Malcolm McLaren inspired this (a more accurate credit than calling him a collaborator) and the premise seems constructed to provide a setting for the lyrics to his single "Deep in Vogue" from 1988. Alan Moore has crafted a futuristic Beauty and the Beast that scratches at issues ranging from gender norms to the chasm between classes to nuclear fallout, none with any detail. You can say the same about character development and dialogue. Like the often rich visualization, and fashion itself, the narrative is a sparkling surface. Unfortunately, that leaves so many missed opportunities. Interesting characters and environments rarely have a chance to develop. Maybe that's a nod to the fairytale at the heart of this book, or maybe it is the limit of the graphic novel format when the creators don't push for sophistication. In the end, this is worth a read, maybe even memorable for its best moments, but it isn't the best work of anyone involved. genres and genders bend, there's a steampunk look to the future, plenty of social commentary floats by, and the pathology of the maitre's psyche gets a look so close it's claustrophobic. but then, an aesthetic of beauty based on deliberate isolation from the culture is a kind of pathology in itself. Dior's Nazi Paris translates scarily well onto the mean streets of a near-future metropolis, just before nuclear winter arrives. and of course, that's an opportunity for haute couture to distract the masses with a revolution in... right, high style. the dystopic vision shows Alan Moore in surprisingly playful mood, and the artist joins him there, splashing colour onto his dark canvas, ebulliently replacing the drab and downright dirty by painting his climaxes in blood and violence right off his palette onto his screen. and it all works: you can still tell it started from a screenplay, because the dialogue is sparse but the artistic detail is legion, giving the artist plenty of room to create gorgeous work. but the original concept came from Malcolm McLaren and commenting on Moore's elaborate screenplay translation he did suggest that Alan, calling the detail and angle to govern every shot, might consider leaving a bit of room for the director and the cameraman. as if. but Moore, notoriously disinterested in screenwriting (and of course fashion), seems to have been freed up by the alien form and subject matter to keep it loose and have fun with the material. written in 1985, it still looks contemporary, incisive, and even prophetic.
What do You think about Fashion Beast (2013)?
Not your greatest Alan Moore, but still engaging enough to read it till the end.
—Kkkk
alan moore + beauty and the beast + the fashion world in a dystopia scenario
—alias44
