A Disease of Language

Originally a performance piece by Alan Moore and Tim Perkins, The Birth Caul is a shamanism of childhood, a journey from the present to the past, back into the womb and beyond. The magical creation theory story of love, death and resurrection Snakes and Ladders was also a performance, entwining the disinterment of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Siddal, the visionary nature of Arthur Machen's experiences after the death of his wife and Alan Moore's magical traveller, John Constantine.

Alan Moore, born 1953, is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Lost Girls and the literary novels Voice of the Fire and Jerusalem. Frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, he has been widely recognized by his peers and by critics. Moore started writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as 2000 AD and Warrior. He was subsequently picked up by DC Comics, where he worked on major characters such as Batman and Superman and substantially developed the character Swamp Thing. Despite his own personal objections, his books have provided the basis for a number of Hollywood films, including From Hell (2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), V for Vendetta (2005), and Watchmen (2009). Eddie Campbell, born 1955, is a Scottish comics artist and cartoonist. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell (written by Alan Moore), Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories and Bacchus, a wry adventure series about the few Greek gods who have survived to the present day. His scratchy pen-and-ink style is influenced by the impressionists, illustrators of the age of "liberated penmanship" such as Phil May, Charles Dana Gibson, John Leech and George du Maurier, and cartoonists Milton Caniff and Frank Frazetta. His writing has been compared to that of Jack Kerouac and Henry Miller.