BUY THIS/GIFT ALERT: 'Alan Moore: Storyteller'

I became greedy for this book, and the publisher was kind enough to send it to me. Now I must tell you all to buy it, not because they sent it to me, but because it really is something extraordinary.

Alan Moore: Storyteller is the kind of book we always wanted to see about comics wizard Alan Moore. We just didn't know it until Gary Spencer Millidge wrote it. From Michael Moorcock's forweword to every lovingly crafted page that follows, it's a feast for Moore worshipers, fanboys, comics guzzlers and people who love a well-made book.

Starting with his Northampton childhood and continuing through his brilliant but still thoroughly Northampton adulthood, the book charts Moore's extraordinary evolution from upstart kid spinning graphic tales to magician who changed the face of comics. Everything is here, from his work on Marvelman to his reinvention of Swamp Thing to the groundbreaking production of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and more.

Other Moore biographies exist, and they're good, but never before has the evolution of perhaps the most important writer in modern comics been charted with such concise poise. The enigma that is Alan Moore has never seemed clearer, but Storyteller is more than a simple chronological construction. This is a glimpse inside the life and mind of Moore the likes of which you never hoped to see. His handwritten notes on many of his most important works are presented here, as are rare photos and glimpses of his creative process that true believers like me always chalked up to magic. With the addition of these things, this book becomes more than just a study of Moore's importance as a writer and literary magician. It becomes a dispatch from the unknown, a remarkable collection of glimpses into one of comics' most fascinating creators. That alone makes it worth the journey.