Alan Moore Books from Avatar Press

[Terminatah]

I was at the bookstore and I noticed some really short paperbacks from writer Alan Moore, published by Avatar Press. But upon closer inspection, these paperbacks appeared to be stories by Alan Moore, adapted by another writer. Does anyone know if this diminishes the quality of the books? Because when it comes to comic books, no one can really do what Alan Moore does.

The books, according to bn.com, are as follows:

Alan Moore: Magic Worlds, Vol. 1
Alan Moore's Another Suburban Romance
A Small Killing
Alan Moore's the Courtyard
Alan Moore's the Courtyard Companion (this is basically the script to Alan Moore's the Courtyard)
Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures
Alan Moore's Writing for Comics (I bought this one; it's a reprinting of an essay Moore wrote in 1985, and then a follow-up essay he wrote about 15 years later)

So, if anyone knows anything about these, post your thoughts here. I don't want to waste my money.

-Terminatah

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I picked up The Courtyard and thought it was OK, but that's more because I didn't care too much for it as a story. It certainly felt like an Alan Moore book, although the strong links it has to another work of fiction (I'd say who, but that would ruin the surprise) made it feel kind of derivative in ways that, say, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen didn't.

I have heard very good things about A Small Killing, but unfortunately haven't gotten to it yet.

For what it's worth, Antony Johnston was hand-picked by Moore to do the adaptations. He's done some fine comics in his own right (I enjoyed Three Days in Europe from Oni Press a lot and mean to get my hands on Julius Real Soon Now).

-- Ed/Ace