Alan Moore on Comics... last comic interview ever?

[Previsionary]

No, his position hasn't changed.

There is a dichotomy here. Alan says there?s nothing new being done in comics ? yet he refuses to read anything that?s not from a friend or family. So presumably he hasn?t read Jonathan Hickman?s Nightly News, Gillen and McKelvie?s Phonogram, or even Roger Langridge?s The Muppet Show. And I recall Moore wasn?t fond of Acme Novelty Library because he found it cold.

And while his accusations have always been true about superhero comics, Stan Lee is famous talking about the illusion of change ? and never actual change ? Marvel?s Civil War and both recent Captain America and Invincible Iron Man have shown that the big boys can and do take on political and social issues with a similar degree of complexity and surprise than even Watchmen chose to, often in a very unpredictable manner. And as for addressing the comics medium as a unique form of narrative, well yes, Jonathan Hickman?s work should be worth investigating.

Moore also talks about where he believes the industry went wrong -  not respecting employee rights and hiring comic fans instead, who didn?t care about such rights. He also suggests that people who work in comics exhibit the opposite moral tendencies of the characters they create, giving us an industry that is ?horribly corrupt? and employing people in senior roles who are ?pretty sub-human.?

Pretty lengthy read, so make sure you have some time (about 10 minutes) on your hands.

[steamteck]

Here's some more n it

http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/07/04/alan-moores-farewell-to-the-%20comics-industry/

[deano_ue]

ahh alan moore, you all kinds of crazy

[kkhohoho]

While I do think that the Comics of today are generally not all that great, there are still some that are good, and sometimes even lean towards being 'creative'. (Like Fables.) You just have to know where to look, and since Mr.Moore claims to have stopped reading comics for several years now, I think that either he doesn't know where to look, or he's just being ignorant.

I respect his creative talents. The only works I've read of his were Watchmen and Promethea, but they were good. But as a person, Moore doesn't seem to do so well.

[murs47]

Moore needs to read Scalped.

[Talavar]

Alan Moore went off the rails years ago.  The man did some great work, but sadly, I think we've seen the last of it.

[lugaru]

Moore needs to read Scalped.

He also needs to read Funhome by Alison Bechel. Simple cartoon art, but the story and themes are extremely complex. She has a Vonnegut sense of time, an Alan Moore knack for literary allusion and a fearless honesty. I regret never getting to review this book for The Connoisseurs but I jumped on the bandwagon about a year late.

Edit: more info and link. http://www.amazon.com/Fun-Home-Tragicomic-Alison-Bechdel/dp/0618871713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278560408&sr=8-1

[BWPS]

ahh alan moore, you all kinds of crazy

LOL. QFT.

[cmdrkoenig67]

No, his position hasn't changed.

There is a dichotomy here. Alan says there?s nothing new being done in comics ? yet he refuses to read anything that?s not from a friend or family. So presumably he hasn?t read Jonathan Hickman?s Nightly News, Gillen and McKelvie?s Phonogram, or even Roger Langridge?s The Muppet Show. And I recall Moore wasn?t fond of Acme Novelty Library because he found it cold.

And while his accusations have always been true about superhero comics, Stan Lee is famous talking about the illusion of change ? and never actual change ? Marvel?s Civil War and both recent Captain America and Invincible Iron Man have shown that the big boys can and do take on political and social issues with a similar degree of complexity and surprise than even Watchmen chose to, often in a very unpredictable manner. And as for addressing the comics medium as a unique form of narrative, well yes, Jonathan Hickman?s work should be worth investigating.

Moore also talks about where he believes the industry went wrong -  not respecting employee rights and hiring comic fans instead, who didn?t care about such rights. He also suggests that people who work in comics exhibit the opposite moral tendencies of the characters they create, giving us an industry that is ?horribly corrupt? and employing people in senior roles who are ?pretty sub-human.?

Pretty lengthy read, so make sure you have some time (about 10 minutes) on your hands.

Ugh!...Seriously...They're saying that Civil War one-upped Watchmen (And I'm not a big fan of Watchmen even)?  Seriously?! Civil War was a mess both in characterization and execution...It could have been genius, but it failed on a massive scale....Hmmm...The article is written by Rich Johnston...

Mr Moore is right in some aspects...Also a lot of his criticism echoes John Byrne's (who has been derided for it) and a few other long-time comics professionals who believe that some "comics fans"-turned-creators have ruined the business (I happen to agree with them on that).  Steve Ditko is another great who feels the same http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20788


I agree though...Mr Moore is ca-razy!

