The Four Color Media Monitor

Well, it looks like even Alan Moore, whom I'd thought to be one of the more reasonable of leftist writers from the UK until now, has stumbled. In this interview with Honest Publishing, he attacks Frank Miller's work - which he himself once wrote at least one forward for in Dark Knight Returns - and whitewashes the Occupy movement, which has been attacking the very concept that helped even Moore make big money, and attacks Miller for condemning them:

“[The Occupy movement] is a completely justified howl of moral outrage and it seems to be handled in a very intelligent, non-violent way, which is probably another reason why Frank Miller would be less than pleased with it. I’m sure if it had been a bunch of young, sociopathic vigilantes with Batman make-up on their faces, he’d be more in favour of it.”

Oh please. First, the stockbrokers on Wall Street - not to mention the businesses who sustained financial damage from how the Occupiers scared other people away - did not steal anyone's money, they earned it by working for it. Second, what's this about OWS being non-violent? What about the Portland branch's vandalism of 2 police cars, and the LA branch's destroying food vending equipment, for example? What about, more disturbingly, the cases of rape that the movement wouldn't call the police about, and even an assault of an elderly lady? What about the protestors who terrified young schoolchildren? Even drug use took place at the encampments. That's what Moore is calling intelligent?

And what would Moore say if a comics store anywhere in the country also took financial damage or got vandalized by the Occupy protestors and had to lay off staff? Why, did it ever occur to him that even comic book store owners are capitalists, the very thing OWS has been attacking?

To make matters more galling, Moore and David Lloyd are teaming with a company publishing Occupy comics. And here I thought Moore wanted out of comics. Now for this, he's willing to go back in? Sad.

I might've thought once that Moore was one of the few people of his standing in the UK who had the decency to refrain from getting involved in stuff like this. Clearly, I was mistaken.

Update: on Big Hollywood, when people were discussing this in the comments, someone brought up Moore's "Lost Girls" and how peculiar it is of Moore to be accusing Miller of "unreconstructed misogyny" when he himself could just as easily be accused of the same with that disturbing graphic novel he wrote some time ago. Agreed, it certainly is ridiculous of Moore to be mouthing off even like that given his own record with Lost Girls.

Labels: politics