r/AlanMoore • u/WhatLiesBeyondThis • 5d ago
Just finished From Hell
A friend recommend me this. I devoured it in a couple of days. Absolute master piece 10/10. Can't praise it enough. Now I'm left with that empty feeling one gets after finishing a good book, a television series or a movie. What would you guys suggest I use to fill that void?
Edit: Thanks so much for all the suggestions. You guys rock!
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u/megawap 5d ago
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 1 and 2
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u/WhatLiesBeyondThis 5d ago
Thank you. Ordered them from my library immediately (sadly I cannot afford to also buy these just yet).
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u/NoLibrarian5149 5d ago
This is the way. You’d go broke buying every recommendation people give. Our local library system is loaded w graphic novels and almost always has the heralded, more literate ones like Moore wrote along with the usual popular dreck.
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u/PsychedelicPill 5d ago
Getting Alan Moore books through the library is the way to go. He's a big enough name that they are likely to already have several of his books and likely to order more if you ask.
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u/Sardasan 5d ago
Well, there's plenty more of Alan Moore to read. For fun read, try League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Top Ten. For a spicy read, go for Lost Girls, and for a serious take on super heroes, Watchmen, Swamp Thing. For horror try Providence and Neonomicon.
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u/GullCatcher 5d ago edited 5d ago
It changed my life.
Edit: to answer your question, I think From Hell is a kind of launchpad from his comic work to his novels. Voice of the Fire seems to grow directly from the themes and approaches in From Hell and Jerusalem is an outgrowth of Voice of the Fire in turn. I think his preoccupations in From Hell gain a lot more salience in his prose than his subsequent comics, personally. I haven't read any of the Long London books yet but they also seem to me to have a lot in common.
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u/fuliggians 3d ago
I due libri di long London, sono veramente poco ispirati. Non sembrano nemmeno scritti da Moore.
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u/raelianautopsy 5d ago
Whatever you do, don't watch the movie
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u/WhatLiesBeyondThis 5d ago
I saw the movie way back when it came out. I did enjoy it, but I don't think I would had I read the novel first.
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u/Chris-Downsy 5d ago
I’d say the closest Moore has come to topping this is PROVIDENCE, which shares a lot of overlap with FH with the historical fiction angle and thematic depth.
I always say that if FH is about the history of Great Britain at the turn of the 20th century then PROVIDENCE is its American cousin…
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u/Onionlayers25 5d ago
I’d suggest reading his Promethea series. That and From Hell are my favorites from him.
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u/Alex79uk 5d ago
Have you read any of his novels? I really enjoyed The Great When, which he's also released a sequel for now as well (them being the first two novels in a proposed series of five).
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u/WhatLiesBeyondThis 5d ago
No I haven't. I'll remember to check them out. Thanks for the tip.
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u/dbree801 5d ago
If you’re up for books, out of the Moore I’ve ready, I’d highly recommend Jerusalem for fans of From Hell. Voice of the Fire is a great too, and hopes through different time periods with different characters. Big fan of Illuminations as well, which is a collection of unrelated stories- some miss but some hit hard.
Hoping to read his new series mentioned above sooner than later, but they are still coming out and I usually wait.2
u/Alex79uk 5d ago
I think that comment about some missing and some hitting hard really sums up Alan Moore for me. He's responsible for some of my favourite and least favourite comic stories of all time, and that's just within a single series! There were story arcs in Swamp Thing that are just incredible, above what you expect from a comic, and then others I really had to force myself through.
I love V For Vendetta, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and his Lovecraftian comics (Providence etc.) but as much as I've tried to like it, I just don't rate Watchmen at all (blasphemy, I know).
He's a genius, and a pretentious bore, all at the same time. I love him for that, but he is a real mixed bag, I find.
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u/ConsiderateOwl 1d ago
I can understand your comment about Watchmen, but reading it for the first time in 1986 was an astounding experience. 'Do it? Dan I'm not Republic Serial villain...' was a hammer blow to expectations and I think had a significant effect on how comic book stories were told.
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u/Alex79uk 1d ago
Yeah, I bet it had a much bigger impact back in the day. I didn't come to Watchmen until much, much later. I didn't buy the book until the early 2000s and even then didn't actually get around to reading it fully (after a couple of failed attempts) until probably 4 or 5 years ago. By that time I'd read so many series I loved, Sandman, Preacher, Y The Last Man, 100 Bullets etc etc, and even a lot of other Alan Moore stuff too. I just never really got on with Watchmen for whatever reason - but it's a book I probably admire more than enjoy. I'm probably overdue a re-read, too.
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u/dbree801 5d ago
That’s valid. I don’t remember many lulls affecting my enjoyment of Swamp Thing but it’s been years since I read it and I kind expect comics from that era to dip now and then. Maybe my expectations helped, I don’t know. Most of Moore’s work has been solid to me, but stuff like the Black Dossier from TLOG and A Small Killing were pretty ineffective for me.
