Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography Review: Special

Due to the success of “Watchmen,” Dave Gibbons has been considered one of the greatest and one of the most in-demand comic book artists in the world. As with many famous people, Gibbons decided to write an autobiography called “Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography.”

The thing that sets this autobiography apart from other autobiographies is that it is written like an index with each letter representing different comics, people, events and things in Gibbons’s life. This is a brilliant idea in that, instead of traditional chapters, the writer can just talk about that one thing because sometimes that one thing can only be told in one paragraph as is the case with many of the entries. Some are about one page and some last multiple pages.

Of course, this format also makes it much easier for readers to skip to two of the biggest things people want to know about Gibbons: Alan Moore and “Watchmen.” Gibbons gives his version of not just the history of how “Watchmen” came about and everything “Watchmen” related like the movie, but also how he met Moore and their friendship. He also brings up his version of what happened between him and Moore in recent decades because Moore has said some…not so friendly things about Gibbons.  

Besides those two, Gibbons talks about his other projects such as “Green Lantern,” “Doctor Who,” “Dan Dare” and other Marvel/DC properties. He also talks about other writers and artists he met, some are just one paragraph long and not so flattering. There are even parts of his private life he talks about such as the school he went to that burned comic books, the time he was a building surveyor and his family.

One nice bonus is that the book has many comic book covers, stories that Gibbons worked on, and some photos of him with other comic creators and his family. These add a nice touch to the book.      

If you want to learn about the life and career of one of the greatest comic book artists, “Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography” has a great way of making an autobiography along with some neat extras thrown in here and there.