Classic Marvelman Will Appear From Marvel

The question on comic fans' lips since Marvel announced their purchase of Marvelman at San Diego Comic-Con has finally been answered: Yes, they will be reprinting Alan Moore's classic pre-Watchmen run on the character.

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 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]