Welcome to the “I Read Alan Moore’s 30+ Page TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES Pitch So You Don’t Have To” thread/essay.

Herein you’ll find my commentary on the proposal, excerpts, and context. In other words, my own interminable ramble.

Let’s begin... 1/?

First, some background. TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROES was Moore’s proposal for a big crossover event at DC. The document at hand is from 1987, officially published for the 1st time last year in DC Through the '80s: The End of Eras (I’d guess without his sanction). 2/?

Why didn’t it happen? Moore fell out with DC in the late 80s, largely over disputes regarding creator rights & ownership of Watchmen & V for Vendetta (which I encourage you to read about). Ultimately, he severed ties before TWILIGHT could truly start. 3/?
http://www.seraphemera.org/seraphemera_books/Alan_Moore_Interview.html

Let’s get to the pitch. Versions of this document have circulated for decades. Eventually DC confirmed its authenticity, which I find funny because it’s so clearly written in Moore’s voice from the onset. Who else would call their pitch, “The Interminable Ramble”? 4/?

Moore begins by discussing the “commercial side”. He knows he’s there to sell books, and out the gate he’s talking business, but justifies such with his creative purpose. It’s a rather sly way of saying, “The money will follow if the story is good”. 5/?

The last line of this paragraph hurts to read. Obviously, he was still hopeful they could work things out. Also worth noting that Moore was in fact initially excited about a Watchmen film adaptation. Terry Gilliam was set to direct but deemed it “unfilmable”. 6/?

Continuing the preface, he eventually gets to this (prophetic) section which I will leave below with no further comments. (NOTE: Moore gives A LOT of preamble before the actual plot, so if that’s all you want, skip down.) 7/?

Next, Moore talks about the dangers of using “time-altering at the end” of events, and how such a device is inherently disappointing. In doing so he accidentally prophesied the New 52. Whoopsie. 8/?

Moore goes on to express why this all matters in sociological terms, something I’ve never seen in a pitch (I’ve written and read many). Verbose as he may be, it shows just how much the man cared about his work and the power he saw in the medium. 9/?

After praising Miller’s The Dark Knight and the appeal of tossing continuity out the window, Moore arrives at his thesis for TWILIGHT. It may not seem grand, but this debate of continuity vs. screw-continuity is still one we have today and it’s messier than ever. 10/?

Moore’s next context is that superheroes are kind of stuck between humans and gods by virtue of the fact that they exist in arrested development, never aging, or really changing, and certainly never having finitude. 10.2/?

And so his goal becomes to create an event that’s truly mythic, linking superheroes and Gods. Of course we’ve all heard this idea a million times now, but in 87? Not so much. This idea was revisited and popularized in Moore and Gaiman’s Miracleman. 11/?

His secondary purpose becomes to create an event with a finite future, thus both creating a legend (not a continuity) AND forcing readers to wonder, “Is this the fated future of the DC universe?” for years to come. Rather clever, if you ask me. 12/?

He then explains how this will make them money as a crossover event. It allows for countless tie-ins and ominous new heroes that pop up for YEARS. Ambitious, but worthy. 13/?

Here Moore has an aside about superhero movies, that I find fascinating, if nothing else. He’s either right or wrong, depending on how you see the glut of superhero cinema. 14/?

Finally, we’re at the story. Succinctly it’s made of 2 parts: A FRAME NARRATIVE in which Constantine is appealing to heroes trying to prevent THE MAIN NARRATIVE, a future superhero war, an “apocalypse for superfolk”. 15/?

There’s a helluvalot of setup for THE MAIN NARRATIVE, so again, bear with me. Importantly, first there is a “Time Fluke” set up by the Time Trapper in the future. Basically what’s key to remember is: 16/?

The result is the world of TWILIGHT, in which superheroes have become governing forces out of necessity (again, pretty well what happens in Gaiman’s follow up to Moore’s Miracleman). 17/?

Moore is clear that this is not some post-apocalypse future (which he deems cliche even back then). Instead, this is a future where people had to face something more frightening: responsibility. 18/?

Linking back to his prior notion of superheroes offering a sense of stability, he actually pulls this into the narrative. They have turned to superheroes as their sole form of stability & governance in an ever-changing world. Sounds familiar... 19/?

