Customer Reviews

Across the Universe

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This trade paperback should go over well with fans of Alan Moore's more prominent and masterful works (Watchmen, Killing Joke, Swamp Thing, LOEG, etc). I will admit that it is nice to have his more obscure DC work from the '80s under one cover, as there are several stories here that I was not familiar with. Even still, the presence of Alan Moore's name on the cover does not mean that this collection is perfect. In fact, if someone who had not read any Alan Moore began with this this collection, I feel that they wouldn't understand what the fuss was about. Some stories are quite good, and some are quite average. As he was just getting the feel of some of these characters at the time, I can allow for some slack. Plus, Alan Moore's "average" is another writer's "exceptional", so just keep that in mind!

Of course, opinions on the quality of the stories will differ between reviewers, but here are my thoughts:

The Good - A Superman/Mongul story that creeps along in the beginning but finishes with a nice dark touch. Three very tight and creative "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps", especially one involving a GL who comes from a world with no concept of light or color. A Superman/Swamp Thing team-up that would have been right at home in Moore's regular Swamp Thing gig. The secret origin of the Phantom Stranger, unnecessarily paralleled with a modern-day reenactment, but still interesting. A Batman story focusing on Clayface III and his obsession with a department store mannequin.

The So-So: A Green Arrow/Black Canary story that succeeds at being "officially grim and gritty" but didn't make an impression one way or the other. Two Omega Men back-ups that could have ended with rim-shots. A Vigilante 2-parter that is far too long - this one was my least favorite, and leaving it out would have been fine by me. I guess it was meant to be unsettling, and the basic story is okay, but the bright cheery art ruins the effect, and the involvement of two prostitutes gets old very quickly and contributes nothing but eye-rolling melodrama.

In closing, I will definitely hang on to this book, as the good stories more than make up for any faults of the others.

This is a collection of stories Alan Moore wrote for DC in the 1980's before becoming one of the most famous writers in comics history.
There is a Superman birthday story called "For the Man Who Has Everything" that was very well done.
--A Superman/Swamp Thing crossover in which Superman is struck ill by an alien plant from a meteor and he ends up in the Louisiana bayou Swamp Thing inhabits.
--A Green Arrow story that deals with some heavy life/death issues.
-- Some interesting Omega Men tales.
-- A Green Lantern story starring Abin Sur (the alien that gave Hal Jordan the power of Green Lantern!) and other tales of the Green Lantern Corps.
-- A VERY disturbing Vigilante story.
There is only one reason that this set does not get five stars, and that is because it is not the strongest of Alan Moore's work. If Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, Miracleman and From Hell get 5 stars (and they most definitely do!), then this must be below them. That being said, each story in this set is still better than most other stories however, and any Alan Moore fans who are also DC fans will enjoy this set as much as I did if not more so...

*V for Vendetta* and *From Hell* are two of my favorite graphic novels, due in no small part to the brilliant ideas and prose of Alan Moore. Because I first read both books in the `00s, I'd just assumed that Moore was only a contemporary comic book writer. Imagine my surprise, then, that upon picking up this volume at the local library, I discovered not one but three stories that affected me so profoundly when I read them as a kid that they still stick with me twenty-plus years later.

Two of these stories, both of which involve the Green Lantern Corps, still come up in my comparative religions class when I am reflecting on perception and frames of reference. In "Mogo Doesn't Socialize," Bolphunga the Unrelenting has come to a remote planet in search of the great Green Lantern Mogo. Suffice it to say that Bolphunga and the reader both discover precisely why Mogo can't be found anywhere *on* that remote world in a perceptual shift worthy of the *Twilight Zone." "In Blackest Night" challenges a Green Lantern to communicate with a blind being from a dark planet who knows (and, more importantly, can know) nothing of "green" or "lanterns." This story drove home the point that you need a common frame of reference in order for ideas to translate.

The third story, "Brief Lives," filled a single page spread and came from something called *Vega.* As with the latter of the GL stories, this one was all about perspective. Two giants, whose lives encompass epochs of geological time, encounter---in the form of an almost imperceptible little cloud of dust---the futile attacks of a race of militant insectoids. The punchline, delivered by one of these eons-old creatures to his colleague, is that he shouldn't worry too much about the dust cloud because "life is too short." Wonderful!

