Lost Girls, Book 1

Alan Moore, Lost Girls, vol. 1 (Top Shelf, 2006) I find it endlessly amusing that my library refuses to lend Ice-T's The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a [censored]? with its dust jacket (for one cannot have a printed profanity defaming the eyes of the kiddies!), and yet lends Lost Girls in all its glory. We don't have the collected edition, in its tasteful, plain-blue case; no, we have the individual volumes. The back cover of volume 1 will probably do more damage to the library's reputation than will Ice-T's f-word, if any of the busybodies who worry about such things ever get their hands on it. The controversial contents of said book are just as illicitly stimulating, concerning the meeting of three well-known female stars of fairy tale-dom at a posh hotel. There is great lasciviousness all around as the three of them meet for the first time, telling the tales of how they got to be the disgraced fairy-tale figures they are. (There's a bit of dalliance among them, but you'll have to wait till later in the series to get to the meat of that; this is a story of beginnings.) Moore is, of course, one of the finest writers of graphic novels going today, having given us such lights as Watchmen and V for Vendetta. It would be ludicrous to assume, as many seem to have, that when turning his attention to more adult material, Moore would lose his incisive gaze and immediately assume drooling-fourteen-year-old status. Pish-posh. Artist Melinda Gebbie, probably best-known (previous to this, anyway) for being one of the principal animators on the 1986 film When the Wind Blows (as a side note, if you've never seen it, you must-- one of the best, if most neglected, pieces of art to emerge from the nuclear hysteria of the eighties), contributes lush drawings that mesh well with Moore's randy prose. The characters have personalities, and Gebbie transmits them through minor drawing quirks in a lovely way; Dorothy's innocence is tempered with red cheeks that speak more of hard drinking than the stereotypical apple-freshness, while Alice's aristocratic demeanor is presented with an air of defeat, a slight stoop in the shoulders that even Alice is loath to admit. This is amazing work. Buy, beg, borrow, or steal a copy. The first real evidence since the death of Georges Bataille that "pornography" and "literature" can walk hand in hand and look each other in the eye. **** ½

I am a huge fan of his Swamp Thing so I decided to try some of his other works. The art is very adult but it is well in the scope of this work.

Alan Moore is one of the most critically acclaimed, and very arguably the #1 most acclaimed, writer for graphic novels and comic books. He has written such things as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, and Swamp Thing, all of which have made a major stamp on the industry. And he has also written Lost Girls, a book of....well, porn. Lost girls follows the story of three well known female protagonists, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Moore reimagines the stories of these characters as sexual expression, as well as there current sex lives now that they've grown up (some more than others). The thing you have to realize is that Moore himself admits that these books are porn. Is only real qualification is that he wrote them to show that porn can have the same type of symbolism, motifs, and character depth of other, more critically acclaimed work gets. On that front, he more or less delivered. The new versions of the girls stories are very well done. So if you like decent writing and porn, this can make for some good disposable reading for you.

The bad news it that this book is part of a series that was not completed before the publisher went bankrupt. However, Top Shelf is planning on publishing (finally after over 10 years of waiting) the full series in three hardcover collections and will make a slipcase available as well to store them in. It is my belief that this volume here only constitutes part of one of the planned Top Shelf collections, so buying this older softcover version will not likely save you any money. However, if the few chapters that have already been serialized in the now defunt Taboo anthology are any indication, this is some of Moore's best work.

Decent art but a really bizarre use of the characters, not much of a story particularly. Disjointed more like a series of vignettes. The complete run has been collected since the single issues were put out. Not for everyone and like most these days not a comic for kids. Two stars for the water color type art- loss of three for scattered plot and lack of creativity for use of characters created by other people.

I don't like graphic novel style books. I didn't realize that this was the format or I wouldn't have purchased it. But that was user error, not the company.

Different, entertaining concept of what has happened to our childhood fictional characters. This is real fantasy land! Worth having a read.

The art is great and all the stories have a very erotic component to them. Sometimes the overarching message or plot seems too subtle, and you feel like you are reading a collection of extremely short stories, completely unconnected to each other. Not the best of Mr Moore, but worth a read.

This book is a departure for Moore and those who come to it expecting a graphic novel along the lines of Watchmen or the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen will be disappointed (Although the story does share with the latter the motif of taking famous characters and placing them in more mature context). But I do urge my fellow readers to read on. Moore's rich purple prose is accompanied by beautiful storybook illustrations. The way that the three protagonists fantastical journeys are spun into tales of sexual awakening is truly wonderful. I look forward to next volume of Lost Girls and the intimate adventures of Alice Wendy and Dorothy.

But enjoyable nevertheless! Intend to read the next. Particularly enjoyed the sordid Wendy storyline. Worth a look. Preferred the story over the artwork.

Nice!!

Very graphic but a good book that I have thoroughly enjoyed reasonable would recommend to anyone wanting something a little different!