May
24 Moore Takes Off

Alan Moore has severed his last ties with DC Comics and its Wildstorm imprint and will publish the third series of his popular "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series through Top Shelf.

Reports such as this one from CBR's Rich Johnston say the move was precipitated by comments made by producer Joel Silver in a press release for the film adaptation of "V for Vendetta," which Moore and artist David Lloyd created in the 1980s. Moore objected to Silver saying in the release that Moore had read the script for the project and approved of the direction the film was taking. Moore has long distanced himself from film projects based on his comics — including "From Hell," "Constantine" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" — asking instead that his share of any proceeds from film projects be split among the other creators and that his name not be associated with the film. In the case of "V for Vendetta," Moore says he did receive a call from exec producer Larry Wachowski but declined to have anything to do with the film. When his request for a retraction or apology went unanswered and as he neared the end of his contract with Wildstorm/DC, he decided he will take his future comics projects elsewhere.

Moore created some spectacularly popular and acclaimed comics for DC in the 1980s, including a revival of Swamp Thing and the perennial classic "Watchmen," currently on the blocks at Paramount. He severed his direct contacts with DC in the mid-1980s, following disputes over a possible ratings system and what he felt were too many creative restrictions. In the 1990s, Moore took his idea for a superhero-adventure line of comics, called America's Best Comics, to Jim Lee's Wildstorm studios, kicking it off with the first "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series. When Lee sold the company to DC, Moore stayed on by dealing with the company solely through Wildstorm.

Jerry Siegel and Arnold Drake will receive the first Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comics Writing. Siegel is, of course, co-creator of Superman with Joe Shuster. Siegel also co-created The Spectre for DC in a career that saw him leave the company in the 1940s during a dispute over ownership of Superman. He returned in the late 1950s, writing Superman tales for another 10 years before he again left the company. He died in 1996. Drake is best known for his work at DC in the 1960s, where he co-created Doom Patrol and Deadman. He wrote comics including X-Men, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Bugs Bunny, Batman and Superman into the 1980s. The awards were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges comprised of Jerry Robinson, Mark Evanier, Denny O'Neil, Jules Feiffer and Roy Thomas. The award will be presented at the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic Con Intl. in July.