Tag Archives: Alan Moore

1923 Copyrighted works entering into public domain…

…in 2019!

The article, by Nick Douglas and which is found over on lifehacker.com, offers a…

List of 1923 Copyrighted Works that enter into public domain in 2019

These include songs, books, movies, and even works of art.  It’s an intriguing list and it does bring up, at least for me, the issue of copyright in general.

As an author, I feel copyright is a very important tool to protect one’s works (duh) from being appropriated by others.  I would certainly go ballistic if someone comes up, without my authorization, stories set in my Corrosive Knights universe and subsequently released them.  If it’s “fan fiction” and posted where anyone/everyone can read them, I don’t mind.

But if a conscious attempt has been made to create something for sale/profit, then that crosses a line.  I created the Corrosive Knights “universe” and the characters that inhabit them.  I feel I should have the ultimate say, as long as I live, to what becomes of them.

However, issues regarding copyright aren’t always so clear cut.

Years ago and way, waaaaay back in the 1980’s I was an early fan of the brilliant writing of Alan Moore.  For those who don’t know who he is, Alan Moore is considered, even today, one of the best comic book writers there ever was.  Among the works he wrote, several made it to film:  V for Vendetta, Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell.

Most of his very best works appeared in DC Comics, including Watchmen, Swamp Thing, and V for Vendetta.  In the case of V for Vendetta, the initial stories were serialized in a British comic book magazine called Warrior but after the magazine folded it appeared the work, which hadn’t reached its conclusion, would never be finished.  DC Comics picked it up and Mr. Moore, along with original artist David Lloyd, were able to finish the series and get the full story released through DC.

Mr. Moore had a big falling out with DC Comics in the late 1980’s and left the company, never to return again.  According to interviews, the main issue Mr. Moore had with DC was regarding the rights to Watchmen, which according to the contract he signed with DC would revert to him once the book was no longer in print.

Thing is, Watchmen was so very successful DC’s been able to keep it in print since it was originally published and therefore have retained the rights to the work.  Mr. Moore, who signed that contract in an era when reprinting works in near perpetuity seemed unlikely, feels he was shafted and DC has taken advantage of him.

Did they?

I suppose.

DC must have seen at least the possibility of retaining the work to include that provision in the contract, though one could also argue that maybe Mr. Moore, who was a red hot creator by that point, should have read the contract more carefully before signing it (or at least had a lawyer read it and advise him on the provisions).

However, just how “original” is Watchmen?

As a story, it is quite original, though I very much believe Alan Moore took -whether deliberately or unconsciously- the ending of the Outer Limits episode The Architects of Fear… or some other similar work  (You can read more about that here).  My feeling, at least based on interviews with the recently deceased Len Wein, who was the editor of Watchmen, suggest that at the very least Mr. Wein knew the ending was going in that direction and told Mr. Moore to watch out.  Mr. Wein stated in these interviews that Moore didn’t really care.

Regardless of who/what the ending of Watchmen was taken from (or not!), what is not in dispute is the chain of events that led to Watchmen being made, which bends the issue of copyright to a near breaking point.

Back in the 1980’s DC Comics bought the defunct Charlton Comics line of superheroes.  The characters, with a few exceptions, were for the most part forgotten.  But Alan Moore was given the opportunity to write a story for these newly acquired characters.  Thing is, the story he came up with would have effectively “ended” any future Charlton heroes story, something DC wasn’t about to do, having invested good money in buying the rights to the characters.

So Mr. Moore modified the story and “created” new characters to inhabit it and, voila!, Watchmen was created.  Here’s a visual comparison of the Charlton Comics heroes and their eventual Watchmen “twins” (click on the image to see it larger):

Image result for charlton comics watchmen

Here’s where the proverbial rubber hits the road: I feel sympathy for Mr. Moore.  Of all the comic book works he’s done in his life, Watchmen was his most ambitious, at least IMHO.  He clearly poured his heart into the story and, even if the ending may be suspect, nonetheless wrote an intricate work that deserves to stand the test of time.

Yet it probably never would have come to be had DC not acquired the Charlton Comics heroes and asked him to come up with a story involving them (he might, to be fair, have come up with a story similar to Watchmen eventually, on his own).  Further, the characters he “created” for Watchmen were clearly meant to be thinly veiled versions of the Charlton Comics heroes.

Issues of ownership, thus, get stretched in a matter like this.

Curiously, though Mr. Moore’s arguments with DC involve the Watchmen ownership, he hasn’t been shy about using actual characters who have fallen into public domain.  Indeed, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was composed of a host of public domain characters!

