Creator VS. Publisher

I hope you've been keeping up to date on the controversy revolving DC comics and the new Before Watchmen series. I don't want to get in to a bunch of boring details so here it is in short form. DC comics owns the Watchmen series, created by Alan Moore, and illustrated by Dave Gibbons in the mid 1980's. They own the series based on a contract drawn up for Moore that states ownership would revert back to Moore after Watchmen went out of print. It never went out of print and DC has been rolling in the dough for years, against Moore's wishes. Creators and creator sympathisers claim Dc "tricked" Moore out of ownership. Moore also objected to the production of the Watchmen movie in 2009. Moore also detests the Before Watchmen series, calling DC shameless. Gibbons, on the other hand, has given his blessing thus far.

So what's the problem, and who's in the wrong here? Is this a case of the big bad publisher versus poor writer? Or a case of children fighting over a toy? I for one can sympathise with Moore. He had a vision for the series. It had a beginning and an end. And I'm sure you've heard this very argument regurgitated over and over again. But I agree in a sense. Watchmen made its point in 12 issues, and left the series with no possible furtherance. Watchmen was phenomenally written and illustrated. But does the fact that it was well written with a beginning and end mean that the history of the Watchmen universe shouldn't be explored?

I see no reason why it shouldn't. The argument that it's not needed is beside the point. Is anything needed? Watchmen in itself wasn't needed. But it's there. And it shows history. But not all of it. I for one am very interested in the prequels. I want to delve further into the history of what Moore created. That being said, I am disappointed the series went ahead without Moore. As, I'm sure, most people are.

The Watchmen is held in such high regard by almost everyone who has ever read a comic book, that taking on the prequels was probably a very daunting task. These talented people all hold Watchmen in high regards and want to do nothing that would harm the integrity of the series. So far, they have done just that. Minutemen #1 was so refreshing, I think I sighed that sigh of relief we all love when I read the final page. Anything DC does with this series that is short of great, would obviously be met with much more scrutiny than it already has. Not only would the creator enthusiasts have more wood for their fire of constant grumbling, but the ones who were excited for BW would also be enraged.

So back to the dilemma, did DC trick Moore? Or is this a case of "That's MYYYYY toy!". I think it can be summed up just like that! "Here's a toy Alan" "thanks! It's my favourite!" "Hey we need to share that, it's the rules!" "But I don't wanna share, it's mine! You can't use it like that!" "But we have to follow the rules". Fact here is, Moore made the Watchmen, for DC comics. They series was so popular it never went out of print. DC owns it due to this. DC is upholding the contract. If Moore didn't like handing over ownership, he should have taken it to an indie publisher that let him keep ownership. Pretty plain and simple. What do you think? Follow me on twitter and let's talk! @thecomicblog