Alan Moore Says Batman Leads To Fascism
Alan Moore says an adult obsession with comic books like Batman is a warning sign of fascism.
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Although Alan Moore is one of the greatest and most revered comic book and graphic novel writers of all time, he seems ready to move away from the side of the industry he once called home. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Alan Moore spoke about how comics and comic book movies, specifically Batman, are even dangerous and a potential warning sign of fascism. Moore explained, “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.”
He explained further, saying “Because that kind of infantilization – that urge towards simpler times, simpler realities – that can very often be a precursor to fascism.” He also points out that Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and how superhero movies were huge at the time, saying “we ourselves took a bit of a strange detour in our politics.” Alan Moore certainly isn’t wrong, as some of the top-grossing movies of 2016 were Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Doctor Strange.
Since then, superhero movies have only managed to get bigger and more popular. All you have to do is look at the top-grossing movie of all time to see how massive these movies have become, with Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, The Avengers, and Spider-Man: No Way Home all in the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time. The influx of superhero shows and movies also shows no signs of slowing down, with even mature properties like Alan Moore’s own Batman: The Killing Joke getting animated adaptations.
Alan Moore has had a long and storied career in comics, so he definitely knows a thing or two about the industry, and it’s also not too surprising that he’s become jaded with comic stories as a whole. Alan Moore has created some of the best stories for DC, with Batman: The Killing Joke being one of the more mature Batman stories out there. However, Moore’s best-known and respected DC effort is likely his graphic novel Watchmen.
With Watchmen, you can certainly see that Alan Moore already had some strong thoughts about superheroes and their effect on society. Watchmen is perhaps the finest example of a deconstruction of the superhero genre and what it would be like if these superheroes actually existed in society. The series shows how dangerous superheroes, and by extension superhero glorification, would actually be if powered individuals could do what they wanted.
While some of this deconstruction and satirization of the superhero genre is missed in the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, the HBO series got a little closer to hitting the mark. Zack Snyder adapted Watchmen for the screen back in 2009 and slavishly recreated many of the panels from the comic, but the adaptation didn’t quite give fans what they were looking for. While the HBO Watchmen series told its own story, one storyline depicted how the Batman-like Rorshach inspired far-right cultists and empowered them to try out their own form of vigilantism.
Judging by Alan Moore’s thoughts on Batman and the superhero genre as a whole, it’s probably pretty safe to say that we won’t see too many more superhero comics or graphic novels from the acclaimed writer. Fortunately, Moore is still writing stories outside of the genre, so fans will have more of his work to look forward to. If you want to read his latest book, Moore is releasing a short story collection called Illuminations which is set for an October 11 release.
