CFP Title: Esotericism in the Comics of Alan Moore

deadline for submissions: July 1, 2026

full name / name of organization:

Matthew Brake and Nick Katsiadas / Northern Virginia Community College and Slippery Rock University

Many notable comic book scholars highlight Alan Moore as one of the most ambitious writers in mainstream American and British comics. Along with writers like Grant Morrison and artists like Dave McKean, Moore was part of the so-called “British Invasion” of the American comic book industry in the 1980s, and artists of this period are credited as bringing an air of credibility as well as transforming the artistic standards of the medium. Greg Carpenter, for instance, likens the work of these artists to “Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson, elevating the English language into a vehicle for poetic drama. They are Coleridge, Byron, and Shelley, defining Romanticism with both their poetry and their lives.” These comparisons to some of the greatest writers in literary history give some heft to the artists’ reputations in mainstream comics: Their contributions provided foundations on which their contemporaries and succeeding generations of mainstream comic book artists could build—and on which they are still building.

            Moore is also famous for declaring himself a magician on his fortieth birthday, placing him within the ranks of many esoteric writers, such as W. B. Yeats and Charles Williams. Moore’s esotericism is perhaps most evident in his work Promethea, which he completed with artist J. H. Williams III. In Promethea, Moore and Williams draw upon ideas about magic from the occult and hermetic schools of thought to create narrative, and these schools of thought include Kabbalah, William Blake’s mythology, tarot, and astrology. Many scholars, such as Roderick McGillis, Tracee Howell and Nick Katsiadas, address Moore’s debt to these systems for Promethea. However, the full story of Moore’s esotericism is left untold: Esotericism pervades his body of work, and such a pervasive presence influences our interests in essays grounded in reading relationships between Alan Moore’s comics and esoteric belief systems.

            This proposed collection of essays will seek to deepen the awareness and importance of esotericism in the work of Alan Moore. It is time for a volume on the topic, and we are pleased to welcome proposals from a variety of theoretical approaches for a proposed edited collection.

Potential Topics can include but are not limited to:

• The Cut-Up technique and Ozymandias’s spiritual journey in Watchmen
• Sex Rituals and Alien Tongues in Neonomicon
• Nature Mysticism in Saga of the Swamp Thing
• Tom Strong, Quetzalcoatl-9, and Esoteric Fascination with Aztec religion
• Magic and Immortality in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Hermeticism or Kabbalah in Promethea
• Aklo and Induced mystical experiences in The Courtyard
• The Occult and Writing as Magic in Providence
• Gull’s Patriarchal Magic, Mystical Experience, and Divinization in From Hell

We seek one – two page abstracts for critical essays across periods and nations that address topics related to esotericism in the comics of Alan Moore. Abstracts should clearly delineate the essay’s argument in relation to this theme, and abstracts should be clearly situated within existing scholarly work. Once abstracts have been collected and accepted, the organizers will craft the book proposal, and they will then submit it for consideration to publishers that have historically demonstrated a record of releasing successful collections related to Moore. We ask that abstract submissions follow The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).

Contributors may submit abstracts with a CV to Matthew Brake at matthew.brake84@gmail.com and Nick Katsiadas at Nicholas.katsiadas@sru.edu.