* I'm still away from home, but thanks to the wonders of complimentary wi-fi I thought I'd pop in to please ask you to read -- read, not skim -- Alan Moore's new interview in which he refutes with great patience, wit and intelligence many of the accusations that his detractors have tried to use to diminish his reputation, standing in the comics industry, income, and whatever else they can diminish.
* There are many quotable moments in the lengthy piece, but I really want anyone interested to take the time to read the whole thing. Moore takes great pains to establish with evidence the "peculiar and creepy behaviour" Grant Morrison has evinced vis a vis Moore for many years; I first came to realize how embittered and vengeful Morrison evidently is when reading his (Morrison's) sloppy autohagiography a few years back. The way Moore lays out the reasons for Morrison's sad and unnecessary anti-Moore campaign is powerful and convincing.
* Not that any of that has any bearing on the relative merits of the work of the two writers. I've enjoyed most of what I've read of Moore's work over the last 34 years or so. I think the crap-to-quality ration of Morrison's body of work is quite a bit higher (with no signs of a turnaround in the past seven or eight years), but as with most comics industry kerfuffles, I side with who I think is the most ethical. Moore has been done wrong by DC Comics and its parent company time and time again, while Morrison has entrenched himself as a big part of the publisher's editorial structure. In other words, anyone willing to turn a blind eye to DC's unquestionable wrongdoing toward Alan Moore faces a mighty uphill battle to prove to me he has the high ground on any issue of any substance whatsoever. When the issues involve a better writer who Morrison has never missed an opportunity to try to tear down, well, frankly I'm not in the least inclined to cede an ounce of moral authority to Morrison, or any of his adherents, sycophants or "fans."
* So please do go read the interview, especially if you have any opinion one way or the other about Moore's supposed misogyny, racism, or whatever other unfounded unfounded slurs his detractors find easy to use and close to hand. For me, I continue to enjoy the vast majority of Moore's work, even as Morrison's becomes ever more irrelevant and incomprehensible to me. I can't wait for Moore's novel Jerusalem, because if it's one-tenth as interesting and entertaining as Voice of the Fire I know it'll be great stuff. I can't point to a Morrison work since All-Star Superman that would indicate to me that he has any good work left in him at all, and I would point out to you with all due solemnity and seriousness that that comic book would never even have existed at all without Moore laying the groundwork in the comics industry in general and with his own work on the character in particular. To my way of thinking, Morrison owes Moore an enormous apology, a hearty thank you, and very possible a portion of his royalty checks. Moore's style and paradigm-shattering presence in comics made it possible for Grant Morrison to exist. You'd think he'd at least be grateful.
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