The Watchmen Broke Alan Moore

Watchmen is by far the most complex comic ever made

Does that mean it's the best? Well, that's in the eye of the beholder. But what you can't argue about is whether Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

really put their all into making this 12-issue maxi-series. It's almost like they were offered an unprecedented level of creative freedom

and they were told that they could own their own work. You know, like in most forms of publishing

And then, well, everything went wrong. That is a bummer. I'm Dave Baker

Today on Total Nerd, we're going to explain how Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons came up with The Watchmen, why they put so much effort into it

And then how they got screwed. Watchmen has become one of, if not the, most important comics in the Western canon

That's due almost completely 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 without much access to books. Nevertheless, he became obsessed with writing as a young man

and began to publish poetry and prose essays in a zine he self-published called Embryo

Ooh, look at this cutie. Love those bangs, young Alan Moore. Dave Gibbons was born on April 14th in 1949 in London, England

His father was a town planner and his mother was a secretary. Struggling to break into the comic book industry initially, he worked as a building surveyor

Eventually, he managed to find work as a letterer for IPC Media and then eventually transitioned into writing and drawing his own strips

Ooh, a young Dave Gibbons. It's like 90s Superman mullet, except make it Gibbons

The early 80s saw what is now referred to as the British invasion

Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Pat Mills, Neil Gaiman, Mark Miller

all highly acclaimed writers from the UK were hired by DC to write books

The explosion of talent and ideas heralded a changing of the standards and status quo

that honestly is still being felt to this day. These writers employed more literary executions

and told deeply personal stories that marked a distinct transition from the

God, we wish it was still the Silver Age style of writing that Bronze Age writers like Roy Thomas and Marv Wolfman and Len Wein utilized

In 1983, Len Wein hired Alan Moore to write Swamp Thing, which is often pointed to as a key turning point

not only in Moore's career, but in the history of mainstream comics. The previous run concluded with Swamp Thing's human form, Alec Holland, being killed

The twist that Alan Moore instituted being Alec Holland was never actually alive

Swamp Thing was in fact always a living swamp who just thought he was a human

Having written a few very well-received projects for DC, Moore submitted an unsolicited pitch for a new project

In 1983, DC acquired the Bat Catalog to the Charlton characters. The pitch would involve a darker reimagining of these Charlton characters and a murder mystery plot

The characters that Moore would originally include were Peacemaker, The Question, Blue Beetle, Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, Nightshade, and Captain Atom

DC's editor in chief, the much beloved anchor Dick Giordano, suggested that Moore create new characters because, well, they just spent a bunch of money on all these characters and Alan Moore wanted to either kill them or, you know, render them useless

Moore then restructured the pitch to make the characters unique and not infringe on DC's previous treasure trove of Ditko-created superheroes

For historical context, the people working in the comic industry at the time weren't too happy with how they were being treated

They were organizing and they were having discussions about unionizing. Some people had even gone as far as to intimate that the reason that DC went across the pond and started courting British talent was to squash this uprising of industry professionals

However, ownership was the talk of the day. Everybody wanted to own their work

The indie companies like AirSell, Cameco, and Pacific were leading the way

This allowed creators at bigger companies negotiating leverage. When asked about the ownership issue at the time of publication at San Diego Comic Con, Morris said

But the way it works, as I understand it, is that DC owns it for the time being they're publishing it

And then it reverts to Dave and me, and we can make all the money off of the Slurpee cups

Only problem is, he didn't really understand how it worked. We'll come back to this. As previously mentioned, Watchmen

is one of the most complex comics ever created. From its recurring visual motifs to its exceedingly impressive display of the elasticity of the nine panel grid to the idea that every piece of the comic should be a storytelling device Watchmen fundamentally altered the way Americans look at comics as a medium

Moore and Gibbons took the tropes and schema of the traditional Big Two superhero story

and infused it with gravitas, humanity, and honestly, logic. They applied a gritty realism to the vigilante aesthetics

that burst every preconceived notion of what comics as a medium was previously capable of

Upon its release, the book achieved widespread acclaim, so much so that it eventually ended up on Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Novels

Not comics, just books, period. It's the only comic to be included on the list

The impact that it had on the industry as a whole was almost instant. Along with the works of Howard Chaikin and Frank Miller, the tropes, storytelling devices, and general grittiness proved to be very influential on an entire generation of creators

DC had told Moore that they wouldn't be making money off of the Watchmen merchandise

It wasn't in the contract, but it was a gentleman's agreement with Dick Giordano. However, when the book was released

DC started selling button sets, meaning the iconic smiley face and other Watchmen-related buttons

When he discovered that they were selling these buttons, Moore was furious, feeling like he had been lied to

