Alan Moore Pulls LOEG From DC Comics 222
Mark Andrich writes "In its return from a sabbatical, Lying In The Gutters reports that Alan Moore, author of the V For Vendetta comic, has publically disassociated himself from the movie of the same name, and disputes claims of support made by Joel Silver. As a result, he has also pulled the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series from Warner owned DC Comics, and is handing it to two small press publishers in the US and the UK. And in the subsequent mood of elation, has announced his engagement to long term partner Melinda Gebbie."
Please. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Please. (Score:2)
Re:Please. (Score:2, Funny)
And 2) ( this is a biggy ) They are FUCKING CRAZY
Obligatory Star Wars reference (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:4, Interesting)
Back when Image first debuted their line of comics, they trumpeted how the creative elements actually got to keep their creations. Popular titles like Spawn, The Maxx, Gen13, and Witchblade soon followed. Made pretty good money, as I recall.
I think Image died recently though, didn't they? If not in name then in spirit? Gotta look that up. I'm not in the scene anymore...
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:5, Interesting)
The irony is that while most of the founders stopped doing work, many have other people working for them under contracts that are not all that much better than the contracts the founders rebelled against.
One of Todd McFarlane's companies recently declared bankruptcy but, like many big companies, the main creditors for that company were other McFarlane subsidiaries...
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:2)
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:2)
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I.M.A.G.E. (Score:2, Interesting)
The books were never EVER on time, and were mostly flash after the first year or so. Remember Deathmate? Deathmate Red was like 6 months late!
Image started as a bunch of kids telling the big two (Marvel and DC) to screw off, then each and every one of those founders started their own imprints and started
Re:Oh, the beauty of IP (Score:5, Insightful)
So yeah, up-and-coming artists, writers etc. should realize the value of their ideas and protect themselves from being screwed in the future. They should enter every business deal with a good lawyer, and consider working with reputable "indie" companies rather than a big name giants. And most importantly, those who have "made it" should look out for the little guy and do what they can to fight for creator's rights.
Europe might have figured this one out for us (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Europe might have figured this one out for us (Score:2)
Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Go, Alan!
The obscurity of "V" (Score:2, Insightful)
Since when is Guy Fawkes obscure?
Re:The obscurity of "V" (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
I'm making a note to hit metamoderation extra hard these next couple days... this is getting silly.
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:3, Informative)
Dude, did you read the little yellow sidebar? Moore read the shooting script, and comments: "It was imbecilic; it had plot holes you couldn't have got away with in Whizzer And Chips in the nineteen sixties. Plot holes no one had noticed."
I was expecting this movie to be terrible (a faithful adaptation of the comic book's core plot and message is just not going to happen in the current political climate), and this is a pretty clear confirmation.
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
If so, I'll throw my karma on my fire too.
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
filling up space...
Re:Considering Natalie Portman hasn't ... (Score:2)
Re:V costume (Score:2)
(for the clueless/cluefree, the aliens in "V: Visitors" wore those glasses, and they ate mice for lunch, just plopped them into their mouths like wriggling kumquats)
Yes, that means I'm old, like over 30.
Unfortunate... (Score:2, Insightful)
I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:4, Interesting)
The main complaint about Hollywood is that they are taking the edginess out of his works and producing "pulp" thrillers. But Alan Moore's own works recently have been less focused on being all edgy and underground and more on being fun...witness the "Tom Strong" series. So is this an issue of commercialization?
Or was "Hellblazer" just that bad?
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:5, Informative)
If you RTFA (gasp!) you'll find that it was a lawsuit against Fox by J Random Scriptwriter who claimes that the LxG movie was ripped off from some random script that was submitted.
The studio settled, which was basically saying to the world (from Alan's point of view) "The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen was a ripoff of some random screenwriter".
I'd be pissed too....
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:5, Informative)
Now, a few years ago Moore came up with the idea for the ABC line of comics and talked to publisher Wildstorm about it. Then, Wildstorm was suddenly bought out by DC.
