Initial reviews indicate the movie could be a box office smash and critical hit, but one thing is for certain; Mr Moore will not be watching it.

Instead, the Northampton author will be "spitting venom all over it" and trying to avoid the endless action figures and plastic merchandise spawning from the Hollywood creation.

He has also refused to give interviews to any media on either the film or source novel and will not allow images from the novel to appear in articles about the film.

When contacted by the Chronicle & Echo, Mr Moore explained that his silence on the subject was due to not wanting to give the movie any more advertising.

His understandable bitterness began with his increasing frustration, in the late 1980s, at not owning the intellectual rights to his own expanding body of of increasingly popular work, including Watchmen.

But last week, he told the Chron: "I was robbed by a bunch of unscrupulous Americans.

As far as I am concerned, we don't even have a copy of Watchmen in the house any more. I have lost interest in the book."

Despite being labelled as "grumpy" and a "recluse", Alan Moore is a familiar sight on the streets of Northampton. These inaccurate descriptions simply illustrate how he is often misunderstood.

Choosing to stay in his three-bed terrace in Abington rather than move to a glamorous pad in Los Angeles seems to make people assume he is a hermit.

And his admirable refusal to get into bed with Hollywood, or take its money, has caused commentators to incorrectly call him moody.

Mr Moore's name will not appear on the credits of Watchmen and at his own request his share of the cash will be given to the illustrator of the series, Dave Gibbons.

The 55-year-old has previously disowned the film versions of all his creations: V For Vendetta, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell.

And no matter how good the reviews or how close to the source material it claims to be, the Watchmen movie is not going to alter his loathing of the film industry.

In the past, he has accused studio heads of watering down cultural imagination and feeding audiences regurgitated worms.

In writing his graphic novels, he has deliberately set out to create something unfilmable.

In 2001, he told the LA Times: "I try to do things in comics that cannot be repeated by television, by movies, by interactive entertainment."

In fact, Watchmen was branded "unfilmable" for almost two decades.

Then the director of 300, Zack Snyder, came on board. At one point, Terry Gilliam had been signed up to direct, but he decided it was not possible to do so without diluting the story.

But, despite its murky history, the film has finally arrived and – unusually for a comic book film – has an 18 certificate rating.

Fans hope that this is an indication that the vehemently dark elements of the novel have been maintained and it has not been watered down for a family friendly audience.

Nevertheless, there is great irony in the film's release, in particular the inevitable Watchmen action figures on sale.

Watchmen the novel is a satirical take on the idolised superhero culture and one main character is mocked for having his own line of action men.

Recognising this contradiction and in respect of Alan Moore, the Close Encounters comic shop in Abington Square, Northampton, has decided not to sell any of the Watchmen film merchandise.

Manager Jeff Chahal explained: "Alan has nothing to do with the movies. Being a fan of Alan's work, I have shown no support for the movie.

I thought it would be rude (to stock Watchmen merchandise] and a slap in the face to Alan.

However, if someone asks me for something I will order it in."
Mr Chahal said some fans were looking forward to the film release, while others were very sceptical.

"I am not looking forward to the movie. I think it is unfilmable," he said.

"The other films of his books are horrendous.

V For Vendetta was the best of them, but there was no love story in the book.

They completely messed it up.

I do love movies, but these are not just bad Alan Moore movies, they are genuinely bad movies."

Whether the latest Moore adaptation is a success or not, interest in the Watchmen novel will inevitably soar, which is no bad thing according to Mr Chahal.

"We have had a promotion of the book since last year.

It is a constant seller.

We always have it in stock.

"I imagine it will be in Tesco by the end of the week," he added cynically.

Meanwhile, DC Comics has published an additional 900,000 copies of the book, which are bound to fly off the shelves.

That means the movie will indirectly benefit Alan Moore's pocket, whether he likes it or not.


Film review:


After 23 years the seemingly impossible has been achieved.

The 'unfilmable' Alan Moore novel Watchmen has made it to the big screen with all the violence, sex and satire of the source material it emulates.

This is undoubtedly a comic book film like no other and a painstakingly faithful adaptation of the 1980s series, by director Zack Snyder who previously reincarnated macho movie 300.

Whole scenes and frames are copied from the Alan Moore graphic novel, in an eerily convincing fashion, and the dark, desperate tone remains.

Naturally much of the back-story has been dropped and many of the layers of the novel are missing, but there is hardly a word or shot in the movie that isn't taken directly from the original pages.

However, its faithfulness may also be its downfall and those who have read the book may feel they are stuck in groundhog day, with the only difference being that the pictures are moving.

Conversely, those unfamiliar with the novel may find it a confusing
mixture of multiple storylines and characters, of which they can make
little sense.

A television series may have been a more effective approach or an adaptation, which simply took the essence of the book.

Nevertheless Watchmen is a remarkable film, which challenges
audiences' perceptions and is a welcome change from the 'regurgitated
worms' Hollywood usually reproduces.