The Law of Change Versus Superman

                                                     The Web of Suspended Fandom

A few months ago I was struck by an article that appeared in the Guardian from Sir Alan Moore, who for those not in the know, is one of the most powerful beings in the comic book zeitgeist.

He is like the Watcher of the Marvel Universe - if the Watcher was too cool to care about the Marvel Universe.  Better analogy is that he is the Jesus of comics in the way that his works are considered sacred and his perspective that of an omniscient narrator but that would imply maybe a bit too much...that's fine though, this is a rant so you can get used to a few misfires but Moore wrote some of the best stuff the medium has ever seen so if he has grown a little jaded or bored of mainstream comics than so be it. Hell, that's cool, like this guy to my right.  At least he's willing to open up and share his opinions from time-to-time.
 

"The only thing an actor owes the public is not to bore them"

So call me "emotionally-subnormal" if you will, but I find it endlessly interesting when successful people greet the industry that worships them by saying something like "it's no big deal anyone can do it - please now go make your own legacy and give me some privacy." While we all like to believe that our appreciation of their work warrants us a little respect and - some might dare say - appreciation from our heroes if we were to ever meet them and express our appreciation for their work but that's just not always going to be the case. The stars are different from us lowly maggots of fandom.  Like Marlon Brando who, in addition to a myriad of other memorable quotes about the less-than-reverential nature of acting and dieting, once said: "acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse. It's a bum's life. Quitting acting, that's the sign of maturity." The question asks itself; was he just talking about how people act in real life or the profession? Either way, I think Brando would get this.

Anyway, lets get back to comic books.  This Alan Moore fellow has spoken out against how his work is perceived in the broader context of the entertainment industry for years. One of my favorites to point out is his feelings on the adaptations of Watchmen. His beloved revisionist superhero story starring a cast of original characters in a self-contained mystery that served as my personal entry point into the world of comic books. The stories heroes, or rather its main characters as there are no real heroes in Watchmen (brilliance) are unique interpretations of contemporary archetypes and the story reads like a novel that goes to great lengths to demonstrate the unique endowments of the medium. Personally, I like to describe a good comic book akin to reading a novel and going to an art museum at the same time. When a writer and artist find the right synergy between their disciplines and create something that is more than the sum of its parts. This happened for Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons with this one.

It includes a thorough examination of the psychological implications of a normal human being receiving the powers of a God. As opposed to Superman, who exists in a vacuum filled with weekly visits from powerful monsters to defeat in time to write an article about it, Jon / Dr. Manhattan is stripped of all humanity before recognizing its value on strictly a cosmic level before musing that he will create some...all within 12 issues. Where are those conflicts brought to light in the first thousand or so issues of Superman? Whatever, here is a little commentary on the Guardian article courtesy of BleedingCool.com, with analysis provided by Hannah Means Shannon, which I highly recommend.

The key quotation that Shannon highlights is as follows: I hate superheroes. I think they’re abominations. They don’t mean what they used to mean. They were originally in the hands of writers who would actively expand the imagination of their nine- to 13-year-old audience. That was completely what they were meant to do and they were doing it excellently. These days, superhero comics think the audience is certainly not nine to 13, it’s nothing to do with them. It’s an audience largely of 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-year old men, usually men. Someone came up with the term graphic novel. These readers latched on to it; they were simply interested in a way that could validate their continued love of Green Lantern or Spider-Man without appearing in some way emotionally subnormal. This is a significant rump of the superhero-addicted, mainstream-addicted audience. I don’t think the superhero stands for anything good. I think it’s a rather alarming sign if we’ve got audiences of adults going to see the Avengers movie and delighting in concepts and characters meant to entertain the 12-year-old boys of the 1950s.

The truth of the matter is that, it is emotionally-subnormal to become continually enraptured by the exploits of characters that have been living the same stories for decades upon decades. How many times can Superman save the day before it gets old, asks a normal 12 year old boy from the 1950's or anytime. What is the point of reading about this character when his choice is always the same and his endowments are impossibly unattainable. What about Batman, how many times can we read about a man with a bunch of gadgets, karate and great timing defeat a never-ending supply of costume-clad criminals as well as the occasional immortal or monster? Why? Because his parents got killed in the bad part of town so now he has to be a symbol of fear for criminals within his hometown. Not even the tri-state area? Apparently the Flash takes care of everything else. Tuff lyfe.

Spider-Man and Green Lantern are driven by guilt were given their powers and are now doomed to use them to stop every bad thing that they hear about forever...they will never age because that depletes their marketability. Nor can they ever get married because that's too limiting - the publishers need some sexual tension to help sell these books. Cause if they sell enough books then they can get funding for one of those 300 million dollar Hollywood adaptations - which will help sell a lot more books and action figures. Keep the machine running. The fans will love it because whenever that happens their questionable passion gets affirmed on a mainstream level. Who knows? Maybe after a few more Avengers movies they will come out with a comic book bar that plays those movies, sells the action figures and lets you read the books amidst other people caught in this web. Self-loathing can be a thing of the past once we get a few more excuses in there.

In short, Alan Moore is always right about comic books. Now Grow Up.

You too.