It’s the gift that keeps on giving. While the 25-year-old Watchmen
continues to inspire new generations of comic and graphic novel
readers, it has become a bane to its legendary creator, Alan Moore.
Over the years, Moore has famously feuded with publisher DC Comics over its desire to spin off ancillary Watchmen product, most notably the 2009 movie, for which he says he has refused payment. That fight resumed once again this month when DC announced seven summer comic book prequel mini-series, Before Watchmen, addressing the origins of Watchmen characters, and Moore unleashed several barbed comments to the press and during a live video stream to raise money for a Harvey Pekar memorial statue. Here, Moore, who spoke to Fast Company in November, elaborates further.
“My reaction [to the prequels] is a certain degree of weary
contempt,” says Moore. “It’s gone beyond anger. It’s almost tragically
comical. It’s commerce over art. I’m proud of the work I did on Watchmen,
but it’s surrounded by such a toxic cloud of memories. I wish I didn’t
have to go through them. I don’t even have a copy of the book in the
house.”
