Alan Moore is arguably the most important and influential writer in the recent history of comics.  His series The Watchmen revolutionized the comics industry.  He portrayed a universe in which superheroes actually change history, unlike Marvell and DC which generally portray history as similar to our world with the exception that super powered beings fly around.  Moore used the science fiction techniques of extrapolation and alternate history to think about the effects of super powered beings might have on the world and politics.  He also made the heroes complex characters with politics and motives; their reasons for becoming super heroes were often bizarre and sometimes kinky.

The DC Universe anthology is an interesting idea because it collects Moore’s stories about iconic DC characters such as Superman, Batman and Green Arrow.  Some of Moore’s best work revolves around giving an unusual spin to characters invented by others.  Even The Watchmen was a recasting of Charlton Comics characters.

The anthology contains two Batman comics:  Mortal Clay: Batman Annual No. 11 and The Killing Joke, which both give similar treatments of Batman and the villain.  The stories focus on the psychology of the villain and reveal substantially less about Batman.  Mortal Clay is the story of Clayface III, while Batman serves as an incidental character that enters near the end.  Clayface suffers from what psychologists might term an object relations disorder.  He loves a manikin that he thinks is his wife (who died in the fire that turned him into Clayface), and apparently has the same relationship with the manikin that he had with his deceased wife.  At one point he murders a store security guard who he suspects is having an affair with his wife-manikin.  Batman – who has the admirable tendency to try to help the lunatics he puts away in Arkham Asylum – arranges for Clayface and his mannikin-wife to have a cell together.  The story does a good job displaying the obsessive psychology of Batman’s villains.

The Killing Joke, which is a famous issue if for no other reason than the fact that Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is shot and confined to a wheelchair, provides a slightly new origin for the Joker, although ultimately obscuring the issue when the Joker admits he remembers his beginning several different ways.  Moore’s version of the Joker reminds me of the Comedian in The Watchmen.  The Joker is a nihilist who has decided that the world is a meaningless joke (a philosophy that does not impress Batman).  The Joker’s goal in this issue is not to take over the world or to rob a bank but to prove a point: that anyone can be driven insane if they have a bad enough day.  He also wants to show that he is not fundamentally different from Batman and Gordon.  He fails at proving his point because although he shoots Gordon’s daughter, humiliates him and attempts to drive him insane, Gordon remains a decent and sane man.   Also, Batman never crosses the line and resorts to the Joker’s methods.

The storyline is only possible because of the long conflict between Batman and the Joker.  The Joker is less interested in crime than in his relationship with the Batman.  He acts out his psychological obsessions instead of planning a rational series of crimes.

The issue does not completely succeed.  The portrait of the Joker and some of the action is a bit over the top, especially the Joker’s ridiculous song and dance routine at one point.  The issue does get across the idea that Batman and the Joker need one another; they are involved in a fatal dance that Batman tries to stop by reasoning with the Joker – to no avail.  The Joker feels the two of them have gone too far down the road together to stop.  The story provides a good commentary on the characters’ relationship.

Moore wrote two issues of the gritty superhero comic, The Vigilante, DC’s answer to the Punisher.  He gets across the feel of the comic well: people die; violence is ugly and causes pain.  Vigilante reminded me of Rorschacht from The Watchmen, although Moore got into Rorschacht’s head more.  I get the impression that Moore’s leftist views made it difficult for him to sympathize with the straight arrow, right wing Vigilante.  Possibly to allow himself to relate to the Vigilante, Moore creates a dual protagonist, Fever, a rebellious drug dealer.  Moore compares the two of them throughout.  Vigilante comes across as inept: his tires are stolen off his bike, he can’t defeat the villain on his own, and he shows no skill at detective work.  I’m not sure he would survive long as a superhero.  Moore deconstructs or subverts the character.  Fever ends up saving the day through her street knowledge and by killing the villain at the end.  The rebel proves more capable than the authority figure.

The strongest part of the collection is the Superman comics.  In Superman Annual 11, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin arrive at the Fortress of Solitude to celebrate Superman’s birthday, only to discover that the super villain Mongul has placed the Black Mercy Flower on Superman’s chest.  The Flower is a cross between a plant and an intelligent fungus.

