Kevin's Watch

Has anybody else read these graphic novels by Alan Morre and Kevin O'Neill?.

I've read Vols I, II, The Black Dossier and am now 1/2 way into 'Century 1910' [leave's two of the 'Century' series remaining].

As the series progresses the cultural references are coming thicker and faster and getting deeper and deeper [I'm doing as much background reading as reading the works themselves!] There is just sooo much going on that I wonder that anyone could ever pick up on all of it [eg a non-exhaustive list comprises Dracula, She, the Invisible Man, Nemo, 1984, Alister Crowley, Sherlock holmes, the Island of Dr Moreau..... The list goes on and on almost ad infinitum. Then you throw in the illustration where you find charachters from the 1960's 'Giles' cartoons, Coronation Street charachters, Rupert, Sooty, The Wind in the Willows, politicians actors and just about every walk of life you can think of all thrown in as bit parts - et the extreme end I have seen two small background wall posters advertising a show by 'J.Stark' - a reference to Janus Stark, the incredible india rubber escapologist, who featured in a comic strip I used to read in the comic 'Smash' fifty years ago! I mean come on - who but me could ever have picked up on that one?

If there are any other fans out there I'd love to have a chat - if not, if anyone else's curiosity is piqued, take the chance and give it a shot. I bet you'll spot stuff that I have missed by the bucket load!

I read the comics when Moore was doing the whole ABC comics thing; I guess they are your Vol 1&2. I thought he quit after that; I'll have to see if I can find those other books.

my friend Jess Nevins does the annotations for the series.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jess_Nevins

What are the annotations Sarge - is that the lettering and stuff in the voice 'bubbles'? I'm truly overawed by the achievement of the series as a whole and am told that it's not even regarded as one of Moore's major works! I've read [and seen] Watchmen but thats about it. I've got a feeling the 'graphic novel' scene and me are going to get on well. Sandman here I come.....

pete the ageing savage wrote:What are the annotations Sarge - is that the lettering and stuff in the voice 'bubbles'? I'm truly overawed by the achievement of the series as a whole and am told that it's not even regarded as one of Moore's major works! I've read [and seen] Watchmen but thats about it. I've got a feeling the 'graphic novel' scene and me are going to get on well. Sandman here I come.....

Don't forget Swamp-Thing.

Is that a personal favorite DANdeLION?

pete the ageing savage wrote:Is that a personal favorite DANdeLION?

Yeah, though my favorite Swamp-Thing run is the Wein/Wrightson run. Sandman might be better than Swamp-Thing; I wouldn't know because I never bought any Sandman. Top Ten and Promethea were my favorite ABC comics, and Jack B. Quick in Terrific Tales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o ... _Gentlemen

there is talk of either another movie or a tv series. read about the comic history of the league at the link I provided.

a spoof

That's great to see the historical leagues laid out chronologically: I'd not seen the spoof before either. I wonder if Moore was involved in that?

peter wrote:That's great to see the historical leagues laid out chronologically: I'd not seen the spoof before either. I wonder if Moore was involved in that?

I am guessing Moore may not have the greatest sense of humor.

you really should get the annotation (by my friend Jess Nevins) they are a remarkable source of info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jess_Nevins

www.reocities.com/ratmmjess/

These are going to be absolute musts for me Sarge! I'll begin tracking them down forthwith. The one in particular I'm gagging to see is that on The Black Dossier. In one of the comic 'frames' (how else do you describe each individual square of illustration in a comic?) of this installment, there is a promotional poster on the wall of a grungy boarding house that the protagonists are staying in, for a forthcoming performance by "World Famous Escapology Master - Janus Stark". This is the only reference to this character in the whole series and he does not feature in the story at all - yet the character did indeed 'exist'! There was a strip of that name featuring Stark in a comic called Smash that I read as a child some fifty years ago. The whole work is simply replete with such obscure references that are a source of unbridled pleasure to an old codger like me, and I shall feel as superior as Chanticleer on a summer morning if your friend has let this one slip past him! [/i]

let me know when you find out whether he found the reference. it is one of the best comic series ever. such a brilliant idea. one that had been done before, but not to the extent that Moore did.

do you know of the Wold Newton universe?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Newton_family