Comic legend Alan Moore talks about his planned retirement, his musical projects, why you'll never catch him at another comic book convention and the new Moore name in comics.

MIKE COTTON: There's been a lot of talk about you retiring at the end of 2003. What do you have planned after that?
ALAN MOORE: I don't know what I'm going to do, that's part of the pleasure. At this juncture in my life, I need far less security. And I really don't want to know what I'm going to be doing from one day to the next. I don't wan to make any plans for my retirement; otherwise it wouldn't be much of a surprise. I might do a bit of drawing. I might do some more performance work, some more recording. I might even get around to doing another novel. I may do things that don't make any money at all, but I'm not worrying my pretty little head about that. I can just do things I want to do when I want to do them. That's the plan. There will be different things emerging from different areas from time to time. And I don't plan to stop working; I just intend to stop working in mainstream comics so much.

 

PLANETARY: ALL OVER THE WORLD TPB

COTTON: You're involved in a few musical projects. I assume you'll be working on a few of those.
MOORE: It's completely different from comics. You're working with music instead of pictures, you're writing things that have to be read out loud, which gives a whole different dynamic to what you're writing. It allows me to explore a whole different area of writing. Sometimes I include song writing or the very dense prose poetry that I tend to do. It allows me to think of those words not as accompanied by pictures but by music, by moving people, by light effects or films in the kind of multimedia performances we tend towards.

COTTON: It sounds like you really enjoy it.
MOORE: That's always been something I find terribly exciting. I've always enjoyed performing. It's a fantastic rush because you're getting the response-better or worse-from the audience immediately. You don't have to wait four months for a letter page, which they don't do anymore anyway. I'm very pleased with the stuff we've done so far. We're putting it on the back burner for a while, while I get all of me comic work finished and hopefully returning to it refreshed sometime next year.

COTTON: Will we ever see you at another comic book convention? MOORE: No, I won't go to a comic book convention again. I've got no interest in them and I've got no interest in being a celebrity. I don't make public appearances other than when I'm performing. And when I'm performing, people aren't there to see me be a celebrity, they're there to see me perform. And that's completely alright. I'm going to be judged upon on the work that I do, on the performance that I make. I'm not going to be judged on who I am.

COTTON: It sounds like conventions were very daunting for you. MOORE: I'm not comfortable with being a celebrity, which is why I hang out in North Hampton and avoid all that. So, no, I shall not be going to a comic convention again. And I think comic conventions seem to have changed completely from the ones that.I mean, they were changing and becoming unbearable by the last few I went to. They've certainly changed from the wonderful little comic convention I used to go to back when I was 14 or 15, when it wasn't a massive industry trade fair. It was a small gathering of people who really liked comics and sort of that's never coming back again and never am I.

 

PLANETARY: THE FOURTH MAN TPB

COTTON: Even though the ABC line is wrapping up, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman will continue, right?
MOORE: Yes, there will be more League stories. We are continuing to allow WildStorm/ABC/DC to publish the League but that's upon the assurance that there won't be any interference and if there is than I'm sure it won't be too difficult to find it a new home somewhere. But we are assured that that will now happen and that's good for me.

COTTON: Are you able to read any current comics?
MOORE: I remember liking the Brian Azzarello Hellblazer stuff that I read a while ago. I never got a chance to read anymore of it. I haven't really read any comics in ages, since I've been writing them. No, I remember that Brian Azzarello was a very good writer. I actually like Bob Morales' thing that he did with Kyle Baker. I enjoyed Truth: Red, White and Black. But I have so little time. Bob's thing was great. I guess that all the usual people are doing great work, but I haven't had a chance to read any of it.

COTTON: Your daughter's also writing comics now.
MOORE: Oh, I think that's great, but then I would, wouldn't I? I'm her dad. I think both her and her sister are very good. Her sister's otherwise engaged at the moment but I was very pleased with the first two stories Leah wrote and she's working on something at the moment for WildStorm with a partner called Wild Girl, which sounds very good from what they've told me about it. I would have never prompted either of my kids to go into comics, because I don't want to have that kind of influence on their lives. They have to make their own decisions. When Leah said she was interested in doing comics, I was only too happy to help her out to the best of my abilities. It's very nice. I look forward to seeing what she does in the future. I hope that she can avoid-I'm sure she can't entirely-having to deal with pointless comparisons with my work, for better or worse. She's her own writer, she has nothing to do with me expect genetically. She doesn't need to be burdened by me.

Mike Cotton is a staff writer for Wizard Magazine. For all the comic book news fit to print, check out Wizard on sale every month at comic book specialty shops and newsstands everywhere.

The Cotton Club Archive

August 7 , 2003 - HOLLYWOOD RUN DOWN July 31, 2003 - SPIDER-MAN 2 July 24, 2003 - BAG MAN July 17, 2003 - Moore or Less July 10, 2003 - Ink Test July 2, 2003 - HURRICANE WARNING June 25, 2003 - BANNER BANTER June 10, 2003 - PETER DAVID June 3 , 2003 - PAUL JENKINS May 28 , 2003 - GEOFF JOHNS May 21 , 2003 - BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS May 14 , 2003 - PHIL JIMENEZ May 9 , 2003 - Don't F[l]inch April 29 , 2003 - The X-Factors April 17 , 2003 - X2 Reviewed January 13, 2003 - Game Boy - WizKid’s HeroClix January 3, 2003- 2003 Bigger than 2002? December 20 , 2002 - Ring Bearer - A two-bit tour for ‘Two Towers’ novices December 13 , 2002 - ‘Sine of the Times December 6 , 2002 - Killer Read November 30, 2002 - Lex's World November 23, 2002 - Truth and Consequences November 15, 2002 - Triple X November 8 , 2002 - Giving the Devil his Due October 31, 2002 - Superhero DVD Preview October 25, 2002 - Mad Cow October 18 , 2002 - 80's a Go-GO October 11 , 2002 - Best Bets on Bats October 4, 2002 - Hunters & Pray September 27 , 2002 - The War Within September 19 , 2002 - Lee-Der of the pack. September 13 , 2002 - The Next Generation. September 6 , 2002 - Marvel Melee. August 30, 2002 - Breaking In. Joe Quesada reveals the ins and outs of getting work at Marvel. August 23, 2002 - Painted Into a Corner. An Interview with Greg Hildebrandt. August 16, 2002 - X-citing News on X-Men 2!