title: DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
author:  Alan Moore 
description: While Moore was evolving the superhero story with his work on <i>Swamp Thing </i>and <i>Watchmen </i>in the '80s he was also taking smaller freelance assignments for DC Comics. The works in DC's newly assembled collection of these stories (all previously available in various collections and put together for the first time here) don't possess the same momentousness as those titles but still provide an interesting side of Moore's oeuvre. Many of the stories are superheroes tales told with such wit and imagination that they reach all the promise the genre offers. The best is "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," a heartfelt sendoff to the Silver Ageera of Superman comics rendered by the greatest Superman artist, Curt Swan. Many of the shorter pieces feature Moore's knack for coming up with science fiction twist endings that always amuse. The Green Lantern back-up "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" is as inventive as it is brief. Other stories feel like a dated part of the grim 1980s."The Killing Joke," featuring Batman and stunning art by Brian Bolland, and a Vigilante story are both dark and serious tales but they lack both Moore's virtuoso storytelling tricks and the complexity and humanity of his best work. <i>(Jan.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ![](index-1_1.jpg)
  
  
  THE LUCKY ONE
  
  
  **by**
  
  
  **Nicholas Sparks**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Chapter One**
  
  
  Clayton and Thibault
  
  
  Deputy Keith Clayton hadn't heard them approach, and up close, he didn't like
  the looks of them any more than he had the first time he'd seen them. The dog
  was part of it. He wasn't fond of German shepherds, and this one, though he
  was standing quietly, reminded him of Panther, the police dog that rode with
  Deputy Kenny Moore and was quick to bite suspects in the crotch at the
  slightest command. Most of the time he regarded Moore as an idiot, but he was
  still just about the closest thing to a friend that Clayton had in the
  department, and he had to admit that Moore had a way of telling those crotch-
  biting stories that made Clayton double over in laughter.
  
  
  And Moore would definitely have appreciated the little skinny-dipping party
  Clayton had just broken up, when he'd spied a couple of coeds sunning down by
  the creek in all their morning glory. He hadn'