Alan Moore Justifies the Publication of Before Watchmen
By TheOptimist 1 Comments
A bit of a different thought for tonight... I was re-reading the old classic in anticipation of next month's upcoming Before Watchmen stories... and I thought I'd articulate to the nothingness of cyberspace exactly how I feel that Alan Moore's very own storytelling has permitted the continuation of the Watchmen story, before and after... so this'll be a bit of a ramble without any real formal structure... first of all, Moore works so hard throughout the entire story to make it a universal one, establishing the cyclical nature of things, particularly in the concluding chapters, offering the statement that nothing ever ends. If indeed nothing ever ends, as posited by Doctor Manhattan, why then should the Watchmen legend? And Moore's biggest mistake, at least in attempting to hold the work against his wishes to see no more publications is to literally leave the fate of the story in the hands of a publisher... the New Frontiersman holds the finally fate of the publication, and the entire purpose of the story and its aftermath is left in the hands of a depiction of the stereotypical fanboy... Mr. Moore departs from the picture frame of his own story, leaving in my hands and yours the fate of what is to come... I leave it entirely in your hands, he authors... while Mr. Moore may perceive the story to be a complete and finite work, the very thing that makes his work so brilliant is the same thing that, in my eyes, divorces him from the theoretical right to establish any limiting ownership of the work. It is something beyond the author, it is something that can only be determined in the eyes of the fans. So if you wish for the story to end there, if you wish for Before Watchmen to be nothing more than a glorified piece of fan fiction, you are empowered by the work to do so. But if you thought for even a moment of events beyond the pages, the likes of which Mr. Moore strove so strongly to create... then you may imbue that world however you so choose, permitted by the bearded malcontent himself... Mr. Moore falls prey to his own Ozymandias-like scheme... he has created something so brilliant and incontrovertibly magnificent that he must surrender to its induction of anonymity or lose the power bestowed by the work. If he declares himself God and master alone of this work, it becomes something stagnant, cold and no longer empowered through the reader's investment... but by elevating it to a work of higher fiction, the likes of which allow him to be cited as a mastercraftsman, he must disavow his title as lone and executive creator of the work... for the work itself demands that it be shared with an audience. So thank you, Mr. Moore, for your work, and I eagerly anticipate the next piece of Watchmen's future and past.
Log in to comment