Moore's revival of the 1950s Captain Marvel rip-off has long been considered a lost part of comics history; Moore's first deconstruction of the superhero genre, Marvelman - renamed Miracleman for its American publication and conclusion, ironically after legal threats from Marvel Comics - launched in the pages of British anthology Warrior in 1982, and offered ideas that Moore would later re-address (and, in the case of Promethea and some of his later America's Best Comics line, refute) in more famous books like Watchmen.

The rights to Moore's run are split between Moore himself and the various artists that worked on the series; it was unknown whether Moore, who has had a difficult relationship with Marvel Comics in the past, would allow the publisher to reprint his work, but a recent interview with Mania.com apparently settled the issue:

After being initially informed by Neil's lawyer, I had to think about it for a couple of days. I decided that while I'm very happy for this book to get published-because that means money will finally go to Marvelman's creator, Mick Anglo, and to his wife. Mick is very, very old, and his wife, I believe, is suffering from Alzheimer's. The actual Marvelman story is such a grim and ugly one that I would probably rather that the work was published without my name on it, and that all of the money went to Mick. The decision about my name was largely based upon my history with Marvel-my desire to really have nothing to do with them, and my increasing desire to have nothing to do with the American comics industry. I mean, they're probably are enough books out there with my name on them to keep the comics industry afloat for a little bit longer. I left a message to that effect with Neil. I've since heard back from the lawyer upon another issue, and he said that he was certain that would be the case-that Marvel would accede to my request. That looks like the way it will be emerging.

Moore also hinted that his successor on the series, Neil Gaiman, would be working with Marvel to complete the story he was unable to finish due to the previous publisher, Eclipse, going bankrupt in the early 1990s.

Alan Moore Reflects on Marvelman [Mania]

The rights to the series have been in dispute since the collapse of publisher Eclipse in 1994, in part because rights were believed to be shared between all creators, Eclipse - whose intellectual property was bought by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane shortly after Eclipse declared bankruptcy - and original creator Mick Anglo. As the first major superhero work by Watchmen's Moore, with later writing from Sandman's Gaiman and Fables artist Mark Buckingham, the series had a good reputation even before it fell out of print for more than 15 years.

This isn't the first announcement of a return for the character; Todd McFarlane brought the hero's alter-ego Mike Moran back in a 2001 issue of Hellspawn, but copyright challenges caused that storyline to be truncated prematurely.

It's unclear from Marvel's announcement whether their new ownership includes the Moore/Gaiman work. Marvel's announcement talks about Anglo's involvement in the purchase, but it's possible that the new agreement only covers new stories done with the character, as the rights to the classic Moore and Gaiman runs were previously believed to be at least partially held by the creators themselves. Most tellingly, Marvel are reviving the character under his original name, Marvelman, which was previously changed in 1985 due to - ironically - concern over legal action from Marvel Comics; the famous Moore and Gaiman stories appeared under the Miracleman title. Marvel promise more information on the deal soon, but we can't help but wonder if they're not explaining all right now because the specifics may make the announcement less exciting. Time will tell; here's hoping we won't have to wait another fifteen years to see Miracle - or Marvel - man again.

Many thanks to Carla Hoffman.

If You Loved The Denseness Of Watchmen:
From Hell
To my mind, this is Alan Moore's masterpiece (and one we've already recommended - 500+ pages that look behind (and beyond) the legend of Jack the Ripper to offer a dissertation on murder, majesty and London, ably (and atmospherically) illustrated by Eddie Campbell. As full and as deep as Watchmen at its best, but with more subtlety and patience, From Hell offers a rich experience that may not offer as many people in costumes, but may be all the more rewarding for that. [Amazon]

If You Loved The Way The Book Played With The Comic Medium:
Or Else
On the face of it, Kevin Huizenga's work is almost the very opposite of Watchmen; in many cases autobiographical and entirely devoid of superheroes or apocalyptic scenarios. But Huizenga shares a fascination - and desire to experiment - with the language of comics that goes beyond what Moore and Gibbons did in Watchmen, moving into abstract images and wordlessness that takes the medium in directions that Dr. Manhattan would be proud of. The best example - and the place to start - would be Or Else #2, "Gloriana," where a sunset turns into something altogether more unusual and magical.

If You Loved The Adult Approach To Superheroes:
Sleeper
Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips' story of a superpowered secret agent who goes undercover in a criminal organization only to get in way over his head - emotionally and strategically - offers up both the nods to comics' past (Especially in the twisted secret origins that pepper the series) and the "real people who just happen to have superpowers" aspects of Watchmen, but take the latter much further; the characters here aren't the iconic archetypes and stereotypes of Moore and Gibbons' book, but much more genuine, believable, and recognizable as us. Brubaker and Philips' Incognito, which just launched a couple of months ago, is in a similar vein and well worth checking out as well. [Amazon]

If You Loved Dr. Manhattan's Cosmic Perspective:
The Invisibles
Much longer, chaotic and disorganized than Watchmen, Grant Morrison's long-running story of the 1990s The Invisibles crosses time, dimensions and questions the very nature of reality on a regular basis. Ripped off by The Matrix, The Invisibles is a much more individual work (although stealing from multiple sources itself, shamelessly) that wants to change the way you look at the world, if you let it. [Amazon]

If You Loved The Near-Future Setting Of Watchmen:
100%
I've recommended Paul Pope's work here enough to make it clear that I'm a massive fanboy, but that doesn't change the fact that 100% is the ideal follow-on if you liked the small details that made Watchmen's world so similar-but-different to our own. Focusing on the characters allows him to sneak in all manner of alternate-world SFisms without you noticing until it's too late, but this is a beautiful and necessary book that, come to think of it, should be made into a movie of its own. Just keep Zack Snyder away from it. [Amazon]

