How Watchmen BROKE Alan Moore | Explains

Watchmen is by far the most complex comic book ever made. Does that mean it's the best? Well, that depends on the eye of the beholder. But what can't be argued is whether Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons really put their all into making this 12-issue Maxi series. It's almost as if they were offered an unprecedented level of creative freedom and told they could own their own work. You know, like in most forms of publishing. And then everything went wrong. That's a bummer. I'm Dave Baker. Today on Total Nerd, we're going to explain how Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created Watchmen, why they put so much effort into it, and then how they screwed it up.

Before you begin, be sure to subscribe to the Total Nerd channel. Oh, and leave a comment too. Let us know which Total Nerd topics you'd like us to explain to you below. Watchman has become one of, if not the most important comics in the Western canon. This is almost entirely due to the two men who created it. Alan Moore was born on November 18, 1953 in Northampton, England. He grew up in a very poor area and without much access to books. However, when he was young he became obsessed with writing and began publishing poetry and prose essays in a magazine he published called Embryo.

Oh, look at this cutie. I love those bangs, young Alan Moore. Dave Gibbons was born on April 14, 1949 in London, England. His father was an urban planner and his mother was a secretary. At first, he struggled to break into the comics industry and worked as a building surveyor. Over time, he managed to find work as a letterer for IPC Media and eventually moved on to writing and drawing his own strips. Oh, a young Dave Gibbons. He's like Superman's mullet from the '90s, except he's Gibbons. In the early 1980s there was what is now known as the British Invasion.

Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Pat Mills, Neil Gaiman, Mark Millar, all highly acclaimed writers from the UK, were hired by DC to write books. The explosion of talent and ideas heralded a shift in standards and status quo that, honestly, is still felt to this day. These writers employed more literary executions and told deeply personal stories that have marked a distinct transition from God; we wish it were still the Silver Age writing style used by Bronze Age writers like Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, and Len Wein. In 1983, Len Wein hired Alan Moore to write Swampthing, which is often noted as a key turning point not only in Moore's career, but also in the history of mainstream comics.

The previous run concluded with the death of Swampthing's human form, Alec Holland. The twist that Alan Moore instituted being Alec Holland was never alive. Swampthing was, in fact, always a living swamp that simply thought it was a human. Having written some well-received projects for DC, Moore submitted an unsolicited proposal for a new project. In 1983, DC acquired the back catalog of Charlton's characters. The plot would involve a darker reinvention of these Charlton characters and a murder mystery plot. The characters Moore would originally include were Peacemaker, The Question, Blue Beetle, Peter Cannon Thunderbolt, Nightshade, and Captain Atom. DC's editor-in-chief, much-loved host Dick Giordano, suggested that Moore create new characters because, well, they just spent a ton of money on all these characters, and Alam Moore wanted to kill them off or make them useless more than he wanted to restructure the series. tone to make the characters unique and not infringe on DC's previous trove of superheroes created by Ditko.

For historical context, people working in the comics industry at the time were not very happy with the way they were treated. They were organizing and having discussions about unionization. Some people had even gone so far as to hint that the reason DC crossed the pond and started recording British talent was to crush this uprising by industry professionals. However, the property was the talk of the day. Everyone wanted to own their work. Independent companies like Aircel, Comico and Pacific were leading the way. This allowed the creators of larger companies to trade leverage. When asked about the issue of ownership at the time of publication at San Diego Comic Con, Moore said, the way it works, as I understand it, is that DC owns it for the time being, they're publishing it, and then it comes back to Dave and I, and we can make all the money on the sippy cups.

The only problem was that he didn't really understand how it worked. We will return to this. As mentioned above, Watchmen is one of the most complex comics ever created, from its recurring visual motifs to its impressive display of the elasticity of the nine-panel grid and the idea that every piece of the comic should be a narrative device. Watchmen fundamentally altered the way Americans view comics as a medium. Moore and Gibbons took the tropes and outline of the traditional Big Two superhero story and infused it with gravitas, humanity, and honestly logic. They apply a gritty realism to the vigilante aesthetic that breaks all preconceived notions of what comics in the medium were previously capable of.

Upon its release, the book garnered widespread acclaim, so much so that it eventually ended up among Time magazine's 100 best novels. Not comics, just books, period. It is the only comic that is included on the list. The impact it had on the industry as a whole was almost instantaneous. Along with the works of Howard Chaykin and Frank Miller, the tropes, narrative devices, and general bravery proved highly influential on an entire generation of creators. DC told Moore that they would not make any money from Watchmen merchandise. It wasn't in the contract, but it was a gentleman's agreement with Dick Giordano.

