When Alan Moore are guards series in the 1980s, he wanted to satirize and deconstruct the idea of heroes, so it’s no surprise that the author has been candid in recent years about his dismay at the explosive popularity of the superhero genre.
In an interview with The Guardian, the guards creator clarified previous comments about the “infantilizing” effect these films have had on society, saying in no uncertain terms that he was done with comics and the “unbearable” industry.
“I’m absolutely done with comics. I haven’t written one in five years to progress. I will always love and love the comic medium, but the comic industry and all the things associated with it just became unbearable,” he said. the publication.
So excruciating, in fact, Moore told IndieWire in 2020 that he found superhero movies “grotesque” and hadn’t seen it since 1989. Batman.
“I’m not looking at any of them. All these characters are stolen from their original creators, all of them… if you try to make them for the adult world, I think it gets a little grotesque.”
Moore explains ‘troubling implications’ of the superhero genre’s popularity
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Despite a long, successful career as a comic book creator, Moore is highly critical of the fact that comics are seen as adult-oriented. The author, 68, says the huge increase in popularity of comics adapted for adults on the big screen has serious implications for modern society.
“I said around 2011 that I thought it would have serious and worrying implications for the future if millions of adults lined up to see Batman movies. Because that kind of infantilization — that push for simpler times, simpler realities — that can very often foreshadow fascism,” he said, stressing that superhero movies hit an all-time high during Donald Trump’s rise to president.
“Hundreds of thousands of adults [are] queuing up to see characters and situations created to entertain the 12-year-old boys — and it used to be always guys – from 50 years ago. I didn’t really think superheroes were adults.”
Although he voices his critique of comics and their film adaptations, Moore does not shy away from his share of the blame for creating creations. watchmen.
“I think this was a misunderstanding that arose out of what happened in the 1980s — which I have to put a significant chunk of the blame on, although it wasn’t intentional — when things like guards were first published. There were an awful lot of headlines saying ‘Comics Have Grown Up’. I tend to think that, no, comics weren’t mature. There were a few titles that were more mature than people were used to. But most of the comic titles were pretty much the same as ever.”
“It wasn’t comics growing up. I think it was more comics that catered to the emotional age of the audience coming the other way,” he added.