When Watchmen author Alan Moore recommends a superhero title, it would seem that the story would get its fair share of positive attention – such as receiving a major film, or television adaptation. However, as Moore strongly maintains, the comic book industry’s primary focus is not centered around adapting quality superhero comic book content, making it unlikely his favorite classic character will ever be adapted.
Fan website Alan Moore World posted a transcript of Moore’s 2016 interview with Brazilian author Raphael Sassaki, in which the groundbreaking author revealed that his all-time favorite comic book hero is, in fact, Herbie.
Given the avante-garde nature of much of Alan Moore’s work, the character he calls truly “sublime” is a deceptively ordinary pick. Though the answer may at first seem surprising, it speaks to the formative nature of “favorite” comics, as Moore would have been a teenager when he first encountered Herbie in publication.
Related
“He Knows He’s a Monster”: Alan Moore Hates Watchmen’s Rorschach, But Respects a Way More Outrageous Villain
Writer Alan Moore saw something almost honorable in one classic literary monster that was missing from Watchmen’s ultra-violent vigilante Rorschach.
Herbie Was The Perfect Comic, According To Alan Moore’s Sensibilities
As Moore stated in the interview:
There is an endless amount of wonderful material in the comic medium, but if I had to boil it down to a single comic strip work, for which I retain the most affection, it would have to be…Herbie.
It’s not hard to see why someone with Moore’s eclectic tastes would find Herbie enjoyable. First, there’s the whole concept of the story. Indeed, a story about an unassuming, heavyset, bespectacled fellow saving the world on the strength of his lollipop stash is exactly the type of alternate superhero Moore loves. Building on that foundation. Hughes’ creative storytelling was absolutely essential in making Herbie interesting, and evidently from Moore’s continued fondness for the comic, highly memorable.
Far from a stranger to creative storytelling himself, Moore commented on how he thought Herbie stacked up against the other greats of the genre:
This is not, of course, to diminish the medium’s many other great accomplishments, from Lynd Ward and Winsor McCay to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Eisner to Garth Ennis and Kieron Gillen, but simply to say that for pure comic book delight that never seems to age, my money is on Herbie.
Amid all its silliness and whimsy, Herbie often provided clear-eyed observations on society, and cleverly satirizes common superhero clichés of the era. Given Alan Moore’s propensity for exploring profound themes and satirizing situations that merit criticism, it is clear that beyond just deeply appreciating Hughes and Whitney’s efforts in Herbie, their perspective on comic book storytelling and the superhero genre had a major impact on Moore’s major work.
Despite Moore’s Recommendation, Herbie Is Likely To Remain Obscure
While Moore does not specifically state why it’s unlikely that Herbie will ever get a movie or television adaptation, his critiques of the comics industry – and comic book fandom in general – makes clear he believes that to be the case. First, there’s his statement that mainstream superhero movie productions are no longer in the business of producing captivating stories that stimulate the imagination, something that Herbie truly qualifies as, but rather focused on assuaging the audiences need to relive a simpler, less complicated time.
Second, there’s his argument that movie-makers’ wish to satisfy their audiences has led them to be extremely risk-averse in the content they produce. That is, the industry suffers from what Moore calls elsewhere in the interview:
…some kind of deliberate, self-imposed state of emotional arrest, combined with an numbing condition of cultural stasis.
Accordingly, despite the fact that Herbie is an amazingly innovative comic with a humorous appeal, its eccentric, whimsical, and at times surreal nature, it is not content that would appeal to most mainstream movie-makers, or even most superhero movie fans. That is. Herbie is exactly the type of imaginative content Watchman‘s Alan Moore believes the contemporary comic industry avoids like the plague.
Source: Alan Moore World
Watchmen
Watchmen is considered one of the best graphic novels in history and has won the Hugo award for the chronicle of falling from grace. You will sincerely love this groundbreaking series that was written by the same author who wrote V for Vendetta. The images are high-quality and recolored that will make them more intensely gratifying.
