A world-famous comic book writer has hit out at what he termed online “weasel faeces” as he penned a guest column for a weekly’s final edition.

Alan Moore, who has worked on characters including Batman and Superman, resurrected his former Northants Herald & Post cartoon Maxwell the Magic Cat as the free title finally ceased publication after 41 years.

Maxwell the Magic Cat was published by the Herald & Post between 1979 and 1986, with Alan using the pseudonym Jill de Ray, a pun on medieval French serial killer Gilles de Rais.

As reported by HTFP in October, publisher Trinity Mirror decided to close the Herald & Post, along with Milton Keynes-based title OneMK and Luton on Sunday, and the final edition went to press last week.

A picture of Herald & Post staff on the front page of its last edition

Guesting in the paper’s editor’s letter slot for the final 1 December edition, he wrote: “What’s important here is that regional papers like this are undergoing an extinction even, along with a number of their national counterparts.

“This means that vital information about the place we actually spend our lives in gets increasingly squeezed out in favour of the latest international celebrity divorce or the ocean of reality-warping weasel faeces available online. Who cares about collapsing public services when Brad and Jen/Angelina/whoever are having such a rotten time?

“As once again the lights go out across the West we may come to depend more than ever on local enterprises, co-ops, alternativesmagazines and Arts Labs, which means everyone pitching in.

“By all means mourn the passing of this venerable, important paper. But then go out and start a better one.”

In the same edition, editor of three years Steve Scoles revealed Trinity Mirror is preparing an array of niche publications for Northamptonshire, but did not go into further detail.

Steve noted that it was “typical of my luck” to achieve editorship of a paper in his hometown as digital news “makes us all editors”.

Thanking its readers, he added: “Some of Northamptonshire’s finest have worked for the H&P over the years – including the contributors to this final edition. It has been an honour and a privilege to sneak myself in alongside them.”