One part of Watchman that stuck out to me was a panel on a page 12 (shown at the bottom). Here, Moore provides a commentary on people performing vigilante acts. I say Moore here and not the character’s name because I believe Moore is throwing shade at Batman and other superheroes. In the next sentence in that same bubble, Moore then throws shade at the government by saying “government sponsored weirdos”.
I believe Moore is using his comic for as an area to throw insults at those he disagrees with. While I do find it interesting, I wonder if it detracts from the plot of the comic or if it enhances the plot.
Also, on a somewhat unrelated matter, with Batman: The Dark Night, I wonder if there was backlash for the comic. I mean, with me reading manga, I accept the story to be true because it is the same author who has that same story and the characters are part of that. But when Batman, or other comics, change authors, do readers naturally accept the new writers take even if the prior writers didn’t intend to make Batman act a certain way. I kept thinking when reading the comic; is this really Batman, or is this just the artist’s desire of what he wants Batman to be?
The panel I am discussing (Watchmen, page 12, row 2, panel 2) is shown below:
That’s an interesting point about the panel. While I don’t read it as throwing shade, I see that this is a way of investigating the system of super heroes that the industry has created. It is an issue that can be exemplified in Marvel’s Civil War comic and movie. While having slightly different plots, these stories deal with the Superhero Registration Act, where the superheroes of Marvel’s universe have to register under the US government. Any heroes that did not register would have been hunted down as enemies of the USA. This lead to a massive civil war within the superhero world, leading to many superhero casualties. Many different story lines try to understand where the role of a superhero is, especially when it comes to bodies of authority (government, police).