From Page 3 of 8 of an Interview with Alan Moore, hosted by Seraphemera Books: The first reference to the Minutemen storylines that Moore wanted to do before his falling out with DC Comics:
KA: I'm not in complete agreement with you about the quality of comics
that have come out since Watchmen. There have been some great books
since then--none of them as good as Watchmen, admittedly, but still
well-worth reading. But, one thing that amazes me about all this is
that they're not just putting out a 12-issue prequel miniseries or one
graphic novel. I've heard you and Dave Gibbons had even discussed
doing a Minutemen prequel decades ago. But Before Watchmen crosses
through 35 comics. It will cost nearly $140 for someone to buy all of
them. That sounds like they loaded every story idea they had into a
cannon and lit the fuse. Even if I was interested in reading this, it
would still seem like overkill.
AM: It would seem to me that in bringing out 35 books--even if these,
for some reason, sell remarkably well; even if there are some people
out there who are so undiscriminating that they are going to have to
collect every one of these books--even if that happens, that is not
going to generate enough money to reverse the comics industry's
rapidly declining fortunes. That's not the reason why they're
bringing these things out. I don't think that DC are interested in
comics anymore. They're interested in growing franchises, like a
pumpkin patch. Hollywood--now that's where you make the real money,
or in computer games, or in any of these franchise spin-offs. I might
be wrong, I don't really know very much about how these corporations
work. But, I think what they're hoping to do with this raft of titles
is spin off some new miniseries, television movies, or computer
games--merchandising. That's the only thing that makes it valuable to
them. They don't appear to have noticed that Watchmen is an ensemble
piece. Actually, none of those characters really work on their own.
They work in the context of the story.
An Interview with Alan Moore
Often The Truth gets lost in The Sound Bite. An extensive and
exclusive interview about Watchmen and Beyond Watchmen. Mr. Moore
gave a quote here, a comment there. Spoke a little about what it
meant that DC was going to revisit these characters he created. But
his full statement has never been revealed--only quoted.
Seraphemera Books offered Moore the chance to speak his mind however
he should see fit. As we’re as indie as it gets, we’re beholden to no
concerns outside of providing the loudspeaker for the voice of
somebody who, while his stories are widely read and revered, doesn’t
often get the opportunity to write the story about himself.
At Moore's invitation, Seraphemera Books comic writer Kurt Amacker
conducted a ninety minute interview with the legendary creator.
Amacker has conducted a series of interviews with Moore since 2006.
The end result is less a collection of terse bullet points than a
revealing and uncensored conversation between two creators--one, the
best the medium has ever seen; the other, an independent at the very
start of his career in comics.
So here it is - the transcript of a ninety minute interview, between
Mr. Moore (The Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke,
and so much more), and seraphemera books writer Kurt Amacker (Tad
Caldwell, Dead Souls, Immortal:60).
Revealing, personal, uncensored and unchecked. This is Alan Moore as
you've rarely heard him. Some stories are familiar. Some stories are
new...and shocking...and sad. Read on for an intimate look at the
architect of modern comics, and his long and personal struggle with
the very industry he helped to elevate.
So, listen up. Come along for a true story so gruesome you’d never
believe it, if somebody wrote it as fiction. Well, nobody except for
Alan Moore...
Click here to start reading on Page 1
This multi-page interview will answer any questions you may have had about what Alan Moore thought of his work and time with DC Comics, his opinions of the work being done with the pre-Watchmen storylines and how his time with DC has left him of the mind to NEVER work with DC again. Well worth every minute of the transcript.
