Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: Alan Moore, grant morrison, peter thiel, Watchmen

Grant Morrison On Alan Moore, Watchmen And Peter Thiel

Grant Morrison on Alan Moore, Watchmen and Peter Thiel

Earlier this year, PayPal founder, billionaire and conservative libertarian Peter Thiel published several essays, including his take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, in which he believes that Moore writes as "a late-modern illustration of the Antichrist". Apparently, this is a recurrent point in his speeches. Excerpts include the following;

"Moore's superheroes are "watch men" in two senses: They watch over the world, and they are men of our final hour. A "grievous vision" in the book of Isaiah, from which Moore took his ­title, combines these two meanings: "For thus the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth" (Isa. 21:2, 6). Isaiah's watchman sees the apocalyptic fall of Babylon, and from the opening, bloody panels of Watchmen, the same fate seemingly awaits Moore's world. Every issue of Watchmen ends with a doomsday clock ticking toward midnight. In a nuclear age, Moore's superheroes are faintly ridiculous. Except for one, they have no superpowers. But these ­high-agency individuals are dangerous, too. "Who watches the watchmen?" chant public protestors, quoting Juvenal. In response, the Keene Act of 1977 outlawed superheroes. When the story begins, somebody is murdering the watchmen, one by one."

"Veidt is a type of Antichrist. His superhero moniker is Ozymandias, the Greek name for the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II and an allusion to Percy Shelley's poem ("Ozymandias"). As a young man, Ozymandias smoked Tibetan hashish and dreamed of surpassing Alexander the Great by uniting the world. He is a self-proclaimed pacifist and vegetarian, in some ways more Christian than Christ and the sort of figure who might "deceive the very elect."

"As though to trigger Christian readers, Manhattan then walks on water. Posters celebrating "One World, One Accord" announce Veidt's victory: Earth is peaceful and safe. Veidt helps New York to rebuild and emblazons the Veidt Enterprises logo across the city (see Rev. 13:17)."

"Watchmen triumphs as literature and fails as philosophy or theology. Moore can only ask, not answer, Juvenal's question, "Who watches the watchmen?" For in Moore's godless world, the question begets an infinite regress. Who watches the sponsors of the Keene Act? "

Comic book writer Grant Morrison, who has had their own contretemps with Alan Moore, was giving a Reddit AMA to promote the Batman/Deadpool crossover from DC Comics. They answered a few questions that Bleeding Cool has compiled with this handy tag. Including about Peter Thiel on Watchmen. Grant Morrison replied;

"It's certainly one way to read Watchmen! Moore does answer the question 'Who watches the watchmen?' however – we, the readers watch the Watchmen and make our judgments accordingly. The conclusion of the book is left in our hands. Does Seymour pick up Rorschach's diary and expose Veidt's plan or does he leave it on the slush pile (actually we know the answer to that – Watchmen's circular structure demands we return to the beginning and as we read Rorschach's famous opening monologue again, we realise we are now reading alongside Seymour and the rest of the New Frontiersman's audience…) Thiel's apocalyptic Christian reading would seem to arise from his complete and utter disconnection from the real world most people inhabit. He and his fellow alienated billionaires are the true representatives of the Antichrist in these times and using this metaphor, and he's just trying to shift the spotlight away from his own intrinsically demonic AntiChristian agenda by the looks of it…

As for "Who is currently winning in the ongoing wizard war between you and Alan Moore?", Grant simply replied, "Donald Trump".

Batman/Deadpool goes to FOC on the 27th of October and is published by DC Comics on the 19th of November.

• DC MARVEL BATMAN DEADPOOL #1
  (W) Various (A) Various (CA) Dan Mora
  THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Written by Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Tom Taylor, Mariko Tamaki and G. Willow Wilson Art by Dan Mora, Hayden Sherman, Bruno Redondo, Amanda Conner and Denys Cowan The Dark Knight and the Merc with a Mouth team up for an adventure so mind-bending you'll think you're in a dream! Brought to you by legendary creators Grant Morrison and Dan Mora! And be sure not to miss these incredible extra stories: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson team up with Hayden Sherman for a magical Constantine/Doctor Strange tale! Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo bring you an epic Nightwing/Dick Grayson and Laura Kinney/Wolverine story! Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner smash Harley Quinn and the Hulk together! G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan tell an electrifying Static and Ms. Marvel yarn! $7.99 11/19/2025

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