The mysterious smoky man has posted the full text of an introduction Michael Moorcock did for an Italian Watchmen tribute book, all about Alan Moore.

And I know that for me he is the only person writing comics whose work I now automatically buy and look forward to reading. I can never get enough of Moore’s work. It was Moore who brought me back to comics, who made me raise my own ambitions in the work I did in the 90s and in my Elric comics. All this culminated in the huge pleasure of being invited by him to write a two part Tom Strong adventure. He had shown me that it was possible to address a sophisticated audience which he had almost singlehandedly created.

Moorcock also mentions his appearance with Moore last year on stage at the Vanbrugh Theatre in London, which you can hear (albeit in perhaps less than pristine recordings) over on Multiverse.org, the nexus of all things Moorcock. Your mileage may vary, but there are not two more significant influences on me, as writer and reader, than these two bearded Brits. The conversation between the two is a fascinating one, and I'm glad it was captured for posterity.