A collection of Alan Moore's (Watchmen, From Hell) short comics stories. From bold experiments, through early takes on his favorite subjects, to self-critiques of his older work, this wide ranging collection is an essential look at Alan Moore's obscure but illuminating short stories. Each story is drawn by some of the best artists in comics from mainstream mavericks like Steven Bissette (Swamp Thing, Tyrant), Rick Veitch (Swamp Thing, Bratpack), and John Totleben (Miracelman), to underground iconoclasts like Mark Beyer (RAW) and Peter Bagge (Hate, Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story). Comic book critic Marc Sobel provides insightful commentary and context for each of the stories. Marc Sobel is the co-editor of The Love and Rockets Companion published by Fantagraphics Books. He is also the author of the forthcoming Love and Rockets Reader, also from Fantagraphics. He is also a freelance journalist and scholar in the field of comic book studies. Alan Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell (and many others). Frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, and he has been called "one of the most important British writers of the last fifty years".
Authors
Stan Woch is an American comics artist who has worked on comic strips and comic books. (source: Wikipedia)
Peter Bagge was born on December 11th, 1957, and raised in Peekskill, New York, about 40 miles north of New York City. While enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1977, Bagge discovered underground comics, and the work of R. Crumb in particular turned what had initially been only a vague interest in cartooning into a passion. In the early '80s Bagge co-published three issues of COMICAL FUNNIES (1980-81), a New York-based comic tabloid which saw the debut of Bagge's dysfunctional suburban family, The Bradleys. Bagge broke into R. Crumb's legendary magazine, WEIRDO, and Bagge took over as managing editor of that magazine from 1983 to 1986. Bagge started his own comic book series, NEAT STUFF, for Fantagraphics Books, producing 15 issues from 1985 to '89. Buddy Bradley, the Bradleys' alienated and pessimistic teenage son, emerged as Neat Stuff's most engaging and fully-realized character. In 1990, NEAT STUFF evolved into a new title, HATE, which exclusively followed the foibles of the semi-autobiographical Buddy Bradley. Hate became the voice of the twenty-nothing slackers as well as being hailed by critics for its brilliant characterization in its complete chronicle of the 1990s. HATE and Buddy Bradley continue to appear in print, albeit less frequently, under the title HATE ANNUAL. Since 1999, Bagge has worked on many other comic-related projects, including writing an all ages comic book for DC called YEAH! (drawn by Gilbert Hernandez). as well as the short lived humor series SWEATSHOP, also for DC. He also wrote and drew a one-shot satire of Spider-Man for Marvel, and has done the same with Marvel's The Hulk, though the later title has yet to be scheduled for release. Other projects include a 2 year stint writing and drawing a weekly comic strip about "Bat Boy" for THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, and a series of illustrated essays for the now defunct website Suck.com, which led to his becoming a current regular features contributor to the political and social commentary magazine REASON. Most recently, Bagge has been working on a 6 part mini-series for Dark Horse called APOCALYPSE NERD, which should be complete in 2007. Bagge's exaggerated and distinctively in-your-face illustration style has also appeared on many record and CD covers, and in magazines as far ranging as HUSTLER, MAD and the OXFORD AMERICAN. He's also had a hand in several animation projects, most notably the online "Rock & Roll Dad" cartoon series he co-created with Dana Gould for Icebox.com. Peter Bagge has lived in Seattle since 1984. He resides with his wife Joanne, and daughter Hannah, and three darned cats.
Donald E. Simpson is a Writer-Artist-Teacher-Learner and the Cartoonist-Creator of the graphic novel Megaton Man™ as well as the comic series Border Worlds™ and Bizarre Heroes™. Under the pseudonym Anton Drek, he created Wendy Whitebread and Forbidden Frankenstein. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, Simpson cartooned for almost every major and independent comic book publisher including Marvel, DC, Image, and Archie. He has more recently published his works with Fantagraphics. In 2013, Simpson earned a PhD in art and architectural history from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2023, he finally paid off his student loans without any government forgiveness.
