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‘Watchmen’ writer Alan Moore slammed as ‘petty hypocrite’ for saying superhero comics are for children

Talking about his retirement from comic books, Moore said in an interview, ‘I’m not so interested in comics anymore, I don’t want anything to do with them’

Attacking superheroes means an attack on an entire generation. Back in 2017, 'Watchmen' creator Alan Moore had said that superhero movies’ impact on popular culture was “tremendously embarrassing,” and the comic book icon — known for his work in 'V for Vendetta', 'The Ballad of Halo Jones', 'Swamp Thing', 'Batman: The Killing Joke' and 'From Hell' — didn't bite his lips before sharing the same sentiment again.

In an interview with Deadline for his new feature film 'The Show' starring Tom Burke, Moore said he refrains from penning down comic books because “most people equate comics with superhero movies now.” He said, “I haven’t seen a superhero movie since the first Tim Burton ‘Batman’ film. They have blighted cinema, and also blighted culture to a degree.” The 66-year-old then opined, “Several years ago I said I thought it was a really worrying sign, that hundreds of thousands of adults were queuing up to see characters that were created 50 years ago to entertain 12-year-old boys. That seemed to speak to some kind of longing to escape from the complexities of the modern world, and go back to a nostalgic, remembered childhood. That seemed dangerous, it was infantilizing the population.”

What's more, he seems to find a bizarre connection between politics and superhero films. “This may be entirely coincidence but in 2016 when the American people elected [Trump] and the UK voted to leave the European Union, six of the top 12 highest-grossing films were superhero movies. Not to say that one causes the other but I think they’re both symptoms of the same thing — a denial of reality and an urge for simplistic and sensational solutions,” he said.

Talking about his retirement from comic books, he also said, “I’m not so interested in comics anymore, I don’t want anything to do with them,” adding, “I had been doing comics for 40-something years when I finally retired. When I entered the comics industry, the big attraction was that this was a medium that was vulgar, it had been created to entertain working-class people, particularly children. The way that the industry has changed, it’s ‘graphic novels’ now, it’s entirely priced for an audience of middle-class people. I have nothing against middle-class people but it wasn’t meant to be a medium for middle-aged hobbyists. It was meant to be a medium for people who haven’t got much money.”

He continued, “It was largely my work that attracted an adult audience, it was the way that was commercialized by the comics industry, there were tons of headlines saying that comics had ‘grown up’. But other than a couple of particular individual comics they really hadn’t.”

No sooner did his comments surface on social media, people couldn't stop trolling him for saying his thoughts on superhero movies. “Why'd he base his entire career off them then? The reason I wanna become a comic writer is cause I love superheroes. Why work on superheroes if you don't like them?” one user asked and another said, “Kind of petty and close-minded... Unpopular opinion here: I'm glad he isn't part of the comic book industry anymore.” One even went on to say, “I feel like any time I see Alan Moore in the headline, it just highlights his hypocrisy. He wrote adult-based superhero comic books, then got mad that adults started enjoying comics? He used other people's characters, but gets mad when anyone tries to use his?”

However, many fans defended him and said it was his choice. “Alan Moore is entitled to his opinion, especially considering his history with DC, but... 'for children?' This has always been my response to anyone who says superheroes or cartoons are just for kids: If they're only for kids, 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀?” one tweet read. Another said, “Makes sense considering the most popular comic book he’s ever written points out the problems with superheroes and explains exactly why they wouldn’t work in the real world.” A third chimed in, “Kind of a petty reason but it's his choice.”

In the same interview, he also said there's little hope for the comics industry after Covid-19. “I doubt the major companies will be coming out of lockdown in any shape at all. The mainstream comics industry is about 80 years old and it has lots of pre-existing health conditions. It wasn’t looking that great before COVID happened,” he said.