All the other stories collected in this volume are strong, and most of them explore the nuances of interpersonal relationships, hardly the standard fare of superhero comic books. In "For the Man Who Has Everything," Superman is attacked by an alien plant-thing that renders him comatose while allowing him to live out an idealized virtual life on a Krypton-that-never-exploded with his wife and children. "The Jungle Line" finds the Swamp Thing gently, almost tenderly, rescuing Superman from the feverish grip of a lethal Kryptonian fungus. "Night Olympics" follows an evening out with socially conscious crime fighter couple Green Arrow and Black Widow as they encounter drug freaks, stereo thieves, and a would-be assassin. "Father's Day" is a troubling, if overlong, Vigilante story about a child-abusing, wife-murdering ex-con, and the complex, unfathomable relationship he has with his daughter. The closing story, "Mortal Clay," finds Batman dueling with the third incarnation of Clayface over the affections of an, um, woman.

Alan Moore has demonstrated time and again that he is a writer to be reckoned with. The implications of some stories in this collection took me by surprise decades ago, and their effects have still not worn off. I recommend the stories in this collection very highly.

This collection has some excellent short subject work Alan Moore did for DC throughout the early '80s, before his falling out with the company over WATCHMEN. Moore tells several stories featuring prominent DC characters of the period. This includes a fantastic couple of Green Lantern Corps stories, a decent Green Lantern tale, an average Vigilante story, an Omega Men backup story with a nice twist ending, and a rather disturbing Batman/Clayface story. Of all the stories, the GLC stories got my imagination going the most, and whetted my appetite for more stories about them by Moore, which never came and most likely never will. These stories showed he had a real grasp of the Green Lantern dynamic and were wildly imaginative. I highly recommend this collection.

It's hard to overstate exactly how much fun Alan Moore's comics usually are. They're inventive, witty, even erudite on occasion. This is not one of those occasions, unfortunately. The two Superman stories in the volume are very good, and a couple of the Green Lantern Corps shorts are very clever, but the rest of the book is marred by the catch-all approach to literature, in which DC apparently looks for a by-line and reprints on reflex, never giving a thought to the quality of the stories. The Vigilante tale takes up more space than any other story in the book and is frankly no good. The same goes for the smaller Batman story (a character for whom Moore seems to have some little antipathy - according to him, his acclaimed "The Killing Joke" remains one of his least favorite works), and the book is simply not large enough to excuse the reprinting of such deliberately shoddy material. Further, DC's new printing of "The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told" does not, in fact, include the Moore stories from previous printings. Apparently, this book is the only place you'll be able to find those stories anymore, and you'll have to drop twenty dollars on mostly inferior material to find them! Is the book worth the cover price? Grudgingly, I have to say yes, but only for "For the Man Who Has Everything," "The Jungle Line," and a couple of the eight-page GL Corps stories. The rest is that least Moore-like of vices: boring.

These stories definitely work to get a reaction out of the reader, from "Interesting" to "Ewww" to "Am I supposed to be laughing?"and are worth a read.

Varying in length from full issue to back-up story, each tale makes its point in the space provided and shows you that a year long story arc is not always necessary to deliver the goods.

The often cited "For The Man Who Has Everything" deserves all the praise it has been given in the past. Both emotional and action packed as we see a world where Superman doesn't exist, but Kal-El lives happily...or does he?

Although the most interesting story has to be the Batman tale of Clayface II and his imaginary romance with a department store mannequin. From first encounter, to young romance, to jealousy and betrayal-the story really puts you inside the mind of a tragic/disturbed villain.

The Vigilante story was disturbing but ultimately fell flat, mostly because the hero was completely undeveloped and unlikeable. More a case of useless character as opposed to bad writing.

I wouldn't have paid cover price for it, but a used copy is worth the cash.

Thank the gods that Moore did not write many DC superhero stories. The DC universe is too limiting. These are all excellent stories (particularly the concepts), but the mind of Alan Moore is in a straightjacket. It's a little like watching a great pianist doing five-finger exercises: interesting and enjoyable, but not really what you want. By all means buy this book to complete your Moore collection, but buy his ABC work (especially the brilliant "Promethea") first.