"It was just at the time when I finally parted company with DC Comics over something dreadful that happened around the Watchmen film [...] I had a tax bill coming up, and I needed some money quickly. So I happened to be talking to William [A. Christensen] from Avatar Press, and he suggested that he could provide some if I was up for doing a four-part series, so I did. So although I took it to pay off the tax bill, I’m always going to make sure I try and make it the best possible story I can." Moore wanted to elaborate on some of the ideas presented in The Courtyard while at the same time telling a modern story that did not rely upon a 1930s atmosphere. Another idea was to use some of the elements he felt Lovecraft himself and pastiche writers censored or left out of the stories, such as the racism and sexual phobias. Moore explains: "Lovecraft was sexually squeamish; would only talk of ‘certain nameless rituals.’ Or he'd use some euphemism: ‘blasphemous rites.’ It was pretty obvious, given that a lot of his stories detailed the inhuman offspring of these ‘blasphemous rituals’ that sex was probably involved somewhere along the line. But that never used to feature in Lovecraft's stories, except as a kind of suggested undercurrent. So I thought, let's put all of the unpleasant racial stuff back in, let's put sex back in. Let's come up with some genuinely ‘nameless rituals’: let's give them a name." Collected editions The series was collected into a single volume, available in both hardcover and softcover. Both versions include the coloured edition of The Courtyard. Neonomicon (176 pages, hardcover, November 2011, ) Neonomicon (176 pages, paperback, November 2011, ) References External links Neonomicon at Avatar Press Reviews Metafictional comics Rape in fiction Comics set in Massachusetts Comics set in New York City Comics by Alan Moore