the anxiety of influence
I just finished reading the book Supergods by beloved comics writer Grant Morrison. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown. For one thing, no one seems to have edited it; Morrison repeats himself all over the place. For another thing, he spends a weird amount of time badmouthing Alan Moore. But methinks he protests too much…
Supergods: “A fist-shaking Moore disowned [the Watchmen movie]…His experience on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen had been a step too far, after a lawyer working for Universal Pictures dragged him into a plagiarism case that saw him accused of basing his first volume of League stories on a prior screenplay entitled Cast of Characters. Moore was not above borrowing ideas, as the very concept of the League proved, but the indictments were as ludicrous as they were convoluted…”
Not above borrowing ideas, eh?
Supergods: “[when reading comics] we have camera eyes that speed up, slow down, and even reverse the flow of time, allowing us to see what no one prior to the twentieth century had ever seen — the thermodynamic miracle of broken shards and a puddle gathering themselves up from the floor to assemble a half-full wineglass.”
Watchmen #9, p. 26, Dr. Manhattan: “I changed my mind [about life’s meaninglessness].” Silk Spectre: “But…why?” Dr. Manhattan: “Thermodynamic miracles [no emphasis added]…events with odds against so astronomical they’re effectively impossible, like oxygen spontaneously becoming gold.” [Blah blah “each human coupling” is a “thermodynamic miracle” blah blah.]
Supergods: “We can divide atoms, track particles so small and so ghostlike they could scarcely be said to exist at all.”
Watchmen #12, p. 18, Dr. Manhattan: “I’ve walked across the sun. I’ve seen events so tiny and so fast they hardly can be said to have occurred at all.”
