V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The list goes on of Alan Moore’s classics as a comics writer. From superheroes to dystopian politics, Victorian aliens to Batman, Moore has always been one of the most important comics writers in the mainstream industry. But earlier this week, Alan Moore officially announced that he will be retiring from comics.
Moore, who is about to ship his epic novel Jerusalem on the 13th, noted that he’s done all he can for the medium. It’s not us, he’s saying, it’s him; he’s given the medium everything he can muster.
“There are a couple of issues of an Avatar [Press] book that I am doing at the moment, part of the HP Lovecraft work I’ve been working on recently. Me and Kevin will be finishing Cinema Purgatorio and we’ve got about one more book, a final book of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to complete,” he said. “After that, although I may do the odd little comics piece at some point in the future, I am pretty much done with comics.”
Instead, Moore says he’s interested in film and literary novel writing. He also argues that the superheroes of the 1960s “were for 50 years ago,” and that the 21st century “deserves artists that are actually going to attempt to say things that are relevant to the times we are actually living in.”
“That’s a longwinded way of me saying I am really, really sick of Batman,” he explained.
Granted, Moore will still be working in comics for a bit longer. But once he wraps up his final few projects, it seems he’ll move onto new mediums.
Jerusalem plans to hit bookstores next week. Copies are available in Kindle, hardcover, paperback, and audio copies on Amazon. The novel clocks in at a whopping 1,280 pages: Perfect for any Moore fan interested in losing themselves inside of another one of his epics.
