CBR: Where The Hell Am I - Jan 5, 2011

[Pyramid]

I'm loyal to creators, not corporations.

Amen brother.

[fortyseven]

Aaron's column must have really hit a lot of you. People are joining the boards just to respond!

[Charagon]

I read that comment of Moore's when it first surfaced and I read it again now in Aaron's column, and both times I never got the impression that Moore was taking a big dump on the industry's writers, but that he was asking why the industry's management wasn't encouraging today's writers to one-up him.

That maybe instead of using the industry's 'top-flight talent' to poop out a Watchman book nobody wants, perhaps they should instead give them the chance to tell their own stories with their own characters.

I'm not seeing any writers asking Alan Moore for permission to expand on the Watchman universe. I haven't seen anybody approach Moore with an awesome story idea that could only be told in that setting.

I'm seeing a greedy corporation that's screwed him over multiple times over the years asking if they can use the Watchman name to make some easy sales on a book written by whoever in the writers pool lucky enough to have their name drawn out of the hat.

[ARCHER9]

Fuck Alan Moore

Keep up the good work Mr. Aaron.

[Cole Odell]

Sorry, Jason Aaron, I realize kill yr idols is punk rock and all, but if you're going to aim a dis track at Jay-Z, you better have a better resume than MC Scat Kat. I predict he will come to regret this essay in short order. Either way, Moore's implicit challenge to today's stable of Big Two writers will still stand. Tell to go f*** himself with your work. Your hurt fee fees aside, Moore is right until you prove him wrong.

As to Moore's seemingly unfair dismissal of writers he hasn't read, I think that as a guy who changed the game, he must find it unfathomable to respect or draw meaningful distinctions among people who are happy and eager to simply play the game--especially when his entire career has shown him that the game is run by a bunch of douchebags.

Moore is only on shaky ground if your POV is that there's a contemporary body of work from the big two actually worth reading. As someone who admittedly reads a bunch of it, I think it's at least debatable. Even my favorite superhero comics by my favorite writers almost never rise above the level of pleasant time killers. That Aaron goes to the ad hominem "snake god" bullshit shows to me that he's on shaky ground, and reacting as a fan more than a professional. Which is part of the problem.

Also: a public "you can't break up with me, I'm breaking up with you!" declaration to someone who has never heard of you is a pretty odd way of demonstrating that you don't care anymore.

[ARCHER9]

One more time. Fuck Alan Moore.

[BradRzanka]

...other than that Mr. Moore's handling of the Watchmen business only increased my admiration and respect for his integrity, while Mr. Aaron's column has killed any desire I had to ever read his work.

[ARCHER9]

None of the current writers today need to "challenge" or "win an argument" with Dick Moore by beating him through their work. Who the fuck is he? What makes him the and all be all Authority on comics? Screw him.

[ARCHER9]

...other than that Mr. Moore's handling of the Watchmen business only increased my admiration and respect for his integrity, while Mr. Aaron's column has killed any desire I had to ever read his work.

Why? Cuz he stood up for himself and his peers? All you Moore supporters are pussies.

[Pyramid]

...other than that Mr. Moore's handling of the Watchmen business only increased my admiration and respect for his integrity, while Mr. Aaron's column has killed any desire I had to ever read his work.

My sentiments exactly.

[Stryfe]

I've never read Scalped. I have friends that adore it and say it's one of the best books out there. I have read a big chunk of Aaron's other output, though. Wolverine, Punisher Max, etc. All overrated, shock value-laden garbage.

I sincerely doubt any of his work would change Moore's mind any. I also agree about the insistence on continuing Watchmen is an obvious, creatively bankrupt cash grab. The Dark Knight Returns followup is a perfect example of this.

But that's just my opinion. Aaron is entitled to his just as Moore is to his.

[Cole Odell]

Archer, Aaron himself is trying to engage in an argument with Moore's comments. It's kind of the point of his column.

Whether you profess to give a shit or not, Moore wrote Miracleman, Watchmen, From Hell and a shelfful of other books that either changed the direction of popular comics, hold up today as a prime example of the medium, or both. If you're serious about mainstream comics, even if you're somebody who thinks all those cranky old guys can go screw on principle, there's no honest way not to deal with him.

[benday-dot]

not defending Moore, but can people stop saying he had no original ideas?

he may have used previously created characters or made work inspired by others' work, but his takes WERE ORIGINAL IDEAS-If they weren't, we wouldn't still give a fuck about Watchmen, et al. now.

I have been looking for a post that states this Chris. Having just read what you so perfectly wrote, I don't need now to post the same thing myself.

[kpfinger]

Mr. Aaron,
While your work speaks for itself, this column makes me respect you as a man. Having read much of Mr. Moore's work, I hold him in high regard, but his dismissive attitude towards this generation of writers has frustrated me for quite awhile. You, Rob Guillory, and Grant Morrison, to name a few, have all brought fantastic work based on original ideas to he forefront of comicdom within the past year or so. There's a way to be proud of one's own accomplishments without denigrating others, and Mr. Moore seems to lack this ability. That being said, his Swamp Thing is FANTASTIC!

[DasPoppen]

Haha, only in comics. What a silly discussion...

Jason Aaron is an excellent writer by the way but Moore definitely beats him in the beard department!