DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

Oofa Doofa. Some of these have aged like milk!

Alan Moore is a mixed bag in many respects. He's a fascinating fellow and on the whole seems like a decent, if cantankerous and bizarre guy, and his writing ranges from incredibly insightful and cutting through absolutely Gonzo madness (complimentary) to powerful cishet white dude edgelord yikesfests.

This random collection of bits and bobs he did for DC is none of the first, some of the second, and quite a bit of the last. Nothing is as deep and reflective as his most famous works, there's some definite fun and truly weird and wacky stuff that was fun to read, but the sheer rollerdex of offensive, cringy, just not good or entertaining stuff made this a really tough read.

Honestly, I only show more recommend this for the Moore and DC completionists and comic historians. I would consider myself a rather widely read comic fan, and beyond the novelty of some of the stories and the fact that I found this at the local library, I kinda wished I had done anything else with my time. show less

I don't love Alan Moore's work (well, I love some of it, but I don't subscribe to the theory that he's the best writer of comics ever), and there are some stories in this volume that are simply decent. I don't know that any are bad, but they're not all spectacular. However, there are a few classics, and enough lesser known works that are interesting, if nothing else, to make this worth reading.

This was a bit of a mixed bag. If you are expecting the Alan Moore of works like Watchmen, then this is not it. However, if you are looking for some pretty good comics, then this will do the trick. Moore did a run with DC Comics during the 1980s, and this volume collects those works. The edition does include What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow and The Killing Joke. I read and reviewed The Killing Joke previously.

The comics vary from nice and poignant to light humor to good quality storytelling. There is a bit of everything. Personally, I liked Man of Tomorrow and the story about the Green Lantern Corps member who had to deal in a world where there is no color (it is dark and all the inhabitants are blind). I thought that was a pretty show more original tale. A couple other stories were just lukewarm, but they were still ok to read. These are comics from the 1980s, which is clear in the art style. In a way takes me back to my younger days. Fans of Moore will likely want to read this whether because they are fans or just to complete their collections. More casual fans may want to borrow it. I liked it, but I know Moore has done better work. Still, I was glad to have read it. show less

I didn't much care for the Vigilante story, but "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" and "Brief Lives" reminded me of D.R. and Quinch with their alien irony. The "Man of Tomorrow" story was good, which ends with the notion that Superman has faked his own death in order to live a normal life. "The Killing Joke" is the classic here, reading very much like a movie and making great use of recurring images to tie the narrative together.

this collection has the killing joke in it and though i am not even close by a long shot to knowing and having read all there is to read about batman and his various villians and companions, i think this is the best joker story i've come across and maybe that has ever been written. ahem. there's a really great green arrow story in there, very glib, one of my favorite short pieces of alan moore's.

Not all stories are equally good, but the Superman and Batman ones are excellent. "The Killing Joke" remains one of the best Batman stories I've read, and it's still shocking and impressive and, well, good even after having read it a bunch of times. "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow" was good, but in that case my expectations were a little too high, I think; the Superman story I liked best in this collection was "For The Man Who Has Everything".

Some stories fell short of genius, but as always, Alan Moore amazes.