Why does Alan Moore hate Grant Morrison

[dancj]

Is there actually anything that indicates that the OP's statement, that Moore hates Morrison, has even the slightest basis in truth?

Yeah - this interview: https://slovobooks.wordpress.com/201...ore-interview/

I try to give Moore the benefit of the doubt, but this interview is IMO exhibit A in the "Alan Moore is a grouchy paranoid madman" case.

Now Morrison and Millar, yeah, that's hate, he could drink Millar's blood. He's never said what it was about, except that it's personal, so probably a bit more serious than Millar nicking an idea for Superman or whatever.

I get the impression (rightly or wrongly - not sure) that it's to do with the issue of The Authority that he ghost-wrote for Millar when Millar was ill. Maybe Millar took the credit for it or something.

[Cowtools]

I thought it was because they practiced different kinds of magic? I'm serious. I think it was mentioned in Supergods, but it may have been somewhere else. Morrison practices chaos magic, where as Moore follows a more ideologically rigid path of magic (?) I'm not exactly up to speed on the various strains of contemporary magic, but I'm sure someone on the Internet has written an explanation.

[whiterabbit]

One of the things I think that Moore has issues with regarding Morrison is that because of his "Joker Raped Babs in Killing Joke" comments it put that in the public mind when that wasn't his intention at all, nor was the idea that Batman killed the Joker. So I think there's issues with that as well.

Grant doesn't like Miller, Miller has issues, or did, with Brian Azzeleo at some point. I think someone had it in for Ennis too, and I know McFarlane and Gaiman are still at odds with one another. Battles between writers have been happening for YEARS, this is nothing new at all. Writers have egos, and sometimes more so then artist, because of how they perceive the creation of the worlds they make.

Stan Lee says him and Steve Ditko hasn't been on friendly terms for decades. Stan is at 93 years old and Steve at 88 and time still hasn't healed those disagreements in writing. I wish they could be as virtuous and pure as the characters they write.

[buffalorock]

Here is an interview with Rolling Stone that Morrison did that shed's some light on his feud with Millar and there is some other neat stuff too.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...omics-20110822

[Mr.Majestic]

when I bother to think of him at all, I think of as a Scottish tribute band.”

That's a fricking brilliant put-down.

Cus Moore didn't want Morrison touching Miracle/Marvelman, after his run?

I think it IIRC has to do that Moore was in the process of giving away all his rights to Marvelman to his good friend and protégé Neil Gaiman. When the guys at Fleet/2000AD wanted to get Morrison to do some more Marvelman without AM's consent GM asked permission from AM, AM flew off the handle. AM has since always seen GM as a corporate shill and lickspittle.

AM has been burned many times by TPTB and has less than little patience for those he considers as servants of Mammon.

[t hedge coke]

I think it IIRC has to do that Moore was in the process of giving away all his rights to Marvelman to his good friend and protégé Neil Gaiman. When the guys at Fleet/2000AD wanted to get Morrison to do some more Marvelman without AM's consent GM asked permission from AM, AM flew off the handle. AM has since always seen GM as a corporate shill and lickspittle.

AM has been burned many times by TPTB and has less than little patience for those he considers as servants of Mammon.

The Marvel/Miracleman thing was way back in the 80s. There wasn't any flying off the handle, just apparently, an abrupt No.

They've both thrown plenty of shade and said plenty of dodgy things, but Morrison does seem more likely to say something nice as well, whereas I don't think Moore's ever said anything remotely complimentary. And, they both have goes at each other for being shy and, as Moore called it, "sensitive," which just seems silly to me, and a bit beneath both of them.

I doubt either would, in recent years, bring up the other too much, if they weren't being asked in interviews and such. It's the fans that fuel it, the fans that get worked up good and juiced by it. The ones who want to see Alan Moore in every villain in every Morrison comic ("His name is Zachary Zor! He has facial hair! I don't care if it's a ninety year old character who always had that look, it's Alan Moore!") or that Harry Potter in League was Grant Morrison. Whether they are or to, it's those of us who want it to be true that keep the fires lit.