Would the creators of those characters, were they alive today, be miffed about what Alan Moore has done with them?  Would they be angry that someone has appropriated their works/characters and profited from their use?

An interesting question which will never have a proper answer.

Two bits of sci-fi news broke yesterday…

Both interesting.

First up, the bigger of the two stories, that directors/writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller have exited the so far untitled young Han Solo Star Wars movie and, as of yesterday, the rumor was that Ron Howard may be brought in to finish the film.  The below link is to an article by Germain Lussier at i09.com discussing that very topic:

Ron Howard is the reported front runner to take over Han Solo film

What’s most fascinating about this news is that Lord and Miller have been filming for months and were reportedly close to finishing principle photography when they left.

If you’ve been around these parts for any length of time, you know that I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, despite having been exactly the right age at the right time back in 1977 when the first film was released.  In fact, I have yet to see Rogue One, which also had its difficulties upon completion.  Supposedly most of the movie’s second half was re-filmed by others though the original director didn’t walk like Lord and Miller did.

I wrote a comment over at i09 regarding this and recalling it sounded a lot like what happened with another film…

The closest comparison seems to be what happened with Superman II, where director Richard Donner filmed something like 80% of the movie before being sacked. The film was completed with some new scenes directed by Richard Lester and while the film wound up being quite good -though I prefer the Richard Donner cut, even if it didn’t have a “real” ending- those who recognize the difference know what Mr. Lester added…and it was mostly silly humor.

To reiterate:  It is my feeling most of the success of the theatrical cut of Superman II is attributable to Mr. Donner and the work he did in the film before being fired.  Having said that, the theatrical cut, while not as good a film as the original Superman, nonetheless wound up being pretty good on its own, even if some of the things Mr. Lester added were silly.

Will the same happen with the Han Solo film?  Until its released, we won’t know.  I doubt I’ll catch the film until it airs on cable so I won’t know until then.

Second bit of interesting news, also found on i09 and in an article written by Charles Pullman-Moore is…

Damon Lindelof’s bringing a Watchmen series to HBO

Way back when I was a HUGE fan of writer Alan Moore.  By complete luck I got back into the Saga of the Swamp Thing comic book with issue #16 when it originally hit news stands.  I was a big fan of the Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson run of the book back in the early to mid-1970’s and when this new series came out in the early 1980’s, written by Martin Pasko and drawn by Tom Yeates, I gave it a try for something like five to seven issues before giving up on it.

A friend, however, told me to give the book another try and, as I mentioned above, I picked up issue #16 which, while still written by Martin Pasko, was drawn by the new art team of Steve Bissette and John Totleben.

While I love me some Tom Yeates, Bissette and Totleben were far more appropriate for a book like Swamp Thing and I bought the issue and those that came afterwards.

What happened, of course, is that with issue #20 Martin Pasko took off and Alan Moore, in his first U.S. work, stepped in.  The book, frankly, was in trouble.  It wasn’t selling well and there was no reason to think it would last too much longer.  Yet with issue 21 of the book, with the head-turning Anatomy Lesson story, Alan Moore proved he was a talent to watch, even if most of the U.S. market didn’t know this.

I did, though at that time I was one of the very few.

I was so turned on by Alan Moore’s writing that I hunted down all the previous work he had that I could get my hands on.  That turned out to be mostly Warrior magazine and there I found his awesome work on MarvelMan (later re-titled MiracleMan), V for Vendetta, and Dr. & Quinch.  Meanwhile, sales on Swamp Thing grew and Alan Moore was increasingly being looked upon as a talent to watch.  It amused me to be so ahead of the curve but I was only too happy to get even more…Moore.

I recall distinctly when The Watchmen series was announced and being so very excited to get it.  By the time it was over, however, things had changed.

I can’t quite put my finger upon it but as I read more of his works, I realized that as good as Alan Moore was, he was best when doing short stories rather than longer series.  His best issues of Swamp Thing, IMHO, were those that were “done in one” while his longer stories tended to amble on and not reach all that great of a resolution.

The same, alas, was my opinion of Watchmen.  Great premise, obviously a lot of work invested in it, but the ending…jeeze.  The ending was, in what I think was most likely a case of coincidental creativity (or perhaps Alan Moore simply forgot he had watched it), the plot of the famous Outer Limits episode Architects of Fear.

Clearly someone within DC (or perhaps Alan Moore himself) realized this as well for towards the end of the series we get this curious little panel which acknowledges the similarity in stories:

Image result for watchmen architects of fear

Again, I think this was probably coincidence as I would certainly hope someone as creative as Mr. Moore wouldn’t simply take another story premise and, even with an acknowledgement, pass it off as his own.

