Maxwell the Magic Cat was a British comic strip written and drawn by Alan Moore under the pseudonym "Jill de Ray". Moore produced the strip for the weekly Northants Post from 1979 to 1986.
| Maxwell the Magic Cat | |
|---|---|
 The cover of Alan Moore's Maxwell the Magic Cat vol. 1 (Acme Press, 1986). Artwork by Alan Moore under the pseudonym "Jill de Ray". | |
| Author(s) | Jill de Ray (Alan Moore) |
| Current status/schedule | Concluded weekly strip |
| Launch date | August 25, 1979 |
| End date | October 9, 1986[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Northants Post Acme Press |
| Genre(s) | Humour, politics |
Moore originally pitched the Post an adult-oriented strip called Nutter's Ruin, which they rejected, advising him instead to propose a children's strip. Although Maxwell is on the surface intended for children, Moore inserted metafictional and surrealist elements, adult references, and social/political commentary into the strip throughout its run. In fact, the Jill de Ray pseudonym is a pun on the Medieval child murderer Gilles de Rais,[2] something Moore found to be a "sardonic joke".[citation needed]
Moore has stated that he would have been happy to continue Maxwell's adventures almost indefinitely, but ended the strip after the host newspaper the Northants Post ran a negative editorial on the place of homosexuals in the community.[3] Meanwhile, Moore decided to focus more fully on writing comics rather than both writing and drawing them,[4] stating that "after I'd been doing [it] for a couple of years, I realised that I would never be able to draw well enough and/or quickly enough to actually make any kind of decent living as an artist".[5]: 15
Overview
editAs writer Andrew Edwards observes, "Moore's key theme in the strip is how mankind's own sense of superiority is grossly misguided".[2] The (mostly) five-panel strip features a sardonic talking cat named Maxwell and his human sidekick Norman Nesbit. The human bully Mangler Mullins makes regular appearances as well, as do assorted other cats (and mice).[2]
Influences on the Maxwell strip can be seen in Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, and British children's strips like Korky the Cat, Bully Beef, and Dennis the Menace.[2] Edwards feels that writer Grant Morrison's run on the American comic book Animal Man was influenced by Moore's work on Maxwell.[2]
Publication history
editMaxwell the Magic Cat was published weekly in the Northants Post (based in Moore's hometown), from August 25, 1979, to October 9, 1986, initially earning Moore £10 a week.[6] The strip started on the children's page of the paper but eventually moved to the entertainment section.[2]
From June 1984 to June 1988 the strip was also reprinted in most issues of the British comics fanzine Speakeasy. Speakeasy was itself published by Acme Press,[7] which in 1986–1987 produced a four-issue comic book collection of the strip.
Fourteen Maxwell strips were reprinted in Splat! #2 (March 1987), published by Tom Mason's Mad Dog Graphics.
In December 2016, Moore returned to Maxwell to write and draw one further episode for the Post's final edition.[1]
The Brazilian publisher Pipoca & Nanquim produced a single-volume translated collection of Maxwell in April 2020. It features a foreword by Eddie Campbell, an afterword by Moore, and a gallery of Maxwell illustrations by such artists as Brian Bolland, David Lloyd, and Kevin O'Neill.[8]
Bibliography
edit- Maxwell the Magic Cat (Northants Post, August 25, 1979–October 9, 1986)
- Maxwell the Magic Cat limited series (Acme Press, 1986–1987):
- #1 reprints Northants Post strips from August 25, 1979, to June 20, 1981 ISBN 1-870084-00-4
- #2 reprints Northants Post strips from June 27, 1981, to March 24, 1983 ISBN 1-870084-05-5 — includes the original Nutter's Ruin strip Moore pitched to the Northants Post
- #3 reprints Northants Post strips from March 31, 1983, to December 12, 1984 ISBN 1-870084-10-1 — contemporary Maxwell illustration gallery by Ian Gibson, Mike Matthews, Hunt Emerson, John Bolton, Garry Leach, and Bryan Talbot
- #4 reprints Northants Post strips from December 27, 1984, to October 9, 1986 ISBN 1-870084-20-9 — contemporary Maxwell illustration gallery by Kevin O'Neill, David Lloyd, Gilbert Shelton, John Ridgway, Graham Higgins, Phil Elliott, Rian Hughes, and Brian Bolland
- Maxwell, O Gato Mágico — Volume Único (Pipoca & Nanquim, April 2020) ISBN 978-8593695612 — in Portuguese
See also
edit
References
editNotes
editCitations
edit- ^ a b Johnston, Rich. "Alan Moore’s Final Maxwell The Magic Cat, In The Final Northants Herald & Post", Bleeding Cool (December 1, 2016).
- ^ a b c d e f Edwards, Andrew. "Alan Moore’s Maxwell the Magic Cat", Sequart (29 May 2008).
- ^ Ó Méalóid, Pádraig. "Alan Moore: Scenes from the Life of the Master", The Alien Online (November 2003).
- ^ "Alan Moore". Lambiek Comiclopedia. 16 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013.
- ^ Baker, Bill (28 December 2005). Alan Moore Spells It Out. Airwave Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9724805-7-4.
- ^ Khoury, George (25 August 2003). The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 978-1-893905-24-5, pp. 36–37.
- ^ KF/RF. "Newswatch: Notes From Various Publishers", The Comics Journal #112 (Oct. 1986), p. 18.
- ^ Johnston, Rich. "Alan Moore's Complete Maxwell The Magic Cat Collected For the First Time – and It's In Portuguese", Bleeding Cool (March 7, 2020).