If you like the sound of getting your eye sockets raped with a splintery stick... then sure, give From Hell a go.
Hey August, was that a reference to the John DeFoe games?
Is it really that bad?
It is the greatest single work of fiction I've ever read.
I'm not qualified to analyse it in any serious way and do it justice, but, especially as there's been a recent reprint, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. It's probably the most critically acclaimed comic book in the medium's history, and for good reason.
I really like the art in From Hell actually, it's the handwriting that's eye-gougingly bad. I think most of you are too used to reading cape books to appreciate a different artstyle.
And From Hell is pretty fucking critically acclaimed, Moore probably likes it better than Watchmen too.
Seriously? From Hell? You need to read more obviously... to call it the greatest single work of fiction is absolutely mind boggling.
I would have thought Sandman or Watchmen, to name two alternatives, would be more critically acclaimed than From Hell by a long way.
And I was primarily referring to the art, which is eye bleedingly awful
The single greatest work of fiction that I've read. I've dug into Proust and Pynchon and all the other coffee house wank-hat favourites and I still maintain that not only is From Hell the greatest piece of literature to be presented as a comic book, it is the finest piece of writing that I've encountered in any medium. When I have the time, I'll make a thread about it.
And From Hell received far greater critical acclaim from the more respected (read: broadsheet) newspapers than any comic that came before it. Sandman and Watchmen (excellent though they are) have far better distribution and far easier-to-swallow themes, partly explaining their mainstream popularity. It's Warren Ellis' favourite comic, if that means anything to you.
And I like the art. It's perfect for the sordid, sooty environment it's portraying. More than that, people forget Eddie Campbell is an accomplished writer himself (Alec and Bacchus are both series well worth hunting for) and that he contributed much to the plotting of the book. The writing, I suspect, wouldn't have nearly been as good without him.
Of course, feel free to discount the above as the ramblings of an illiterate plebeian just because I don't think Rushdie's Midnight Children or Percival Everett's Glyph are necessarily as worthy of the acclaim they've received.
I think it might be useful to hear what Moore himself says about Vendetta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7ehbE1vc0
(Warning: Alan Moore looks like the crazy old man who lives down the block. If you've never before seen what he looks like, just be forewarned when clicking that link.)
Alan Moore looks like he gets all his jewelry from the overly dramatic Goth wanna-be section of Hot Topic. Way too much finger armor.
I read V fo Vendetta and The Watchmen at about the same time. After first readings, I liked V better than Watchmen. After a few more, I think I prefer Watchmen to V for Vendetta. But I still like both.
jabbausaf on
I've had a wonderful time, but this wasn't it.
-Groucho Marx
Steam: [SF] Progurt
Moore has this huge hate-on for Margaret Thatcher that would probably irk me if I was reading his stuff when it came out. Pretty much every comic he's ever written has tried to shoot a big spunky load all over her face.
Posts
It is the greatest single work of fiction I've ever read.
I'm not qualified to analyse it in any serious way and do it justice, but, especially as there's been a recent reprint, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. It's probably the most critically acclaimed comic book in the medium's history, and for good reason.
I would have thought Sandman or Watchmen, to name two alternatives, would be more critically acclaimed than From Hell by a long way.
And I was primarily referring to the art, which is eye bleedingly awful
http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/vendetta.jpg
Though I remember the coloring being different in the trade.
And From Hell is pretty fucking critically acclaimed, Moore probably likes it better than Watchmen too.
And yeah, quite a bit of that is the lettering, but definitely not all of it.
The single greatest work of fiction that I've read. I've dug into Proust and Pynchon and all the other coffee house wank-hat favourites and I still maintain that not only is From Hell the greatest piece of literature to be presented as a comic book, it is the finest piece of writing that I've encountered in any medium. When I have the time, I'll make a thread about it.
And From Hell received far greater critical acclaim from the more respected (read: broadsheet) newspapers than any comic that came before it. Sandman and Watchmen (excellent though they are) have far better distribution and far easier-to-swallow themes, partly explaining their mainstream popularity. It's Warren Ellis' favourite comic, if that means anything to you.
And I like the art. It's perfect for the sordid, sooty environment it's portraying. More than that, people forget Eddie Campbell is an accomplished writer himself (Alec and Bacchus are both series well worth hunting for) and that he contributed much to the plotting of the book. The writing, I suspect, wouldn't have nearly been as good without him.
Of course, feel free to discount the above as the ramblings of an illiterate plebeian just because I don't think Rushdie's Midnight Children or Percival Everett's Glyph are necessarily as worthy of the acclaim they've received.
Also, I keep forgetting to link to this marvellous time-sink of a website: http://www.alanmooreinterview.co.uk/
Well, he spent 10 years writing/researching it, so saying otherwise would be like being kicked in the balls.
Alan Moore looks like he gets all his jewelry from the overly dramatic Goth wanna-be section of Hot Topic. Way too much finger armor.
I read V fo Vendetta and The Watchmen at about the same time. After first readings, I liked V better than Watchmen. After a few more, I think I prefer Watchmen to V for Vendetta. But I still like both.
-Groucho Marx
Steam: [SF] Progurt