HALLOWEEN’S COSPLAYING POLITICS: Donald Trump’s Three Rs

A few days ago, while intending to write about the link between Donald Trump, reality television and professional wrestling, I happened to read an article by Alan Moore. It was ostensibly about changes in comics’ fandom, since the time his younger self emerged from it to become one of the genre’s greatest creators. He bemoaned the loss of youngsters who read affordable comics as enthusiasts, and the move to older readers who can afford the more expensive modern versions, and “carp and cavil” at a sub-culture they believe they own. A decade earlier, (before, Moore pointed out, Brexit, Trump and “fascist populism”) he had written a piece wondering if the adult popularity of superhero movies was “potentially an indicator of emotional arrest” with “worrying political and social implications.” Given that Moore’s work includes Watchmen, From Hell, and V for Vendetta, his concern needed to be taken seriously.

A decade later, we find ourselves with “elections that decide the fate of millions…conducted in an atmosphere more suited to evictions on I’m A Celebrity.” And by inference, being decided by those same people queuing to see the latest Spider Man or Superman sequel or spinoff. The people who buy images Donald Trump transformed into muscle-laden superhero on collectors cards or non-fungible crypto. “I alone can fix it,” exclaims our electoral superman, and as election day looms and the twin spectres of conflict over an unrecognised decision, or a Trump win foretelling a fascist future, raise their monstrous heads, the…