Because at least some of the people he was working with, and perhaps himself, were doing pretty poorly financially, Moore decided to sell the rights to the ABC characters to Wildstorm (If they sold the rights, they got more money up front but if they kept the rights they got less up front, but potentially more in the long run. Well, when you need money, you will go for the quick rewards.). Well, since DC bought Wildstorm that meant that DC owned those characters.
So Moore was in a bind. Did he bail on the ABC deal and maintain his word that he would never work for DC again, leaving all the artists, colorists, and letterers in the lurch, or did he stick by his friends and compromise his principles in the name of helping his friends. He chose to continue with the projects and work for DC (through a shelter company I think. The comics don't say DC on them anywhere and I even heard that the checks they get don't say DC on them).
As the article states, however, things weren't all smooth sailing between him and DC this time around. Recently, Moore has decided to stop doing mainstream comics, which means that the ABC line is more or less over. This gives him the ability to move on.
Now, for reasons I'm not entirely clear on, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, while still published under the ABC banner, were still owned by Moore and O'Neil, which means they could take that title to another publisher whenever they wanted. With all this in mind, it is not surprising that Moore and O'Neil took the League elsewhere. Moore fulfilled his moral obligation to his friends, now he can fulfill his moral obligations to himself and never work for DC again.
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2, Funny)
"Rorscach...with hot grease splattering action!"
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder why he has pulled now... (Score:2)
Whatever gave you that idea? He hated what was done to From Hell, as it turned it into exactly the kind of plot he'd set out to avoid. Plus, he's never even seen the League film. (See this interview [comicbookresources.com] for more)
Regarding Hellblazer... (Score:3, Informative)
Regarding Moore and Hellblazer...
While Moore did create the John Constantine character (in the pages of Swamp Thing), he isn't a guy who's developed him a whole lot.
Crediting Moore solely for this character is a great disservice to Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello, and Mike Carey who have written most of the memorable runs of Hellblazer and shaped the character's continuity and history. In fact, of the 200+ issues of Hellblazer, Moore has written ZERO of them. (see here [insanerantings.com])
(Of course, the Consta
V for Vendetta would make a great movie (Score:2, Informative)
The casting is at leas
Re:V for Vendetta would make a great movie (Score:2, Informative)
McTeigue was assistant director on Dark City, the Matrix and EP3... so it should be interesting how he gets on in his directorial debut.
Re:V for Vendetta would make a great movie (Score:2)
As for Hugo Weaving, he's covered a big range on stage and screen.
Re:V for Vendetta would make a great movie (Score:2)
I stand corrected. With the directors of the last two Matrix movies writing/producing AND a guy from Dark City directing it... well, hey, at least there's still the graphic novel!
I agree with Alan (Score:2)
Re:I agree with Alan (Score:2)
Oh, I'm sure they'll have to include the idea of the camps, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made Valerie a political dissident or something like that instead.
I know you've been wondering... (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.thesuperficial.com/image.php?path=/arch ives/np1.JPG [thesuperficial.com]
I think that Moore has a reason to be angry. Since I first heard about this movie, I went out and got the graphic novel. This was quite strange, seeing as I had never read a comic before that. I was surprised at the amount of intellectual stimulation I was able to get out of it. It also helped that I was into distopian literature; fans of 1984 will love it.
But key parts started to be changed. It was inevitable, considering the length of the novel. For example, the fictional British-fascist movement called Norsefire comes to power in a somewhat complex manner. In the movie, they just decided that they would have the Nazis win WWII. Everybody hates the Nazis right, and nobody wants to go see a movie based on a political comic book.
The moral status of the main character, V, is also ambivalent, which made the novel even more thought-provoking. V wears a disguise, papier mache mask included, that bears the likeness of Guy Fawkes (check wikipedia if you're not familiar; basically, he once tried to blow up parliament). It is never obvious whethere he is a terrorist or freedom fighter. He blows stuff up, and often kills civilians to get his point accross. I suppose the easy way to categorize him would be as an antihero. My only fear is that the movie will take this all away and make him another run of the mill masked crusader.
So in conclusion, just read the graphic novel, in case the movie blows.
