DC to publish Alan Moore's "Twilight of the Superheroes" proposal

[SiegePerilous02]

Even Moore has dismissed this stuff as not particularly good comics. He said that he felt bad that he derailed superhero comics because he was in a really bad mood.

Twilight of the Superheroes is pretty much exactly that--a bunch of dumb American superheroes making a mess of the world so a smartass British Mary Sue can come in and fix it all. If it had been anyone else but Moore, this would have been rightfully mocked as the B-level fan fic it was.

Yeah, Moore writing this would mean it would still probably have some stuff going for it or be at least an interesting failure, but I can't imagine this being a highlight of either his career or the characters featured in it. Seems like something an immature teenager who hates whimsical things (or Garth Ennis) would write to prove they are a smarter adult.

Constantine being his own creation and a fairly recent one at that time really WOULD come across as a snarky Mary Sue.

What did brits have against crisis. Both this (from snyopsis - i havent read it) and morrisons animal man are critical of crisis.

I always thought it was cool DC printed those animal man issues

I think they (correctly IMO) picked up on the fact that it was a very corporate driven decision that established a bad precedent of prioritizing "fixing" continuity like a homework assignment through big dumb events.

If so, they were right on the money cuz look where we're at now.

[iron chimp]

Yeah, Moore writing this would mean it would still probably have some stuff going for it or be at least an interesting failure, but I can't imagine this being a highlight of either his career or the characters featured in it. Seems like something an immature teenager who hates whimsical things (or Garth Ennis) would write to prove they are a smarter adult.

Constantine being his own creation and a fairly recent one at that time really WOULD come across as a snarky Mary Sue.



I think they (correctly IMO) picked up on the fact that it was a very corporate driven decision that established a bad precedent of prioritizing "fixing" continuity like a homework assignment through big dumb events.

If so, they were right on the money cuz look where we're at now.

Yes that makes sense. Animal man is very much why did you kill these characters- we could have made stories with them. Backed themselves to make interesting good selling stories out of anything.

Classic DC - do crisis then employ writers who didnt like crisis!

Classic DC readers too with both crisis and Alan being wildly successful.

Not sure what hes got to apologise for tho - it was grim times with two nations with their finger on the trigger of armageddon - you couldnt just ignore it

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Yeah, didn't he start writing the likes of Tom Strong and Supreme basically as an apology to the genre for messing up super-heroes so badly?



Gotta be one of my favorite things Moore ever wrote - for all the reasons that it isn't really much like most of his famous stuff, to be honest.

I am of the same mind. I much prefer Moore's 1963, Supreme, and Tom Strong to most of his 1980s stuff, which all suffers from the same infantile cynicism and self-serious deconstruction. I respect the brilliance of Moore's writing, particularly Watchmen, but I share Morrison's exasperation at how little sense of humor Moore had about himself and the characters he was writing.

It wasn't until the 90s and Moore had been humbled a bit by his marital and business failures that he loosened up and started to have more fun. A lot of it is clearly Moore just cashing a check, but I think Supreme is some of the most heart-felt and genuine Superman stuff out there. It's a damn shame that Moore never had a more substantial run on the character. I'm sure DC would have been happy to give him the keys to Superman in exchange for renegotiating his Watchmen deal, but Moore wasn't willing to bend.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Speaking of Tom Strong, DC needs to revive him. Give him a series, tv show, anything.

[K7P5V]

I much prefer Moore's 1963

Me too. Comics from the '90s had great stuff, but 1963 stood head & shoulders above the rest...

Speaking of Tom Strong, DC needs to revive him. Give him a series, tv show, anything.

Since Jim Lee is with DC, they should find a way to revive 1963 (and finally give a resolution to this cliffhanger):

[ed2962]

Me too. Comics from the '90s had great stuff, but 1963 was head & shoulders above the rest...





Since Jim Lee is with DC, they should find a way to revive 1963 (and finally give a resolution to this cliffhanger):

This could be fun from a fan standpoint, but I'm not sure it would make sense for newer readers. The climax was supposed to be 60's Marvel analogue characters meeting then 90's Image shared universe and being shocked at how superheroes had changed. It would have been a commentary on a comics landscape that's changed a couple times over sense.

[iron chimp]

I am of the same mind. I much prefer Moore's 1963, Supreme, and Tom Strong to most of his 1980s stuff, which all suffers from the same infantile cynicism and self-serious deconstruction. I respect the brilliance of Moore's writing, particularly Watchmen, but I share Morrison's exasperation at how little sense of humor Moore had about himself and the characters he was writing.

It wasn't until the 90s and Moore had been humbled a bit by his marital and business failures that he loosened up and started to have more fun. A lot of it is clearly Moore just cashing a check, but I think Supreme is some of the most heart-felt and genuine Superman stuff out there. It's a damn shame that Moore never had a more substantial run on the character. I'm sure DC would have been happy to give him the keys to Superman in exchange for renegotiating his Watchmen deal, but Moore wasn't willing to bend.