Or, as a superhero fan and a professional wrestling fan, they're just super good at this **** talking, rabble-rousing, meet the press shouty feud stuff. Drumming up business and furor.

[GigiFusc]

It's always horrible to see creators at each others throats. Personally, Moore is my absolute idol when it comes to comic books and no-one even comes close to writing comics as well as he does. He just seems to be at one with the medium.

Morrison is a good writer. I like the fact he's not just a cookie cutter writer - which is something I'd accuse many super hero comic writers of being. But Morrison lacks the subtlety of dialogue, wording and clarity (I often get completely lost reading Morrison stories) and real clever story and plot lines that Moore gets so right, pretty much all the time.

I hate the fact that Moore hates DC and Marvel and he'll never write for them again simply because I feel I've missed out on potentially some more of the greatest superhero comic book stories ever told. The bottom line is that I have missed Alan Moore writing superhero comics. If Morrison gave up tomorrow, I don't think I'd miss him. That's not a cuss on Mozza, it's more a comment on just how much Moore has influenced me as a reader and an amateur writer.

If I could give Moore one word of advice though, it would be to just chill out about what happened to him at DC and Marvel. Let it go because you come across as angry and bitter which is not how you want to be perceived. Enjoy your old work Alan, like we all do. Don't let the owners of that work strike it from your life. Don't give them that power. And also - rise above trash talking about Mozza. It reflects badly on you and I know how great a human you are!

Much love.

[Mr.Majestic]

The Marvel/Miracleman thing was way back in the 80s. There wasn't any flying off the handle, just apparently, an abrupt No.

Yeah but that was their 1st ever interaction IIRC. It just started everything on the wrong foot. GM was basically saying WTF is his problem, as heard in a documentary, while AM probably just muttered away while laying in his majestic bathtub in his palatial lavatory.

[Jabare]

all I know is that Alan Moore liked McDuffie so he can't be as bad as people say

[lorddominicus85]

Pretty sure it started with letter Morrison sent to Moore about wanting to do a Marvelman story and Moore shot it down, then Morrison proceeded to speak out against things he did not like in Moore's work and it built up from there.

Edit: Some Moore quotes from an interview a couple years ago. Moore claims they only meet once a long long time ago, but these are from a interview with blogger Pádraig Ó Méalóid.

Over the course of the interview he disparages Morrison’s image as the cool, aging rocker of the industry, writing, “for thirty years I have had to patiently endure the craven and bitchy hostility of someone who, when I bother to think of him at all, I think of as a Scottish tribute band.” He then goes on to describe Morrison as “herpes-like,” “a feverishly fixated non-entity,” and like “my own personal 18th century medicinal leech,” characterizing him as a frustrating hanger-on who used Moore’s work as an inspiration but never evolved beyond shallow imitation.

“This was evidently some pallid species of career-tapeworm that one might perhaps expect to pick up in the parasite-infested waters of the comic business,” wrote Moore, describing his reaction when he came across Morrison towards the beginning of Morrison’s career in the industry. “A fame-hungry individual without the talent necessary to satisfy his inflated ambitions who had decided to connect himself with my name by simultaneously borrowing heavily from my work and making studiedly controversial statements about me in comic-book fanzines grateful for any free content from supposed professionals. I decided that the best thing I could do about this needy limpet was to ignore him and everything connected with him.”

“... by his own admission Grant Morrison had spent most of the Punk era in his room for fear of being spoken to roughly by some uncouth person with a pink Mohawk and a U.K. Subs T-shirt. I’m afraid I didn’t see how appealing to completely unearned teen rebel credentials made any difference to the spoiled-child behaviour of a deeply unpleasant middle-aged man.”

Morrison details all this pretty well in Supergods, if I'm remembering right, and someone will point out if I don't, Morrison had written Moore a letter early on in his career praising him and saying essentially he wanted to write like Moore. Fast forward to the Marvelman thing and Moore already had this pretense that Morrison was some fanboy apeing his style. From that point forward, Morrison admitted this in Supergods, he would go out of his way in interviews and in fanzines to be overly critical of all of Moore's work, using the excuse of bad press to get himself attention. Which I feel probably only furthered Moore's original opinion that Morrison was using Moore's name to make himself famous and not using talent. Fast forward again and now it seems Morrison is all too happy to forget there were ever any issues between him and Moore and just wants to write comics where as Moore does not seem like the forgiving type so when he is asked about Morrison he still has a very scathing opinion.