However, when the book was published, DC began selling button sets. Namely, the iconic smiley face and other Watchmen-related buttons. When he discovered that they were selling these buttons, Moore was furious and felt like he had been lied to. DC claimed that they were not merchandise, but promotional pieces. They were eventually able to reach a deal, but Moore remained suspicious of DC in general. Unknown to Alan Moore, DC was preparing a Watchmen RPG. Yes, that is correct. You can still find them. Have you ever longed to be a chaotic, bean-eating neocon detective on a mission, always naked, watch-watching?

DC wanted to fulfill your wishes. The only problem is that they didn't tell Alan Moore. Oh boy. Yes it's correct. The DC and Mayfair games gave no clues to Moore or Gibbons about the fact that they were producing these games, which obviously upset Moore. Fortunately, they were able to convince him and regain his trust, and Moore worked with Mayfair and DC to ensure that the game modules for Who Watch the Watchman? and Take Out the Trash were in line with Watchmen canon. This is where things take the downward direction you've been waiting for all this time.

Okay, so Moore and Gibbons put their hearts into doing this, changing the medium, bleeding into the pages, taking the forum to new heights. You'd think they would have been taken care of, right? You know, treated with respect. Well, that's not exactly how it ended up working out. DC's contract for Watchmen stipulated that DC would own the rights to Watchmen while it was in print, and then when it went out of print, the rights would, after a year, revert to Moore and Gibbons. Sounds like a fair deal, right? It's not like anyone else is going to make new Watchmen comics, and single issue comics don't get published.

They just come out and then maybe reprint once and then disappear. Oh, but, uh, but wait. Watchmen is the best-selling and most critically acclaimed comic of a generation, and it was practically reprinted as a collection, a trade novel, a graphic novel, or whatever you want to instantly call it. And those never run out. When asked how he felt in a 2006 New York Times interview, he responded, "I said it's fair." You've successfully scammed me, so I'll never work for you again, which is honestly a shame. Adapting Watchmen is something that many people have tried to do over and over again, from Terry Gilliam to Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm.

Many creative people have tried to figure out the idea of ​​bringing Watchmen to the big screen, some of them even having Alan Moore's blessing. Very few of them, but, you know, some of them. When Gilliam was involved, Moore signed the option deeds. A, because he was curious to see what an auteur filmmaker would do with his material, and B, money. Mainly for money. Moore and Gibbons signed renewal papers several times over the years because they naively thought the film would literally never get made. Things got so ridiculous in the various drafts of Watchmen that one of them even climaxed with the comedian and other superheroes arriving in our literal world and fighting atop the Statue of Liberty.

Part of me is grateful that I didn't have to see that, and another part of me is really bummed that I didn't get to see that. As a bonus, check out some of these test footage from screenwriter David Hayter back in 2004, when he was in the running to direct Watchmen. This little stain, was it bean juice? That's how it is. Human bean juice. In the early '90s, Alan Moore wanted nothing to do with DC. He did not answer his calls and did not even accept money from them that did not come directly from already printed works.

Gibbons, well, he was less rigid. He seems like he's a genuinely easygoing kind of guy, and he continued writing and drawing stuff for DC basically until now. But don't worry about Alan Moore. He didn't end up homeless or anything like that. He just found a new home at Image Comics, the biggest publisher of the '90s, publishing in Supreme and WildC.A.T.S, and even writing some Spawn. Hello, spawn. Are those books as good as Watchmen? No, but they definitely paid the bills. Working for Image, Moore and Jim Lee struck up a friendship. In fact, after Image's initial gold rush period, Lee approached Moore about writing his own book for WildStorm.

That book was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which would later become Alan Moore's own dedicated imprint. America's Greatest Comics were released to great fanfare and much critical praise. League of Extraordinary Gentleman was the most notable of these books and would later be adapted into a film as well. You know, that was pretty bad. In the mid to late '90s, everyone was aware of the impact Watchmen was having on the state of comics. Practically all the comics that were produced were this one, but let them be Watchmen style. DC approached Moore and asked him to write a sequel to the book.

He did not want to. They reached out again and said, we're literally going to give you the rights to Watchmen back, just write Watchmen II. He still said no. The book was always intended to be a stand-alone work. He wanted nothing to do with DC. From his perspective, he was burned before. They wouldn't do it again. And then the comic book market collapsed. The speculator boom of the 90s collapsed and sales of everything plummeted. WildStorm tried to diversify their line. They got into trading cards and even sold a bunch of weird swimsuit and lingerie books to keep the lights on, but eventually Jim Lee was offered a deal he couldn't pass up and WildStorm sold it to DC.

Comics. , which obviously made Alan Moore very happy. Initially, he contemplated giving up all titles, but he decided to stay after having a conversation with Lee in which he was promised that none of his checks would come from DC. They would come from a separate bank account and, furthermore, no one from DC would have contact with him. Moore wrapped up his America's Best Comics line, finished the stories he was telling, and then left WildStorm to pursue other work. Because of how the deal was originally structured, Moore managed to gain ownership of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but everything else would now be owned by DC.

