AWKWARD ZOMBIE

From what I hear the Comedian and Rorschach were atrocious. That's not the point though, and I can believe the artists and writers are genuinely excited to be able to work on this product, it's DC that's at fault for starting this.

So would you be alright with Before Watchmen if it was created after Alan Moore died, just like you posit that it's okay for Moore to use many different fictional characters from dead authors to create his own stories?

Honestly in this case, they just shouldn't have done anything with it, because Moore was right, the story is finished and there's nothing left to tell that couldn't be told with other characters. If anyone wanted to create something new inspired by Watchmen, like Moore did with LoEOG, there'd be nothing wrong with that.

But what about when Alan's dead? Would it be okay then, just like you believe it's okay for Moore to write new stories with existing characters that often come from (often fully-concluded, nothing-more-to-add) works by dead authors?

I have yet to read League (believe me I plan to), but you lead me to believe the characters were not true to the original? It also seems to me like Moore used an amalgamation of characters from different settings, rather than re-using the entire narrative?

But the League just uses those characters outside of their old stories, they dont really serve as anything except backgrounds. Before Watchmen explicitly just fleshes out stories that have already been told. Its NOT the same thing.

The point is that they are both using characters to tell new stories outside of their original narrative plans. The League contains new narratives that have no legitimate impact on the original stories, while Before Watchmen contains stories which attempt to provide background for the original work that, when viewed on its own, is not sullied by any kind of secondary work.

But they arent supposed to be fleshed out, its like a historical record, we're told the simple facts and nothing else.

I'm quite sure that many of the authors of the original public domain stories that Moore uses for The League would feel the same way. We can't talk to them now because they're dead, but there are works that have no kind of leeway for continuation. Sure, the characters are not being fleshed out since there's no lead in to said original stories, but said original stories and characters are used to flesh out The League in certain scenarios that would most likely go against the original authorial intent.

There's a difference between using a character in the public domain from an author who's been dead for more than a century and going against the wishes of a man who's told you face to face he doesn't want you to use his characters. When Moore wrote LoEG he was using characters who were not any living persons intellectual property and were legally free game, DC is using characters that are not only Alan Moore's (if not on paper) but using them expressly against his wishes.

I think Moore's kind of a petty douchebag but he's a douchebag with a point; Before Watchmen should not have happened, even if one or two of the books ended up being good. If the creator of a character says no it means no, and DC is showing the self-destructive behavior typical of the modern comics industry.

Just because it's legal to use those characters, doesn't mean it's right.

How would you guys feel if Calvin and Hobbes eventually came back as public domain characters?

Well first I would go and by a nice plushie of Hobbes from somewhere online without feeling guilty about stealing from Bill "Recluse" Watterson.

See, you're very close to getting it here. The difference is indeed that League is not intended to be connected to the original stories, while Before Watchmen is expressly a prequel to the original, and thus colours the events in the original with a new perspective. Now, if you completely ignore it's existence, that is of course not the case. But if you have to ignore the existence of something to make it ok, isn't it pretty obvious that it shouldn't have been made in the first place?

So if you like a series like MLP or Korra, you shouldn't ignore the rabid fanbase to enjoy it?

The ultimate point is, there's likely some people who like Before Watchmen. There's others that don't. If they don't like it, they can disregard that it exists and let the people who do like it read it.

It's a choice.

I have honestly no idea what you're trying to say here. What do fanbases have to do with anything?