DC claimed that they weren't merchandise, but instead promotional pieces. They were eventually able to come to a common ground

but Moore remained suspicious of DC overall. Unbeknownst to Alan Moore, DC was putting together

a Watchmen role-playing game. Yes, that's right. You can still find them. Have you ever yearned to be a chaotic, bean-eating

neoconservative detective or an omniscient, always-nude watchmaker? DC wanted to fulfill your desires

Only problem is that they didn't tell Alan Moore. Oh, boy. Yeah, that's right

DC and Mayfair Games didn't clue Moore or Gibbons into the fact that they were producing these games, which

obviously rubbed Moore the wrong way. They were able to talk him down and regain his confidence

thankfully, and Moore worked with Mayfair and DC to make sure that the gaming modules of who watches

the Watchmen and taking out the trash were in line with the Watchmen canon

Here's where things take the downward turn that you've been waiting for this whole time. OK, so Moore and Gibbons poured their hearts

into making this thing. They changed the medium. They bled onto the pages and pushing the form to new heights

You'd think that they would have been taken care of, right? You know, treated with respect

Well, that's not exactly how it ended up working out. The DC contract for Watchmen stipulated

that DC would own the rights to the Watchmen while it was in print. And then when it went out of print

the rights, after a year, would revert to Moore and Gibbons. This 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 stay in print

They just come out. And then maybe they get reprinted once. And then they go away

Oh, but wait. Watchmen is the highest selling and most critically acclaimed comic of a generation

And it was pretty much reprinted as a collection, or a trade, or a graphic novel, or whatever you want to call it, like instantly

And those don't go out of print, ever. When asked about how he felt in a 2006 New York Times interview, he replied

I said, fair enough. You have managed to successfully swindle me, so I will 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 crack the nut of bringing the Watchmen to the big screen

Some of them have even had Alan Moore's blessing. Very few of them, but, you know, some of them

When Gilliam was involved, Moore signed over the option rights. A, because he was curious to see what an auteur filmmaker would do with his material

And B, money. Mostly because money. Warren Gibbons signed re-optioning papers a few times over the years because they naively thought the film would literally never get made

Things got so ludicrous in the various drafts of Watchmen that one of them even climaxed with the comedian and other superheroes coming to our literal world and fighting on top of the Statue of Liberty

Part of me is thankful that I never had to see that, and part of me really is depressed that I never got to see that

As a bonus check out some of this test footage from screenwriter David Hader in 2004 when he was vying to direct The Watchmen This little stain is that bean juice

That's right, human bean juice. By the early 90s, Alan Moore didn't want anything

to do with DC. He wouldn't take their calls and wouldn't even take money from them that wasn't directly derived

from already in print works. Gibbons? Well, he was less rigid. He seems like he's a genuinely easygoing type of guy

And he continued to write and draw stuff for DC basically up until now

Don't worry about Alan Moore, though. He didn't end up destitute or anything. He just found a new home at Image Comics

the biggest publisher of the 90s, doing runs on Supreme and Wildcats, and even writing some Spawn

Hey, Spawn. Were those books as good as Watchmen? No. But they definitely did pay the bills

While working for Image, Moore and Jim Lee struck up a friendship. In fact, after the initial gold rush period of Image

Lee approached Moore about writing his own book for Wild Storm. That book was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

which would later balloon into Alan Moore's own dedicated imprint. America's best comics launched with great fanfare

and much critical acclaim. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was the standout of these books, and would later be adapted into a movie as well

you know, that was pretty subpar. By the mid to late 90s, everyone was

aware of how much impact Watchmen was having on the state of comics. Practically every comic being produced was this

but make it Watchmen style. DC reached out to Moore, asking him to write a sequel book

He didn't want to. They reached out again, and were like, we will literally give you the rights to Watchmen back

Just please write Watchmen 2. He still said no. The book was always intended to be a standalone work

He wanted nothing to do with DC. From his perspective, they'd burned him before

They wouldn't do it again. And then the bottom fell out of the comic market

a speculator boom, the 90s crashed and sales for everything cratered. Wildstorm tried to diversify their line

They got into trading cards and even sold a bunch of weird swimsuit and lingerie pin-up books

in order just to keep the lights on. But ultimately, Jim Lee was offered a deal that he couldn't pass up

And Wildstorm sold to DC Comics, which obviously made Alan Moore very happy

Initially, he contemplated quitting all the titles, but decided to stay after he had a conversation with Lee

where he was promised that none of his checks would come from DC

they would be coming from a separate bank account. And also, no one from DC would ever have any contact with him, ever

Moore wrapped up his America's Best Comics line, finished the stories he was telling

and then left Wildstorm to pursue other works. Because of how the deal was originally structured

Moore managed to finagle ownership of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. But everything else would now be owned by DC