Still, the bloom had faded.  Mr. Moore concluded his Swamp Thing run going farther and farther “out there”.  Both Marvel Man and V for Vendetta were also given conclusions as the Warrior magazine folded before either could be done, but I found both stories also featured murky ends.

Mr. Moore also had a big argument with DC comics and left the company.  His work following his departure, IMHO, was never quite on the level of where he started, and his interviews showed an at times very bitter man who didn’t seem to know when to let things go.

All this history came back to hurt my appreciation of The Watchmen.  What I once viewed as a terrific series once done I couldn’t help but view in a lesser light.  When the Zach Snyder directed Watchmen movie came out, I was somewhat curious to see it but didn’t.  I eventually bought the director’s cut BluRay yet despite the fact that I love Mr. Snyder’s Batman v Superman, I haven’t had the desire to watch that film.

Which, in a very long winded way, explains why I’m not all that interested in seeing Mr. Lindelof’s Watchmen series, either.  I think a series will do the work more justice as it felt like a great difficult thing to make a single movie, no matter how long it may be, of this 12 issue work.

Could it be good?

I have no doubt it could be good.

I just don’t think I’m going to bother watching it.

Alan Moore Q & A on Goodreads…

I’ve had this site on my tablet computer for a while now and figured it was time to share.

Alan Moore, one of the most talented and influential -and controversial- comic book writers perhaps ever, opened up a Q & A session over at Goodreads.  The questions were plentiful though a few of his replies were obviously cut and pasted.  Still, a fascinating read:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/3961.Alan_Moore/questions

I remain a great admirer and equally frustrated/annoyed fan of Mr. Moore’s.  There is no doubt the work he produced, particularly for DC comics in the 1980’s, was like nothing that came before it.  His work on Swamp Thing and Watchmen alone would lift anyone’s reputation to the stratosphere.  He also was responsible for the excellent V for Vendetta, Marvel/MiracleMan, D.R. & Quinch (a hilarious series, proving he could do comedy as deftly as horror/action/drama), and “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow”, a “last” Silver age Superman story.

On the negative side, he was also the writer behind The Killing Joke, a beautifully drawn -by Brian Bolland- Batman graphic novel whose story was…not all that good, IMHO.  In fact, the story was sadistic and needlessly grim.  Of course, there are those who would argue that point with me.

Soon after the release of Watchmen Alan Moore grew furious with DC comics and left them, never to return.  Based on the Q & A his negative feelings haven’t diminished one bit.  My understanding of the situation, based on interviews Mr. Moore has given over the years, involved the rights to Watchmen.  Though I’m probably oversimplifying things (Alan Moore alone knows how much more is involved), the original contract with Mr. Moore stated the rights to the series would revert back to him as soon as the book was out of print.  However, because the series was so successful DC was able to retain the rights to it and have done so since its initial 12 issue run was completed in the late 1980’s.

While I sympathize with Mr. Moore, a part of me is greatly troubled by what I can only call his hypocrisy regarding creative ownership.

As I have mentioned in the past, the Watchmen series was originally supposed to feature the Charlton Heroes that DC had at the time just acquired.  Because of the nature of the story Mr. Moore was telling, it was felt that rather than use these characters he should come up with pastiches and use them.  Thus the Charlton heroes…

…became the Watchmen.

In his time at DC, Mr. Moore had little problems using other people’s creations to tell his stories.  Yet he gets hung up on the concept of creative ownership even when some of his most famous stories involved characters he either didn’t come up with (Batman, Superman, Swamp Thing, etc.) or came up with thinly veiled pastiches of the same (Watchmen).  After leaving DC comics one of his higher profile works was Supreme, a tissue-thin “homage” (I would call it a rip off) of Superman…

Yeah…

Mr. Moore would follow this up with such series as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which used copyright free characters such as Alan Quatermain, Dorian Gray, etc. etc.), Promethea (which was a Wonder Woman type), and Tom Strong (a Doc Savage/Pulp type hero).

I’d be the last to blast Mr. Moore’s writing talents but it bothers me that his best known post DC works (there are others, I’m not forgetting them) have largely involved either using copyright free characters or thinly veiled versions of other, more famous characters.

And still he’s angry with DC for retaining their copyright on Watchmen?

Regardless, the Q & A is interesting if you want to get into the mind of Mr. Moore.

