10 Essential Works To Read By Alan Moore, Ranked

British comics writer Alan Moore is a household name thanks to the many cinematic adaptions of his comics and graphic novels. Here are his best works.

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British comics writer Alan Moore got his start in underground publications before releasing comic strips in 2000 AD and Warrior. This eventually put Moore on DC’s radar, where he was hired to write about Batman, Superman, and Swamp Thing. While Moore took these characters into his signature dark and esoteric environs, he was able to compose the original works that would really make him famous.

These days, Moore is a household name thanks to the many cinematic adaptions of his comics and graphic novels. Alongside Watchmen and V for Vendetta, Moore’s other essential works attest to his unique interpretations of history, examinations of superhero tropes, and endless insights into magic and occultism.

10 Miracleman (1982 – 1984)

British comic book writer Mick Anglo created Marvelman in the likeness of Captain America for UK audiences. After a twenty-year publishing hiatus, Marvelman returned in 1982 in Dez Skinn’s comic anthology Warrior.

While Moore wasn’t Skinn’s first choice, Moore brought more darkness and depth to this otherwise standard superhero. In 1984, Marvelman ended on a cliffhanger in Warrior #21; in order to avoid legal issues with Marvel, the comics were later reprinted as Miracleman, which they are still known as to this day.

9 The Bojeffries Saga (1983 – 1991)

Moore debuted The Bojeffries Saga in Warrior while working on Miracleman. This very English comic about an eccentric family composed of Lovecraftian monsters, vampires, werewolves, and a mad scientist named Jobremus who rules over the household.

Nine bizarre comic strips about this monstrous clan were published in different anthologies over the years until Tundra Press published The Complete Bojeffries Saga in 1992. Moore’s The Addams Family meets Monthy Python narrative is enhanced by Steve Parkhouse’s illustrations.

8 Tom Strong (1999 – 2006)

Moore and artist Chris Sprouse created a new superhero from DC imprint America’s Best Comics: Tom Strong. Raised by scientists and reared in a high-gravity chamber, Tom Strong is a near-perfect specimen both physically and intellectually thanks to the help of an herb called Goloka Root.

In the comics, which ran for 36 issues, Strong is a science nerd with the body and motivations of a superhero. He engages in the kinds of antics seen in Golden Age comics, yet Moore imbues his narrative with a self-awareness that often leans into satire.

7 Top 10 (1999 – 2001)

Another America’s Best Comics comic, Top 10 is a superhero saga set in Neopolis, an urban center where almost every citizen possesses superpowers and dons elaborate costumes. Much of the 12-issue limited series’s narrative focuses on the police force in Neopolis, specifically those officers at the 10th Precinct Police Station.

Moore worked with illustrators Gene Ha and Zander Cannon through Top 10’s completion. The series spawned several spin-offs, from Smax to Top 10: The Forty-Niners.

6 Batman: The Killing Joke (1988)

Moore contributed many comics to the DC Universe over the years, and Batman: The Killing Joke’s influence on pop culture makes it one of Moore’s most consequential works. Organized as a one-shot graphic novel, The Killing Joke is a dark, macabre story focused on the relationship between Batman and the Joker.

In the graphic novel, Moore gives the Joker an origin story, one explored through flashbacks. Moore’s psychological ruminations matched with Brian Bolland’s vivid illustrations inspired films like Joker and The Dark Knight.

5 Promethea (1999 – 2005)

Promethea is Moore’s beautiful homage to spirituality and magic. Published in 32 issues on America’s Best Comics, its protagonist is Sophie Bangs, a college student and aspiring in an alternate New York City circa 1999.

Sophie discovers something quite special about herself: she is the next vessel for a powerful ancient Egyptian deity named Promethea, responsible for bringing about the Apocalypse. Moore intertwines themes of reincarnation, anti-consumerism, and mythology here, which are brought into clarity by J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray’s gorgeous graphics.

4 V For Vendetta (1982 – 1989)

Moore’s anti-hero V and his Guy Fawkes mask have become synonymous with revolutionaries and radical activists since V for Vendetta was first published in serial form as part of Warrior. Set in a dystopian 1990s UK, this political thriller follows V as he plots to overthrow the fascist government in power.

V stumbles upon a protege of sorts, a young woman named Evey Hammond, who agrees to help V achieve his goal. Published by Vertigo as a complete graphic novel in 1995, the Wachowskis’ film adaptation of V for Vendetta introduced Moore to a whole new generation when it was released in 2005.

3 The Saga Of Swamp Thing (1984 – 1987)

Moore’s Swamp Thing revival for DC is a poetic masterpiece that allows its author to contemplate the beauty and horror of the natural world. Instead of a human turned plant-based hybrid, Moore’s creature is a true swamp monster who absorbed some of Alec Holland’s consciousness and memories when he died — leaving the creature with a serious identity crisis.

The Saga of Swamp Thing issues written by Moore span from #20 to #64. In his run, Moore created and introduced a favorite character among horror and occult comic book fans: John Constantine the Hellblazer.

2 Watchmen (1986 – 1987)

“Who watches the Watchmen?” Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons combine Cold War paranoia, mass media anxiety, vigilantism, and alternate history in the 12-issue epic Watchmen, published by DC in the mid-1980s.

Watchmen begins in 1985 America, where most superheroes have been banned and WWIII looms around the corner. When one of the two government-sanctioned superheroes is murdered, his former comrades come out of retirement to figure out what happened; the result is one of the best anti-superhero superhero adventures of all time, one with profound moral resonance.

1 From Hell (1989 – 1992)

From Hell is a gritty, noir magnum opus about much more than the Jack the Ripper case that haunted Victorian London. From Hell is a sweeping and bloody historical drama that seeks to uncover the brutal, misogynistic spirit of the modern world — one hinted at with these heinous late 19th-century murders.

Illustrator Eddie Campbell employed rough black and white illustrations to bring Moore’s narrative into focus. Moore’s fascination with history, architecture, crime, and the occult reach unparalleled heights in From Hell, originally published in serialized form for Taboo.

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