The British Invasion: Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and the Invention of the Modern Comic Book Writer

Gaiman, Moore and Morrison are three of the greatest mainstream comic book writers (you could, and should , add Garth Ennis, Pete Milligan and Warren Ellis, by the way. But the achievement of these three is undeniable).This book analyses not only the individual works of these three writers, but the way their careers intersected and aligned as they progressed.Fascinating, and written in a transparent and readable style which is analytical but accessible and positive without being sycophantic. Having loved all three of these from Near Myths , Ghastly Beyond Belief and The Stars My Degradation days, I thought I knew it all, but this book still unearthed some unknown facts about their collaborations and insights into the work.Perhaps the greatest insight comes from Dave Mckean, who hates superheroes, and said that the reason he worked with Morrison and Gaiman was that they were WRITERS, not comic book writers. This is very true: though obvious with Gaiman, Moores novels ( jerusalem AND voice of the fire are superb) and Morrison's stage plays ( Depravity was excellent) show real talent which found expression in comics, not limited to it.)A serious book on serious earth. Recommended!!

I really got into comics when the British Invasion was actually happening. This takes me back to that time and brings all the elements together to make sense of this important period for comics. Well worth a read.

Another great Sequart book. Like their best books its well written and accessible. Even non comics readers or those with a lack of knowledge in the three main protagonists of the British Invasion can enjoy this. Indeed if you know nothing even better in some ways as it will illuminate the history of what happened whilst also perhaps fuelling enough interest to check out their material. Its informative, interesting, enjoyable and his interpretations appear spot on.......so if your confused by the source material, the authors themselves or just want a good read....buy this

I absolutely and wholeheartedly recommend this book to one and all.A little context: I'm the "Colonial" (Alan Moore's term for we Americans) who penciled SWAMP THING starting with writer Marty Pasko's run (working with John Totleben and Rick Veitch; John and I began our tenure with SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #16) and John Totleben and I were lucky enough to be the FIRST American cartoonists (along with Dan Day: SOTST #20) to work from Alan Moore's scripts. I worked with and was involved with some of the events covered in this book; I knew/know many of the key participants, including Alan Moore and Karen Berger (my editor, too!) and Neil Gaiman, and I lived—sometimes inhabited, other times was in the direct orbit of—the era Greg Carpenter covers in this book.Inevitably, I have certain reservations and caveats—how can one live through such a major life change, be in the gravitational pull of such events, and not be privvy to that which no author can or will divine or know?—but Greg's done a magnificent job with this book, making sense of the events, the creative works, the times, and a bit of the business dealings that made it all possible (and, at times, impossible). If I have any major misgivings, they are misgivings I'll have to redress in my own writing, but being able to refer to Greg's book will make it all the easier to establish common reference points to work from, and that's quite something in and of itself.Someday, somewhere down the road, I'll have enough to purchase a couple copies for the Center for Cartoon Studies Schulz Library, so I can incorporate readings from Greg's tome into my own comics history class Spring semester [I teach at the Center for Cartoon Studies, have been doing so since 2005). This book IS that good, and that essential.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, kudos to the author and publisher.

At first glance this book is too long. But once you get to reading it, the book is not only a real page turner, it is very interesting and informative. I honestly went from chapter to chapter wondering which of the three subjects the author felt was the “better writer” but in the end I think he would call it a tie.This is not a negative comment, just personal opinion, I do feel like he slighted contemporary non-British authors of the day for the strides they where making (see Claremont) in super hero comics, but again this is just my perspective.If you care anything about any one of these three authors or the timelines of their writing, you really should give this book a chance.