Alan Moore, retcon thyself

I know this is old news, but it's a non-Superman post idea for once, and that's worthwhile, I think. Not too terribly long ago, Alan Moore (whose work I generally enjoy) said this:

At the end of the day, if they haven’t got any properties that are valuable enough, but they have got these ‘top-flight industry creators’ that are ready to produce these prequels and sequels to Watchmen, well this is probably a radical idea, but could they not get one of the ‘top-flight industry creators’ to come up with an idea of their own? Why are DC Comics trying to exploit a comic book that I wrote 25 years ago if they have got anything? Sure they ought to have had an equivalent idea since?

And I have to think that the sentiment is kind of rich for someone whose most high-profile work of the last several years has been illustrated fanfic. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've read of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," and I'd even like to read "Lost Girls" at some point. But it's a little pot-and-kettle to excoriate DC for "produc[ing] prequels and sequels" to work you "wrote 25 years ago" when you make your current living on mashup sequels to Dracula (1897) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) and slash fiction about The Wizard of Oz (1900) and Peter Pan (1904). What's the relevant difference? That DC is plundering stuff Moore did as work-for-hire while he's working with the public domain?

I think DC--and moreover, Hollywood--has generally been pretty crappy to Alan Moore. I think Moore has made a mistake in being just as crappy to the comics industry as a whole of late. Especially when his aired grievances reek of hypocrisy.

Drawing the Line at $7.99

Marvel has resolicited their Young Allies/Spider-Girl/Avengers Academy crossover "Arcade: Death Game" as the 80-page "Avengers Academy Giant-Size" #1. As someone who subscribed to (but sadly has not read the last few issues of) Young Allies and reads Avengers Academy, and as someone who likes Arcade a whole lot, I'm kind of looking forward to this. I admit, I was a little taken aback at the price tag: $7.99 is a little steep for a single comic; I've bought digest-trades for that price. But considering that it was originally a 3-issue miniseries, at Marvel's current pricing, it's actually like getting one issue free.

But the press release also includes this curious jab at DC's reduced page counts: "That’s the size of FOUR of our competitor’s books!" It's true; with DC's comics now clocking in at 20 instead of 22 pages, an 80-page issue is indeed the size of four regular DC Comics. It is, however, only the size of one of DC's 80-Page Giants. And looking at the last two of DC's 80-page giants ("Superman 80-Page Giant 2011" and "Batman 80-Page Giant 2010"), I see that they were priced at $5.99.

So I guess it's more like, "That's the size of FOUR of our competitor's regular books, at a price that's ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT of their comparably-sized books." But I guess that's not quite as punchy for the press release.