“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. 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. [...] The kind of readers who are prepared to turn a blind eye when the people who create their favorite reading material, their favorite characters, are marginalized or put to the wall — that’s not the kind of readers I want. So, even if it means a huge drop in sales upon my other work, I would prefer it that way. I mean, there’s no way I can police this, of course. But, I would hope that you wouldn’t want to buy a book knowing that its author actually had complete contempt for you. So, I’m hoping that will be enough.” - Alan Moore from the interview found here:
http://www.seraphemera.org/seraphemera_books/Alan_Moore_Interview.html
This comes a couple of weeks after David Mazzucchelli asked readers to not buy the new edition of Batman: Year One after all of the extra work he put into creating the "definitive" edition has been dumped for new printings.
Replies
...So , is this " new " Mazzucchelli the original , serialized in magazines , edition whereas the previous book was the " remix " version ???
That made me laugh out loud in the bus.
but then a lot of the people who are getting het up about Before Watchmen wouldn't be interested in Moore's more recent, esoteric and experimental books anyway.
At the risk of becoming a bit unpopular, but doesn't Moore come off as, well, arrogant and self-absorbed. He has no right to say that he has "complete contempt" for anyone who reads Beyond Watchmen. He does not get to judge people like that. He is a writer. He needs readers to make a living. Does he really feel so morally and intelluctually superior to his audience that he gets to insult them for reading a comic book!!?? Yes, he was wronged. Yes, DC has abused him....several times. Yet he would not be as important a figure without his DC works.
Only he can write the Watchmen characters? Should Batman have ended with Bob Kane? Should Spider-Man only come out if Stan Lee and Steve Ditko are involved? Should Star Trek cease to exist? Star Wars? The Lord of the Rings?
And another point, what if you are loyal fans of Brian Azzarello (Rorschach), Amanda Connor (Silk Spectre), Darwyn Cooke (Minutemen), Adam Hughes (Doctor Manhatten) and the legendary Joe Kubert (Nite Owl) as examples. Don't these creators get any respect? Should their work be ignored sight-unseen just to placate one man? If you met Alan Moore in a pub or airport or barber shop, do you have to prove to him that you never read Beyond Watchmen or seen the Watchmen film (or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or V For Vendetta or From Hell) to be worthy of being his fan?
I love Alan Moore's body of work. I respect him for it. But he can't dictate terms on what we read or degrade us for our choices. Simply put, it's not up to him!
He's not saying you shouldn't read any of that stuff. Just that he'll feel nothing but contempt for you if you do.
And then extrapolates that to ask if you really want to be reading and supporting the work of a writer who has contempt for you personally.
His choice. Your choice. Azerello and co's choice to take part in a project whose very existence can only be interpreted by Mr Moore (and many many others) as contempt for him.
All adults making choices. Mr Moore is just making sure that it's an informed choice as far as how any fan's decision will be regarded by him personally.
I've long suspected that Alan Moore felt nothing but contempt for me. I guess it'll be a relief to not have any doubt about it.
Here's the line from the end of the interview:
Rob Staeger said:
I know he has contempt for me, because I gave him my copy of 'Watchmen' to sign.
Insensitive brute that I am!
It's nice to know there are some things in life you can count on!
But wow... I'd love to meet him someday, and bask in that contempt.
He's saying 'contempt', but he's feeling 'hurt'.
I don't understand his justification of his own use of public domain characters. Seems to boil down to two points:
1) I created different situations, milieusif you will, and placed pre-existing characters into them. Before Watchmen doesn't do this, but keeps the characters within their original story setting.
2) DC and theBefore Watchmencreators are breaching a MORAL obligation
....
What??? Silly internet memes DO have their uses. Here's what I thought of when I read his justification:
....
I have great respect for Moore's past work. I have no respect for his insulting attitude toward his readers and fellow creators. He has backed himself into an indefensible position by applying a "sacred cow" argument to the Watchmen characters, one that he disdainfully dismisses when applied to his own work with characters created by others.
I had no real intention of reading any of the Before Watchmen books. Moore himself has actually made me want to read them just to spite him...
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