As for the way Moore seems to **** all over the current comic book genre that he helped create, I feel that he is justified in his opinion as the comic book world has barely moved forward since he helped revolutionize it in the 80's, thirty years later and DC and Marvel are no further than the Killing Joke or Watchmen, as an amateur writer the goal is to always get better at it, not peak and stay there. You want to overcome your peak and reach a new height creatively. I'd imagine he sees the whole industry of the big two just constantly recycling questions he asked first and never forming new ones or new answers or new stories.

[CentralPower]

I get the impression (rightly or wrongly - not sure) that it's to do with the issue of The Authority that he ghost-wrote for Millar when Millar was ill. Maybe Millar took the credit for it or somethin

I recall hearing that Millar swiped some ideas from Morrison for "Red Son". (Morrison made a few suggestions that helped polish the book, and has never been credited by Millar.)

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Morrison is a good writer. I like the fact he's not just a cookie cutter writer - which is something I'd accuse many super hero comic writers of being. But Morrison lacks the subtlety of dialogue, wording and clarity (I often get completely lost reading Morrison stories) and real clever story and plot lines that Moore gets so right, pretty much all the time.

To be blunt, I think Morrison has mostly been treading water-- creatively speaking-- for some time.

I hate the fact that Moore hates DC and Marvel and he'll never write for them again simply because I feel I've missed out on potentially some more of the greatest superhero comic book stories ever told. The bottom line is that I have missed Alan Moore writing superhero comics. If Morrison gave up tomorrow, I don't think I'd miss him. That's not a cuss on Mozza, it's more a comment on just how much Moore has influenced me as a reader and an amateur writer.

Well, looking at the work of many true-blue superhero writers who've stuck by these properties through thick & thin, I'd honestly rather he stays done with the damn things. The corporate superhero is hardly something that can be written about endlessly.

If I could give Moore one word of advice though, it would be to just chill out about what happened to him at DC and Marvel. Let it go because you come across as angry and bitter which is not how you want to be perceived. Enjoy your old work Alan, like we all do. Don't let the owners of that work strike it from your life. Don't give them that power.

If DC and fan culture won't let it go, what reason is there for him to? Besides, I get the impression that even if he told any and all interviewers from this point forward he was done discussing it all, then cries of "what is he hiding?" or "he's being a dick to the interviewer" would just simply replace the whines we have now.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

As for the way Moore seems to **** all over the current comic book genre that he helped create, I feel that he is justified in his opinion as the comic book world has barely moved forward since he helped revolutionize it in the 80's, thirty years later and DC and Marvel are no further than the Killing Joke or Watchmen, as an amateur writer the goal is to always get better at it, not peak and stay there. You want to overcome your peak and reach a new height creatively. I'd imagine he sees the whole industry of the big two just constantly recycling questions he asked first and never forming new ones or new answers or new stories.

Honestly, I think the American medium in general is arguably catching up to Watchmen, creatively-speaking. It's really mostly just Maggie's IP-Farm (aka DC Entertainment) that's still struggling with that ****.

EDIT: Nevermind, misread somewhat

[Coin Biter]

Yeah - this interview: https://slovobooks.wordpress.com/201...ore-interview/

I try to give Moore the benefit of the doubt, but this interview is IMO exhibit A in the "Alan Moore is a grouchy paranoid madman" case.

From that interview, it's pretty clear that Moore's verbal assault on Morrison is directly in response to someone bringing up the Rolling Stone interview (also posted in this thread) in which Morrison states that Moore is "obsessed by rape" and (with ridiculous hyperbole) that all of Moore's works, except for Tom Strong, featured rape.

I honestly can see how that would significantly rile Moore.

The Morrison comments aside, it's an interesting interview.

[krazijoe]

Could it be Brexit?