P.S.: The teaser poster says "remember, remember the 5th of november." This is NOT necessarily the date it will be coming out. (Warning: those of english decent will hate me for pointing out the obvious). It comes from a popular rhyme recited on Bonfire day (again, wikipedia for those who don't know) that tells the fate of Guy Fawkes:
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot...
Sorry if you knew all this already.
Just to add... (Score:4, Informative)
But Fawkes and the conspirators were captured (they tipped off a friend not to go the House on that day but the letter was intercepted) and tortured and, having confessed, were hung, drawn and quartered. On bonfire night its traditional to get a bonfire together and burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes upon it (and have fireworks and so on as well). For those interested in such things theres a number of conspiracy theories about the nature of conspiracy but I won't go into it here.
I mention this only to point out the sort of post-modernist (urgh, sorry) games Moore is playing by having V dress as Guy Fawkes and, well, blow up buildings. He's sort of dressed as the national villain but he's the hero. Only he's a terrorist, which confuses things even more because when V for Vendetta was written England was quite often being attacked by Catholic terrorists intent on murdering us with bombs and incendiary devices, so he had balls of iron in pulling it off really. The further point here being the Englishness of it is central to the understanding the character and the plot. If you try to make it less foreign to non-English people than you run the risk of missing the point, which may or may not be the case in the forthcoming film. Which is why "eggy breakfast" or whatever it is feels like a bad omen.
On re-reading I'd like to correct something (Score:3, Informative)
I am of course referring to the Irish Republic Army, its not really right to categorise them as "Catholic terrorists". Whilst sectarianism is central to their world view, I didn't mean to imply anything more generally about Catholicism.
Re:I know you've been wondering... (Score:2)
Re:I know you've been wondering... (Score:2)
Then you should pick up other 2000AD-like titles. Its a shame that the black comedy/dystopian future comic died sometime in the 80s.
I'll let you into my secret... (Score:2)
I don't actually go and see any of the wretched things, but I can tolerate their existance at least.
BTW, isn't wodge a lovely word? Wretched, too.
Re:I'll let you into my secret... (Score:2)
Re:I'll let you into my secret... (Score:2)
It appears to be derived from wedge or wad, as far as I can tell, in the mid to late 19th century.
Here is the BBC using it in a story, although of course it is always possible that the BBC only exists in my head as well.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/542252.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Alan Moore (Score:2)
For those who didn't read the article, it should be pointed out that Moore never did want to return to working for DC, but ended up there after DC purchased the company who had him under contract.
Re:Alan Moore (Score:2)
I seem to recall that Moore and Sienkiewicz didn't finish it because Moore's scripts were so convoluted and nitpickingly precise that Sienkiewicz damn near had a nervous breakdown trying to illustrate them.
Re:Alan Moore (Score:2)
Re:Alan Moore (Score:2)
V: unfilmable? (Score:5, Insightful)
In an interview I read recently, Moore says something along the lines that he doesn't think there will ever be a market for a film where the hero is an anarchist terrorist. Obviously we don't know whats in the film, but even though its been made I sort of share his skepticism. One wonders if V really does remain a terrorist who goes around blowing up public buildings in the film for no other reason than to make people think and feel freely...seems a little unlikely "in the current climate". My money is on them twisting that element to make it the struggle of the lone hero against the repressive regime, but the subtlety in what V's aims actually are, and the moral ambivalence, will be long gone (if you take out the motivation than V is undiscernable from say Rambo, both blow lots of things up to fight Bad Guys(tm) ). Also, is it really going to begin with the attempted rape of a underage prostitute by the secret police? And can we really trust Elrond to keep the damn mask on all the way through? A flashback (yes, yes, but look how its drawn) or an unmasking would ruin the whole thing. I can't think of many Hollywood stars who'd be prepared to do that as a leading actor (David Prowse will of course always be the exception, but he wasn't as such a Hollywood star, he was the Green Cross Code [internationalhero.co.uk] man!)