How do heroes work as such in TWILIGHT? Well, there are 8 "Houses", each made up of a different superhero clan, which govern sections of America. As follows: 20/?

The Houses are PACKED with engrossing descriptions of heroes and how they’ve changed in this timeline. In the interest of brevity, however, I’ll only expand on the two most important Houses: Steel and Thunder. 21/?

The House of Steel is not all that interesting on their own, but the important part is Superman has married Wonder Woman (now Superwoman). They have two kids. Namely, a new shithead Superboy, and a gentle, loving Supergirl. 22/?

House of Thunder is where it all comes together. Made up of the Marvel family (Shazam), I’ll let Moore’s own words do the talking, but the essential bit is that Mary Marvel Jr. is in a planned arranged marriage to the delinquent Superboy. 23/?

Moore then describes the other players (heroes) in the plot who belong to no House. They reside in a kind of hero slum. His knowledge of the DC universe and its cast is intimidating. My favorites are:
Plastic Man
Congorilla
The Question
Deadman/Baron Winter 24/?

Backstory done, we reach the FRAME NARRATIVE. The time travelling present day heroes are stuck in this TWILIGHT world on the brink of a war. RIP HUNTER escapes (thanks to future-Constantine), finds present-Constantine, warning him of the coming hero apocalypse. 25/?

So the stars fall. Present-Constantine then sets out to warn the heroes of his time about this most likely future (thanks to the Time Fluke), in an attempt to aid Future-Constantine to prevent it from happening. 26/?

What’s so intriguing about this setup is how it allows for other books to tie into it, or more not tie into it, a constant pitfall of crossover events (I’d know). He wasn’t forcing any teams to tie-in if they didn’t want to, and even that was intentional. 27/?

The MAIN NARRATIVE is comprised of the events Rip Hunter recounts to Present-Constantine. It began when the heroes got sick of a broken society and decided to eradicate super villains once and for all. It worked. Mostly. And aliens were outlawed from Earth. 28/?

This led to a rift between the superheroes, and so the Houses formed. When the story begins each of the Houses struggles with their own internal dilemmas. But all of them are concerned with one thing… 29/?

Superboy and Mary Marvel Jr.’s marriage is on the horizon, and such would mean an alliance of the Steel and Thunder Houses, their combined overwhelming powers spelling certain doom for the rest of them. 30/?

The Marvels are in a perilous place. There’s infidelity. And while Mary and Junior solved their two-body problem by giving up their human forms, Captain still turns into child Billy, & years of this dichotomy have made him a little...absent. He’s trying to do better. 31/?

After the setup, we fall down to the streets to meet the non-House heroes who live in the slums. The most important of which is The Question, working on a case involving a dead “midget”, BDSM, and... just read it in Moore’s own words… 32/?

Meanwhile, Future-Constantine is moving about the slums and Houses, scheming schemes as always (not unlike Present-Constantine). Personally, my favorite thing about this event is how focused it is on Johnny boy. Moore’s affinity for him is palpable. 33/?

As the wedding nears, The House of Titans forms an alliance with The Houses of Justice and Secrets (which harbors leftover villains). They make a plan to attack on the day of the ceremony. The House of Lanterns (on Mars) are also planning an invasion of their own. 34/?

Among all these chaotic war games, Constantine is pulling strings, and manages to make his way to a secret council made up of Batman, The Shadow, and Tarzan (lol), who are planning to purge the world of ALL superheroes. But whose side is he really on? 35/?

Constantine eventually meets with Captain Marvel and tells him of the planned attack. Again, you should read this section in Moore’s words. What I find most impressive is the setup he achieves in the smallest details: lighting a cigarette. 36/?

Perhaps no coincidence that Constantine is a loner protagonist, not unlike Rorschach. Though John is a much more competent, anarchic wizard (Moore did create him), contrasted with Kovac’s rogue conservatism. Constantine here is the hero people think Rorschach is. 37/?

Constantine continues playing superhero chess. The results: A planned Titan/Justice/Secrets attack on the wedding, Captain Marvel agrees not to defend, an imminent alien invasion, & Constantine gets his hands on the Moebius chair. 38/?

I don’t think I’m quite doing justice to just how well Moore balances all the moving parts, not just to keep the plot chugging, but with great consideration for how these characters are. He has a role for EVERYONE, as events should. 39/?

