Latest Alan Moore interview popped up on New Year’s Eve over at Wired , largely concerned with the recently released Dodgem Logic #1 (available here). Moore is his usual grumpy old self where it comes to comics, but let’s face it, he’s allowed to say stuff like this…..
“I have largely, completely given up on the comics industry. I really don’t believe it is going to do anything to address the modern world. Perhaps that’s a very pessimistic view; there are some great comics out there still. But for the large part I don’t think the comics industry has got any new ideas. I don’t think it’s had any new ideas for 20 or 30 years.
It’s so mannered these days. There are so few original voices, and it all seems to be stylistically the same stuff. It’s comfort reading…. It’s hamburger reading. I think the comics medium could play a big part in addressing our problems. It’s such a wonderful medium. You can talk about anything, and talk about it in a very powerful and informative way. I’d like to see comics become a medium in which new ideas could be expressed in new, compelling forms, but I don’t really see that coming from the industry.”
Also on the Wired site on a Moore theme: 7 More Alan Moore Comics That Could Get Librarians Fired. This relates to the story regarding two library workers in Kentucky were fired for withholding a copy of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier from an 11 year old.
Heidi at The Beat covers this in more detail, but speaking personally, I once had, as a child of around 11, a stand up row with a librarian who refused to let me take out some book or other out of the adult library. I was only allowed once Dad came in and made it clear that I was allowed to read anything I could read. This is why age restrictions on books just don’t work. Yes, LoEG may be a little racy, but a precocious 11 year old with the knowledge and understanding of the language would be fine with it. Children read and understand to the level they can comprehend.
Frankly I’d rather my own 10 year old read LoEG than watched some of the pop videos on MTV. I know which one has more literary and artistic merit, and thinking about it, LoEG Black Dossier probably has less gratuitous and inappropriate sexuality as well.
Sat, Jan 9, 2010
Comics and cartoons