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Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
The grizzled visage in that picture is not a stunt double on Vikings of Valhalla; that’s Alan Moore. He is unquestionably one of the most prolific storytellers in comic book or graphic novel history.
And now, he is leaving, vowing never to return.
The nerd auteur sat down with Sam Leith of The Guardian (UK), uncovering his thoughts about the industry he used to love that now gnaws at his soul and who he blames for it.
“I’m definitely done with comics,” he says. “I haven’t written one for getting on for five years. I will always love and adore the comics medium but the comics industry and all of the stuff attached to it just became unbearable.”
Alan Moore, The Guardian, Oct. 2022
Yeah, this one is going to bruise a little.
Why Alan Moore is Putting Up His Pencil
Alan Moore hasn’t written a comic book or graphic novel in more than five years. Fans and publishers considered it a sabbatical, a hiatus. At least, they hoped. Moore made it official that he’s never coming back with his middle fingers blazing.
From V for Vendetta to Swamp Thing, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to the lauded and revered Watchmen, Alan Moore has authored fascinating stories with intricate characters. He has done things in this industry that other writers were scared to do.
Look at death metal Jesus up there. Does he look afraid to you?
So, if Moore isn’t afraid of anything and has a quill given to him by the graphic novel gods, why is he torching the industry that has been so good to him for all these years? Well, you. Kinda‘.
“I didn’t really think that superheroes were adult fare,” Moore explained. “I think that this was a misunderstanding born of what happened in the 1980s, to which I must put my hand up to a considerable share of the blame, though it was not intentional.”
Alan Moore, The Guardian, Oct. 2022
There’s a slight problem with Moore’s logic. If you are familiar with his dynamic work, he writes about multifaceted complexities in life that adults encounter. Do you know many 12-year-olds who understand the nuances of flawed superheroes, global atrocity, and nihilism? Hell! Do you even know a 12-year-old who can spell n-i-h-i-l-i-s-m and use it in a sentence?!
No, you can’t. He continues…
“When things like Watchmen were first appearing, there were an awful lot of headlines saying ‘Comics Have Grown Up.’ I tend to think that, no, comics hadn’t grown up. There were a few titles that were more adult than people were used to.”
Alan Moore, The Guardian, Oct. 2022
The guy is royalty. He wrote Batman: The Killing Joke! Alan Moore carries more clout among comic book muckety-mucks than anyone south of Stan Lee. Kevin Feige and Jim Lee probably cuddle with their binkies and say their prayers to him at night. Seriously, he’s Alan effin’ Moore.
But it doesn’t make him infallible.
The Problem with Comic Book Puberty
If you have been in any industry for some time, you will see its wrinkles. An adage says, “Never meet your heroes,” because when you have people exalted on such high platforms, it’s the fall that’ll kill them. They will let you down the moment you see their ass showing.
With visceral commentary, it’s interesting how skewed Moore’s thinking on this subject appears. Take this kerosene-fueled insight:
“It wasn’t comics growing up. I think it was more comics meeting the emotional age of the audience coming the other way. I said round about 2011 that I thought that it had serious and worrying implications for the future if millions of adults were queueing up to see Batman movies. Because that kind of infantilisation – that urge towards simpler times, simpler realities – that can very often be a precursor to fascism.”
Alan Moore, The Guardian, Oct. 2022
Let’s tap the brakes there. Comics lead to grown men fantasizing about anime in revolting ways or collecting Funkos at unhealthy speeds. But fascism?! Even Moore used fascism as a device, with the late 16th Century Guy Fawkes mask becoming Halloween folklore, but that didn’t stop him from writing it…to, you know, 12-year-old boys.
And then, later in this riveting interview, Alan Moore goes full “get-off-my-lawn.”
“When the internet first became a thing,” he says, “I made the decision that this doesn’t sound like anything that I need. I had a feeling that there might be another shoe to drop – and regarding this technology, as it turned out, there was an Imelda Marcos wardrobe full of shoes to drop.
I felt that if society was going to morph into a massive social experiment, then it might be a good idea if there was somebody outside the petri dish.” He makes do, instead, with an internet-savvy assistant: “He can bring me pornography, cute pictures of cats and abusive messages from people.”
Alan Moore, The Guardian, Oct. 2022
Now, he’s spot-on regarding the Internet. Whatever humans make, humans pervert. It’s a concrete fact. Yet, some of that damnable technology helped put quadrillions of dollars in your pocket, Gramps. It’s fine to admit that life has its foibles, but don’t be hypocritical.
Alan Moore is on the Mount Rushmore of comic book and graphic novel writing, but even he has tainted opinions. Some of them prairie-dogged their ugly head in this article. He loathes the industry he helped to create. Few people find fault with that, but comics are written for everyone, which are the same people who made Alan Moore, well…Alan effin’ Moore in the first place.
Godspeed, sir. You will be missed.
Featured Image Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing/Mitch Jenkins via AP
Something about me? I have been a nerdy cinephile for as long as I can remember. Putting the two together is living my best life. That notwithstanding, I was born to express, not to impress, so I blog because I don't have friends. In other news, I like hashtags because they look like waffles, prefer my puns intended, and I always give 100% unless I'm donating blood. Thanks for reading.
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