  After attaching itself to victims, it forms a symbiotic, telepathetic bond with them, giving them their heart’s desire, which they experience as a living dream.  The victims could free themselves, but do not want to.

The story shifts between Superman experiencing the survival of Krypton – long his heart’s desire — and the attempt by his friends to save him from the flower’s visions.  Moore’s depiction of Krypton is interesting and focused on politics.  Kal-El’s father is a bitter man who predicted the destruction of Krypton; when it survived, he was expelled from the science council.  He has formed a movement “Old Krypton,” a pseudo-fascist political movement connected with a cult and other disreputable elements.  Leftists on Krypton favor the release of the Phantom Zone criminals, deeming it cruel and unusual punishment for someone to be exiled eternally.  Kal-El’s father created the Phantom Zone ray so his relatives become targets of the extremists.  Krypton is a world falling apart through political division.  Superman views his heart’s desire, but ironically it is a bitter experience.
When Batman manages to take the flower off Superman, Kal-El returns to reality furious, demanding “Who did this to me?”   To see what he’s always longed for turn out so bitterly devastates Superman.  He even loses the son and family he had on Krypton. Overall, the comic is an interesting, slightly different take on Superman, not an easy achievement with a character so often written about.

DC Comics Presents: Superman and Swamp Thing is the only Swamp Thing comic in the issue, which is a disappointment because the character propelled Moore’s initial fame.  All Moore’s Swamp Thing comics are available in other collections so DC apparently decided not to reprint one in this issue.  In Swamp Thing, Moore took a pulp horror comic – the early Swamp Thing comics contained Berni Wrightson’s powerful art, but the storylines were not impressive – and revitalized it into a powerful vehicle.  He transformed Swamp Thing into an elemental instead of a walking plant, responsible for maintaining the green, the earth’s natural ecosystem.  Moore created supporting characters such as John Constantine and Swamp Thing’s lover Abby, writing stories that commented on racism, environmentalism and America’s gun culture.

The comic included here is a disappointment.  Moore’s Superman is attacked by a fungus, which causes him to slowly die and suffer from visions of Krypton, quite similar to the ideas the first Superman issue included, making it clear that Moore did not have much new to say in this comic.  Although I understand DC wanted to include comics that have not been reprinted, this issue does not give a sense of what Moore could do with the Swamp Thing character.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is a two issue storyline, the last two issues of Superman before it was relaunched.   Moore was given the task of writing the comic as if it was the last issues of Superman, and completed a lot of the storylines.  Will Superman marry Lois Lane?  What happens to Jimmy Olsen or Lana Lang?  Will his secret identity ever be revealed?

The storyline begins with Superman’s enemies becoming harsher and nastier than they had in the past.  Prankster and Toyman murder one of Superman’s friends.  Brianiac drill holes in Lex Luther’s temples and possess his body.  Over the course of the issue, Moore does a good job portraying the final fate of Bizarro, Brainiac, Lex Luther, Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen Krypto the Superdog.  Mr. Mxyzptlk turns out to be the villain at the end; the prankster takes on a much darker cast in this issue.  Superman kills Mr. Mxyzptlk and out of guilt exposes himself to Kryptonite.

The anthology includes three Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: “In Blackest Night” in which an alien female Green Lantern makes a Green Lantern out of a alien with no concept of sight or light.  In “Mogo Doesn’t Socialize” – Mogo the villain encounters the largest Green Lantern, a living planet.  Mogo reminds me of the villains from the 2000 AD comics – an early market for Moore’s work — an unusual choice for a Green Lantern opponent but one that works.  “Tygers” is the strongest of the Green Lantern comics.  A corps member travels to a forbidden planet where a demonic, once powerful alien race is imprisoned.  Although these brief tales don’t break a lot of new ground, they are all decent space opera; I believe these tales were originally tacked on as back story in Green Lantern comics.

The anthology also contains a comic developing the origin of the Phantom Stranger and two short Green Arrow issues.  These three works are competent but not impressive.

Overall, the anthology contains some great, even classic work but also a few average stories.  The anthology helps the reader develop a more rounded view of Moore as a writer, and a fan of Moore’s writing will be pleased.  If you are not familiar with his work, this is not a bad place to start, although it is not consistently up to the level of Swamp Thing, Promethea or The Watchmen.