From Hell gets a Companion

By John Freeman on 28 February 2013

Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell occupies a monumental place in the history of the graphic novel: a Victorian masterpiece of murder and madness which has won numerous awards, spawned a major Hollywood film, and remained a favourite of readers around the world for over two decades.

In May, Knockabout Comics and Top Shelf Productions will publish The From Hell Companion, an astonishing selection of Alan Moore’s original scripts and sketches for the landmark graphic novel, with copious annotations, commentary, and illustrations by Eddie Campbell.

Included in the Companion for the first time are a set of pages, including some of Moore’s greatest writing, which have never been seen by anyone except his collaborator. Joining them are Campbell’s first-hand accounts of the project’s decade-long development, complete with photos, anecdotes, disagreements, and wry confessions.

Arranged in narrative order, these perspectives form a fascinating mosaic, the publishers say the book offers “an opportunity to read From Hell with fresh eyes, and a tour inside the minds of two giants of their field.”

• The From Hell Companion by Eddie Campbell and Alan Moore; 288-page paperback with flaps (with 32-page full-colour insert); £19.99; ISBN 9780861661848

• More info: www.knockabout.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Knockabout
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KnockaboutComix

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.