Dana

[BentonGrey]

Ugh!...Seriously...They're saying that Civil War one-upped Watchmen (And I'm not a big fan of Watchmen even)?  Seriously?! Civil War was a mess both in characterization and execution...It could have been genius, but it failed on a massive scale....Hmmm...The article is written by Rich Johnston...

Mr Moore is right in some aspects...Also a lot of his criticism echoes John Byrne's (who has been derided for it) and a few other long-time comics professionals who believe that some "comics fans"-turned-creators have ruined the business (I happen to agree with them on that).  I agree though...Mr Moore is ca-razy!

Dana

I noticed that too, Dana.  That seemed more than a little ridiculous.  Even though I'm not exactly a fan of Watchmen, you can't really deny the book's importance or the plain and simple skill and creativity that went into its creation.  Compared to that, Civil War was about as sophisticated and groundbreaking as a Micheal Bay film.

However, I do agree with most of the other posters...it's fairly obvious that Moore is off his rocker.  Have you ever seen a picture of the guy?  Crazy eyes, man.  Crazy eyes.

[Reepicheep]

If Moore was in the era he is meant to be, Watchmen would be drawn in chalk on a cave wall.


Don't get me wrong. I love the guy. He is my no.1 comic writer, just because he's so unpredictable and different yet so much more realistic than many other comic book authors. However, if his style or mindset was as mainstream as he appears to hope then I think the comic industry would be in for a disaster.

He is right, however, about comic book heroes stepping out of the comic industry. But is that such a bad thing? His comment on films strikes me particularly. A film is either a good film or a bad film. Being a superhero film by no means makes it a bad thing. The immeasurable success of The Dark Knight speaks for itself (and, shall we mention Watchmen and V For Vendetta now? Isn't the Dark Knight based off the ideas from The Killing Joke anyway?). Spider-man 3, however, was a bad film because of terrible scripting, directing and casting. It doesn't harm comics. In fact, if anything it would have brought more people into them. Same goes for their featuring in other media.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Ugh!...Seriously...They're saying that Civil War one-upped Watchmen (And I'm not a big fan of Watchmen even)?  Seriously?! Civil War was a mess both in characterization and execution...It could have been genius, but it failed on a massive scale....Hmmm...The article is written by Rich Johnston...

Mr Moore is right in some aspects...Also a lot of his criticism echoes John Byrne's (who has been derided for it) and a few other long-time comics professionals who believe that some "comics fans"-turned-creators have ruined the business (I happen to agree with them on that).  I agree though...Mr Moore is ca-razy!

Dana

I noticed that too, Dana.  That seemed more than a little ridiculous.  Even though I'm not exactly a fan of Watchmen, you can't really deny the book's importance or the plain and simple skill and creativity that went into its creation.  Compared to that, Civil War was about as sophisticated and groundbreaking as a Micheal Bay film.

However, I do agree with most of the other posters...it's fairly obvious that Moore is off his rocker.  Have you ever seen a picture of the guy?  Crazy eyes, man.  Crazy eyes.

LOL...The funny thing is, most geniuses/very smart people are eccentric/kooky/or just stark raving...Maybe it's because they have far too much going on upstairs.

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

If Moore was in the era he is meant to be, Watchmen would be drawn in chalk on a cave wall.


Don't get me wrong. I love the guy. He is my no.1 comic writer, just because he's so unpredictable and different yet so much more realistic than many other comic book authors. However, if his style or mindset was as mainstream as he appears to hope then I think the comic industry would be in for a disaster.

He is right, however, about comic book heroes stepping out of the comic industry. But is that such a bad thing? His comment on films strikes me particularly. A film is either a good film or a bad film. Being a superhero film by no means makes it a bad thing. The immeasurable success of The Dark Knight speaks for itself (and, shall we mention Watchmen and V For Vendetta now? Isn't the Dark Knight based off the ideas from The Killing Joke anyway?). Spider-man 3, however, was a bad film because of terrible scripting, directing and casting. It doesn't harm comics. In fact, if anything it would have brought more people into them. Same goes for their featuring in other media.

I totally agree, Reep...The Spidey films (and X-films, Bat films, etc..) may have hooked new generations of kids on these characters....I just wish the characters were more kid-friendly (DC comics has been horribly violent over the past few years and Marvel has been pushing sleeze and cheesecake for a few years too).

Dana