Inspired by... Alan Moore.

I first became aware of Moore's work when I was given a Titan books edition of the DC Comics graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke, one year for either Christmas or a birthday. I'll admit at that time, I was unaware of who Alan Moore was or what he'd done previously. This partly due to the fact that the majority of Alan's definitive works, such as his Swamp Thing run, V for Vendetta and Watchmen were all before my time (I was born in 1989) and I think the other part of why I'd never heard of him was due to the fact that by the time I got heavily involved in reading comics, Alan had all but dropped out of the mainstream realm of comics.

But, anyway, back to The Killing Joke... I was immediately hooked on this book from the iconic image on the front cover. It was Brian Bolland's artwork that initially made the book for me, but then I delved deeper and found myself appreciating the book not only for the art, but for the words too. You have to understand at this point, that when I use to read comics, that was simply what I was doing. I was reading. Killing Joke changed that for me. I was now THINKING about what I was reading. I was embedding myself in Batman's Gotham city and experiencing every event in that book as if I were actually there.

The book is not that complex, it's fairly easy to read. But, if you let yourself be taken in by the words of Moore and go along for the ride, you get a lot more out of it than you would just reading your standard run-of-the-mill comic.

I found myself sympathising with The Joker as he decided to rob Ace Chemicals, laughing as Barbara Gordon crashed through that coffee table and feeling the insanity as a naked Commissioner Gordon rode on that ghost train... You tell me another book that makes you feel that way when you read it, you could probably only pick out a handful. That's what makes that book great. It becomes less and less about Batman and The Joker, and more about human emotion. The idea that 'one bad day' can drive you beyond the point of insanity.

Since reading that book, Alan Moore has continued to inspire me and I've continued to read his material to try and learn from him and the way he writes. He will forever be one of my favourite writers and if I ever got to do a comic, I'd give the entirety of the credit to Alan and the books he's written. He's in trouble if I ever meet him, because he doesn't look like the kind of guy that would take to kindly to a big hug... Haha.

Until next time!