America's Best Comics
|
|
America's Best Comics is a publisher of comic books. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of Wildstorm, an idea proposed to Moore by Wildstorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics.
Under this imprint, Moore has penned many well-regarded series, the most famous being The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a clever strip which merged several famous Victorian-era fiction characters into one world. Other notable comics include Tom Strong, a homage to pulp fiction heroes such as Doc Savage, Top 10, a light-drama set around a police precinct in a city where everyone has superpowers and Promethea, one of Moore's most personal pieces which detailed Moore's view on Magic.
Peter Hogan and Rick Veitch had their own spin-off series, Terra Obsura and Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset respectively, and Steve Moore (no relation) co-wrote Tom Strong's Terrific Tales with Moore.
Regular contributing artists include Kevin O'Neill, Chris Sprouse, Rick Veitch, J. H. Williams III, Gene Ha, Zander Cannon, Kevin Nowlan, Hilary Barta, Melinda Gebbie, Jim Baikie, Paquette Story and Arthur Adams.
All the lettering for the ABC line is done by Todd Klein, with the exception of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which is done by William Oakley.
Wildstorm was later sold to DC Comics without Moore's knowledge, although the Internet was buzzing with the news of what Moore would do to Lee upon discovering the truth. This was because Moore had sworn years earlier that he would never work for DC again.
According to the interview Moore gave George Khoury in the book The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, when Lee first saw Alan Moore after the takeover, the tall figure of Moore holding his snake-headed walking stick impressed Lee so, he was sure Moore - who was then still ignorant of the sale - was going to beat him senseless. Moore was reluctant at first, but ultimately decided to accept his new situation as he had promised work to a number of his artist friends from Rob Liefeld's defunct Awesome Comics line. In the same interview, he said that it was better to go back against a principle for the greater good, than to have no principles in life at all.
Moore announced that the imprint's 'universe' would end with the 32nd issue of Promethea, where the ABC Universe would be met with the Apocalypse, and he would soon retire. Despite this announcement there are still a few more Moore-penned stories expected: At least one League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume and a new Top 10 spin-off titled The 49ers. There are also rumours of two 64-page specials offering a final farewell to some of ABC's characters.
Outside of Moore the ABC line looks to continue a little while longer under other writers. Tom Strong, for example, has already been written entirely by guest authors since November 2003. These authors have included; Peter Hogan, Geoff Johns, Mark Schultz, Steve Aylett, Brian K. Vaughn, Ed Brubaker and Michael Moorcock. A sequel to Top 10 called Beyond The Farthest Precinct is expected from novelist Paul Di Filippo and artist Jerry Ordway in August.
Titles under the ABC Imprint
- Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset (a Tomorrow Stories spin-off, written and drawn by Rick Veitch)
- Promethea
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Tomorrow Stories
- Tom Strong
- Terra Obscura (a Tom Strong spin-off based on old Nedor Comics characters, written by Peter Hogan)
- Tom Strong's Terrific Tales (a Tom Strong spin-off)
- Top 10
- Smax (a Top 10 mini-series spin-off)
- Top 10: The 49ers (a Top 10 graphic novel spin-off)
- Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct (a Top 10 mini-series)
Other one-off titles have included
- Amercia's Best Comic's 64 Page Giant (a collection of short stories involving all of the ABC characters)
- America's Best Comic's Sketchbook (a collection of sketches of main characters by ABC artists)
- The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong (a single issue Tom Strong spin-off)
- Promethea Covers Collection (a collection of all 32 Promethea covers)
External links
- America's Best Comics (http://www.dccomics.com/features/abc/)
- ABC Fanpage (http://www.leguy.de/comics/abc/)