Illuminations

Alan Moore Bloomsbury, £20

Anybody who’s read Alan Moore’s groundbreaking comic books, from Watchmen to The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, will know that he is one of the most imaginative writers in any medium.

These days, he manages without the pictures, having retired from writing comics in 2019. Here, he presents us with his first collection of short stories, although they’re not all that short.

One 250-page novella is about the creation of a comic book featuring superhero Thunderman and its creators’ exploitation by the movie industry. Anybody familiar with Moore’s feuds with publishers and film studios will not be surprised by the bitterness of its satire but it’s also highly entertaining.

Another story features a solicitor whose latest client is Jesus Christ, keen to sort out the legal side of the Second Coming.

Elsewhere, a group of amateur paranormal investigators are infiltrated by a supernatural being in human form who wants to make sure they don’t stumble across the existence of his species. This book bursts with so many mind-boggling ideas it can be exhausting, but it’s exhilarating too.