Moore gets us to think about the very nature of pornography. The very word itself has become a negative thing, largely because so much porn is hateful or merely artless. Yet by applying the full bore of his considerable talents upon the art of procreation, Moore reminds us that sex can be art. Very little porn out there is art these days, but once upon a time, erotic fiction was a distinct, credible genre. Lost Girls is Alan Moore's most revolutionary work, designed to smash assumptions, crash barricades.
In a remarkable three-part interview at the website Comic Book Resources with writer Adi Tantimedh, Moore lays bare some of his motivations for what will be seen by some as a red flag in the culture wars:
"Whatever urges there are out there are in our sexual imagination. And it seems to me that is a thing we fail to explore at our peril, if we allow shadowy, unexpected corners of it to remain where it is and never look inside them, and we end up with pretty much the type of society we've got now, where there is a fanatic outcry at anything suggestive involving a child where there is complete apathy at the number of children who are blown up every day in the world's war zones. Yeah, they only had their limbs blown off, but they haven't been touched sexually. That is something that is worth looking at."
Much of Moore's work involves a critical transformative event that breaks the border between worlds, such as the genocidal concentration camp that creates his "V" in V For Vendetta, or the murders of Jack the Ripper seen as a kind of invocation for the 20th century in From Hell. In Lost Girls, the telling of sexual histories by his girls is a chance for them to escape old hurts, embrace old pains and enjoy their sexuality unashamed. Wendy, from Peter Pan, is a tightly wound Victorian prude when we first see her, but gradually opens to embrace her lusty past with Moore's sexaholic Pan. Alice went "through the looking glass" to a terrible world where she was used and abused by others, only finally emerging with her own self-identity and pleasures. It certainly helps reading Lost Girls to be familiar with Oz, Pan and Alice, but even if you haven't read the original books many of their broad storylines are still familiar to us all.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
I am envious of your early access to what promises to be a scrumptious set of books:) Great article - will look forward to the books
2 - Tim
Wow, this sounsd like a really amazing piece of work, I'm dying to check it out. I see amazon has it for $25 off too, pretty good deal!
3 - SFC SKI
In your opening paragraph, you mention "tijuana bibles" in contrast to what is offered in Moore's newest work. In light of the discussion going on over in the CleanFlicks thread, I wonder if that reference and the differences between the two will be dicerning by all readers.
Alan Moore definitely offers the reader some very unique perspectives on whatever topic he addreses. Didn't he also have something to do with the "Marvel (?) 1602" series?
More books to buy when I return to the World. Thanks forthe review.
4 - Snarkattack
SFC SKI - the Marvel '1602' series had involvement from Neil Gaiman rather than Alan Moore though I can understand how one might confuse the two.
Gosh, I can't wait to read this work of his, should be a real treat!