Lest Ye Doubt His Greatness

Simply gaze upon his works, and bear witness to this snippet from Alan Moore's script to From Hell, in this case chapter 4, page 23, panels 3 & 4:

"PANEL 3.
SAME SHOT. HERE, GULL SITS IN THE FOREGROUND WITH BOTH HANDS RESTING CALMLY ABOUT THE HALF EMPTY BAG OF GRAPES. LOOKING BEYOND HIM WE SEE NETLEY, WHO HAS TURNED HIS FACE AWAY FROM GULL SINCE LAST PANEL SO THAT HE IS NOW VISIBLE TO US IN PROFILE ONCE MORE, FACING RIGHT. HIS EYES, HOWEVER (OR AT LEAST THE ONE THAT WE CAN SEE) HAVE SWIVELLED TO HIS RIGHT, SO THAT HE REGARDS GULL ANXIOUSLY OUT OF THE CORNER OF HIS EYE AS HE RIDES. THE RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL LIKE MORSE CODE FOR SOME HUGE, DEPRESSING RUSSIAN NOVEL.
GULL: Possibly… or have these stones and symbols’ morbid airs afflicted you?
GULL: Their language speaks direct to our unconscious mind; provokes unease, as
well the Dionysiacs knew.

PANEL 4.
NOW WE HAVE A BIG WIDE PANEL TAKING UP THE WHOLE TIER, FOR WHICH I THINK A SIMPLE LONGSHOT OF THE COACH AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE LONDON RAIN WOULD GO NICELY. JUST SOMETHING SCRATCHY AND TENTATIVE. A GREY MIST OF HATCHING TO SUGGEST THE DIAGONAL FALL OF THE RAIN; A SLIGHTLY DARKER PATCH OF HATCHING IN THE CENTRE TO SUGGEST THE CONTOURS OF THE COACH AS IT CRAWLS ALONG OVER THE SLIPPERY COBBLES, SOMETHING LIKE THAT? I DUNNO… TO BE FRANK, ED, I’M HAVING A BIT OF A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE ABOUT THESE PANEL DESCRIPTIONS AND I’M NOT SURE WHETHER I’M JUST WINGING IT OR WHAT. I DON’T KNOW IF THIS RELENTLESS AND LIMITED SERIES OF IMAGES (LONGSHOTS OF THE COACH, FRONT REAR AND PROFILE; CLOSE UP OF GULL AND NETLEY FRONT REAR AND PROFILE) IS ENOUGH TO HANG THE STRIP ON VISUALLY, AND I SUPPOSE I WON’T KNOW UNTIL YOU’VE HAD A CHANCE TO READ THE THING AND GET BACK TO ME. BASICALLY, IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK MIGHT WORK VISUALLY, THEN TRY IT. IF YOU WANT TO USE INCREASINGLY STRANGE-LOOKING COLLAGES OF LONDON BUILDINGS FOR BACKGROUND THEN GO AHEAD. IF POINTILLISM LOOKS GOOD ON THE EARLY MORNING MIST SCENES THEN FEEL FREE TO TRY IT. IF SOME BIG, WIDE, TIER WIDTH PANELS WORK BETTER AS THREE SMALLER ONES, THEN DO THEM THAT WAY, AND THE SAME IF THREE SMALL PANELS COULD SAY AS MUCH IF THEY WERE COMBINED INTO ONE BIG PICTURE. JUST LET DESPERATION BE THE MOTHER OF INVENTION AND TRY TO LOOK ON IT AS A CHALLENGE (ALTHOUGH I HAVE A FEELING THAT IN THIS INSTANCE I MIGHT AS WELL SAY “TRY TO LOOK ON IT AS A CHALLENGE” TO SOMEONE I’VE JUST ASKED TO CATCH A BULLET BETWEEN THEIR TEETH). ANYWAY, JUST FEEL FREE TO TAKE AS MANY LIBERTIES AS POSSIBLE AND CALL ME IF THERE ARE REAL PROBLEMS. IN THE MEANTIME, I’LL CONTINUE TO PUT DOWN WHATEVER PANEL DESCRIPTIONS OCCUR TO ME, BUT YOU SHOULD FEEL FREE TO TAKE ALL OF THEM WITH A PINCH OF SALT, EVEN MORE SO THAN USUALLY. IN THIS PANEL, UNLESS YOU CAN THINK OF ANYTHING BETTER, THE COACH CRAWLS SLOWLY FORWARD THROUGH THE RAIN, HEADING TOWARDS CAMBERWELL AND HERNE HILL.
GULL: Think of it: “Dionysiac Architects”. What CONTRADICTION, with the God
of instinct and unreason thus evoked by Architects; most sober, Apollonian of
men.
GULL: Yet they knew the unconscious was the inspiration whence their towers of
reason sprang. This, HARNESSING its power, symbolically, was their
sublime accomplishment.
GULL: Their symbol was the dreaming moon enclosed by seven stars that represent
Arithmetic, Music, Astronomy, Rhetoric, Grammar, Logic and Geometry,
the pillars of Masonic thought."

(For the rest of the script for that page, visit artist Eddie Campbell's blog here.)

Having read over the amount of thought and detail Moore put into each panel, and the interaction he encouraged between the artist and himself, as well as the trust he placed in the artist - despite it being Moore's name, for the most part, that was selling comics at that point - it's no wonder he's widely considered the best writer to ever work in the industry. When I compare what's there to what typically shows up in my monthly comics, it's like mentioning Lost and a daytime soap opera in the same breath: sure, they bear some similarities, but one is playing on a whole 'nother level.