Actually, that;s not the thing I found so unbelievable. - Edit 1
Before modification by newyorkersedai at 22/06/2011 11:31:15 PM
I thought the whole "instant world peace" thing was extremely silly and totally at odds with the rest of the movie. I thought it was weirdly out of place and I wondered if it was handled better/differently in the comic. Guess not.
Grab your socks and hold on, Darth Katie, because I might blow them off your feet! Ready?
It is plausible, especially in a super-hero laden world, that one massive, devastating attack from an alien species would unite humanity. I felt it was one of those plans like "eventually, genetically-modified crops will wipe out hunger with no adverse effects." The gradual unification that the nations would undergo (a la the UN or NATO) in the wake of a common threat is as likely lead to peace among all mankind as anything else.
What DIDN'T make any sense to me was that the heroes see the villain's logic, accept it as unassailable and then just decide to let him completely get away with it. That was complete and total BS.
For one thing, there's no way a do-gooding team would let the villain get off scott-free with the many murders he committed, the cancer that he caused (!), much less the death of half of NYC's citizens. I'm not saying it's impossible that they would decide that no good would come from publicizing the truth.
I am saying (actually, "writing," but you understand) that they wouldn't let him carry out the rest of his plan - which would allow the villain to profit massively from it all, and basically assume stewardship over the world. That is what is total BS, to me.
At best, they'd lock him in some far-off place (like an air bubble on Mars created by Dr. Manhattan). At worst, they would kill him and make up a cover story for the world to hear. Remember that in the closing act of the comic, he tries to kill most of the heroes himself, and this is after his plan comes to fruition. Not even a devoted group of Ayn Rand followers would let all that stand.
The best line in the comic, to me, is when the bad guy reveals his plan to two of the heroes and they basically think that he's lying and gone nuts. The response that Nite Owl gives is absolutely classic. It was especially satisfying since I hadn't read a comic since I was like 18 or something...