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So a long time ago (the mid-1990s), the greatest writer in comics agreed to take over the writing duties for Image Comics' Supreme. He would radically reshape the character, the book, and due to forces beyond his control, a whole comic book universe. And it led to an award-winning run of comics, three additional titles (among several proposed) and ultimately led to the genesis of Moore's much better known America's Best Comics. And then it all went out of print and was forgotten by way too many.

Having gathered quite a bit of information about Moore's Supreme and Awesome runs, I decided to create a home for the forgotten Awesome. Over the course of a year, I put it all together here.

Each week I did a main "Weekly Reading" post that was a read-through of that issue. I followed that up with a couple of other posts about topics from that Weekly Reading or whatever else I came up with to talk about. You'll find the lost Youngbloods in the Youngblood section and the fan-edit of the last Supreme in After Awesome.

Below is the archive of posts broken up by book. Thanks for checking the site out!

Book 1: Supreme: The Story of the Year

Book 1: Judgment Day

Book 3: Supreme: The Return

Book 4: Youngblood

Book 5: Glory

Book 6: After Awesome

Book 7: 1963

Book 8: Night Raven

Book 9: A Small Killing

Friday, January 10, 2020

Leviticus Chapter 20

From Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament in 1987...

 

...came this little gem from Alan Moore and Hunt Emerson. It can also be found in Yuggoth Culture and Other Growths #3.








Here's a great review with a bit more background about the book:
Starting up their business in the late 1960s, Knockabout were for almost twenty years the primary distributors of American underground comics in the UK progressing to publishing their own editions. An occupational hazard of importing underground comics, though, was frequent and persistent persecution under Britain’s archaic obscenity laws. The police saw Knockabout as an easy target: a small publisher unable to afford the cost of frequent court appearances. Luckily, Knockabout had friends, and winning every case eventually sent a message.

When Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament was published Knockabout had just emerged with their reputation unscathed from yet another court appearance, and there was a definite agenda attached to this book. It was to reveal that the Old Testament, mainstay of the Bible, and housed in every church in Britain, contained material every bit as obscene as that for which Knockabout were appearing in court.

Although not a fund-raiser, the pointed subject matter attracted a higher level of contributor than was customary for a Knockabout anthology. Neil Gaiman, then only starting his career, adapted much of the material from the source, which was then illustrated by regular Knockabout contributors. The utterly depraved and maniacally detailed style of Mike Matthews is put to good use bookending the particularly perverse Book of Judges in the style of an old EC comic, although Steve Gibson gives him a good run on the depravity scale. In keeping with editorial directive, Gaiman’s scripts play up humour in a manner largely absent from his later comics work.

Highlights include a very tasteful re-telling of Sodom and Gomorrah’s fate by Dave Gibbons, Kim Deitch bringing his disturbingly creepy style to the Book of Job, and Graham Higgins portraying Samson’s over the top exploits. There’s also a Brian Bolland page reprinted from the Knockabout Trial Special, and rare Dave McKean art, but the best strip is Alan Moore and Hunt Emerson’s interpretation of Leviticus chapter 20. It deals with God informing Moses of how assorted transgressors are to be dealt with, and Emerson’s salacious tribesmen relishing the task of setting about their fellows as each sin is revealed are gloriously exaggerated.

As with almost all anthologies, though, this is a mixed bag with one strip of lesser appeal for every strip that’s a triumph.

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