As to Hollywood getting England wrong, we are so well used to that, to be honest it barely registers anymore. It was going on long before any of us were born. One sort of grows up realising theres a special mythological England with bizarre Ye Olde customs and behaviour that exists in films and the one you actually live in. But then thats probably true for everyone across the world to some extent. And being the sinister villains rather than the lantern jawed hero is fine with me as well, they always have the best lines anyway. Our accents (e.g., the woman in Frasier...wtf?), our culture and our history are regularly and comprehensively pissed all over in the name of the North American market, but heh, as the Voice of Fate would say:
England Prevails.
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
When will we Hollywood realize that literature and films are two art forms, and that movies are not a substitute for reading?
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
2001 was a film before it was a book.
So only the Godfather remaisn to prove your point. Perhaps you should have picked Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz instead
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
2001 was a film before it was a book.
Actually, Clarke wrote 2001 at the same time as he made the movie with Kubrick. The most notable difference between the two is that the centrally featured moon in the book is Iapetus, a moon of Saturn, whereas in the movie it's Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Clarke later decided that he liked the movie version more, and the later books are sequels to the movie.
I think 2001 and 2010 work equally well as movies and books, actually, and retain much the same plot, struct
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
There's also a special Old West America populated with gun-totin', arrogant, loud-mouthed cowboys that exist in the minds of Europeans...and the one Americans actually live in. Given that, I'm not sure Hollywood is to blame, specifically. It seems every country has two faces: the real one and the two-thousand-miles-away one.
Roit guvnah?
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
Uh...Daphne was Irish, and it probably was a subtle play on the "English Au Pair" stereotype in multiple ways, too.
But it worked for that show.
As for the US' patronizing or condescending view of Europe, in real life it probably would have been an Eastern European or Russian live-in ho...
Which is funny, because people everywhere (even in the US) make a big deal about the Hollywoodizing of the
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:3, Informative)
She was Mancunian. From Manchester. i.e. not Irish but English.
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:3, Interesting)
Fight Club, while an excellent film, did bomb, and infuriated Ruppert Murdoch.
A film like Fight Club, simply would not be produced today... well not in Hollywood at least. From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Re:V: unfilmable? (Score:2)
She admits it actually (Score:2)
"Basically, this show wasn't made for an English market. The accent I use has to be understood by an American audience."
The British audience initially suspected she was an American with a speech impediment until we realised the character was supposed to be from Manchester.
Why are they paid so little? (Score:3, Interesting)
Thats sad when the people who make the genius work get paid so little. Strong IP laws indeed. Maybe the little IP owners should make do something about it. Sounds like to me some collectiv bargaining (and no I don't mean union here) needs to be done.
sri
PWEI knows all (Score:3, Funny)
Ground floor, coming up... (Score:2)
Melinda Gebbie (Score:2)
That's it for me. (Score:2)
The studios have to learn that many people in the market audience for a movie based on a comic book are interested specifically because the movie is supposed to be based on the comic book. They can't just "do as they please" and expect to get the same people to come see it.
If the novel's own author is disgusted enough with the way the movie veers off from the actual story that he considers th
My Guess (Score:2)
It was the ducks [harpercollins.com] that finally pushed him over the edge. The world must be warned!
(if you don't get it, look at Neil Gaiman's journal [neilgaiman.com] for January 20, 2004)
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:5, Informative)
In that same period, he's also gotten screwed over many times by publishers going back on their word. DC (owned by Time Warner)in particular has time and time again done things he feels are breaches of their "good word", not to mention outright breaches of contract. I get the sense Alan is a man of his word, and gets particularly peeved when he doesn't get the same respect in return. People of high standards and not a small bit of genius often tend to be a bit short-tempered when they feel disrespected.
Oh, and "COMIC BOOKS" are real books nowadays, you know. Go to a bookstore sometime, they probably have several shelves full of highly respected works of graphic fiction... not to mention some very fun works of complete escapist fluff too.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Brilliance and arrogance are not mutually exclusive. For example. [stallman.org]
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
"overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors"
I've never seen that in Stallman, in person or in writing (and I've met him on a couple occasions at various appearances he has made). He's a stubborn cuss, and has great difficulty seeing things from another perspective, and but he doesn't seem prideful or one to look down on others.
