The story of a woman's purgatory and how she came to be there. Reminded me of a Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit play. Set in an old movie theatre, each chapter is a showing of morbid short films, based around either scandals and controversies in film (Fatty Arbuckle, Victor Mature, Wills O'Brien, George Reeves, Howard Hughes, Bugsy Siegel etc); or else exploring how early films were made, revealing profound human insights into the human mind. I would have enjoyed the book more if I knew the films/actors, (the early 1900s movie business I know little about) but nonetheless I am always pleasantly unsurprised to research into Alan Moore's hints/statements of fact to find that what he has penned is recorded elsewhere in history; and his collaboration with O'Neill in this Graphic Novel is darkly entertaining and playful. ( )

Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, in top form, have a fine time going all Hollywood Confidential on the early history of American cinema. if you've read Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon, you've already surveyed the territory. if you're young, you won't know any of the people talked about. so, it's self-indulgent to do it. i suspect Alan just really likes working with Kevin O'Neill.
and the framing story is quite good, though dark. a little horror story, well developed. ( )