Also, what the fuck is From Hell about? I wanna check out Alan Moore stuff after reading Watchmen and The Killing Joke, but I don't know what. My only issue is that his writing is sort of traditional as opposed to having a personal flair, and the people who do art for his books have sort of generic styles as well.
you're about to give me a goddamn aneurysm
from hell is about many many things, nominally it's about the jack the ripper case, but it's about so much more.
if i could suggest one alan moore book as an "entry level" book it would be DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore.
But since you're not a DCU fan, perhaps Top 10. Which is about a police station in a world where everyone EVERYONE has super powers. many references to comic book conventions in new and cool ways.
Top 10 is a superhero comic book series published by the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm, itself an imprint of DC Comics. Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Gene Ha and Zander Cannon, the series details the lives and work of the police force of Neopolis, a city in which everyone, from the police and criminals to civilians, children and even pets, have super-powers and colourful costumes.
The story revolves around the day-to-day lives of the police officers at the 10th Precinct Police Station and is similar in tone to classic television police dramas like Hill Street Blues, which Moore has described as an influence. The book also addresses a wide range of prejudices and issues, but with a science-fiction twist; monsters, robots and fantasy creatures often face the bigotry and problems faced by real-world human minorities.
The series is noted for its post-modern, comic-book references. For example, a caped street-corner watch-vendor uses a cardboard sign advertising "signal watches", and a hot-dog vendor cooks his wares with heat vision. One plotline involves a boy-band called Sidekix whose hit single was called "Holy Broken Hearts". Likewise, most advertising, signage and graffiti in the Top 10 universe contains references to the world of comic books and super powers (eg. a clothing store called "The Phonebooth").
The primary Top 10 series was a 12-issue series between 2000 and 2001. Follow-ups included 2003's 5-issue mini-spinoff Smax and 2005's graphic novel Top 10: The Forty-Niners. 2005 also saw the publication of a 5-issue miniseries, written by Paul Di Filippo and illustrated by Jerry Ordway, titled Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct.