Before Watchmen controversy…

Noah Berlatsky offers this essay, published on Slate magazine, regarding the upcoming release of Before Watchmen, a prequel to perhaps one of the most famous comic book series ever created and how author/creator of Watchmen Alan Moore is right to detest the whole concept:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/05/before_watchmen_controversy_alan_moore_is_right_.single.html

Mr. Berlatsky offers a pretty good run-down of how Watchmen, the original series, came to be such a sore spot for Alan Moore.  The fact is that the contract Mr. Moore signed for the book made certain assumptions on his part, specifically the idea that the property of the book, once out of print, would revert to Mr. Moore.  But because the book was so popular, DC Comics used that to keep the book printed in (so far) perpetuity and the characters in their clutches (so to speak).  Now, some twenty five years later, going ahead with “new” material based on the original story, much to Mr. Moore’s chagrin.

Let me say this:  I was a BIG fan of Mr. Moore’s writing almost from the very, very beginning.  Indeed, I was one of the very few people actually buying the original Saga of the Swamp Thing issues as they arrived on newstands that first introduced America to the talents of Alan Moore.  This was, by the way, pure luck as a friend of mine at the time suggested I give the book another try when issue #16 came out.  I was a fan of the original Len Wein/Berni Wrightson incarnation of the character but gave up this new series after a handful of the original issues.  When Mr. Moore took over with issue #20, things got real interesting real fast.

Mr. Moore did a fantastic job.  His writing blew me away, and I sought out whatever old material of his there was to be had.  I purchased every copy of the old Warrior Magazine I could find and found, to my delight, the first appearances of Alan Moore’s Marvel Man (later retitled Miracle Man) and the equally incredible V for Vendetta.  Anything by Alan Moore was worth buying, in my opinion, and I was rarely disappointed.

Mr. Moore, an unknown when his first couple of issues of Swamp Thing hit newstands, became a well known and much admired writer.  By the time Watchmen was released, I most certainly wasn’t one of the lone fans of his work.  Not anymore.  Everyone was eager to see what he was up to and the series was a big success.

Soon after, however, Alan Moore soured on his relationship with DC Comics and left them, vowing never to return.  As a fan of Mr. Moore, it was a really tough thing to take.  I was eager to see Mr. Moore take on other characters in the DC stable, from Superman to Batman to whomever he fancied.  I most certainly would have been there to read the works, but it was not to be.

From that point on, Mr. Moore started working for Image comics and wrote issues of Supreme, a thinly veiled “homage” to Superman (that’s what they said, but I would say the character was an out and out rip off of the character).  I found it curious that Mr. Moore, who at the time was complaining in interviews about the fact that he didn’t “own” his DC creations would have no difficulties working on rip-off versions of other well established characters.

This made me realize that Mr. Moore, as great a writer as he was, was not one to create original characters/stories, but was at his very best when putting his own unique spin on other established characters.  The fact was that Marvel Man was not his creation, but a thinly veiled rip off of the Shazam! version of Captain Marvel that was originally published in England.  Swamp Thing, as mentioned before, had already gained quite a bit of success in its original incarnation by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson.  V For Vendetta, while certainly not based on any established comic books, was a comic book version of 1984 and other anti-totalitarian works.  And Watchmen, as great of a series as it was, was originally intended to feature the then acquired by DC characters of Charlton Comics.  Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan, for example, was Charlton Comic’s Captain Atom.  Rorschach was The Question.  The Comedian was a thinly veiled version of The Peacemaker.  And so on.

Even to my younger fanboy self, there was more than a little wiff of hypocrisy in the protestations coming from Mr. Moore.  This was further exacerbated when he would go on to write his “America’s Best Comics” series which featured such characters as Promethea (his version of a Wonder Woman-like character) and Tom Strong (his version of a Doc Savage/Tarzan-like character).  This use of other author’s ideas drifted from homage to outright use with the release of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  The characters within this series included, among others, The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyl, etc.  Mr. Moore could use them without worry because the characters, by that time, had lost their copyright status and were available.

And that’s not all!  Mr. Moore would go on to create Lost Girls, a graphic novel featuring the following trio of characters:  Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.  You get all those characters together in…a pornographic story?!  One wonders what the original authors of those particular works, which have also lapsed out of copyright, would think about the use of their characters by Mr. Moore in a pornographic story.

Let me emphasize this once again:  We’re talking about a man who bemoans the fact that others have control over characters and concepts he created…yet has no apparent problem appropriating and doing what he wants with characters others have created, whether in thinly veiled “homages” or in the outright use of copyright expired characters.

As a fan of much of Mr. Moore’s works, it pains me to say this, but I just don’t get him.  I can certainly sympathize with someone whose prized works are not under his control and being used in ways he’s not happy with.  But on the other hand, how is it different for DC Comics to use his creations for the Before Watchmen series versus Mr. Moore using others’ creations for his own League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls?

How is this not hypocrisy on his part?