2. What Exactly Do Superheroes Mean?
Moore's belief that superheroes are abominations and don't mean what they used to is a rather curious one. As I said on the previous page, superheroes were, for a long time, very campy, often being hopeful and light rather than dark and serious. Just because something is serious though doesn't mean it still can't be hopeful. The Dark Knight Trilogy, for instance, is dark and tells a serious story, but at its core is about a man turning a terrible tragedy into something positive to bring hope to a city. Perhaps Moore is neglecting what superheroes mean to be people because they are fictional so he thinks 'how can they really influence people?' Fair enough, it is far easier for someone or something real to inspire others. However, if he thinks superheroes have become uninspiring, he need only look at two glaring examples to see he's wrong. The first is the very recent, heartwarming tale of a city that literally brought a cancer-stricken child's wish to become Batkid (not Batman, Batkid) to life. Thousands of regular people volunteered their time in San Francisco to bring some happiness to one Batman fan after years of suffering through cancer. The other example is from All Star Superman, recently written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quietly. Superman is dying because of Lex Luthor's plot and races to finish tasks that will make the world a better place after he's gone, but even during his rush to complete his goals, Superman still takes the time to comfort a young suicidal girl, telling her "You're much stronger than you think you are." This moment has been voted the #1 best moment from a Superman comic numerous times for the emotional gut punch it delivers. If you think that scene would have no affect on anyone,
let me direct you to one Reddit user whose life was saved thanks to this panel in a post titled 'You Don't Really Need To Exist To Inspire People'. If Alan Moore truly believes superheroes aren't good and hopeful anymore, he must be a very cynical man.