Customer Reviews

Alan Moore's Light Of Thy Countenance

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The summaries I've read for Alan Moore's LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE, and even the back cover of the book, make it sound as if the entirety of the story focuses on a character named Maureen Cooper. Well, that's certainly not the case. Many authors have tackled the question of what gods make up our modern pantheons. From Harlan Ellison to Neil Gaiman, it's a subject that seems to fascinate writers just as much as readers. LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE is one of the better examples I've read of this particular subgenre, in which we are treated to a monologue from the great god Television, and "Maureen Cooper" is only one facet of it.

Originally a prose piece written for an anthology, LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE has here been adapted as a 48-page comic by writer Antony Johnston and artist Felipe Massafera. Seeing the price, you may wonder why you should pay so much for a comic. Well, for one thing, it's dense - this is not a book you'll finish in 5 minutes, and if you do, you're certainly not focusing on what Moore is saying. We follow Television's own account of its birth, evolution, power, and place in our lives, culminating in a beautiful yet unsettling 2001-esque moment that leaves just as many questions as the conclusion of that classic film.

While this story was not originally intended for a comic format, Johnston does a solid job of adapting it to the medium. The same can be said of Massafera's beautiful painted art, which resembles the early work of Alex Ross. Those readers who follow Moore primarily for his superhero work may be in for a disappointment, but if you have marveled at From Hell, Voice of the Fire, or Alan Moore's Songbook, LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE is a worthwhile purchase.

I hate television programming. I really dislike how TV has invaded our homes and worked against the family structure. Alan obviously has an eyes-wide-open view of how TV has been able to spin our worlds and mutiliate human experiences. I wasn't sure what to expect with this book when I bought it, but I find it really enjoyable. I do not care for the actual artwork as much as the story that is told.

Poetry should always awake something in us. Reading a poem could cause many reactions, but indifference should never be one of them. Alan Moore's Light of thy Countenance is not a comic book per se. After all, comic books (just like films) are narrative. Visual and sequential narrative but narrative nonetheless.

Light of thy Countenance is more akin to poetry than anything else. Originally written as a text about television it was "a freestyle beat poem, a damning essay and historical treatise all in one, condemning both the bland, commercial and hypocritical disgrace that has usurped the medium's potential, and the sheep who accept such dross without criticism"; years later Anthony Johnston in collaboration with Moore turned that into a comic script; and artist Felipe Massafera accepted the challenge of putting all these crazy ideas and notions into images of incomparable beauty.

Television is something we all take for granted. We never seem to think about what it actually means. Do we trust blindly on mass media? News networks and public share the same opinions about everything? Could we survive without TV ads, without publicity? How many hours do we spend each day, month or year watching TV? As the narrator of this graphic novel announces, had it been a god, Television would have amassed more devotion than any deity one could think of.

Obviously this isn't a simple criticism on consumer's behavior. After all, we watch TV (even Alan Moore does) but with different criteria. Whereas television is mind-numbing entertainment for some, for others it's simply a fun and relaxing alternative to spend time. One thing should remain clear, though. Television deserves to be analyzed as a cultural manifestation.

When Socrates compared the polis with a sleeping horse, he assumed the role of a gadfly. He was ready to sting the horse, id est, to force people to wake up and think. And he lived in a city in which philosophy was one of the most preeminent occupations. We no longer live as he did in Ancient Greece. In a world in which philosophy is now devoid of all purpose, what can we expect of society? The horse was asleep in 400BC, today perhaps it is already rotting, beyond all salvation.

That is why I consider important that someone like Moore takes the time to rethink the basic aspects of television. Light of thy Countenance won't please many readers, but it is something different and unique. And because of that it gets my undivided attention. Hopefully, it will get yours too.

Damn...

It put me in the same state of mind I fall into after reading a whole David Foster Wallace novel or story collection. Alan Moore is awesome and beautiful, as is this comic.

The art is perfect too...

Very well written, but do bring a dictionary to any reading of this short yet very challenging work by the legendary Alan Moore.

Do people who buy Alan Moore's books generally buy anything with his name on it? Are these same people not often TV addicts? As a former TV addict and a person who will buy anything with Alan Moore's name on it, I may have any number of overlapping biases. I have just read the softcover, the size of two monthly issues, and feel compelled to hand it out to strangers. For what my convert's piety is worth, I say the interplays of art and text are executed with purpose, rather than pretention or snarkiness. Buy two wherever you can.