In 2009, The Watchmen would finally make it to the big screen, directed by Zack Snyder

The film was released to mixed critical reviews middling box office. With a budget of $138 million, it only grossed $185 million

Some criticism has been levied against the film that it's too devoted to its original

source material, in many ways failing to breathe new life into scenes because it's

fastidious dedication to the panel-by-panel recreation. Others have maligned the fact that

while Moore was commenting on the objectivist overtones in so many superhero stories

Snyder was exalting them, missing the point that deconstructing these themes was satirizing them

not perpetuating them. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that the opening credits

that's the best part of the movie. That's slow-mo-do. Having been burned by DC numerous times now

Moore wanted nothing to do with the film. Even though he had signed the option years ago, he wanted his name taken off the credits and refused any money that was due in residuals

opting instead to pass that along to Dave Gibbons, asking only that Gibbons say thank you. Isn't that

so sweet of him? Ultimately, Moore felt that Gibbons didn't say thank you quickly enough

and the two men had a falling out. This is basically the same situation that happened with the V for Vendetta movie

However, David Lloyd DID say thank you quickly enough, and, uh, you know, Alan Moore's arbitrary timeline of thanks was met

and the men are still friends Ah man being homies with Alan Moore it sounds exhausting Many efforts have been made by DC over the years to make Watchmen merchandise However

they were stopped by Moore or by various legal entities who didn't want to deal with the public

backlash of Moore's fans. These DC Direct toys were almost produced to celebrate the 15th

anniversary of Watchmen in 2001. They've only ever been shown once at San Diego Comic-Con in 2000

However, when the movie was released, the floodgates were opened. Have you ever wanted a Watchmen

a shirt or a toy or a beanie or a prequel video game written by Len Wein or a button set or a

hoodie or a mug or a lunchbox or a wallet or another t-shirt or another beanie or a beanie

shaped like Rorschach's mask or some Funko Pops. Now, you get your heart's desire

Paul Levitz was the publisher of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009. Under his watch, there was a never

quite official doctrine that certain lines were never to be crossed. He was very vocal about the

fact that the only way that there would ever be a Watchmen sequel comic is if Alan Moore made it

And then in 2009, Paul Levith left DC. And then in 2012, we got..

Before Watchmen. Before Watchmen is a series of books that DC published telling stories that

happened before Watchmen. Purportedly, Gibbons was paid over $250,000 to just endorse the release

of these prequels. Moore was courted, and well, as you'd expect, he turned down the money. The

books feature a killer lineup of creators. Darwin Cook, Brian Nazarello, J. Michael Straczynski

Lee Bermejo, J.G. Jones, Adam Hughes, many other very talented creators. And eventually they came out, and some people liked them

and other people didn'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 because of that they created a, you know, genre and medium defining work

Yeah, but that's, that's lame, right? Like, don't we just want to see Dr. Manhattan and Superman punch each other

That's cool. Well, that's what DC and Geoff Johns are doing right now in the thrilling new maxi series

Doomsday Clock. Pick it up wherever comics are sold. Oh God, it just keeps going

No, that's the, literally, that's the line. Oh, God, it keeps going. Oh, my bad

And now we arrive at Damon Lindelof's new HBO series, Watchmen, the remix of the classic story

that you've always loved and respected. I don't know. When he was asked about his thoughts

about what Alan Moore's disapproval meant, Lindelof said, I admire Alan Moore

Alan Moore is a genius. He's made it clear that he doesn't want any association

or affiliation with Watchmen. I admire Alan Moore's punk rock spirit. Back in the day, if he was told he couldn't do something

he'd be like, you. I'm going to do it anyway. So I'm channeling Alan Moore

I'm saying, f*** you. I'm doing it anyway. Which is just, I don't know

This is all just so sad. Alan Moore recently said that he's retiring from the comics industry

He said for years that he retired once the final League of Extraordinary Gentlemen issue was released

And it has been. So now he's done, supposedly. I kind of don't buy it

You know, the whole, I'm done. I'm bored. I'm going to go make some more stuff

I just don't really see him retiring. It's more like he just needs a nap. You know, like he needs a nap tirement

I get it. The comics industry has been terrible to him. But also, what's he going to do

Write another, like, extremely long, incomprehensible, dense novel? Yeah, that's actually probably exactly what he'll do

Or not. Because comics. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

To sum it up, Watchmen is a towering work. You can not like it. You can love it

But you have to respect its place in the history of comics. The fact that the contractual disputes and bad blood between everybody involved continues is just a shame

Imagine what would have happened if Warren Gibbons had either been treated a little bit better or had, you know, a goddamn lawyer to look over the contract

Who knows what great works of art we would have gotten if everyone hadn't been just, you know, complete dicks to each other