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there was a particularly interesting article on the cover of yesterday's Arts & Leisure section detailing for non-comics fans how and why Alan Moore came to be so bitter and hostile at seemingly everyone and everything.

In Mr. Moore's account of his career, the villains are clearly defined: they are the mainstream comics industry — particularly DC Comics, the American publisher of "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" — which he believes has hijacked the properties he created, and the American film business, which has distorted his writing beyond recognition...

..."Alan was one of the first writers of our generation, of great courage and great literary skill," said Paul Levitz, the president and publisher of DC Comics. "You could watch him stretching the boundaries of the medium."

But by 1989, Mr. Moore had severed his ties with DC. Mr. Moore says he was objecting to language in his contracts that would give him back the rights to "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" when they went out of print — language that he says turned out to be meaningless, because DC never intended to stop reprinting either book. "I said, 'Fair enough,' " he recalls. " 'You have managed to successfully swindle me, and so I will never work for you again.' "

Mr. Levitz said that such so-called reversion clauses routinely appear in comic book contracts, and that DC has honored all of its obligations to Mr. Moore. "I don't think Alan was dissatisfied at the time," Mr. Levitz said. "I think he was dissatisfied several years later."

Mr. Lloyd, the illustrator of "V for Vendetta," also found it difficult to sympathize with Mr. Moore's protests. When he and Mr. Moore sold their film rights to the graphic novel, Mr. Lloyd said: "We didn't do it innocently. Neither myself nor Alan thought we were signing it over to a board of trustees who would look after it like it was the Dead Sea Scrolls."

I remember what a big deal it was in the mid-90's when Moore wound up with his own imprint at Wildstorm (Jim Lee's division of Image Comics, a company founded by artists sick of the limitations of working at Marvel Comics) called "America's Best Comics." he came up with four monthly series and all of them did extremely well in both sales and critical acclaim. whenever i read them, it felt like a nostalgic look back at the heyday of old science fiction and it was really fun. and, of course, i was just as confused and shocked as everyone else when Jim Lee sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in 1998. everyone was sure this meant Alan Moore would throw a hissyfit and quit.

"We did the deal on the assumption that Alan would be gone the day it was signed," said Mr. Levitz. But Mr. Moore's loyalty to his artists trumped his aversion to his former employers, and he stayed put. "It seemed easier to bite the bullet meself," he said.

It was about two years ago when Moore announced he was shutting down the ABC imprint, closing up the regular series "Tom Strong," "Promethea," "Top 10," and "Tomorrow Stories," but that he would continue producing the once-yearly series of mini-series "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". This announcement came after the releases of the nearly unrecognizable film adaptations of his books "From Hell" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". The latter particularly gave him trouble:

Screenwriter Larry Cohen and the producer Martin Poll sued the studio, charging that elements of the film had been plagiarized from their work. Though the film, which was one of the year's costliest flops, differed drastically from the graphic novel, the lawsuit nonetheless claimed that the "Extraordinary Gentlemen" comics had been created as a "smokescreen" to cover up the theft.

Mr. Moore found the accusations deeply insulting, and the 10 hours of testimony he was compelled to give, via video link, even more so. "If I had raped and murdered a schoolbus full of retarded children after selling them heroin," he said, "I doubt that I would have been cross-examined for 10 hours." When the case was settled out of court, Mr. Moore took it as an especially bitter blow, believing that he had been denied the chance to exonerate himself.

Most recently, the producer of this week's release "V For Vendetta" said in a press conference that he had spoken to Moore about the film adaptation at that Moore was "very excited" by it. Moore called him on the lie and demanded a public retraction. When no such retraction came, Moore quit again.
The result of all of this that I find actually interesting is that now Moore has landed at Top Shelf Productions, the independant comics publisher that is home to Craig Thompson's "Blankets," Andy Runton's "Owly," and James Kochalka's "American Elf," among many others. They should be publishing the third volume of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" later this year.

and speaking of independant comics publishers, check out the exhibitor list for the 2006 MoCCA Art Festival. plenty of new names, a lot of returning favorites and pretty big names. i'm excited. and i've still got a good chunk of names to add. some special last minute guests that i think are really cool and of course our Guest of Honor isn't even listed yet because i don't want to let any cats out of their respective bags just yet.
i swear, that list was a good solid two days of my spring break.

the names on the list that excite me, you ask? well, for one, Brian Wood's back from california and ready to rock MoCCA after a two year absence. Christine Norrie's back after having her baby girl. Chip Kidd is doing a panel conversation with Charles Burns. Dan Nadel and the whole PictureBox crew are gonna drop some science on the Art Fest floor. and of course, i'm always super-happy to see Art Fest regulars Damon Hurd, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Jim Mahfood, Keith Knight, Brenden Burford, and Joe Staton. guests for the MoCCA table haven't been announced yet, but i wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff Smith, Mike Mignola, and Patrick McDonnell on that list, as they're consistent MoCCA supporters. i heard a rumor that a certain bald vegan electronic rock star might make an appearance too.