There’s little doubt that Alan Moore is one of only a handful of comic book writers who could legitimately be described as the greatest of all time, but in a new interview with The Guardian (via Comic Book Movie), the creator of classic titles such as Watchmen, Batman: The Killing Joke, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell has offered up some choice words for “emotionally subnormal” fans of the superhero genre.
“I haven’t read any superhero comics since I finished with Watchmen. 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.”
Damning indeed, and it seems that Moore has forgotten just how instrumental he was in helping to shift the superhero genre away from nine-to-13-year-old audiences. What do you make of his comment – is he right, or is that wizard just a crazy old man? Let us know in the comments below….
Originally published November 25, 2013. Updated December 13, 2019.
