The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore

Backlisted

Backlisted Podcast

Hobbies, Leisure, Books, Arts

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The writer Alan Moore is the subject of this long-awaited episode. Joining Andy and Una is the author and dramatist Simon Guerrier, who has chosen The Ballad of Halo Jones, Moore's collaboration with illustrator Ian Gibson. It was first appeared in weekly instalments in the British comic 2000 AD, before being published in omnibus form by Titan Books in 1986. It tells the story of a bored teenage girl looking for a way out of her humdrum 30th-century existence. For reasons discussed in the show, Moore and Gibson never completed ...Halo Jones, but the saga remains a landmark of British comic books nonetheless. We also take a look at several of Moore's other projects, including (deep breath) Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Jerusalem, Top Ten, Neonomicon and Providence, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and From Hell, and explore what makes him both the most influential figure in modern comics and a British cultural icon. We also hear from the great man himself, offering words of writing wisdom as only he can. PS. Just don't refer to them as "graphic novels". * To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops. * For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm *If you'd like to support the show and join in with the book chat, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes and exclusive writing, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted *You can sign up to our free monthly newsletter here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to that bastard, the podcast which gives new life to old books.
0:24.5	The title featured on today's show is The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson,
0:30.8	first published in weekly installments in 2000 AD comic between 1984 and 1986,
0:37.4	and in omnibus form by Titan Books in 1986. You might be
0:43.4	tempted to describe it as a graphic novel, but I wouldn't. I'm Andy Miller, author of the Year of
0:50.9	Reading Dangerously, and Inventry, an unreliable guide to my record collection.
0:55.8	I'm Dr. Una McCormack, science fiction author and associate fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge.
1:02.0	Hello, piping in in the background. I'm Nikki Birch, the producer and editor of Backlisted.
1:07.1	Backlisted has been running for 10 years, and in that time we've built up a wonderful community of listeners, patrons and guests,
1:13.7	plus of course a library of almost 250 shows containing everything from Edith's diary to a journal of the play gear.
1:22.5	There's one really free, easy way you can help us by supporting the podcast.
1:28.9	Please just follow Backlisted on whatever podcast app you choose. You can browse our Back Catalog, plus it really makes the
1:34.7	show more visible to new listeners. In other words, please, please subscribe to Backlisted.
1:40.8	Thank you everyone. Now, before we go any further, I believe congratulations are in order,
1:45.7	because Dr. Una McCormack, science fiction author, has added to her portfolio of achievements
1:52.3	and titles by becoming, as of yesterday, the author of a Doctor Who target novelisation.
1:59.8	Yeah, achievement unlocked, Andy. It's like a
2:02.4	tick that one off the career goals. That was a big one. Congratulations. Thank you. We haven't
2:07.1	introduced our guest yet, but mystery guest, in like this is your life, is there something now
2:12.6	we could, let's little phrase you could say that Una would react to. Well, I've sort of watched Una's career with great envy for years, but I am incandescent about this. I know, aren't we all? Mystery guest, let's just claw back a little self-respect of sorts by saying, Una, your book is called Doctor Who, the Robot Revolution,
2:38.0	and that's wrong, isn't it?
2:39.3	That's actually wrong.
	...

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