America's Best Comics
America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History. "America's Best Comics" was a prominent Standard/Better/Nedor title during the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, starring such heroes as the Black Terror and the Fighting Yank. Those characters were integrated into the Moore version under the ABC imprint, where Moore wrote series including "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", a  strip which merged several famous Victorian era fiction characters into one world; "Tom Strong", an homage to pulp fiction heroes such as Tarzan and Doc Savage; "Top 10", a police procedural set in a police precinct in a city where everyone has superpowers or is a costumed adventurer; and "Promethea", one of Moore's most personal pieces which detailed his view on magic. Peter Hogan and Rick Veitch had their own spin-off series, "Terra Obscura" and "" respectively, and Steve Moore (no relation) co-wrote "Tom Strong's Terrific Tales" with Moore. Regular contributing artists include Kevin O'Neill, Chris Sprouse , Rick Veitch, J. H. Williams III, Gene Ha, Zander Cannon, Kevin Nowlan, Hilary Barta, Melinda Gebbie, Jim Baikie, Yanick Paquette, and Art Adams. All the lettering for the ABC line was done by Todd Klein, with the exception of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" which was handled by Bill Oakley. The logo of ABC is mainly based on an idea from Alex Ross and was also done by Todd Klein. In August 1998, Jim Lee sold WildStorm to DC Comics, unaware that due to past conflicts over the "Watchmen" copyright in the 1980s, Moore had vowed never to work for  the publisher again. According to the interview Moore gave George Khoury in the book "The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore", when Lee first saw Alan Moore after the takeover, the tall figure of Moore holding his snake-headed walking stick impressed Lee so, he was sure Moore - who was then still ignorant of the sale - was going to beat him senseless. Moore was reluctant at first, but ultimately decided to accept his new situation as he had promised work to a number of his artist friends from Rob Liefeld's defunct Awesome Comics line. In the same interview, he said  that it was better to go back against a principle for the greater good, than to have no principles in life at all. He also expressed interest in eventually ending the line with a little apocalypse. Deliberately and permanently ending an entire comic line was something he felt had never been done before in comics. Moore brought an end to the ABC Universe towards the conclusion of "Promethea" when she ushers in the apocalypse. Moore wrote the last issue of Tom Strong and two 64-page Tomorrow Stories specials offering a final farewell to most of ABC's characters. Before  those final stories, the ABC line continued a little while longer under other writers. "Tom Strong", for example, had been written entirely by guest authors since November 2003. These authors have included; Peter Hogan, Geoff Johns, Mark Schultz, Steve Aylett, Brian K. Vaughan, Ed Brubaker and Michael Moorcock. A sequel to "Top 10" called "Beyond The Farthest Precinct" has been penned by novelist Paul Di Filippo and artist Jerry Ordway and another title, written by Peter Hogan and Steve Moore, was going to explore the remaining secrets of all of the major ABC characters. This mini-series, "America's Best  Comics: A to Z", started in September 2005 but was cancelled after four issues. Titles. America's Best Comics: A to Z. America's Best Comics: A to Z was to be a six-part miniseries written by Peter Hogan and Steve Moore. It planned to reveal secrets and unknown facts about the characters that have appeared thus far in the ABC line. The miniseries was canceled after issue #4. Work had begun on issue #5, but its unclear how complete it was before the plug was pulled. There are no plans at present to publish a collection of the  issues. Each issue features artwork from character's original designer/co-creator and a cover by Terry Dodson. It was expected to signal the end of the ABC line, and was planned as a farewell to the characters.