While Moore once again reiterated his desire to stay away from the ed page forever, and explained why society's love of superheroes might just signal the downfall of civilization.
Even among the most respected figures in comics, Moore has long held a hallowed place for being likely the most complex, comprehensive and experimentally philosophical writers in the history of the medium. Though known for his many non-superhero stories, such as the historical-horror From Hell, and the sci-fi kitchen sink odyssey The Ballad of Halo Jones, it is his works preoccupied with masked adventurers that have most caught the public imagination. Stories such as Watchmen and V for Vendetta are often referred to as the most influential and groundbreaking graphic novels ever produced, a fact which has made his many vehement denunciations of the culture surrounding comics, and the comics industry itself, a disappointment to some fans.
So it is no surprise that, in a recent interview with Moore still wants no part of it and sees no victory. Of comics and the influence of superheroes, he says:
I’m definitely done with comics... I haven’t written one for getting on for five years. I will always love and adore the comics medium but the comics industry and all of the stuff attached to it just became unbearable. ... 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. Because that kind of infantilisation – that urge towards simpler times, simpler realities – that can very often be a precursor to fascism.
Moore Swears Off An 'Unbearable' Industry
While Moore has been vocal in denouncing superhero-oriented fiction for many years, there is a certain resignation in this recent statement which denotes a clear separation between his current and past work. Moore has long cautioned that the superhero genre is often limited by the need to showcase “heroics” from its protagonists, necessitating a simplified worldview in its stories due to the ultimate need for overpowered individuals to triumph over evil. This gross simplification of moral complexity, which Moore's work seems to indicate is endemic to the genre itself, can in turn promote close-mindedness and binary thinking. Moore has often argued that while superheroes might offer escapism, their larger archetypical framework is not built for complexity, having originally been conceived for children.
The comics market has evolved since Moore’s heyday, with many of the writers who currently labor under the DC and Marvel mastheads being avid devotees of Moore and his deconstructionist tendencies. However, in the age of a Disney-owned Marvel, even culture's obsession with superheroics doesn't reliably benefit the people who dream up their adventures, and Moore has expressed a lasting exhaustion with how comic creators are treated by the companies who seek to make the maximum profit from their work.
With Illuminations representing a further foray into prose, it seems that whatever fans may hope, there will never again be a new Alan Moore comic, and that even if there is, the creator has little interest in anything that could even accidentally glorify superheroes.
Source: The Guardian
