DC Unveils Watchmen Prequels

[sheah1]

Ugh, really? Really? Really?! I don't even..... This tires me, at least Moore is keeping away, I don't want him to do a Miller.

 

[Carl The Manicorn]

I really liked the Watchmen. I loved the movie. And I really kind of want to read these because they have a lot of great writers and artists doing the work of Alan Moore. If anything, this is more like the artists and writers paying tribute to the crazy old man. He wrote a ton of great classics and I see this as a "thank you" from the writers and the artists.

I can't wait to read these. Especially the Crimson Corsair and the Nite Owl ones. They should be good.

 

[liquidsolid]

Yeah it's going to be complete shit, especially because Alan Moore will have nothing to do with it. It's kind of ironic that the comic was originally written as a post-modern deconstructionist view of superheros and comics and now is getting what every other comic gets, a reboot with new continuity.

Watchmen was good enough without some suits deciding there needed to be more (money) to be taken out of the story. Personally I'd be interested in what happened with the Minutemen and all that but not if Alan Moore isn't writing it because Alan Moore thinks there is another story there...that might involve rape...again...

wait..I dotn think this is a reboot with a new continuity (they arnt THAT stupid) just some preaquels...I think

Alan Moore also doesnt like alot of things

I misinterpreted this:

Before Watchmen series editor Len Wein had to following to say: "To me, a reboot is what DC is essentially doing with the New 52, which is changing costumes, origins, relationships, essentially looking at old characters through new eyes. What we're doing is filling in a lot of the blank spaces in a story that has already, to some degree, been told. There were still a lot of gaps in the histories of Watchmen's characters, and events only mentioned in passing or touched on briefly in the original story. We're filling in those gaps in the most creative and inventive ways we can."

to mean that it was a reboot of sorts. Re-reading it reveals quite the opposite. They are just prequels.

Yeah he said that it's "shameless" that DC still works off of ideas he had 25 years ago. He does get rather grumpy.

 

[zombflux]

Moore has already criticized the project, calling it "completely shameless", and stated he was not interested in monetary compensation, but rather ?What I want is for this not to happen.?

That aside, I won't believe anyone's opinions on this till I read an issue, though I can't help but side with the one guy who has not been paid to speak on Before Watchman's behalf.

 

[Vivi22]

I think JMS's point is kind of flawed, in that classic super-heroes such as Spider-man and Superman were from the beginning franchises, the stories was always serialized and meant to continue. Were as Watchmen is a stand-alone story, all of the characters have been wrapped up, they have gone through all of their character developement. We know everything that we need to know, their motivations, their flaws, everything.

I don't think you can really make the argument that the JMS quote is flawed because characters like Superman and Spider-Man were meant to be serialized from day one when Moore has clearly worked with characters that the original authors almost certainly never intended to be serialized themselves (characters like Dr. Jeckyll, the Invisible Man, and Captain Nemo in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for example).

I actually agree with JMS on this one. And I would be one of the people who cringed at the announcement of prequels. Yes, Watchmen was a stand alone, self contained story that was made for a very specific time period, yet still stands the test of time today. But those who don't wish to see prequels to it don't need to. Simply ignore them. Their mere existence does not make Watchmen less enjoyable, regardless of how they turn out.

As much as Watchmen is one of those works that many hold up, and perhaps rightly so, as being untouchable, that also means that it's still going to be damn amazing if these prequels are released and turn out to be terrible.

 

[ars731]

Dear DC comics

Please don't screw this, thats all I ask

 

[The Great JT]

Prequels to Watchmen? Ugh, just...just play the Nostalgia Critic clip.


DC, at this point why not just stab Alan Moore in the heart and get it over with?

 

[lordmardok]

I'm just gonna stick my head in the sand and pretend the prequels don't exist. Seems like a more valid response given how badly DC has been mishandling their characters lately.

 

[Hyper-space]

I don't think you can really make the argument that the JMS quote is flawed because characters like Superman and Spider-Man were meant to be serialized from day one when Moore has clearly worked with characters that the original authors almost certainly never intended to be serialized themselves (characters like Dr. Jeckyll, the Invisible Man, and Captain Nemo in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for example).

That doesn't change shit, Watchmen is still a stand-alone story even though Alan Moore used characters that (NOTA BENE) were in the public domain for another story.

These prequels will either be complete shit or just unnecessary.

 

[Vivi22]

That doesn't change shit, Watchmen is still a stand-alone story even though Alan Moore used characters that (NOTA BENE) were in the public domain for another story.

These prequels will either be complete shit or just unnecessary.

You saying it doesn't change shit won't make it so. Fact is, Moore doesn't own the characters which means DC can let anyone they want use them however they want, regardless of whether it was originally a stand alone story. And the fact that Moore has done much the same with characters which were no longer owned by their creators makes him somewhat of a hypocrite for being so adamant about it not happening. He doesn't have to like it, but there's nothing he can do about it.