When I think of arrogance, I think of Comic Book Guy on "The Simpsons"
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
No one can deny that Stallman is self-righteous.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:5, Insightful)
Little pictures of people in funny costumes do not an immature genre make. Not in Moore's case, not by a long shot.
I'd love to take your subject (Score:2)
Re:I'd love to take your subject (Score:2)
I called it "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Armageddon." I'm sure you can figure out the influences there... Coincidentally, the last day of the class was on opening day of the HGttG movie, which naturally begins with the destruction of the Earth. Synchronicity, you know?
A quick rundown of the reading list: K
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2, Interesting)
Speaking as one who has read comics since the early 70's, Alan Moore hasn't done work worth Jack Shit since Swamp Thing in the early 80's. The Watchmen is the most overrated comic/graphic novel of all time. And what you never hear is that he's pissed off DC too. The Watchmen were all based on the old Charlton Comics characters (Captain Atom, The Peacemaker, etc), which DC had just aquired when Moore was writing The
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
I'm neither a Moore fan, nor a comics fan, but this seems to miss the point of why so many like the Watchmen and see it as original.
Moore breaks a taboo that pervades much of fiction, not just the comics: the suggestion that those in power might not have thought through
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Oh christ yes. I loved that stuff when I was 12, but on re-read it comes off like a second rate soap opera with enormous breasts and women who bend their knees weird.
Have you read From Hell? It's simply one of the most complex and interesting comics ever made. If Claremont could have written an Xmen arc that tied in actual history, metaphysics and lives of actual people, well, he'd be getting movie after movie made from his work
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Oh, and some graffiti artists are also quite impressive and very creative. Some of them also have had a great deal of commercial success, including an artist who ended up being recruited by the very companies whose billboards he was "defacing", because they liked his work (wish I c
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:3, Informative)
I liken comic books to the old serials that used to be printed in major newspapers. Most of these stories were pretty bad, however there were some that were extremely good. Great Expectations comes to mind.
Similarly, comic books are largely forgettable. They may be entertaining, but that's where most of them stop. However, much like Dickens, there are some who really do something with the medium.
I have found, in general, that book stores largely stock comic book compendia which sell. I've had to order
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
When I was talking about "things I like" I was referring to books as well. Yes, though, a good comic shop can help you find the really good stuff. I was trying to point out the situation in book stores, since the grandparent was talking about that.
As an aside, concerning bookstores: they usually put all the graphic novels in one area, but Maus is always in history. I guess when you are perceived well enough, you aren't grouped with the rest of your kind.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:3, Funny)
You spelled its wrong, you koala-chasing lumbering cancerous descendant of British castoffs.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
But enough about Moore, what about Gaiman? Nothing like a chapter from Books of Magic to steal Harry Potter's thunder. Hermione has nothing on Molly, that is for damn sure.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
It's really worth noting that Gaiman began his rise to prominence [aol.com] in the US by taking over characters and titles that Moore had either created (e.g., John Constantine) or done a major overhaul on (e.g., Miracle Man, Swamp Thing, many of the characters appearing in Sandman).
While Moore was resurrecting the entire genre of horror comic books in the US with Jon Totleben in Swamp Thing, Gaiman was saying to himself, "hey! I want to do that sort of thing!"
G
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Would you call Art Spiegelman "just a comic book writer" for Maus? I don't read comics as a rule, but I read Moore's "Watchmen", and it kicked my ass.
-- YLFIRe:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:3, Informative)
It's possible to be a good artist in (almost) any genre.
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I don't mean to be rude... (Score:2)
G.P. is just jealous cuz a guy who writes comic books is getting some and he isn't...
Re:You gotta admire him... (Score:2)
It was hilarious though - especially when he decided he'd want nothing from the movie studios ever again after they ruined his story... only to be phoned that week by a movie studio and offered several million for the next film.....
Alan Moore knows the score (Score:2)
Re:You gotta admire him... (Score:2)