rambling

2003-10-31T08:34:23+00:00

It’s interesting that “Killing Joke” fell so flat – the other things I’ve read of Moore’s have all been pretty good (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell). However, one thing that I think is universal in his work is an aversion (not so much to superheroes) but to high melodrama. “Watchmen” is essentially a story entirely about superheroes – but what makes it unique is that it’s not part of the superhero genre. None of the plot elements that characterize a superhero comic are present – and in Watchmen, that’s what makes it innovative.

After all, isn’t it a little bit ludicrous (and other thinkers have posited this better than I) that masked vigilantes and villains monkey around the city, causing enormous amounts of property damage, facing each other hundreds of times without a single fatality except when plot demands it. Okay, maybe Gordon has too much conscience to just have the Joker sniped, but after his daughter is maimed? How many times has the Joker escaped from Arkham? Can’t we just send him to the chair by now? I know that this has been reflected upon even in the comics themselves in the postmodern ‘90s and ‘00s, but it can’t be changed, as the genre doesn’t allow it (and if any comic is restricted by the superhero genre, it’s Batman – because Batman and Superman created the genre.)

Like the “magister thief” of Crime and Punishment, so above their common man that conventional wisdom and morality don’t apply to them, the Joker and Batman operate in a world all their own. People often comment that Batman’s a crime fighter, but not a real superhero: what are his superpowers? Well, he’s got one: unlike all other officers of the law, Batman is allowed to capture and hold suspects without identifying himself and commit punitive acts of violence upon these suspects without proof of guilt. It’s like Ashcroft’s wet dream! Isn’t it so much easier to catch those bad guys/supervillians/terrorists when you don’t have to follow due process – just like Batman?

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rambling