If You Loved The Cold War World-building of Watchmen:
American Flagg
Howard Chaykin's American Flagg - a 1980s contemporary of Watchmen - takes the Cold War paranoia of Moore and Gibbons in a whole new, satirical, direction and to the world of 2031, where America's government has moved to Mars, turned corporate and taken on a particularly Russian approach to some subjects, allowing former television star and new "Plexus Ranger" Reuben Flagg to try and keep the peace in a future Chicago. Sharing a similar dark humor to Watchmen, it's as much a product of its time, but well worth checking out. [Amazon]

If You Want Cold War World-Building In A Near-Future Setting Complete With An Adult Approach To Superheroes, But Without That High-Brow Shit:
The Dark Knight Returns
Okay, there's really no avoiding this one although, chances are, if you've read Watchmen, you've also read this; Dark Knight, created around the same time as Watchmen, and the book that made Frank Miller into the superstar megalomaniac that he is today, still stands as a singular achievement and the book that Batman stories are still measured against today. And why not? Whether it's the satire of Reagan's appearances, the cynical re-view on Superman or the dystopia of Gotham taken to the Nth degree, there's a lot to admire about this book even twenty years (and countless rip-offs) later. [Amazon]

If You Want To See Where It All Started:
Miracleman
Moore's first series of note - now, sadly, out of print and lost in a legal mess over rights issues - wasn't just the start of his career, but also the the first major deconstructionist superhero work in mainstream American comics. Taking a cloned version of Captain Marvel and pushing him into a more realistic world without entirely undoing everything that came before, Moore rehearsed many of the ideas in Watchmen here, but in a less formal, more human way. One day, this series will hopefully return to bookstores and everyone will see the connections; for now, spend your time in back issue bins and on eBay looking for the original issues or collected editions.

If You Want A More Optimistic Period Piece About Superheroes:
DC: The New Frontier
In many ways, the polar opposite of Watchmen (The cynicism and despair of that book being replaced with a boldness, optimism and strong belief in the inherent goodness of its characters), New Frontier is no less an achievement. Darwyn Cooke's beautiful take on the origins of DC's Silver Age characters (focusing mostly on Green Lantern, but taking in so many more along the way) is, in its own ways, as much a love letter to comics and superheroes as Watchmen is, but simply one that chooses to focus on the happier side of things. And, with Cooke's amazing artwork (presented in a three-panel format for the entire book, in much the same way that Watchmen adheres to a nine-panel format throughout), I have to commit potential heresy and admit that New Frontier looks much, much better than Watchmen. [Amazon]

Miracleman started life as Marvelman, a hastily-created character that allowed British publisher L. Miller & Son to cash in on Captain Marvel's popularity even after they'd lost the publication rights to the character in the 1950s. When Alan Moore revived the character for the seminal Warrior comic in the early 1980s, it was the first time a formerly "innocent" superhero was revised in "realistic" terms, heralding in a storytelling style that would appear again and again, from books like The Dark Knight Returns to The Ultimates and beyond (The Marvelman/Miracleman name change came when the strip made its American debut, to avoid a potential lawsuit from Marvel Comics). Moore stayed with the character until the early 1990s, when he passed both the writing of the series and what he believed to be his part in the ownership of the character to Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham, who went on to produce another eight issues of the series before the publisher, Eclipse, went bankrupt.

Here's where things get confusing.

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane bought the intellectual property of Eclipse, which he believed to include Miracleman. As part of a deal to regain complete copyright of two Spawn characters created and co-owned by Gaiman, McFarlane promised the return of his share of Miracleman copyright to Gaiman but then changed his mind, and Gaiman (with the assistance of Marvel Comics) sued McFarlane to force him to comply with this agreement. Gaiman won, but that was only the start of the problems; it turned out that McFarlane may never have owned any of Miracleman in the first place.

The current state of the legal ownership of Miracleman is, at best, somewhat uncertain. There are multiple versions of who may own the character: Eclipse's ownership may have been voided when the company went bankrupt, according to former Warrior publisher Dez Skinn. Skinn, Moore and artist Gary Leach may have been accidentally illegally using the character in the first place, claims the character's creator, Mick Anglo, because he owns Marvelman 100% and always has done. Alternatively, L. Miller & Son may have owned the copyright and so, whoever owns their intellectual property owns the character or, finally, the character may be - and always has been - public domain and the only legal ownership that matters is for the stories themselves and not the character at all.

All of which means that the series, one of the most important in Western mainstream comics, has been out of print for years and doesn't seem to be returning anytime soon. Which brings us, at last, to Australia and performers Bruce Woolley and Bernard Caleo.

The duo have taken the story from Moore's run on the series and adapted it for a two-man show currently running in Melbourne's Croft Institute. A show that is, apparently, surprisingly good:

Any fears of a pair of “comic book geeks” making fools of themselves on stage should be immediately dispelled. This production is a deeply performative affair that combines many layers and techniques of open theatricality that renders the piece almost more like a work of experimental theatre or performance art than a conventional play... Woolley and Caleo are equally talented performers, and totally in their element. As both the actors and adaptors, their command of and commitment to the material is evident, and they have a terrific chemistry, pulling off this complex show with astonishing slickness.

Quite how they managed to get the rights to the character/material is open to question, but in a strange way, it's nice to see that Moore's groundbreaking story is getting out there somehow. Here's hoping the show will find someway to come to the States sometime soon.

Miracleman [Australian Stage]