Confirmed: Alan Moore’s Work To Be Included In Marvel’s ‘Miracleman’ Reprints

Though the response from readers was overwhelmingly positive, last weekend's announcement that Marvel will republish Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham's scarcely available work on Miracleman, as well as allow the writer and artist to finally finish their long-incomplete story, led very naturally to one question: what about the Miracleman work of Alan Moore, which is similarly unavailable?

Fortunately, a press release sent out today by Marvel states quite clearly that the publisher will reprint the entire long lost Miracleman run of the 1980s, starting with the work of Moore. The confusion as to whether or not the Moore material would be included stems from the fact that Marvel has not mentioned the writer's name in any press.

When the republishing project was revealed during last weekend's New York Comic Con, it was stated that the reprints would begin in January 2014 with Miracleman #1, which contains a story by Moore, Garry Leach and Alan Davis. But the focus of the announcement and press coverage was all but exclusively on the work of Gaiman and Buckingham, whose run began in issue #17 of the original series.  This fueled speculation as to the future availability of the coveted Moore material. But Marvel attempted to mitigate confusion to the extent they can without using actual creator names. How? By invoking a comparison to Watchmen, Moore's most famous work:

"Fans lucky enough to have read these trailblazing stories when they were originally produced have often referred to this legendary run on Miracleman as 'the lost Watchmen,' and Marvel is proud to finally bring these incredible comics to an audience that has clamored for them."

ComicsAlliance has confirmed that the Moore material, illustrated by Leach, Davis, Chuck Beckum, Rick Veitch and John Totleben, will be reprinted as part of this Miracleman project, but at present it is not clear exactly why the writer's name cannot be mentioned in Marvel's press announcements. It may be a legal concern, the typically vehement insistence by the writer to distance himself from his work with the publisher, or some combination of the two. The royalty situation is also unknown, because in the past Moore has steadfastly refused money contractually owed him regarding reprints, continuations or adaptations to other media of various properties he's worked on, most famously turning down any money he was due from the 2009 Watchmen film.

Beginning in 1982, Moore wrote 16 issues of Miracleman -- the first six of which initially ran in the pages of Warrior Magazine -- before Gaiman took over with issue #17. Like the rest of the series, Moore's stories had been in legal limbo for years, following the closing of Eclipse Comics, the company that published the series after Warrior. Following protracted litigation, Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 that it had acquired the rights to the character, including the issues printed by Eclipse.

Miracleman #1 will be republished by Marvel this coming January.