Epic and Alienating: Reading Alan Moore with Bertolt Brecht Minchō Magazine

Epic and Alienating:

Reading Alan Moore’s
Graphic Novels with
Bertolt Brecht’s Theatre
by Andres Romero-Jodar

Published in Minchō Magazine

Issue 15, April 2018

ISSN: 2341-2585

This article highlights the connections between Alan Moore’s works (V for Vendetta,
Watchmen, From Hell, etc.) and the epic and dialectical theater developed by Bertolt
Brecht at the beginning of the twentieth century. As is argued, Moore seems to adapt the
German playwright’s techniques that seek to create an alienation effect in the spectator.
It could be then stated that Moore’s works aim to produce a response in the reader that
does not lead to emotional identification. Instead, they keep the spectator/reader
“alienated” from the text, i.e., detached from emotional involvement so as to be able to
reflect critically and rationally upon the events that are being depicted.

The magazine can be found here: http://minchomag.com/issue-15/