Total Nerd Explains Twilight of the Superheroes

Alan Moore is the closest thing that mainstream comics has to an auteur writer

He helped usher in a bold new era in storytelling. He's also the direct cause of many of comics' shortcomings and problematic tropes

I'm Dave Baker. Today on Total Nerd, we're going to explain Twilight of the Superheroes

Alan Moore's unfinished epic crossover comic that would have served as the definitive ending to the DC Universe

We're going to break down what the story was, evaluate the characters involved, and examine why it fell apart

Today, it's popular to bash Alan Moore for his strict adherence to a gritty realism

and a deconstructionalist approach to comics. However, in the 1970s and the 80s

his approach to comics was jaw-droppingly inventive. Many of the people who don't enjoy this modality

of storytelling are, in many ways, keeping blame on Moore for the ripple effect

that his works had on the rest of the medium, as opposed to evaluating the work for its own merits

But you know, that's comics. From his iconic runs on characters like Marble Man

and Swamp Thing, to Watchmen, his boundary pushing book with Dave Gibbons, Moore casts a long shadow

over the mainstream comic sphere. But more importantly, when he was a young man

he rocked some of those mean ass blunt cut bangs, baby! Yeah, yeah, this is the same photo from the Watchmen video

But we are going to take any excuse to talk about Alan Moore's BCB

In 1987, just a year after the smash success of Watchmen, Moore submitted a 33-page proposal to DC Comics

for a universe-wide crossover event. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Wait, didn't Alan Moore have a massive falling out

with DC over the rights to Watchmen and other editorial issues that basically drove him away

from the company? Well, yeah, he did. We'll get there. But as of 1987, Moore is still on good terms with DC

He'd been discussing what his next project would be with Paul Levitz, the future president of DC Comics

and current editor. Moore spent the initial three pages of this 33-page document

discussing the commercial viability of his pitch and reiterating some of the finer minutia

that he and Levitz had gone over through their correspondences. Moore's proposal was for a book called

Twilight of the Superheroes. It was going to be a companion piece to the likes of Dark Knight Returns, written by Frank Miller

It was to serve as an ending for the DC universe. Moore posits that all myths need a concrete ending

to ascend into legend and, accordingly, lays out a plan for how to construct an endpoint

for the universe without hampering stories or boxing in creators. The brief synopsis of the story is that The Twilight

of the Superheroes takes place roughly 30 years out from where mainstream continuity was in 1987

There are two narratives that make up the story, a framing device and a central story

The framing device follows a time traveler, Rip Hunter, as he's sent back in time to the year 2000 by John Constantine

He's sent back to 1987 to find, you guessed it, John Constantine

In order to stop a horrible future where humanity lives under the boot of a ruling class of superheroes the Twilight of the Superheroes future sees a feudal system being enacted where major clans of superheroes are basically

split up into eight houses. The House of Steel features Superman and Wonder Woman

Having married, they're ruling over much of the eastern seaboard. Diana has changed her name to Superwoman

and they have an unruly son and a kind-hearted daughter. The House of Thunder, which includes my boy Captain Marvel

and his Marvel family. Marvel is distinctly different at this time, though

Gone is the smiling, apple-cheeked, big red cheese. Marvel is now married to Mary Marvel, his sister

He's dour. He's withdrawn. He's solemn and stern and commanding. House of Titans is composed of the still remaining members

of the Teen Titans. A brooding Nightwing leads the team. He's broken up on the inside over the death of Starfire

Cyborg, well, he's more machine than man now and is losing his humanity with every coming day

Same thing with Beast Boy, who now spends most of his days in full hybrid animal form

choosing to go by a new codename, the Chimera. The House of Mystery, which is made up

of mystic characters like Dr. Fate, Jason Blood, Zatanna, and Spectre, well, they don't factor into the story

too much. They're just kind of there for added flavor. The House of Secrets is built upon the background

of the old DCU's greatest villains, and it runs the entirety of the state of Nevada

Joker, Lex Luthor, Dr. Sivana, Captain Cold, and Grodd actually look out for the inhabitants of their domain

They don't want to incur the wrath of the larger super houses. The House of Justice is constructed

on the remains of the old cavern headquarters of the Justice League. The team is composed of younger characters who've now grown up

into new mantles. So Kid Flash is now the Flash, Wonder Girl is now Wonder Woman

as well as Dr. Light and Captain Comet. The House of Tomorrow is comprised by time travelers

You know, you got your Space Ranger, two or three R.I.P. Hunters, Jonah Hex, and of course, Barry Allen's The Flash

Finally, last but not least, the House of Lanterns, which is actually more than just a bunch of green lanterns

It's actually any alien living on Earth. Thanagarians, Lanterns, Ranians, whoever. You name it, they're there

And basically, they all form the House of Lanterns. They've all been pushed off of Earth, though, by the House of Steel, deemed too much of a threat

They all now live on the moons of Mars. The document goes into many details about the state of the world and the supporting characters and their roles within it

One character who features prominently in the story is The Question. as he attempts to solve a murder of a short man found strangled while visiting a prostitute

There's a runner throughout the whole series that takes place, much like the news agent sequences in Watchmen

that takes place at Sandy's Place, a bar that is run by the old Phantom Lady

There are numerous character vignettes that, you know, kind of show smaller slice-of-life moments

like Dollman and a jingoistic Uncle Sam and Black Hawk basically giving up on life

More positions this jingoistic version of Uncle Sam as a Greek chorus showcasing that the world is dark and totalitarian

And it's really gone downhill. In this section of the doc, more than alludes to the fact

that Batman has been rumored to be active, but no one has seen him in like decades

