vicious battle with Kid Miracleman (a sidekick grown to adulthood in a superheroic body who turned evil during the years of Moran's amnesia), decides to rebuild London, and assume the role of the god-like leader of Earth. He is helped by the Warpsmiths, the alien race whose technology was used by Gargunza to create the Miracleman family. Neil Gaiman, then also writing The Sandman series, took over for some issues, but his run remains unfinished.

  Gaiman focused on the effects of the changes to society under Miracleman's rule and the resurrection of another sidekick, Young Miracleman. The character has recently been subject to legal proceedings over copyright and ownership following the purchase of Eclipse comics by Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn. One can only hope that when the legal issues are resolved we will see Moore's work reprinted and Gaiman's run concluded.

  Another of Moore's masterpieces, V for Vendetta, began its life in Warrior, and was eventually bought and completed as a 12 issue miniseries and then a collected graphic novel by DC comics in America. The series is set in the then-future Britain of 1997 and is focused on an anarchist known only as codename V, who is fighting against a dystopian, fascist state that has come to power in the UK following a nuclear war. Dressed in a Guy Fawkes costume, V succeeds where Fawkes failed and blows up the Houses of Parliament in his first act of terrorism/liberation.

  He rescues a teenager called Evey, and it is through this relationship that the reader sees the human cost of the loss of freedom and denial of free will that fascism creates. The story is a complex and profoundly moving account of Evey's maturation into adulthood, with V taking the role of mentor. The supporting cast embody both the flawed humanity and coldness of people too embroiled in the fascist state, and focuses on those involved in the media, government, police and religion. It is a dark parable of the near future, far removed from superheroes, and another example of Moore's growing adeptness at moving comics towards more mature sensibilities. The art was provided by David Lloyd, whose superb original noirish black and white art in Warrior was complemented by his use of muted, delicate tones for the DC edition of the series.

  DC comics' attention had been drawn to Moore through his UK work and he was hired to take over Saga of the Swamp Thing (later retitled to just Swamp Thing), a comic that had been suffering from low sales. Learning from his experiences with Marvelman, Moore came to the title with a desire to reinvent. Rather than stay with the idea that the character was a mutated scientist called Alec Holland, Moore told the reader that it was actually Holland's memories that had been absorbed by a plant elemental; as such, the swamp thing had never been Alec Holland and his lost humanity could never be regained. It had never existed in the first place.

  Moore wrote about the modern horror implicit in modern American society in this series, and he focused on relationship problems, particularly in the cross-species love affair between the Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane, the niece of enemy Dr Anton Arcane. He also created Liverpudlian magus John Constantine, who went on to receive his own DC title, scripted by Jamie Delano and others. His run on the title (issues 19 to 64, from 1984-1987) saw an increase in sales and popularity and provided the bedrock upon which DC later built its horror and mature readers comic imprint 'Vertigo'. It inspired a resurgence of interest in horror comics. A wave of horror and supernatural fantasy titles followed in its wake, chief among these being Neil Gaiman's critical and commercial success The Sandman. In addition, Moore began to contribute scripts to a number of DC's superhero titles, such as Green Lantern, Batman and the last two Superman stories before a reinvention of the character by writer/artist John Byrne, a reinvention no doubt at least partly inspired by Moore's own revisionist tendencies.

  Moore's greatest work in comics is arguably the 12 issue miniseries Watchmen, later collected in graphic novel form, that he created with artist Dave Gibbons. It remains the only graphic novel to have won the Hugo award. Time magazine cited it as one of the top 100 English-language novels.

  Moore's original idea was to create a story using heroes from MLJ comics, but Dick Giordano of DC comics suggested using heroes that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. However, when the plot dictated that some of the characters would die, they decided to use new characters, as the death of the Charlton heroes would limit DC's ability to use them in the future.

  Watchmen is a work of precision, a structural masterpiece. It mainly employs a nine panel grid per page, in which Moore and Gibbons foreshadow and create parallels with the imagery they use and juxtapose images and text to create an emotional and visceral effect upon the reader, thereby showing what comics as an art form can achieve. It is set on an alternate Earth where Watergate never happened, where superhero comics were replaced by pirate comics, where costumed vigilantes assumed the role of superheroes. The only super-powered human is Jon Osterman, a physicist who rebuilt his body following an disastrous physics experiment who can control matter on a subatomic level and has a total awareness of his own past and future.

  The plot involves an investigation into the death of a government-sponsored agent, The Comedian, by Rorschach, a mentally disturbed vigilante who has continued his illegal investigations despite non-government heroes being outlawed. It is supported by text pieces at the end of each issue of the comic, or chapter of the graphic novel, which serve further to flesh out certain characters and the society they inhabit. Moore has taken his cue from Marvelman and explored the effect of realistic superheroes on a much larger canvas: American society. In doing so, he and Gibbons created a science-fiction comic which has influenced the industry to the present day.

  Moore also produced much worthy work during the 1990s and 2000s, including: From Hell, an exploration of Victorian mysticism, royalty, the Masons and Jack the Ripper; ABC Comics, a line of titles in which he returned to superheroes in titles such as Tom Strong, where he focused on the pulp origins of superheroes, and Promethea, where he explores ideas of mysticism, the occult and the nature of ideas. During his career he has moved from fantasy, horror and science fiction through realism, post-modernism and parody, written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and perfo
rmed and recorded idiosyncratic musical pieces. He is one of the most original voices in comics and he remains a powerful cultural force across a wide range of media forms.

  Next week:

  · An interview with one of the stars of TV smash hit, Heroes (which was due to appear this week, but with such a bumper issue this time around we thought it prudent to give it some space to air).

  · More reviews

  · Another superb piece of short fiction.

  If you have enjoyed this week’s issue, please consider making a small donation at www.hub-mag.co.uk. We pay our writers, and your support is appreciated.

 

 

 


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