It’s not a popular opinion.  Certainly, it’s not a “sophisticated” one.  But I like black-and-white morality.  Not all the time.  Not every time.  But sometimes, I like good guys who are good, and bad guys that are bad.  I like to have someone to root for and someone to see fall.  I like that, and I like it a lot.  Honestly, I like it more often than not.

This is why I used to like comic books.  The Fantastic Four are good guys.  Doctor Doom is a bad guy.  I know this going in, and I’m cool with it.  I might respect Doctor Doom (more than I really should probably), but I also know that no matter how awesome his robot army is and how justified his egotism (the guy does build time machines in his spare time), he’s a jerk and evil and deserves to get his armored butt handed to him.

This is why I hate Watchmen.  It’s not because of the writing (which is rock solid) or the character studies (which is masterful).  It’s because it ruined what I used to love about comics.  Namely: good guys vs. bad guys and thrilling adventure that I can enjoy without having to realize that life is complicated and messy and has an irksome lack of doombots.

Don’t get me wrong here.  I do enjoy sympathetic villains.  I like bad guys with complex motivations and interesting personalities.  And I don’t mind if a good guy has a dark side but in the end, I like it when the good guy, no matter how flawed, is the guy I’m rooting for over the bad guy, no matter how justified.

I know it’s not fashionable.  I know even admitting this will label me as naive to some.  But this doesn’t come from a denial of the complexity of the world, but rather as a bit of colorful escape from it.  Escapism is not a bad thing.  Escapism is not automatically dumb.  And a villian who deserves to get smashed in the face isn’t always worthy of disdain.

I honestly don’t get it when we decide to ruin perfectly good characters in the name of sophistication.  My Batman might have some emotional baggage, but at the end of the day, he’s just a guy trying to make a difference.  If that difference means throwing batarangs and driving around in a cool car, well, good for him.  My Superman isn’t a dim-witted boyscout.  He’s just a man with extraordinary powers who elects to fight the good fight because, when a giant asteroid is hurtling toward Metropolis, somebody’s gotta take care of it.

Of course, I love Lex Luthor.  I really do.  How can you not?  He’s ruthless, charismatic, and he’ll do whatever it takes to win.  He isn’t a cartoonish villain who wants to destroy the world because he’s Evil with a capital E, but he’s still a jerk who I love to watch get his comeuppance.

Life is gray, but fiction doesn’t have to play that game.  Of course, I’ll never win a Pulitzer with that attitude, but I can live with that.