Mike Gold: Before Watchmen, Because…
It seems everybody has his or her tits in a wringer over this upcoming Before Watchmen thing. I’ve made a few comments here and there, but now that these books are about to come out, I’m going to weigh in officially.
I’ve been reading the solicitations in the Diamond Catalog and to be sure there’s a lot of great talent involved on these efforts. Really top-notch people, some of whom we haven’t seen much from lately. Most of these folks are basically if not emphatically pro-creators’ rights. Aside from the latent listings, I’ve read the thumbnail descriptions as well as DC’s press releases. There’s a lot of comic books involved here, and I approach Before Watchmen with the same question I approach any new effort: “Does this seem like it’s worth my time?”
Obviously, sometimes I make the wrong call – particularly when it comes to television. I’ll decide to pass on something and within short order all my friends, most of the reviews, and complete strangers at conventions will excoriate my witlessness. That’s fine; endorsements from people whose opinions I respect carry a lot of weight. Of course, if I try something and I don’t like it, I take a hike. I haven’t tried a second bottle of Moxie in three decades.
So as I gaze upon all these Before Watchmen comics, I ask myself “Does this seem like it’s worth my time?” And I hear myself say to myself “Well, no, it doesn’t.” Oh, I’ll probably check out a few produced by friends. But, by and large, unless I’m persuaded otherwise I’ll be giving the overall effort a pass.
Here’s the beauty of Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons: it was a true graphic novel, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. They created it, it came out the way they intended it to (or very close to that), we all read it and it went on to become one of the best selling graphic novels of all time. I suspect that latter part was for a reason, that reason being I was not alone in my assessment.
They left no room for sequels, and they really didn’t leave any room for prequels. Those prequels were already done. They were published by Charlton Comics during the Dick Giordano reign, just as Watchmen was published by DC during the Dick Giordano reign. The characters were called Peacemaker, Blue Beetle, Peter Canon Thunderbolt, The Question, Captain Atom, and Nightshade. Without these characters Watchmen either would not have happened or would have been based upon other characters DC owned but didn’t care all that much about – most likely the Fawcett or the Quality heroes.
So in my mind, Before Watchmen is unnecessary. Been there, read that. Your opinion may vary, and that’s totally okay by me. In fact, these friends of mine would like the opportunity to earn themselves some Watchmen royalties.
Then there are the moral issues.
Legally, nobody knows where it stands unless they’ve read the contract(s). I haven’t, but I was an executive at DC Comics at that time – actually, about a month later – and I can tell you that, in my professional opinion – DC didn’t commit in writing to anything but money, and maybe a few artistic oversight issues. Maybe. It just wasn’t done then; it’s barely being done now, and it was only sort of done from time to time in between. Somebody might have given his or her word about how merchandising, licensing, promotion, prequels, and sequels would or would not be done and Alan and/or Dave might have trusted those people… but those people are no longer around. Well, they’re not at DC Comics; they’re still around.
What it comes down to, for me, is respect. It makes absolutely no damn sense to alienate anybody in the creative arts, and it’s really, really stupid to go to such lengths to alienate people of the highest caliber. It’s bad business, it’s worse human relations.
I’ve read much if not all of what Alan has said, and I while I disagree with some of his sentiments there is one thing that is unimpeachable: as a creator, as a writer, as a source of wealth for the publisher, Before Watchmen shits all over him.
Some of my friends disagree, and I respect their positions. This isn’t clear-cut in the least: morality is a personal thing, and what is immoral to one person is just ducky with the next. You can react emotionally and that’s fine. Sometimes that’s all you will get.
Thus far, nobody has picked up a gun and started shooting up the place. I’m not being sarcastic. It’s happened in other media. Google “Marvin Glass” and “shooting” and find out how it came down in the toy design business.
So, yeah, I think Alan was treated badly here. But that’s really not the reason I’m planning to avoid Before Watchmen. I’m avoiding it because, when everything is added up, it just doesn’t seem to be worth my time.
THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil Passes The Test
I’ve been a little surprised when I’ve been sucked into conversations with people about the ‘moral’ side of the issue. Seeing people throwing their hands in the air for both sides, it just seems a little crazy to me. The only people I think should have the right to be that upset are Alan Moore and DC, everyone else should be closer on your position. If it looks like a story you might enjoy- buy it. If not, then don’t. All the other crazyness is beyond me.
That’s the problem with morality. “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.”
I already noted one position that is strictly business: alienating Alan Moore is a stupid business decision. I don’t make my comics purchases based upon the intelligence of the publisher — although I’d save a lot of time and money if I did — but I gotta wonder why Warner Bros. decided to blow up what was left of that bridge AFTER it was already burnt down. People reconcile. Up to a point.
