Remember, remember


Today is, of course, November the 5th, Guy Fawkes Night. This means there's really only Graphic Novel I can write about in here: Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. However, rather than attempting to review a piece of work which I feel I do not yet fully understand(I've only read it twice) I thought I would talk in broader terms about it's creator.
Alan Moore is an author I sometimes fail to understand. Clearly his work is amazing and has changed the landscape for comic book writers forever, one only has to read Watchmen to see that, and when watching any of the many interviews with him over the years it's clear that he has great passion for his work but, at the same time, he also seems to have a burning hatred for any form of adaptation of his work. This baffles me.
Don't get me wrong, there are some parts of his argument I wholly agree with. Trying to create spin-offs from stories which have a definitive ending for example, is ridiculous and without out a doubt shows contempt for the original work, but I've always considered film adaptations to be a different matter. Admittedly, Moore has every right to be sceptical of this point. The first big screen version of one of his works, 2003's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, was nothing short of a train wreck which had almost nothing in common with its source material. However, both the subsequent adaptions of his other works, V for Vendetta and Watchmen, were both excellent films in their own right, with the latter being one the best comic book adaptations I have ever seen.
Despite this, Moore continues to treat anything other than his own work with contempt, refusing to have his name on any film versions. To me this feels a lot like sulking, refusing to acknowledge the hard work of others because it doesn't fit your perfect vision and to me that seems wrong. After all, you don't see McCartney standing up and saying: "I hereby band all Beatles covers!" do you?
I understand being protective of your work, I am too, but once something has been published it's out there influenceing people...Maybe it's better to let go?

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