FOUR COLOR COMMENTARIES #27: Alan Moore, I Understand You

[Richard Davidson, Jr.]

Alan Moore, I Understand You

Many of us would seriously kill to be able to have a comic book that we helped to create become a big time motion picture. With all of the ways that the comic movie world of today is, it seems like you'd be able to cash the proverbial check for your next illustrated work with a book heading for the silver screen. It's all about the big time!

Even with all of that, it doesn't change the fact that I totally understand where Alan Moore is coming from with his views of the filmed versions of his work. Moore has constantly shown that he doesn't want to have his name on the poster or the credits of any of the celluloid versions of his work. Unlike all of his fellow creators, Moore seems to look like a cranky old man when he speaks up about his views.

It's not about being cranky in any way. What it comes down to the medium the work is being viewed in. Even though they are both considered visual mediums, comics and movies work in two different ways. Those two ways might feel similar but they are different enough that it can skew them apart.

The comic book is a kind of thing that is closer to the prose written world of books. They might come with pretty pictures and bright colors but they are still closely linked into the written parts of the work. The writer crafts and forms a large portion of the book's structure to the point that, while many artists help to co-plot the books they work on, the writer can be seen as the main force behind the book.

When a work is adapted from a book to a film, there comes a change to the work. Instead of a written piece that has multiple issues to spread out and tell the complete version of the story the writer has in his or her head, a film is required to fit into a specific time frame. Unless you can guarentee that the film being written will get the same amount of time on the screen as it takes to read on the page, then it means that you will need to trim out some of the written work.

Now take a look at this from the vantage point of the book's writer. After working over the years on a book, it must feel kind of a shock to some of the writers when their work is trimmed down for this different medium. Many writers wouldn't see this as a problem and would just move on to their next book. This doesn't tend to happen when you're dealing with Alan Moore.

Be it pigheadedness or attitude or whatever you choose, but Moore doesn't really seem to feel any need to be involved with the film adaptions of his books. To me, his feelings tend to seem to me to be more like just not feeling that the film version is what he had created to start with. His version of stories like V For Vendetta or Watchmen are created for the page and that is how Moore looks at it. The film world is a totally different animal that functions at a different speed and it doesn't work for the kinds of things that Moore likes to work with. Moore writes books that can be seen as something that would work as a mini series on television or even a movie trilogy like what was done with THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Any other way of bringing the books into the film world just leads to trimming many of the things that make Moore's work the special things that they are.

My first reaction to Alan Moore's refusal to deal with the film versions of his comic work was to look at his as kind of a crumudgen. After a couple years and some time to think about it as a whole, I have to say that I feel like I can agree with his view on the situation. The film world almost requires the need to trim out many of the things that make Moore's work what it is. Moore is a very singular creator which leaves him in a special place among his other creators and very free to feel his own ways.

Sidebar Of The Week
If you get the chance to pick a new band to listen to, take a try on the first album for Vampire Weekend. How can you say no about a band that plays with an alternative afrobeat sound and songs about punctuation? Mark my words when I say that this band will be massive very soon.

My Pull List - February 20, 2008
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #6 (of 6)
Birds Of Prey #115
Brave And The Bold #10
Justice League of America #18
Invincible #48
Runaways #29

[Bucfan]

I thought the same as you, that he's just being difficult. I can see your point though, comics are his medium. He planted tons of stuff in the background in V, a lot of it relating to the story, most of which would be hard to pick out of a movie.

[Andrea Speed]

It's just like writers reluctant to sell their work for adaptation to the big or small screen. It's your baby, and you hate giving it to strangers who will do god knows what with it.