Alan Moore to write libretto for Gorillaz duo

[Valigarmander]

Alan Moore to write libretto for Gorillaz duo | Music | guardian.co.uk

For the follow-up to Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's opera Monkey: Journey to the West, the duo have turned to a man best known for flawed superheroes, melancholy swamp things and a nymphomaniac Alice in Wonderland. Comics legend Alan Moore is to write the lyrics for the pair's next production, he has revealed.

"They came down to Northampton last week because we're planning for me to do the libretto on their next opera ," Moore recently told Mustard magazine. Though Moore offered no more details than that – and semi-erroneously referred to the pair as Gorillaz – Moore's news will still set Blur (and comics) fans salivating. Albarn and Hewlett's last show, Monkey: Journey to the West, was a hit in 2007 and led to a series of animated spots for the BBC's Beijing Olympics coverage.

It's anybody's guess what Albarn and Hewlett have planned with Moore. The comics writer has penned all kinds of tales, from Victorian whodunits to dystopian science-fiction. His most famous works include Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman.

These days, Moore is primarily occupied with Dodgem Logic, a new bi-monthly journal. He aims to capture "the spirit of 1960s underground papers", using comics, essays, recipes and, er, lengthy examinations of anarchism. Oh – and also, Albarn and Hewlett.

"[For the third issue] we've hopefully got Gorillaz onboard," Moore said. "Being an opportunist, I asked them if they'd be prepared to contribute some pages to Dodgem Logic. Rather than just doing an interview, I thought it would be interesting to hand over a few pages for them to curate."