'The Anatomy Lesson' and Alan Moore...

As you may have noticed, I'm talking about Marvel Comics here.  I may from time to time comment on non-Marvel comics when I find something significant to say, but most of my comics reading and focus in on Marvel.  Why?  Because I prefer Marvel comics to others.  Although many DC comics are beautiful creations in terms of art style and writing, I find them largely shallow, and I resent the company's policy of rebooting every decade or more.  And I hold a grudge for their eradication of Stephanie Brown (who should be Robin) and of Renee Montoya.

As for Image: they are a company created by and for artists, and by men for men, with a consistent flavour that reflects that.  There are exceptions - some amazing exceptions, like Saga.

Some brilliant independents and graphic novels, too, especially in the genre of autobiography.

But Marvel... that's where my interest lies.  This blog is, at least in part, to explore the reasons.

That being said, there was an interesting item posted yesterday on Bleeding Cool about "The Anatomy Lesson", a  Swamp Thing story from DC in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, back in February 1984, by the amazing Alan Moore.  When I think that comics have improved over the years - and in some ways they have - I remember some of the amazing comics of the 1980s and realize that their standards are still seldom met.

Well... in some ways. I'm not sure if anything Alan Moore ever wrote passed the Bechdel test - except The Lost Girls, which is something different entirely. It isn't that the Bechdel test is a measure of quality: some absolute drek passes the test, while masterpieces fail to.  It's a point about my sense of reality, and what I want to be reading, and what I want to see.

Alan Moore was one of several amazing writers who were transforming comics in the 1980s, and I intend to write about them.  I might add that I don't always like Alan Moore's work, either, and as with many of those 1980s creators, their early work looks to be their best.

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