A lot of people are expressing outrage over the prospect of DC using other writers to utilize Alan Moore’s characters in order to produce sequels.
On the other hand, Alan Moore used characters created by Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll–not to mention thinly veiled proxies of the entire Charlton line–to produce his own various sequels which were highly praised and supported by those selfsame fans.
It should also be noted that there have been plenty of sequels to classic works of literature. If the sequel to “Gone With the Wind” was lousy, it didn’t diminish the value or worth of the original one iota.
Just sayin’.
PAD
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Mike wrote:
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“though you do it in a way that implies you find it improbable that (A) the EPIC contract might have been as he says and (B) that maybe Archie Goodwin, one of the most fondly-remembered editors/writers in industry history, was an honest and moral person.”
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Nope, I never intended to imply anything about Goodwin. I take PAD at his word about Goodwin. I implied he must have been the exception, because scummy business practices are par the course in American comics even to this day.
Oh I’m sure this is going to get me in trouble with someone, but business has always been a little bit ‘scummy.’
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Part of doing business that is designed to expand is to make as much profit as you can. There are several ways to do that one of those, and the probably most popular, is to get as much as you can while paying as little as you can. DC and Moore were both trying to get as much as they could from their negotiations. (Moore may not be after money, but he wanted something) DC out negotiated him. Is it true that after this negotiations changed for some creators? Yes because creators were more shrewd in their negotiations and Comic companies saw a greater long term value in establishing strong relations with creators.
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You go in knowing the deal trhey want to gert as much as they can and you want to get as much as you can. If they feel a long term relationship is better for them, they will negotiate differently than if all they want is a 6 issue mini.
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I hope no one takes this as a smear in any way on Archie Goodwin. I think Mr Goodwin wanted the best work from the people he hired, and he understood that the best way to do that was make the talent happy, and he liked happy talent, simple as that.
On the side note of did DC cheat Alan Moore? If the demand for the books had dropped to the point where the only reason they were being reprinted was to keep Moore from regaining copyright (as a ludicrous example they print one copy a year or something) then yes I think that would be cheating. On the other hand I would think that if that were the case a good lawyer might be able to do something about that. What Rich posted about the pulping is a rumour I’m not sure what to say to that and as to if constitutes cheating without proof.
That being said, I don’t understand how Moore or any legal mind on his side could look at that stipulation and say what if they keep reprinting it?
By this time I think what happened to Seigel and Shuster was common knowledge within the industry. He should have been more careful.
Whatever gripes he may have with DC (and the LOEG lawsuit might be a gripe I completely agree with, but I’d need to be sure on the details first.) I think the person Alan Moore should be blaming for not getting the rights back to Watchmen is Alan Moore, and maybe his lawyer.
I agree with PAD in that from a PR move this is dumber than dumb. I also agree DC has the right to do it. Do I wish they had negotiated with Moore the same way they did with Gaiman? Sure, but I get the feeling Moore was not willing to compromise.
“I get the feeling Moore was not willing to compromise.”
No – really?!?
I located the lengthy Moore interview on his feelings regarding Watchmen. Its in the book “The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore”. Some of its on google books.
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If Peter is going to speculate about the Watchmen contract and what Moore was concerned about, he can hardly claim the high ground over my speculation regarding Peter’s old job.
Wow. It took me two days to read through all this.
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And oh how you wanted those two days back when you were done.
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🙂
I haven’t bothered to check, but this may be the longest comics-related thread we’ve ever had (if you don’t count threads which consisted of drive-bys coming in to declare that they’d never read anything by me again, or that they never had read anything by me but now sure weren’t going to start.)
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PAD
Something I haven’t seen addressed in this long thread is the fact that Dave Gibbons signed the same contract that Alan Moore did and he apparently had no problem with the movie or cashing royalty checks. Doesn’t Gibbons feel cheated? Moore is obviously taking something personally that Gibbons has no problem with.
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In fact I read that Moore directed his royalties from the movie go to Dave Gibbons. If he is that upset with DC I wonder why he wouldn’t direct that money to the Comic Book Defense Fund or The Hero Initiative.
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Does anybody know what Dave Gibbons thinks about a sequel? Personally I don’t want there to be one but if it happens I’ll have to buy it.
Beyond observing Dave’s willing participation in books connected to the film, I’m not going to speculate on his state of mind.
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PAD
I believe Alan Moore takes pleasure in being the heroic, uncompromising rebel disdaining the evil corporations. If he REALLY wanted a better deal regarding Watchmen, I’m sure he could have gotten it in the past two decades. I mean, he is Alan frigging Moore, he is the most revered comic book writer of all time, and you tell me DC Comics (or Marvel, for that matter) wouldn’t love to have him back writing their characters?
But for all his self-righteousness, there is something I admire about Moore. At least he is no hypocrite. I remember when Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld were heroic rebels too, and now they’re living proof of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Scott, you are not only an idiot but rude as well, congrats on the double whammy. You don’t thin Watchmen should be sequelised. Nor, if you bothered to read, does PAD. Your reasonings are different, in as far as PAD’s are valid and yours are the dribblings of a cretin.