DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Moore was evolving the superhero story with his work on Swamp Thing and Watchmen in the '80s he was also taking smaller freelance assignments for DC Comics. The works in DC's newly assembled collection of these stories (all previously available in various collections and put together for the first time here) don't possess the same momentousness as those titles but still provide an interesting side of Moore's oeuvre. Many of the stories are superheroes tales told with such wit and imagination that they reach all the promise the genre offers. The best is "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," a heartfelt sendoff to the Silver Age–era of Superman comics rendered by the greatest Superman artist, Curt Swan. Many of the shorter pieces feature Moore's knack for coming up with science fiction twist endings that always amuse. The Green Lantern back-up "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" is as inventive as it is brief. Other stories feel like a dated part of the grim 1980s."The Killing Joke," featuring Batman and stunning art by Brian Bolland, and a Vigilante story are both dark and serious tales but they lack both Moore's virtuoso storytelling tricks and the complexity and humanity of his best work. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

After setting the superhero genre on its ear by overhauling Swamp Thing and before (temporarily) departing mainstream comics for such projects as From Hell (2000), Moore frolicked in DC's playground by penning occasional stories about the company's biggest stars and a few, neglected second-stringers. His artistic collaborators on those pieces were no slouches, either, particularly fellow Brits Dave Gibbons (Moore's collaborator on the acclaimed Watchmen) and Brian Bolland. Most of these tales have been collected before (see Across the Universe, 2003), but this book includes two stories that had previously been published in discrete volumes: "The Killing Joke," a genuinely chilling portrayal of Batman's greatest foe, the Joker, as a dangerous madman rather than a nettlesome clown, and "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow," a heartfelt last look at some three decades' worth of Superman villains, supporting characters, and outmoded detritus (e.g., Krypto the Superdog) before the character received a sweeping, mideighties revamping. Combining these landmark tales with Moore's 13 other DC Universe stories makes this book a no-brainer addition to graphic-novel collections. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (January 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401209270
• ISBN-13: 978-1401209278
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,276 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SOLID, BUT NOT MOORE'S BEST WORK, January 26, 2006

By	Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Over the past 20 years Alan Moore has become one of the most celebrated and enigmatic writers in the comic book industry. He has written such books as the critically acclaimed "Watchmen", "V for Vendetta", as well as reviving the failing "Swamp Thing" series, all for DC Comics. In addition to these runs, Moore wrote a number of "guest stories" for various DC characters in the mid-1980's and that is the subject of this new trade paperback. The book doesn't represent Moore's best comic writing and unfortunately none of the great stories he did for Swamp Thing are included in the book. Rather, these are a series of stories written for 16 issues of various titles between 1985 and 1988. They are all super hero tales and thus Moore did not have the kind of free reign that he did (mostly) on Swamp Thing but you can still get a great sense of his talent, even in stories for mundane and relatively forgotten characters like the Omega Men and The Vigilante.

In Superman Annual #11, Superman has been attacked in his fortress of solitude by Mongul who has attached a strange symbiotic life form to Superman's chest. He stands unmoving as Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman arrive to see him. The creature puts Superman into a world where his greatest heart's wishes come true...he is back on Krypton which was not destroyed and has his own family including a son...a son who he has to painfully tell good bye to in order to fight off the effects of the creature.

DC Comics Presents #85 has a similar story. This time Superman has been infected by a Krptonian fungus that is causing him to experience fever, loss of powers, and delusions. After studying the fungus for twenty minutes, his microscopic vision gets out and he heads south...by car...resigned to die, but is eventually aided by Swamp Thing. Good story but I cannot ever imagine Superman simply giving up so easily, especially with the resources of brilliant minds like Ray Palmer, Batman, and the Martain Manhunter to call on for aid.

A two-part story from Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 tells the "last" Superman story. This was a bit of a sendoff before John Byrne revamped the character in Man of Steel #1. This future "what if' story tells the final fate of Superman, Lois, Jimmy Olsen as well as villains Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro and more. Done in 60's style with art by Curt Swan, this remains a highlight for me.

One of my favorite stories was the Phantom Strange story Moore did for Secret Origins #10. In this issue, four difference writers gave their own version of the Stranger's mysterious origin. In Moore's story, the Stranger is an angel who remained neutral in the battle between Heaven and the rebellious angels. Because he took no side, he was outcast from both Heaven and Hell and walks the world as a stranger. Powerful story.

Finally there is the one-shot special "Batman: the Killing Joke" in which the escaped Joker is at his most sadistic in what he does to both Commissioner Gordon and his daughter Barbara. Still a classic.

With Moore's messy split from DC several years ago due to disagreements over re-print and movie rights it's doubtful we'll ever see Moore work for DC again, but fans will always have the stories in this book to read and treasure at his incredible gift for telling a story.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

32 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DC's Collections Dept. Screws Up Again, February 6, 2006

By	J. Gualtieri "Joe Gualtieri" (Saugus, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It hasn't received much publicity, but DC screwed up big time with this TPB. It's a combination of the earlier Accross the niverse TPB with the PF format "What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" collection and the Killing Joke one shot. well, when DC put this together someone forgot to restore the famous opening paragraph of WHttMoT which for the original collection was placed on the back in leiu of an original text piece.

Now normally this might not be that big a deal, but that paragraph is famous and a powerful piece of writing. It might be corrected in future collections, but for now I'd recommend picking of the original Accross the Universe TPB instead and the seperate releases of WHttMoT and Killing Joke.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good to Great stories - but not Alan Moore's best work, March 19, 2007

By	D. Ortman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While this is a great collection of comics, it certainly isn't Alan Moore's best work. His best work was done outside of DC Comics. Further, his best work for DC Comics is represented by Watchmen and Swamp Thing, both of which provided him with quite a bit of creative freedom. This trade paperback collects all of the filler stories he wrote for DC in the later part of the 1980's. The stories are quite good given what they are (guest writing, filler stories, staple characters with strict editorial guidelines) - but they fail to compare to much of Moore's other work.

The highlights of this collection are definitely the Superman stories - notably "For The Man Who Has Everything" and "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow". I really like the later, as it is drawn by Curt Swan who gives it a very classic look, and inked by George Perez who gives it a modern finish. Both are great and rank among my favorite Superman stories (which is admittedly a short list).

There is another Superman story from DC Comics Presents featuring Swamp Thing, but it falls flat for me. Moore's Superman doesn't act as Superman should. Another entry in the 'average' ranking is a two issue Vigilante story which reads well enough, but in the end lacks anything particularly special.

There are a few Green Lantern stories; most of which are quite short. And yet, while being short, they are quite enjoyable and are some of the Green Lantern stories I remember the best.

The Green Arrow/Black Canary story is short but good. A short origin story for Phantom Stranger is included, which I might have liked if I could get myself to care about The Phantom Stranger in the least bit - but I can't. And there is a short Omega Men story which I rather liked.

Finally, this collection includes "The Killing Joke". I really liked this when it came out, but I've come to think that it is a bit overrated. While I'm sure it deserves some credit for giving some new life to The Joker, in the end it is just a good, solid Batman story. Other writers have done better, and didn't need to destroy a character to do so. (Although, without Batgirl's crippling, Ostrander would not have been able to create Oracle. So it did work out well in the end.)