In 2009, Watchmen would finally hit the big screen, directed by Zack Snyder. Yuck. The film was released to mixed reviews and mediocre box office with a budget of $138 million. It only raised $185 million. Some criticism has been leveled against the film for being too devoted to its source material. In many ways, it fails to breathe new life into scenes due to its tiresome dedication to panel-by-panel recreation. Others have maligned the fact that while Moore commented on the objectivist undertones in so many superhero stories, Snyder glorified them, without understanding that to deconstruct these themes was to satirize them and not perpetuate them.

Ultimately, I think we can all agree that the opening credits are the best part of the movie. That slow motorcycle. Having been burned by DC on numerous occasions, Moore wanted nothing to do with the film. Although he had signed the option years ago, he wanted his name removed from the credits and refused anymoney owed for waste. Opting instead to pass that on to Dave Gibbons, asking only that Gibbons say, thank you. Isn't that so sweet of him? In the end, Moore felt that Gibbons did not thank him quickly enough and the two men quarreled. This is basically the same situation that happened with the movie V for Vendetta.

However, David Lloyd said thank you quickly enough and, you know, Alan Moore's arbitrary thank-you schedule was met and the men are still friends. Man, being friends with Alan Moore sounds exhausting. DC has put a lot of effort into making Watchmen merchandise over the years. However, they were stopped by Moore or various legal entities, who did not want to deal with the public backlash from Moore's fans. These direct-to-DC toys were almost produced to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Watchmen in 2001. They were only shown once at the San Diego Comic Con in 2000. However, when the movie was released, the floodgates opened.opened.

Have you ever wanted a Watchmen t-shirt? Or a toy? Or a hat? Or a video game prequel written by Len Wein? Or a set of buttons? Or a hoodie? Or a cup? Or a lunch box? Or a wallet? Or another shirt? Or another hat? Or a hat in the shape of Rorschach's mask? Or some Funko Pops? Now you will get your heart's desire. Paul Levitz was the editor of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009. Under him, there was a never-quite-official doctrine that certain lines should never be crossed. He was very explicit about the fact that the only way there would ever be a Watchmen comic book sequel is if Alan Moore did it.

And then in 2009, Paul Levitz left DC, and then in 2012, we got Before Watchmen. Before Watchmen is a series of books that DC published that tell stories that happened before Watchmen. Gibbons was allegedly paid over $250,000 just to support the release of these prequels. Moore was courted and, well, unsurprisingly, he turned down the money. The books feature a spectacular cast of creators Darwyn Cooke, Brian Azzarello, J. Michael Straczynski, Lee Bermejo, JG Jones, Adam Hughes and many other very talented creators, and they finally came out, and some people liked them and some people didn't. t. Oh look, more depressing things.

Remember how DC had Moore and Gibbons make this book under the auspices that the creators would own it, and thus created a work that defines the genre and the medium? Yes, but that's silly, right? Don't we want to see Dr. Manhattan and Superman punch each other? How cool. Well, that's what DC and Geoff Johns are doing right now in the exciting new Maxi Doomsday Clock series. Pick it up wherever comics are sold. Oh God, this goes on. No, literally, that's the line. Oh God, this goes on. And now we come to Damon Lindel's new HBO series Watchmen, the remix of the classic story you've always loved and respected.

I don't know. When asked what he thought about what Alan Moore's disapproval meant, Lindelof said: I admire Alan Moore. Alan Moore is a genius. He has made it clear that he does not want any association or affiliation with Watchmen. I admire Alan Moore's punk rock spirit. In the past, if he was told he couldn't do something, he would be like you. I'm going to do it anyway. So I'm channeling Alan Moore. I'm saying, you. I'm doing it anyway. Which is just... I don't know. All this is very sad. Alan Moore recently said that he will retire from the comics industry.

He said for years that he would retire once the final issue of League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen was published, and he did, so he's supposedly done. In a way I don't buy it. You know, everything, I'm done. I'm bored. I'm going to do some more things. I just don't see him retiring. It's more like he just needs a nap, like he needs a nap. I understand. The comics industry has been terrible to him, but also, what is he going to do, write another dense, incomprehensible and very long novel? Yeah, that's probably exactly what he will or won't do, because comics.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. In short, Watchmen is an impressive work. You can't like it. You can love it. But you have to respect its place in comics history. The fact that contract disputes and bad blood between all involved continue is a shame. Imagine what would have happened if Moore and Gibbons had been treated a little better or had, you know, a damn lawyer to review the contract. Who knows what great works of art we would have gotten if everyone hadn't been complete idiots to each other. Well, what do you think?

Will we again receive a book with the cultural importance of Watchmen? Will you watch the new show now that you know how messed up things are behind the scenes? Are you going to run out of money to buy the new issue of Doomsday Clock? If you like this video, comment below and tell us which areas of nerd culture need an explanation. In the meantime, like, comment, and subscribe for more Total Nerd videos.