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Underground > Comic Books >

re Alan Moore falling out with DC in the eighties

  
 
Dave Moran
10:05 / 15.01.02
I've seen several people discussing why Alan Moore fell out with DC in the late eighties, with a lot of speculation about ratings systems, Watchman special editions etc.

However, some time ago, I read a different story altogether

This appeared some years back in an old interview in ' The Comics Journal ' with Rick Veitch. I have been hunting for the actual issue, but I think it got lost when I moved house three years ago.

Anyway, according to Roarin' Rick the claim that Alan Moore left DC in the late 80s through dissatisfaction with the proposed rating system was just a cover story for some rather more insisdioud behaviour on the part of DC. One of Steve Bissette's children was going through some bad medical problems that necessitated expensive therapy - operations, courses of drugs and the like where implied. Bissette was at the time deep in negotiations with DC regarding the contract to reprint ' Swamp Thing ' . Alan Moore was involved as wll, naturally, and so was Veitch - who if I recall correctly - shares a studio with Bissette, or idid at the time.

Bissette was very distressed at his childs condition - who wouldn't be - and DC offered to pick up the costs of treatment, in return for which Bissette waved any righta to payment for the reprint work. Disgusted at DC's crass behaviour, Alan Moore walked.

However, what makes it truly nasty is that, according to Veitch, Bissette also had to sign a clause agreeing that he would not go to anyone with the story - but since Veitch had signed no such agreement, and was at the time plenty p*ssed off at his own ' Swamp Thing ' run being curtailed, he felt under no obligation to remain silent about DC's crass behaviour.

Alas, since then, I have been unable to verify this story from a second source. I would be interested if anyone else has a spin on this.


Off the record, on the QT, and ever so strictly - Hush, Hush

Thanks

Dave
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
10:32 / 15.01.02
whaaaaaat?

never heard that one!!!
 
 
DaveBCooper
14:36 / 15.01.02
News to me n'all.

I dunno if any firm as sizey as DC (a division of Time Warner) would want to do something as obviously sleazy - or at least, not to get it put into writing in a legally enforceable document. It'd be a PR disaster, the sort of thing that the mainstream media would eat up (ill child ? The papers LOVE that). And if any such payment was made, once the child had recovered, what would stop Steve B leaking details of what had been done ? He'd have got what he wanted, and got the satisfaction of letting people know how he'd been screwed over... it seems unlikely to me.

And, Alan Moore aside, I would have thought that Steve B would have been unwilling to work for DC again, too (his child, after all), but he recently did a Swamp Thing story for them.

Finally, I'd question the chronology of it : Moore wasn't the only writer to say he wouldn't work for DC on the ratings issue (Marv Wolfman, Howard Chaykin and ... was it Frank Miller ? anyway, a fourth), and this was round about the time his ST run was drawing to a close. At this time, I think only one ST reprint volume had been issued - possibly two - by DC, so I can't see why the issue of reprints would have been a big thing at the time. Indeed, it's only in about the last two years that DC have actually done the obvious thing of reissuing this work in a lasting format (ignoring the abortive 'Essential Vertigo' reprints).

Not having a go at you, Dave; I just think someone's misled ya. Though that may be because the whole suggestion is so repellant I immediately hope it's not true...

DBC
 
 
yawn - thing's buddy
18:23 / 15.01.02
yknow I'm sure Dave Moran is Mark Millar!
 
 
bastl b
18:29 / 15.01.02
read that veitch interview some years ago and i remember reading about steve bissette´s kid but i don´t remember that moore walked because of that.

I guess he was pissed off because dc at the time seriously planned to do watchmen sequels with or without moore (read this in a moore interview somewhere on the net). moore felt that it was his story and it was told. period. no more watchmen. but dc kinda threatened him to do more or otherwise..don´t remember that bit, but moore said if someone actually threatens you maybe it´s time to say goodbye.

other stuff happened, I guess it was a culmination of things. they owned his creative work, they treated their best talent relatively badly and just didn´t share his sensibility. well, anyways, all three (moore, bissete and veitch) have returned to work for dc, even though in the case of bissette it´s only a final swamp thing tribute story about ten pages long, scripted by neil gaiman (fucking beautiful poetic horror story).

btw, veitch left because dc wouldn´t let him tell his swamp thing tales the way he imagined them to do: in a time travel storyline swamp thing was to meet jesus christ and chat with him, something which dc deemed too controversial and cancelled the comic at the last minute before publication; the fully produced comic physically exists but never was printed or print run got pulped, not sure. some people have read the script, copies of which veitch gave away and most say it´s hardly controversial at all, but dc´s lawyers seemed to be afraid of christian fundamentalists getting upset about comics featuring truly spiritual content which might slightly disagree with conventional notions of who christ was..i guess: dunno haven´t read the script. veitch once emailed me saying that swampy would have learned a few things from jesus which would have come in handy later in the story: the ability to let hatred pass right through you and not be infected by it..sounds like jesus to me! then again, wasn´t jesus the guy who raised a stink once in that temple and threw everybody out in a not so peaceful manner? no matter, i´m sure rick´s version would have made plenty of sense. i love veitch, he´s a highly original comics artist.

in the wake of moore, miller and veitch walking dc learned some lessons concerning how to treat creators and i guess this influenced the way the vertigo line was set up: relatively creator friendly and relatively unafraid of more controversial issues (at the time), like gay superheroes and stuff.
 
 
Dave Moran
07:28 / 16.01.02
Mmm - as I say, I've lost the original article, and may well have over the years added 2 plus 2 to make 22. It was probably incorrect recall - I'm getting old, and the memory's going...

And something else...

Oh, and my memory's going.

I was seeking confirmation, and am happy to be put right - thanks to you all for replying.

  
 
DaveBCooper
07:46 / 16.01.02
A couple of years after Rick was taken off ST, Neil Gaiman did a story in one of the ST annuals (number 4, perhaps ? Dunno, but it was reprinted in the 'Midnight Days' TPB the other year) in which Jason Woodrue mulls over how many events of history have involved wood/plants/trees, etc - 'Attis on the Pine, Christ on the Cross', I think the captions go.

I always kinda wondered if this was a roundabout way of Rick's ideas seeing it into print nonetheless, but maybe that's just me being optimistic.

DBC
 
  
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