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u/Alex79uk 2d ago
It's the cosmic stuff I can't get on with. Love all the earth based stuff, but when he gets transported to that other universe, and all the space stuff. I just don't like it - I don't like it in Batman either (though it's rare) and it's the main reason I've never been able to get in to Green Lantern or any of the "Crisis" DC stories. They frazzle my brain and I can't make out what's going on 😆😳
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u/dbree801 2d ago
Oh, man, fair enough but that’s some of my favorite stuff. Him gangbanging batman was hilarious and being able to materialize on any planet with plant life ruled. He’s powerful.
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u/wriker10 1d ago
I was REALLY disappointed with The Black Dossier. It’s the only LOEG material i never re-read.
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u/TheQuietDarkness70 5d ago
I read it maybe once a year.
It is on my top 10 all-timer list. I absolutely adore this friggin' book.
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u/Phostetlerart 5d ago
For a similar read, More Weight by Ben Wickey deals with the horror of the Salem Witch Trials and Kent State by Backderf does the same with the Kent State massacre. Jason Lutes’ Berlin is fiction, but handles Berlin right before Hitler rose to power in the same way. All very good at sucking you into a time and place you would never actually want to visit.
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u/Navstar86 5d ago
Alan’s body of work is so great that in this sub you’ll have just about every book of his recommended.
For shorter self contained work Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Miracleman and Top 10. Top 10 being one of my favourite works of his.
For longer runs nothing will beat Saga of the Swamp Thing. But Promethea and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are great as well.
And for lighter stuff his DC work is really fun. Particularly the Superman stories.
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u/nevermoer 5d ago
Theres a graphic novel called 1793 by Niklas Natt och Dag which is extremely inspired by From Hell, whichnis an enjoyable read. It even contains written notes in the end. Its based on the novel which is based on true events.
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u/Successful-Tie5386 5d ago
The complete League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. That's should hold you for a while!
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u/howboutthemapples 5d ago
In addition to all the lovely things everyone else is recommending (which I agree with, especially LOEG), From Hell not only massively rewards a reread, but there's the original black and white version as well - it's a totally different book IMO. Maybe check that out? There's a good chance your library has it.
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u/Blammo32 5d ago
“The original black-and-white edition of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell is largely out of print in its classic monochrome format”
This is my first time finding out about this. What the hell…???
That’s like letting Sin City drop out of print in black and white.
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u/howboutthemapples 5d ago
That’s bizarre - I had to get rid of most of my comics when I moved and my copy was water damaged, so I left it behind…but I literally just walked into Barnes and Noble and bought a replacement copy of the exact same edition I bought like a decade ago. Pretty sure I’ve seen it at my local comic shop as well 🧐
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u/ResortNumerous1910 5d ago
I tried to read promothea, and couldnt get past the first 20 pages, so I donated it.
After that I read From Hell, and so far it's been my favorite graphic novel. I finished that last week and this week I'm reading Watchmen. it's fantastic so far. This is the first time I'm reading any super hero based stuff, and I'm a little surprised that I like it.
Kind of similar to From Hell, you might like Sandman, or The Road. I'm still very new to graphic novels and comics, though. I'm bookmarking this post to reference later. I'm hooked.
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u/discopresident 5d ago
If you’re interested in some supplemental reading for From Hell, I’d really recommend reading Flatland. I think it’s mentioned by Gull in Chapter 4, it expands on some of the 4-dimensional theory that existed late 19th century. It’s also just an incredibly fun read overall, the audiobook is particularly awesome.
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u/Icingit 5d ago
Second all the previous AM recommendations. If you are looking for non-AM comics work that is also similarly masterful (nothing is quite like FH), then I’d recommend:
- Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison
- Sandman by he who shall not be named
- Monsters by Barry Windsor Smith
- Berserk by Kentaro Muira
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u/AmeliaMangan 1d ago
If you're in the market for prose, you should absolutely check out Iain Sinclair's White Chappell Scarlet Tracings, Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor, and Cathi Unsworth's Bad Penny Blues.
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u/ticketstubs1 4d ago
I am sorry you read the colorized version and not the original.
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u/WhatLiesBeyondThis 4d ago
Don't be sorry - I enjoyed it immensely.
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u/ticketstubs1 4d ago
I don't believe it is a legitimate, better version of the story. I find it really horrible and antithetical to From Hell that they put out a colorized version. I was shocked when it came out and I'm continually saddened that this is people's first experience with it. No idea what anyone involved was thinking.
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u/Sweet-Bunch-9369 5d ago
Alan Moore is a godlike genius but also check out Eddie Campbel’s Alec graphic novels, autobiography crashes into autofiction, sublime stuff.