''Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard'' is a
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
adaptation of the
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
-nominated short story "A Hypothetical Lizard", written in 1988 by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', '' V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell ...
for the third volume of the ''
Liavek
Liavek is a series of five fantasy anthologies edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly set in a shared world.
Orson Scott Card found the initial volume to be "an example of what can be accomplished n a shared-world projectwhen almost everything g ...
''
shared world fantasy series. The story was later reprinted in "Words Without Pictures", a 1990 book of prose stories by comics writers edited by Steve Niles, but then went out of print.
[Weiland, Jonah (Oct. 20, 2004).]
"Illusory Fantasy: Johnston Talks Alan Moore's "The Hypothetical Lizard""
Retrieved Oct. 24, 2006. In 2004
Avatar Press
Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Faust'', ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''L ...
published the first issue of ''Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard'' as a comic book adapted by writer
Antony Johnston.
"Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard Issues #1-4"
Avatar Press, 2004. Retrieved Oct. 24, 2006
The story describes the life of Som-Som, a prostitute in the House Without Clocks - a brothel designed to service rare and exotic tastes. Som-Som has undergone a corpus callosotomy, severing the connection between the two hemispheres of her brain; this, in conjunction with the porcelain mask attached to the right half of her face, and the thick glove on her right hand, destroys the connections between her thoughts and actions. Therefore, she can see and hear, but not speak of or act on, any secrets her wizard clientele may inadvertently reveal in the throes of passion. Consequently, Som-Som can only watch as her transsexual friend Rawra Chin is slowly destroyed by an abusive relationship.
References
Comics by Alan Moore
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