Alan Moore vs. DC Mega-Thread

[Brannon]

Can anybody tell me the specifics as to why Alan Moore doesn't like Grant Morrison? I've been able to glean vague references about Morrison stealing material from Michael Moorcock but that's about it.

I put this here just in case it has something to do with their DC work.

[Duy]

Can anybody tell me the specifics as to why Alan Moore doesn't like Grant Morrison? I've been able to glean vague references about Morrison stealing material from Michael Moorcock but that's about it.

I put this here just in case it has something to do with their DC work.

It's not that Alan doesn't like Grant; it's that they don't like each other.

I'll let someone more knowledgeable than I post the specifics.

Personally, I think it's just a case of two people being so good at their jobs - but at the same time being so different - that they see each other as competitors and are unable to really reconcile their differences.

[ArnoldoAAD]

one is bald and the other one have tons of hair

there is the reason right there

[Jimmy Bond]

They're intense rivals. Both of pretty much equal caliber, and have similar backgrounds. I think Grant said that while liked Miracleman, he disapproved with Watchmen and that direction in comics. I think Morrison also joked about Moore trying to be him in Supreme.

[Duy]

Alan stole Grant's hair.

In all seriousness, they're rivals. Grant stated that he's a fan of Moore's older work, like Miracle Man, but disagreed with Watchmen's direction, even if it was well written.

He's also said that by that point, he'd seen Moore as a competitor.

I give the edge to Alan just because of books. I read Superfolks because of Grant's recommendation, and Carter Beats the Devil because of Alan's, and I'll tell you, one of them went on my favorite books list, and the other one is in that part of my shelf that I never look at.

Also, Alan's gone on record saying that Arkham Asylum wasn't very impressive. (I tend to agree)

[Kaitiaki]

one is bald and the other one have tons of hair

there is the reason right there

Brilliant anwser!

[Desaad]

Too similar, at a guess.

They're the two most dominant, forward thinking, experimental writers in comics, perhaps that comics has ever seen. They both love the same material (Silver Age DC, primarily) and they both want to see comics pushed forward.

They respect each other's abilities, and both hate what Moore's work birthed (specifically, the dark era tipified by Watchmen). I know that Morrison feels, though somewhat jokingly, that Alan Moore sort of tried to become a Morrison clone later in life -- and frankly, he has a case for it. Books like Supreme, Tom Strong, Top 10, etc all strongly resemble the type of work Morrison was doing years earlier with Animal Man and Doom Patrol and Flex Mentallo.

I don't believe there is any real animosity there, though. I think it's mostly just a little bit of professional ribbing. And Morrison sort of meta-commented on it in his Seven Soldiers (the most explicit I've seen it done) -- firstly with his All Beard vs No Beard confrontation (and the line "All Beard was always the best pirate -- you were only ever just okay" sort of indicates a level of self deprecation that his more explicit comments don't) and secondly with the effect of Zachary Zor (rhymes with Alan Moore) on Silver Age comic characters.

All of the things Morrison has problems with, a lot of other writers have problems with. Ellis and Morrison have been the most blatant and vehement with the criticisms, but people like Cooke or Allred hate it as much as anyone.

[Jimmy Bond]

He's also said that by that point, he'd seen Moore as a competitor.

I give the edge to Alan just because of books. I read Superfolks because of Grant's recommendation, and Carter Beats the Devil because of Alan's, and I'll tell you, one of them went on my favorite books list, and the other one is in that part of my shelf that I never look at.

I remember Moore ripped part of Superfolks in WHTMoT.

Also, Alan's gone on record saying that Arkham Asylum wasn't very impressive. (I tend to agree)

Coming from a huge Morrison fan, I do think it's overrated. But it has a great take on the Joker.

[Duy]

I remember Moore ripped part of Superfolks in WHTMoT.

And also a part of it in Miracleman.

Not that any of it changes the qualities of Moore's stories, of course.

[Jake1823]

I had never even heard of feud between the two, so I did a quick google search and found this interesting blogpost:

http://rothbrothers.net/2007/05/year...tion-from.html

Maybe sheds light on why Morrison dislikes Moore? Although, a lot of it seems like guesswork, so who knows.

Also, Barbelith has a wealth on info:

http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=11433

[Duy]

I had never even heard of feud between the two, so I did a quick google search and found this interesting blogpost:

http://rothbrothers.net/2007/05/year...tion-from.html

Maybe sheds light on why Morrison dislikes Moore? Although, a lot of it seems like guesswork, so who knows.

An intriguing, if horribly biased, read.

I don't really get why people have to compare one career to the other. Morrison likes working for DC. Moore doesn't. Morrison is doing what makes him happy. So is Moore.

Let's leave it at that and not make judgments on which one is better than the other. Everyone leads different lives after all.

[dancj]

and frankly, he has a case for it. Books like Supreme, Tom Strong, Top 10, etc all strongly resemble the type of work Morrison was doing years earlier with Animal Man and Doom Patrol and Flex Mentallo.

I can't see that at all.

[Lord Bravery]

Morrison discovered where Moore get's his Magic Mushrooms them stole them all.

[Duy]

I can't see that at all.

Neither can I.

Watchmen was doing metacommentary before any of those Morrison works - it was just doing it far more subtly.

And quite frankly, and this is a little off-topic, I feel really exhausted with all these works that comment on the medium. It's like a disproportionate amount of great stories these days, great as they are, have to comment on the medium in some way, whether it's Morrison doing whatever it is Morrison's doing in whatever book he's working on, Alan Moore on Promethea just having to make an inside joke about how picture stories are divine and having Hermes look right at the reader, or even Dave Mazzucchelli in one panel in Asterios Polyp (which is AWESOME, by the way) making a comment about the comic book medium, it seems to me that there's a lot of comics out there that all want to do that metacommentary, even if just for a little bit. Which is a little tiring at this point; you don't see films about films or novels about novels anywhere near as often.

[FanboyStranger]

A big part of it is the perception that Morrison wouldn't have a career in comics without Moore. Which is true, to a certain extent, as far as the American market. The truth is that they both started in the UK market around the same time, and while Moore had the earlier success when his strips in Warrior drew the attention of people like Len Wein, Morrison was working and developing things like Zenith. (Tim Callahan has an interesting blog about some of Morrison's lessser known early works in this week's When World's Collide.) It's the constant statements that Morrison 'owes' something to Moore that gets under his skin.

As far as Watchmen, even though Morrison has said that he finds it "claustrophobic" because of the plotting and the tight grid and that he vastly prefers the more playful Marshall Law, he has referred to issue 4 of Watchmen as "the perfect comic".