And you clearly havent read much 1980s alan moore

[Noodle]

Speaking of Tom Strong, DC needs to revive him. Give him a series, tv show, anything.

They brought him back in The Terrifics. Fun story. If they actually do anything with him now that the series is gone, though, I'd be surprised.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

And you clearly havent read much 1980s alan moore

That's entirely possible. I've only read his Swamp Thing run, his Superman stories, Watchmen, The Killing Joke, and V For Vendetta. Maybe his British comics were less dour and self-serious.

Again, this isn't to say I think his 80s stuff was bad, as it clearly was hugely influential. I just prefer his 90s stuff because it's way more fun.

[Gotham citizen]

[…]
I have to say, I can't think of another comic with a comparably horrific element to Billy Batson, eternally childlike BDSM addict in an incestuous marriage, being murdered by J'onn J'onzz so he can impersonate Captain Marvel for the next twenty years.
[…]

Billy Batson dying a via Martian Manhunter disguised as a prostitute is one of the most Alan Moore things I've read.

Something in my brain was saying: «Hell, no!», now I understand why.

[SiegePerilous02]

That's entirely possible. I've only read his Swamp Thing run, his Superman stories, Watchmen, The Killing Joke, and V For Vendetta. Maybe his British comics were less dour and self-serious.

Again, this isn't to say I think his 80s stuff was bad, as it clearly was hugely influential. I just prefer his 90s stuff because it's way more fun.

I can't entirely agree on some of those (Swamp Thing, Superman and V), but I can see the criticism applied to Watchmen and especially TKJ, and also Miracleman. I greatly like Watchmen and Miracleman, but they did unwittingly contribute to things becoming dour and self serious in the genre with lesser creators trying to ape them to varying degrees of success. Twilight sounded like it would have been the worst of the lot.

[iron chimp]

That's entirely possible. I've only read his Swamp Thing run, his Superman stories, Watchmen, The Killing Joke, and V For Vendetta. Maybe his British comics were less dour and self-serious.

Again, this isn't to say I think his 80s stuff was bad, as it clearly was hugely influential. I just prefer his 90s stuff because it's way more fun.

Youd be surprised by some of his 80s stuff. Dr and quinch is madcap (and crap) nonsense, halo jones is him under influence of hernandez brothers and its great, skizz is cute, captain britain is very trippy sci fi.

Halo Jones and Captain Britain are well worth checking (imo) as just great story telling without putting you through the mental mangle.

[iron chimp]

I can't entirely agree on some of those (Swamp Thing, Superman and V), but I can see the criticism applied to Watchmen and especially TKJ, and also Miracleman. I greatly like Watchmen and Miracleman, but they did unwittingly contribute to things becoming dour and self serious in the genre with lesser creators trying to ape them to varying degrees of success. Twilight sounded like it would have been the worst of the lot.

Swampthing i always find very positive - doesnt deconstruct but builds up the character, adds a ton of lore and turns him into a force of nature; if you want to fight nature there is only one winner. A strong ecological message. Constantine is funny character too because hes such a dreadful person that no one enjoys meeting.

[JackDaw]

Youd be surprised by some of his 80s stuff. Dr and quinch is madcap (and crap) nonsense, halo jones is him under influence of hernandez brothers and its great, skizz is cute, captain britain is very trippy sci fi.

Halo Jones and Captain Britain are well worth checking (imo) as just great story telling without putting you through the mental mangle.

Agreed.

And I think Time Twisters and Future Shock were terrific fun, were punchy and displayed the sense of humour Bored could not detect in some of his other work.

In general I think Alan M can write with a far wider range than massive majority of writers.

Certainly I can’t think of any other writer where my reaction to their output is so varied, some I love, some like, some just bores me...but I can appreciate the technical skill and effort he puts into even the stuff I don’t like.

[Crazy Diamond]

Agreed.

And I think Time Twisters and Future Shock were terrific fun, were punchy and displayed the sense of humour Bored could not detect in some of his other work.

In general I think Alan M can write with a far wider range than massive majority of writers.

Certainly I can’t think of any other writer where my reaction to their output is so varied, some I love, some like, some just bores me...but I can appreciate the technical skill and effort he puts into even the stuff I don’t like.

Future Shocks was great. One company put out a trade of all the 2000 AD stories he did for that. Some of the funnier comics I've read. It's a shame when Alan Moore gets reduced to Watchmen and The Killing Joke because that wasn't even his best work.

As far as publishing the script of Twilight of the Superheroes I don't see the point but I guess DC keeps going back to Moore's work despite decrying it over and over again. I don't know why.