Watchmen Prequels - It's Official

[BadDeacon]

Pretty interesting. Alan Moore does sound like an immature egomaniac.

He was completely indifferent to anything having to do with Watchmen, as long as everyone in the world knows that he's completely indifferent. If there is any way people could interpret anything from the book other than that he is completely indifferent, it's a travesty!

He just wants the other guys to have the money, because he's completely over it, but he wants everyone to know he's giving his share to everyone else.

He's so over it, he went out of his way, on his wedding day, to talk to his Dave Gibbons about how much he is over it. Wow.

Nobody's created anything at all close to how creative Watchmen was! Yet Watchmen was just a bunch of generic characters without any defining characteristics.

He really seems to have I-Am-The-Best-Everitis.

[Dave Faust]

He really seems to have I-Am-The-Best-Everitis.

He kinda is, so it's understandable. 

[Dom]

Having seen Moore speak at an event at British Library last year and then speaking to him briefly afterwards I have to say that the way he comes across in print doesn't always do him any favours. From my experience he's very humble and has a very dry sense of humour. I also think part of the problem is that he's been asked all these questions so many times that it's almost easier to just tow that same line.

I completely understand why people don't like the way he comes across, but personally I love hearing anything he has to say. But I grew up down the road from Northampton so he's sort of my King...

[the other mike]

yeah, its time to get off the bandwagon headed towards the dead horse. let the man alone. stop poking the grumpy bear. we get it: he got screwed big time, and he doesn't think very much of "before watchmen".

surely the man who's written top ten and tom strong and LOEG (some of my favorite comics in the last decade), who's a goddam snake worshiping wizard, has got more interesting stuff to talk about that's NOT about his opinions on watchmen.

i guess i'm saying i would rather hear moore talk about his future projects or his ABC books, or comics he enjoys... something positive and something he's passionate about.

-mike

[JimN]

yeah, its time to get off the bandwagon headed towards the dead horse. let the man alone. stop poking the grumpy bear. we get it: he got screwed big time, and he doesn't think very much of "before watchmen".

surely the man who's written top ten and tom strong and LOEG (some of my favorite comics in the last decade), who's a goddam snake worshiping wizard, has got more interesting stuff to talk about that's NOT about his opinions on watchmen.

I guess i'm saying I would rather hear moore talk about his future projects or his ABC books, or comics he enjoys... something positive and something he's passionate about.

I would too but he seems to be passionate about this and he's in control of what he talks about. Nobody is forcing him to repeatedly address this situation. He could simply point people to his past comments on the subject and say he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. After all, he's clearly adept at severing ties.

[William Joseph Dunn]

...i guess i'm saying i would rather hear moore talk about his future projects or his ABC books, or comics he enjoys... something positive and something he's passionate about.

-mike

he said in another interview any of the characters and comics he did for ABC are officially dead because of DC acquiring Wildstorm. No Tom Strong, no nothing from that line.

he also said (same interview) that he hasn't read any comic in a long time, but is excited to read Craig Thompson's "Habibi" because his wife enjoyed it so much.

[Andrew Tom]

I find it compelling and facinating that the comics community decides to judge the merits of Alan Moore's work & character based upon his displeasure and handling of the Watchmen situation.  But... I'm afraid it's his own doing by perpetuating it in these periodic interviews.  

I'm of the belief that Alan Moore should follow the lead of others (e.g., David Mazzucelli and John Byrne) and  refrain from talking about Watchmen in any capacity.  He's already said everythng that needed to be said.  He should talk about what he's currently working on and promoting.

Constantly reliving past atrocities by reminding everyone how great you are and how poorly you were treated comes across as a bit pathetic.  

[David]

...and John Byrne...

?!?

[thefreakytiki]

Looks like Alan Moore is asking me to stop buying his future works because I plan on buying some of the Before Watchmen...

"As for the readers, I have to say that if you are a reader that just wanted your favorite characters on tap forever, and never cared about the creators, then actually you're probably not the kind of reader that I was looking for. I have a huge respect for my audience. On the occasions when I meet them, they seem, I like to think, to be intelligent and scrupulous people. If people do want to go out and buy these Watchmen prequels, they would be doing me an enormous favor if they would just stop buying my other books."

 (Top Shelf has got to be feeling like this...  )

 


the Tiki

[Andrew Tom]

?!?

i.e., Byrne stopped giving interviews a couple of years back.

[David]

i.e., Byrne stopped giving interviews a couple of years back.

That's because he can spout his craziness on his forum.  He doesn't need to be asked how he feels about things, he's gonna tell you regardless.

[David]

(Top Shelf has got to be feeling like this...  )

Nah...  I don't think they are.

[Lawrence]

Looks like Alan Moore is asking me to stop buying his future works because I plan on buying some of the Before Watchmen...

"As for the readers, I have to say that if you are a reader that just wanted your favorite characters on tap forever, and never cared about the creators, then actually you're probably not the kind of reader that I was looking for. I have a huge respect for my audience. On the occasions when I meet them, they seem, I like to think, to be intelligent and scrupulous people. If people do want to go out and buy these Watchmen prequels, they would be doing me an enormous favor if they would just stop buying my other books."

