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Underground > Comic Books >

The Courtyard

The Natural Way

12:46 / 10.10.02

New Alan Moore mini.

Here's the gen:

"Alan Moore's The Courtyard is a two issue mini-series beginning in January from Avatar Press.

The mini-series is written by Moore, with artwork by Jacen Burrows and sequential adaptation by Antony Johnston and Moore.

"The Courtyard was my attempt to write a story within the mythology of H.P. Lovecraft that did not try to regurgitate Lovecraft's style," Moore said. "It was an attempt to write a Lovecraftian story that was set in what was then the near future rather than in a Lovecraftian Era. As such, I thought it was a very successful story and it has always been a little favorite of mine in terms of my horror output. I am looking forward a great deal to seeing what Jacen does with the Avatar version."

Lovecraft without the the trimmings? Sounds fun. Liked Moore's brief headnod to the OLD One's in The Starry Wisdom and have every reason to believe that I'll dig on this'n' too. Art looks nice, but still don't know how to post images (becuase I suck).

Do sometimes wish Moore would try out something shineynew, though.

yawn - thing's buddy

14:52 / 10.10.02

I like the title.

Agree with want for real new Moore material.

or finish Halo Jones. I most want that juss noo.

hypersimulation

20:58 / 10.10.02

Marrynce: This is the same story that was in Starry Wisdom adapted as a comic, much like all those Dark Horse Neil Gaiman hardcovers I don't buy.

The Natural Way

07:37 / 11.10.02

Ohhh...is it? Was that called 'The Courtyard' then? It's been so long, I can't remember....(glassonion's still got my copy - had it for donkeys.)

But, thinking about it, that opening sequence...it's the same as the short story's, isn't it?

Well, that's not so exciting then.

13:48 / 11.10.02

shit i thought you'd forgotten. still just there for the asking of course. should be interesting to see this done funnybook, if only because the creepy dealer is like the best batman baddie there's never been. imagine him tripping robin out, then soaking him in pepper spray. i spend way too much time coming up with nasty ways to beat robin up.

02:26 / 17.01.03

Give it a shot, I think you might like it. It is the same story as the Lovecraft anthology but the new interpretation has some clever ideas, as it should any time a first person prose work is turned into a sequential story.

Art samples and cover:
http://www.avatarpress.com/thecourtyard/

I can answer question if anyone has em...

-Jacen Burrows

04:58 / 17.01.03

Is the first issue of this out already?

05:19 / 17.01.03

Nope, end of the month or first week of Febuary as far as I know. Issue two a month later.

-J

yawn - thing's buddy

08:56 / 13.02.03

I is goin to scores thissss today at lunchtime.

Then I'm going to read it when i get home.

Then me bask in mooreness.

16:59 / 06.03.03

Ulthar Cats rulz! Issue 2 is out. I like the art in this; it catches all of those 'what the fuck?' moments very nicely.

My question is: what came first, DMT-7 or Key-23?

18:35 / 06.03.03

Saw it on the news stands...

Flipped through it and though I was sorly tempted to pick it up... I didn't. Can't explain why, the art was Okay... maybe the $3.50 for a BW just seemed a bit much. I suppose I'll wait till the 2 issues are collected.

13:27 / 07.03.03

I wanted to wait until I had both issues to ask Jacen some questions:

Was it your idea or Alan Moore's to use the two panel column style layout? It lent perfectly to the pacing of the story, especially for the climax. On the wza-y'ei and dho-hna hallucination pages did you just pencil and ink the art and then specifically ask the colorist to leave out any tones?

I'm curious if Jacen has been offered any gigs with major publishers. I think your style would be an excellent match for a number of popular titles. But are you more interested in working with Avatar, where you are free to draw more explicit material?

Thanks. Excellent work.

14:09 / 07.03.03

Not that i want to be answering anything for Jacen but... Alan more didn't write the script for this - that was entirely down to Antony (Three Days in Europe) Johnston. The original prose was Moore's and I believe Johnston was in contact with him, but the script was Johnston's.

14:18 / 07.03.03

I've got this on order, on the basis that even though Moore's not writing it, I loved the short story it's based on and I'm interested to see how it's handled in comics.

So what's it like? Nobody actually seems to have given their opinion of it yet..

00:29 / 09.03.03

The 2 panel page design was entirely Alan's idea. It was a hell of a challenge to work like that but a lot of fun. Alan was involved in the whole process, okaying character designs, covers, script, etc and I hear he is pleased with the final result which makes me delighted.

When Sax snorts the initial DMT and the panels go "white", I had requested no tones, later when the full bore hallucinations hit, I had some specific notes for the tones but I let Nimbus do their thing. I haven't seen the printed copy yet but there should be regular tones on those pages also.

I have done some freelance for both Marvel and DC (brief) but ultimately, Avatar offered me the best chance of working with the best writers on their creator owned stuff which is always more heartfelt and important than their corporate property books, with no editorial interference. I'd never get to do a book like Courtyard or Scars at the current Marvel or DC. I'd rather work with these writers on really unique projects than reap the rewards of corporate freelance in the company property trenches, never knowing if I might have to survive by drawing some book I don't actually care about. I'm really enjoying where I'm at right now.

20:16 / 14.03.03

Thiese two issue were for me a great comic offering.

It read closely to Lovecraft, with the mystery and nearby insanity.

My only regret was that the horror, suspense, and gut-wrneching fear were not prevalent.

I would happily recommend this story to any mature comic reader or fan of HP Lovecraft.

VR
The Shark