Why Watchmen creator Alan Moore hates the “graphic novel” label.

2024 will see DC Comics once again premiere “Watchmen”, this time as a two-part animated film. Debuting in 1986, “Watchmen” is the beloved superhero murder mystery comic Created by writer Alan Moore (who has no interest in any Watchmen movie adaptations) and artist Dave Gibbons. It’s also the superhero comic that is so widely accepted that literary critics enjoy it—so much so that it spawned a new term for the comic medium: the “graphic novel.”

The term goes back a little further, e.g Marvel Graphic Novel font (started in 1982). These longer (and more expensive) than usual comic releases tell a standalone story. They also tend to be darker than contemporary Marvel comics. Take “X2” Inspiration “X-Men: God Loves Man Kills” (written by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson) in which the X-Men battled televangelists and religious fanaticism, and “The Death of Captain Marvel” (by Jim Starlin), in which the cosmic hero succumbed to cancer.

Once all 12 issues of “Watchmen” were reprinted in full in hardcover and paperback, “graphic novel” emerged as the respectable or prestigious term for “comic book.” You’ll never hear Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” or Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” called just… Cartoons.

Do you know who doesn’t agree with this label? Alan Moore, who especially has no patience for the collected editions of Marvel/DC issues to be passed off as “graphic novels.” He gave an interview on the red carpet for the 2014 premiere of his film “Show Pieces” at Fright Fest, Moore explained:

“What the comic boom of the 1980s did was give a license to a lot of people so they didn’t have to actually grow up. By calling them graphic novels — a term I hated, because they’re not particularly graphic and they’re definitely not novels. They’re usually 12 issues of” “She-Hulk” pieced together, and that’s not a novel. What I think happened is that a lot of people were only interested in Green Lantern’s adventures even though they were 35 or 40, after “Watchmen” gave them a way To say, “Oh, I’m not emotionally invested, this is a graphic novel for adults!” No, it’s not… I’d be happier if “graphic novel” meant something more than it does at the moment, which is “big, expensive comic.” “, and that’s pretty much all it means.

“Graphic novel” is a misnomer for “Watchmen,” and not just because of Moore’s objections.

Here’s another sign of respect for the graphic novel: The recent anime adaptation of Junji Ito’s horror manga “Uzumaki” refers to its source material as a “graphic novel.” But the “narrative” part includes a unique reading experience that “Uzumaki” did not; Serialized over 19 months in 1998-1999, the chapters are largely designed to be episodic.

The same goes for “Watchmen.” It is published in 12 “flexible” editions and each issue is designed to tell an almost complete story on its own. Take “Watchmen” #5, “Fearful Symmetry,” so named because halfway through the issue, the pages begin to mirror the previous pages. Many of Moore’s other famous “graphic novels” e.g Dystopian thriller “V for Vendetta” (illustrated by David Lloyd) and the Jack the Ripper drama “From Hell” (illustrated by Eddie Campbell), were also originally serialized. Although I appreciate the preservation of collected editions (many of the comics were disposable children’s stories printed on cheap paper, and were never intended to last), that doesn’t make them novels.

Moore’s distaste for superheroes is sometimes tantamount to his distaste for comic books in general, but that’s not true. Gave glowing publicity to The 2018 war comic “Sarah” by Garth Ennis and Steve Epting. Describing the book as “a well-aimed shot to the heart.” He also praised the science fiction epic “Saga” by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples and the works of writers Kieron Gillen and Si Spurrier. Take it from the man himselfVia The Guardian): “I will always love and adore the comics medium, but the comics industry and all the things associated with it have become unbearable.”

He and Gibbons helped validate the art of comic books to a wide audience with “Watchmen,” but it wasn’t by introducing the idea of ​​“graphic novels” or making superheroes fun. “Watchmen” does things, formally, that no medium other than comedy does. Take identical pieces from one board to another, placing the same letters side by side at different points.

DC Comics

This is due to Dr. Manhattan’s realization that all time is happening simultaneously; On the pages of “Watchmen”, it is. Entries from pirate comics in the “Tales of the Black Freighter” universe are also part of Moore’s argument for comics being more than just superheroes. If Superman hadn’t taken off, as he didn’t in the alternate history of “Watchmen,” something else would have filled that kind of void in monthly adventure comics. Comics are more than just men in tight clothes, and they don’t need a new name to prove it.