 (Top Shelf has got to be feeling like this...  )

 


the Tiki

I do like that he added this at the end, "When I think of my audience, I like to have good thoughts and think about how lucky I am to have one that is as intelligent as mine and as moral as mine."

I think later in the interview he went on to reiterate that he didn't understand why someone would want to read a book in which they knew the creator or writer had complete contempt for them. That does make some sense, I guess. Even though that can turn into a carousel conversation where we go round and round and everybody's head hurts at the end. 

I found this part of the interview very intriguing as well, In the world that could have been, I could have carried on working happily with the American comics industry.

I know a way that they could have sorted out their continuity.  I could have gotten rid of all of their problems for them.  It would have been really simple.  But, like I say, they unfortunately alienated me.  But, they’ve done that everybody who has been a heavy-hitter creatively.  Jack Kirby and all the people who genuinely created stuff all got screwed.

Since it's Alan Moore I start to think for a second, "Wow, I wonder what his solution would of been!?". Then I started wondering what the big problem with continuity actually is and I can't really nail that down. More than likely he was talking out of his ass a little because he certainly isn't going to explain what the solution was. He also knows that he doesn't have to so why not say it. 

[BadDeacon]

Since it's Alan Moore I start to think for a second, "Wow, I wonder what his solution would of been!?". Then I started wondering what the big problem with continuity actually is and I can't really nail that down. More than likely he was talking out of his ass a little because he certainly isn't going to explain what the solution was. He also knows that he doesn't have to so why not say it. 

I thought I read a long time ago an outline of what Alan Moore would have done instead of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was a big event book that would have accomplished the same thing as Crisis, but in a "better" way. I think this may be what he was talking about.

Does anyone know more about this? It's been a while since I remember reading about it, and my google-fu doesn't seem to be strong enough to find it.

[legion of daves]

I thought I read a long time ago an outline of what Alan Moore would have done instead of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was a big event book that would have accomplished the same thing as Crisis, but in a "better" way. I think this may be what he was talking about.

Does anyone know more about this? It's been a while since I remember reading about it, and my google-fu doesn't seem to be strong enough to find it.

i remember that as well.  everyone made a big deal about it because in the pitch he explicitly talks about the merchandising opportunities.

[RickV]

Yeah that thing was called Twilight of the Gods or something.

[JimN]

I do like that he added this at the end, "When I think of my audience, I like to have good thoughts and think about how lucky I am to have one that is as intelligent as mine and as moral as mine."

I thought it was hilarious. I saw it as Moore transparently indulging the sycophants who worship his work. His fans are moral, intelligent creatures, not the kind of lowly unscrupulous people that would buy these Before Watchmen comics he disapproves of sight unseen, comics created by artists and writers he's admittedly unfamiliar with but doesn't hesitate to condemn anyway.

But, like I say, they unfortunately alienated me.  But, they’ve done that everybody who has been a heavy-hitter creatively.  Jack Kirby and all the people who genuinely created stuff all got screwed.

Hmm, by the early 1980s, Moore should have been well aware of how Kirby was treated so why, by his own admission, did he fail to read the Watchmen contract he was signing very closely? This is from the interview:

Now, I've since seen the Watchmen contract, which obviously we didn't read very closely at the time.  It was the first contract that I'd ever seen--and I believe that it was a relatively rare event for a contract to actually exist in the comics business.  Most of the time, people just signed away all their rights on the back of their invoice voucher.  But, I was so pleased with the deal with Watchmen, that I suggested to David Lloyd that we do the same thing on V for Vendetta--which was, again, something that we owned and that we wanted to carry on owning.

He didn't read the contract that screwed him carefully but he was so pleased with a contract he now says is one of the most anti-creator contracts imaginable that he recommended the same deal to David Lloyd for V for Vendetta? Wow. Fool me once...

Since it's Alan Moore I start to think for a second, "Wow, I wonder what his solution would of been!?". Then I started wondering what the big problem with continuity actually is and I can't really nail that down. More than likely he was talking out of his ass a little because he certainly isn't going to explain what the solution was. He also knows that he doesn't have to so why not say it. 

He may not have had an actual solution in mind. He may just assume he could have solved all of their problems because he's Alan Moore. 

[wolfstone]

I thought I read a long time ago an outline of what Alan Moore would have done instead of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was a big event book that would have accomplished the same thing as Crisis, but in a "better" way. I think this may be what he was talking about.

Does anyone know more about this? It's been a while since I remember reading about it, and my google-fu doesn't seem to be strong enough to find it.

It would of made a fine Elseworlds story as a replacement for Crisis? no

[Lawrence]

He may not have had an actual solution in mind. He may just assume he could have solved all of their problems because he's Alan Moore. 

Even as a huge fan of his that was my first thought after the first 5 seconds of thinking about what the big solution might be. 

[BadDeacon]

Yeah that thing was called Twilight of the Gods or something.

That's it!

Linky-poo:
http://fourcolorheroes.home.insightbb.com/twilightfree.html

I'm gonna have to read that when I have half an hour free.