The way I look at it, even Shakespeare wrote scenes and characters for the groundlings. I think that Alan Moore worked very hard at Big Numbers (his intended follow-up for Watchmen), saw it crash and burn along with the rest of Tundra, and thought, you know, I've already got From Hell on the burner, and no matter what I do from now on, everyone will say "it's no Watchmen", so fuck it. And, really, this still works as an over-the-top parody/critique of McFarlane's work in general.