Doomsday Clock #6

[superboyprime]

Final Thoughts?

Alan Moore: Yes: cherish the astonishing and unlikely world that we all exist in; try to live with love and without fear; and anybody who has anything to do with any of these shitty Watchmen travesties, even as a member of the audience, will be dragged screaming to hell by their nipples. Peace out.

Comments

[strejdaking]

I know that, but there is a difference between "I regret contributing to this" and "it is my personal fault alone every stupid thing they did happened". Also a difference between you saying it about yourself and people who screwed you doing so while doing the one thing they know you hate. Especially, since frankly, Watchmen role in the worst of the grim and gritty shit is a lot smaller than comon wisdom claims it is.

Sure, I said I don't disagree his general attitude has been petty and irrational, I just sympathize with him being bitter in this particular case.

[tcampbell1000]

You're right that Watchmen is just one example of a whole wave that flowed in mostly during the 1980s.

It's hard for me to read "here's a Watchmen sequel, get excited!" as in any way compatible with "please blame Watchmen for everything you don't like about our company." But who knows how Alan sees that one.

[strejdaking]

Why is that incompatible? It's just hypocritical. This is the same company that hyped return of Kara Zor El Supergirl, only to turn her, presumably to subvert the original incarnation, into an insufferable, creepily sexualised asshole and straight amde an issue calling fans entitled shitheads for wanting her to be like Kara Zor El. Or Geoff Johns writing Infinite Crisis, a story where evil Silver Age fanboys try to rewrite reality for becoming too dark and then moving on to be Geoff Johns. And I said "seemingly", because it's possible it will end up more even handed but so far it still seems to be positioning Watchmen as the being to blame for the Dark Age of Comics and New 52 (Rebirth's narrative since the begining was that New 52) failed due to "lack of hope"). Like, blatantly so.

Honestly, little insulted at the implication this is somehow clearly wrong and only a nutso like Moore would believe it.

[tcampbell1000]

That implication wasn't my intention. This thread's mostly been about what's in Moore's head, and I'm admitting that when it comes to this specific case, I just don't know. I've shared pretty much all the insight I have on that topic, so I'm leaving it behind.

I imagine we'd agree that Johns asking "Why are superhero comics just so darn dark?" is like the Childish Gambino meme at this point. But when analyzing messages sent by companies-- always a difficult game, as "companies" don't really have feelings or minds-- the capitalist imperative is always a good thing to remember.

There may have been some issues in marketing that led people to expect a different Supergirl than they got back in the day, but the Kar-is Hilton stories were trying to sell their new vision of the character at the expense of the old. Infinite Crisis tried to push DC's "trinity" to a lighter place, ultimately at the expense of the leftover Crisis on Infinite Earths characters that weren't doing anything else. But is Watchmen II really here to promote itself at the expense of... Watchmen?

I mean, maybe it is. God knows I have trouble making any sense out of its themes at this point. But that just seems weirdly suicidal, from a capitalist point of view. Unlike Earth-Prime Superboy and (at that point in time) Classic Innocent Supergirl, the Watchmen are still a going concern. Their book is still in print (insert low Northamptonite growling here) and they're going to be a TV series soon (growling intensifies). I'm sure spite can occasionally motivate creative work, but does it really seem likely that DC would intentionally prioritize spite over money?

(And just to be clear, this isn't about what you or I believe would make them the most money. Kari Ryan, Supergirl of Nine, was a misstep even in a market that's often fueled by outrage, and the CW has found a much more marketable interpretation of the character. But at the time, DC seemed to believe that Jersey Zor-El (I've got a million of 'em) was where the character's short-term commercial future lay, so it made sense for them to commit to that direction.)