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Alan Moore's Twilight

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21:19 / 25.04.04

Years ago on comix@ I read a synopsis of Alan Moore's proposal for Twighlight, a Crisis-style series which did lots of fun stuff with the DC universe.
A few questions:
Does anyone have a copy?
Have we done this already?
Was it real?
Why didn't it ever see the light of day?
How did Moore feel about Kingdom Come which nicked most of the ideas?

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Splendid.
I made a simple spelling mitsake.
Don'cha reckon Grant used it as something to avoid in HCT, though?

miss wonderstarr

22:46 / 25.04.04

I first read it around 97 and have tended to think ever since that this is one of the great lost stories in comics.

CameronStewart

22:50 / 25.04.04

I remember thinking when I first read it that it was brilliant. It probably still is, but its time seems to have passed - it's very much a product of the early-80s grim n'gritty period, when all the fun old superheroes were being turned into junkies, murderers and whores for shock value. As I recall the central event of Twilight was Billy Batson/Captain Marvel murdering Plastic Man, who was now a male prostitute, correct?

That's no longer the type of story I want to see, at least with those characters.

CameronStewart

22:56 / 25.04.04

Reading the doc at the link above reminded me that it was S&M-obsessed Billy Batson who's murdered by the Martian Manhunter, who's disguised as a hooker. Plastic Man's still a prostitute.

My point still stands.

matsya

23:23 / 25.04.04

Thanks for the link. I think that got taken down because of legals for a while. Thing about this proposal is I think it was prepared for DC, and thus is their property, so they get antsy when people whack it up online.

I also wondered if KC was a twilight "homage" when it came out. As for what Alan Moore thinks, he has a history of not giving much of a shit about stuff that he leaves in his wake, especially if it's to do with DC or Marvel. He also seems to have an antipathy for the grim and gritty stuff he did in the 80s.

But surely there's room for both junkie fucked up superheroes and the joycore - or whatever you'd call it - stuff that's prevalent now, as long as it's well-written.

m.

miss wonderstarr

06:31 / 26.04.04

it's very much a product of the early-80s grim n'gritty period, when all the fun old superheroes were being turned into junkies, murderers and whores for shock value

True, though you must mean "late 80s".

When I read it, the whole device about Constantine lighting a match and revealing Batson's secret identity as he flinches back from it seemed pleasurably clever -- because I wasn't any kind of DCU geek and didn't know the Manhunter was afraid of fire.

Now it's not only pretty obvious but it was used in Morrison's first issue of the JLA. And I'm wondering now if it wasn't actually lifted directly.

X-Himy

10:27 / 26.04.04

I thought Twilight was a great idea, but I felt that most of the concepts were more interesting then the overall story. I really like Kingdom Come though, and felt that it was a very good story.

Besides, if Moore had used JC in Twilight, what would have happened with Hellblazer?

CameronStewart

10:43 / 26.04.04

L:ate 80s, yes, that is what I meant. Oops.

>>What would have happened with Hellblazer?<<<

The Twilight proposal predates Hellblazer, at the time it was written Constantine was still just a supporting character in Swamp Thing, and interestingly Moore says in the proposal that he thought that from Twilight, a Constantine solo book could arise.

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