Thursday, October 20, 2011

Retronomicon

I saw Alan Moore's Neonomicon trade at the comic shop today. On one hand, I'd be happy spending this post making more digs at Moore dredging up another author's ideas to put new spins on them. That might be a sign of creative bankruptcy if you do it while the authors are still alive and the works are still protected by copyright, but hoo boy, you let those authors die and those properties lapse into the public domain, and suddenly your script for Lovecraft fans monthly or your 19th Century children's novel heroine slash fiction is a worthy pursuit for a legitimate literary genius. I can't wait for a hundred and fifty years after Joss Whedon kicks it, so my Buffy/Inara slash fic can be published and recognized as the seminal, game-changing graphic novel monument that it's meant to be.

Sorry, where was I? Oh right, Neonomicon. I take my shots at Alan Moore, but I dig Lovecraftian stuff. So I'm curious: is it any good? I've heard that the most recent League of Extraordinary Gentlemen books haven't been so hot, but maybe the alternate setting allows for something different. I'm not enamored enough with Moore these days to check it out sight unseen, but if it's an interesting take, I'd be up for checking it out.

2 comments:

LurkerWithout said...

I've only seen reviews of it, but they were pretty dire...

Unknown said...

I mostly enjoyed it, the story is very well told and successfully creates a feeling of inevitable doom and hopelessness similar to Lovecraft's own work. However there is an extended rape scene which despite being a well crafted piece of horror I found problematic.