But I’ve got to be fair, truthful and honest: That Watchman toaster sounds pretty cool. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/05/15/who-watches-the-watchmen-toaster/
Now I want Alan Moore to write a new Watchmen treatment, using the Fawcett heroes…
He did, Jonathan. It was called “Miracleman.” Then he sucked some guy named Neil Gaiman into it. Allegedly all this stuff, including that which has been unpublished, will be released by Disney one of these days. Odin knows, they paid enough for the privilege.
The published Gaiman stuff is awful to my tastes. I did not enjoy it at all.
The Moore stuff was just awesome, though. It was a comic I should not have been reading as a kid, but I did and I’m glad. I spent a small fortune tracking down the issues I was missing a number of years ago but it was worth it.
I remember reading that Moore supposedly got a call from Marvel after the sale was complete and he gave his blessing to reprint it as long as the profits from the first run go to Mick Anglo (or his estate now, I guess). So, I guess those stories at least will see the reprinted light of day eventually.
That’s mostly the case. Alan was involved in the negotiations all the way along through the attorney who handled the affair (who happens to be an old friend of mine). Alan gave his appropriate blessing every step of the way, as necessary, and his foremost concern was that Mick Anglo got his full due. I’d bet dollars to donuts that the subsequent talent (Alan Davis, Garry Leach) were appropriately covered as well.
There were other complications — Warrior’s publisher Dez Skinn was a minority owner in the company Alan and Garry put together to produce the material, and a previous U.K. publisher back in the 1960s had purchased the original printing plates to the material. It was quite a mess, and I’m amazed it was ever straightened out. Talk about tenacity.
But I don’t know what happened at Marvel since 2009. I’m almost afraid to ask.
But I will.
I’m not interested in Before Watchmen. I’m also not interested in a sequel to Crime and Punishment, or Moby Dick. I’m not even interested in Sherlock Holmes novels not written by Conan Doyle (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, being more than just another Sherlock Holmes story, I’m very interested in).
Well, I gotta put in a shout for the BBC’s Sherlock series. They do everything I hate about revisionist character development, and they make it work. Best teevee drama since The Prisoner.
But that’s teevee, not novels. Teevee adapts from novels; that’s the deal. This one worked. Big time.
Not to be confused with the revisionist version of The Prisoner…
Hard to confuse it with a show nobody saw.
At least not after the first episode.
What about BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, Mike? That was INCREDIBLY revisionist, and it rocked! (Okay, okay, it wasn’t originally a novel, but still….)
I also heard that the producers (?)–I think it’s the producers–want to remake BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Sorry, I’ll pass on that one.
The Battlestar revival amazed me. Glenn kept on telling me it was great, but I hated the original so much I passed. Finally, while stuck in Detroit one week, I got ahold of the miniseries and turned around 100%. Brilliant.
I’m one of the few people who thought BTVS never came close to the movie. I think the teevee show was to the movie what the MASH teevee show was to the MASH movie: a different thing entirely.
I guess I’m in your boat Mike. It’s not that I’m not curious… It’s that I’m not curious enough to waste money. I love plenty of the creators involved… But I can’t imagine any scenario where what they’ll produce –no matter HOW lovingly produced– will the stories be relevant. Prequels by and large don’t work for me.
So… you’re not “buy-curious?”
Just from the artistic standpoint: I learned the hard difference between original work and franchise that month when I picked up Spider-Man and it wasn’t by Ditko! I was young and naive, and I might have recovered from that, but not the loss of Ditko on Dr Strange, too! And then Kirby left Marvel and my childhood ended.
I’m not usually a hoarder-collector, but I bought the whole Watchmen series and stored sets for my kids (who now grown are of course great fans of the work). Re-read it recently. It’s still great.
Despite all trepidations and warnings, I actually watched about one minute of the Watchmen movie (borrowed — didn’t spend any money on it). Just freaked me out to see something so visually well-realized, immediately futzing with the delicately-constructed work. Like the live-action Avatar (the Airbender one), which looked good right up until someone spoke. Damslamshamalyan! http://youtu.be/hksKLHt9Kzg
That said, I enjoyed the Watchmen extra bits like well-made fan flicks. Maybe like Mike Gold said, those worked because they were adaptations in another medium as well as outside the original story?
Yes, truly, Watchmen is perfectly self-contained and replete. But it can work in an alternate medium. See: http://youtu.be/YDDHHrt6l4w
We must be about the same age. I had a similar reaction to the loss of Ditko from Spidey and Dr. Strange, although Strange has morphed into a different character and I like various interpretations of that guy. And I really liked The Creeper (Hawk and Dove, not so much), so I survived. Same thing with New Gods and Kirby.
Adaptations to other media are a different thing, I’m not as purist as some fans. I actually like the Watchmen movie (except for the depiction of Ozymandias as unlikable). To me, it’s like food you like being prepared in a different way, instead of sequels and prequels, the are the very same dish prepared by an inferior chef.
As for Sherlock Holmes and Spider-Man, at least they’re more open-ended characters from the beginning.
AMEN, Mike!!!!!