Finally, after mounting tension of the imminent war, we reach the wedding day crescendo. We witness the puppet show that is a result of Constantine’s string pulling. 40/?

The attack goes off, losses are heavy on all sides. This bit about Wonder Woman/Superwoman made me chuckle. Moore never forgets to include witticisms. 41/?

Basically the two left standing are, of course, Captain Marvel and Superman. The Houses are in ruin. But instead of a big punching battle… 42/?

The alien invasion begins. I don’t want to speculate about Moore’s intention, but this feels a bit like a cheeky reference to the alien invasion in Watchmen, which was criticised by some as being a Deux Ex Machina, but giving it more backstory this time around. 43/?

Superman believes he and Captain Marvel (Shazam) can take them all with ease, but so comes the major twist in the story. Captain Marvel isn’t Captain Marvel at all… 44/?

Martian Manhunter has been posing as the Captain all along, thus explaining his recent shift in behavior, as well as the flinching at Constantine’s match-lighting (he’s afraid of fire, for those not in the know). But where is the real Captain Marvel? 45/?

He’s dead. Has been since the beginning (the case The Question was investigating). The reveal for this part is equal part genius and disturbing. You’ve GOT to read it below: 46/?

This isn’t mere shock value. Moore explores the effect of being an adult inside a never-aging child’s body and how it could impact mental health. He brings a sense of harsh reality to the character, which is what set him apart from other writers at the time. 47/?

It’s worth noting that around this time Moore, Miller, et al were fighting with DC about putting age ratings on comics. So, it’s interesting to see how far he pushed things and that DC was willing to publish something controversial. 48/?

Equally amusing that Moore suggested merchandising like toys and board games. I’d sure like to own the S&M Billy Batson toy. 49/?

So it’s revealed. This was Martian Manhunter and the aliens’ plan all along. Superman murders J’onn J’onzz, but the aliens arrive (Lanterns and Martians) and kill Superman. They will now govern the Earth. Or will they? 50/?

No. In one final surprise, we see Constantine’s planning paid off. Another surprise attack is launched by Batman and a bunch of misfit heroes against the onslaught of alien forces. 51/?

More heroes die but so do aliens. The extraterrestrials are eventually pulled away from Earth because of something Constantine does with the Moebius Chair (it’s complicated and this is already too long). 52/?

So, what’s left on Earth? A few non-powered heroes, most of which weren’t active anyway. Constantine’s plan worked. The Earth has been freed from “super-dictatorships”. 53/?

TWILIGHT’s MAIN NARRATIVE closes with Constantine in delight. Superheroes are gone. The world is, quite literally, powerless. Thus, it is left open to a future without fear and corruption (Moore hints at some semi-anarchy utopia). 54/?

We return to the FRAME NARRATIVE. But it’s revealed that Rip Hunter doesn’t tell the full story to Present-Constantine. Present-Constantine is not told the most integral part of Future-Constantine’s plan… 55/?

By “warning” Present-Constantine & setting him on his mission to avoid this future, Future-Constant is in fact trying to ensure TWILIGHT comes true, for it is his actions of avoidance that lead to the alien ban, the Houses, etc. Such is the Oedopus Rex of it all. 56/?

Constantine was outsmarted by his future self. And thus, the central conceit of a world without superheroes being horrific is turned on its head. Rather, it becomes one of hope. A Twilight before a new dawn. 57/?

The true brilliance of the event is that its impact would be felt for years, and this was deliberate on Moore’s part. He wanted readers to constantly wonder if this was indeed the future of the DC universe, if there was some finitude, or if it could be avoided. 58/?

While, to my knowledge, Moore has never commented on TWILIGHT directly, he has in recent years stated that he felt his work in the 80s was a little too “witty” and grim, which he regrets. Mostly, I imagine, because of all the copycats it spawned. 59/?

A final thought. While Moore’s often cited as a controlling curmudgeon, I think this pitch proves the opposite. Moore cared deeply about comics, enough to conceive a robust event that respected its audience, & sought to elevate its characters to myth status. 60/60

Final final thought. This thread took me about a week’s worth of work, believe it or not. I didn’t get paid and so if you enjoyed it, consider buying one of my books <3. 61/60