At the time the document was produced, DC also had the rights to the shadow

Yes the shadow Only the shadow knows shadow Remember him He be coming back later John Constantine uncovers that Superman and Captain Marvel are going to marry their eldest children

thus forming an alliance of the two most powerful houses and de facto taking over the world

As the multiple subplots crescendo, Constantine goes to the various factions, playing people off of one another

attempting to convince them that these disjointed factions need to work together in order to stop

the point of no return, which is the House of Steel and the House of Thunder joining forces

He develops a plan that includes the Titans, the Justice League, and villains attacking

the wedding in a do-or-die last-ditch effort, with an intent on preventing these demigods

from joining forces. Inevitably, they attempt this, and when they do attack the wedding, it's a bloodbath

Wonder Woman is killed by Superwoman, who gets then killed by Captain Atom. It's an all-out brawl

The plan fails. The House of Thunder and the House of Steel are triumphant, standing back to back

waiting to see what the next assailant will be. Well, as it turns out, it's an alien invasion

from the House of Lanterns. They're tired of being relegated to Mars. They've been looking for their moment to strike

and this is it. Thanagarians, Lanterns, Martians all pour out of a portal

and make a beeline for the wedding party. Superman looks up at the oncoming horde of adversaries

and says he's not worried about it at all. With all the combined powers of Captain Marvel and Superman

these would-be usurpers will be no match. And here's where the trump card comes in

Captain Marvel isn't Captain Marvel. Billy Batson has been dead throughout the entire story

You see, the unforeseen side effect of being Captain Marvel is that Billy Batson's human body didn't age

even though his mind did. So as he grew up and needed adult experiences

he wasn't able to attain them and, as such, was driven insane

In fact, remember the murder of the short person At the beginning of the book that the question was investigating

well, he wasn't actually just a little person. He was a child, and he was Billy Batson

He was murdered by the Martian Manhunter, who had been shape-shifted into the form of Captain Marvel ever

since, which is why he was so aloof and withdrawn throughout the series

Superman kills Martian Manhunter and single-handedly takes on the army of aliens, killing thousands of assailants

And yet, at the end, he's overwhelmed by the sheer number. He just barely loses to the alien invaders

It's all over. The aliens have won. We've just traded one feudal dictatorship for another

Or maybe not. John Constantine shows up with an army of humans led by Batman

who has been secretly training with the shadow so he can cloud men's minds and become invisible

This crew-o-humanity's last hope are all clad in golden armor, thus rendering the Green Lantern's abilities null and void

If you didn't know, lantern rings don't work on the color yellow. John Constantine and his cohorts take the day

But at what cost? At what sacrifice? How many deaths? Throughout the story, Constantine is constantly

espousing his belief in his own brilliance. He's consistently saying that there's no one that

can outwit John Constantine. At the end of the book, he's given a letter by Rip Hunter as an apology from a future version of himself It turns out that the only person who smarter than John Constantine is future John Constantine By sending Rip Hunter back in time to tell young John

Constantine to prevent the Twilight of the Superheroes from happening, he actually caused it to come true

which is exactly what future John Constantine wanted. In a one-page denouement sequence, John Constantine

feeling frustrated and bested by his future self, goes into a bar in an attempt to distract himself

Earlier in the book, we're told by Rip Hunter that the key to this whole series of events

is that John will eventually fall in love with a woman. They'll be in a bar

She'll ask him for a light. Their eyes will meet, and that will be it

The future will be set in motion. Depressed and defeated, Constantine orders a drink

A woman approaches him and asks for a light. He looks up at her, knowing it's her

He sits there for a moment, realizing this is how he can best his future self

This is how he can have his revenge. He can deny himself his only true love

No, I'm sorry. I don't smoke. She leaves. John Constantine just drinks quietly

in the corner of a darkened bar and cries. Moore pitched this book as a 12-part maxi-series

in the same way that Watchmen had been produced. 28 pages an issue, no ads

All killer, no filler, baby, as the kids say. However, it never came to be

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Alan Moore, he was so pissed at DC even the way they were treating him for Watchmen

That's why this never happened, right? He just rage quit. Kinda. However, to the best I can tell, that friction

wasn't until years later. Alan Moore, as well as Frank Miller and some other people

were very upset by the idea that DC Comics would start to institute a rating system on their books

So for background, at this time, the comic book shops were literally being arrested for selling mature comics

to kids, literally. Like, dudes were going to jail for this . So in order to protect retailers, DC

was going to start putting advisory labels on their books. These are mature readers

You know, little barcodes. Moore, Miller, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and a bunch of other people hated this idea

But video games have a rating system? Movies have a rating system? Yeah, that's true

But Alan Moore and Frank Miller, they would disagree with you. They would say, name a piece of literature

which has a rating system. Unfortunately, Moore and Miller left DC because of this

Jeanette Con instituted the rating systems, and they didn't go back, until Frank Miller went back

a bunch of times. You can say a lot of things about Moore, but you can't say that he doesn't walk the walk

Taking a moral stance on the validity of the medium and choosing to walk away from a lucrative publishing

relationship because of it? Man, if that's not some badass, snake-worshipping, bearded

wizard bull , I don't know what is. Well, what do you think

Could Twilight of the Superheroes been the spiritual sequel to Watchmen that we all really

wanted it to be? Does this pitch feel kind of similar to Kingdom Come

That's because Mark Waid and Alex Ross were inspired by it. So you're on the right path

Good looking out. Will we ever get an official end to the DCU

like Alan Moore pitched? Is that the only way for these modern myths

to ascend into legend? Only time will tell