Earlier today saw DC Comics announce Before Watchmen, a series of 7 prequel comic books from various top talented creators and artists.
The subject of anything post or pre Watchmen is a touchy subject among readers; some think their “bible” should be left alone, while others could care less.
The Cosmic Book News Twitter account just had a conversation about it a short time ago.
So what does Alan Moore, the creator of the original Watchmen, think about Before?
It should come as no surprise to anyone following Moore for the past 25 years that his opinion is not one of support, to say the least.
The NY Times reached out to Moore to get the writer’s thoughts, with Moore calling Before Watchmen “completely shameless.”
Moore goes on to reiterate things he has mentioned in the past about modern comics having no originality.
“I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager confirmation that they are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago,” he said.
While Moore informs the Times he has no plans to fight the prequel in the courts, he plainly states, “What I want is for this not to happen.”
The Times also went to get an opinion from Dave Gibbons, Moore’s collaborator on Watchmen, who offered up a different take.
“The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell,” stated Gibbons. “However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire.”
With that, Moore compares Watchmen to Melville’s Moby Dick, in that no new stories came out of that, and that Before Watchmen has “only weakened the argument that comics were an authentic form of literature.”
“As far as I know,” Moore said, “there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ”˜Moby-Dick.’ ”
Related: JMS Sounds Off On Alan Moore and Before Watchmen; Compares To Babylon 5