Moreover, there aren't just two options here: either they're shit or unnecessary. In the hands of capable writers, I think there absolutely could be more stories to tell in that universe with those characters, and they could be every bit as relevant to the world around us as Watchmen was in the 80's. The fact that these prequels are in the hands of some of the best writers in the industry today certainly gives them a good shot at it.

They may not necessarily be relevant to the original Watchmen story, but they don't have to be to still be good and meaningful reads.

 

[Orthon]

Apparently, some people seem to argue that because Moore has previously used characters that did not belong to him, it is hypocritical that he should feel enraged when DC decides to use his characters(copyright notwithstanding). To those people I would like to point out that Alan Moore borrowed these characters from people who were either:

1. Fine with it.
2. Dead.

Moore is neither. DC should at least have the decency to concede to Mr Moore's wishes, or hire a professional and make it look like an accident.


P.S. Is it just me, or does the Dr Manhattan cover look borderline pornographic? I mean, I guess they had to cover his junk up with something, but did it have to be the Silk Spectre?

P.P.S.
I don't really care about these prequels. I hope they're fine and not terrible but that's about it.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I'm was all for complaining about this, but Brian Azzarello writing Rorshach and the Comedian? Well played.

Edit: Also

The perception that these characters shouldn't be touched by anyone other than Alan is both absolutely understandable and deeply flawed. As good as these characters are and they are very good indeed, one could make the argument, based on durability and recognition, that Superman is the greatest comics character ever created. But I don't hear Alan or anyone else suggesting that no one other than Shuster and Siegel should have been allowed to write Superman. Certainly Alan himself did this when he was brought on to write Swamp Thing, a seminal comics character created by Len Wein.

Leaving aside the fact that the Watchmen characters were variations on pre-existing characters created for the Charleton Comics universe, it should be pointed out that Alan has spent most of the last decade writing very good stories about characters created by other writers, including Alice (from Alice in Wonderland), Dorothy (from Wizard of Oz), Wendy (from Peter Pan), as well as Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Jeyll and Hyde, and Professor Moriarty (used in the successful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). I think one loses a little of the moral high ground to say, "I can write characters created by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Frank Baum, but it's wrong for anyone else to write my characters."

The whole point of having great characters is the opportunity to explore them more deeply with time, re-interpreting them for each new age. That DC allowed these characters to sit on a shelf for over two decades as a show of respect is salutary, but there comes a time when good characters have to re-enter the world to teach us something about ourselves in the present.

- J. Michael Straczynski

QFT

This is old hat for comic books. Most of the best comic books ever made are based upon existing properties. If Batman had ended when his creators died we wouldn't have The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One, Arkham Asylum, the Nolan movies ect. If Superman had just been dumped we wouldn't have All Star Superman or Red Sun. I could go on.

To be honest I think this has been a long, long time coming. I'm kind of shocked this didn't happen back when the movie was released. And if it's going to happen they might as well get some great talent on it, which they have most definitly. I'm going to wait until I actually get a chance to read some of it or hear reviews before I judge it.

EDIT: That being said, going ahead with this without his concent is sketchy at best. But then the day you get Moore to concent to this is the day the cells in my body turn into geese.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

This is no more legitimate an addition to Watchmen as Hamlet 2 was to Hamlet.

 

[Rebellious_Gate]

I for one cannot wait.

I know Watchmen is a classic and should be left alone, but then again, the characters were so good I want to see them involved in other stories. Moore is a fantastic comic writer but there are others as well, several of whom are attached to this project.

Also, I'll buy just about anything drawn by Lee Bermejo. The man is amazing.

 

[2fish]

Yay a watchmen thing I can ignore, if it can live up to the original then I will be shocked. I am just gonna hope it is an alright thing at best.

I predict that that will be his response, but in the magical case that he likes them, I'll give them a go.

If he likes them, I will leave the internet and become a nun.

If he doesn't like it will you still dress up as a nun for me for fun?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

If he doesn't like it will you still dress up as a nun for me for fun?

...mebbe...

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I think theres a fair point to be made that "Kingdom Come" stood on the shoulders of other great writers but at the same time DC tore it all down again cashing in with that awful sequel "The Kingdom".


But see "Kingdom come" and "Watchmen" both had a reason to be written. They were both commentary pieces on Politics and the way comics were going at the time.

I don't mind there being prequels, but the question is "why?" if DC can't come up with an answer other than money then one can't hope for much out of these. I've despised almost everything DC has done since the lantern war. They've seemed to have lost interest in putting money into new IP's and are just milking what they have until that fails.

I'd agree with you about the lack of new IPs but at the same time companies can only do so much when customers don't buy new IPs or unknown characters. Batman: the Dark Knight sells despite being a fucking awful comic because it's Batman, OMAC doesn't and get's cancelled after 6 issues despite critical praise because he's relatively unknown. The games industry is having exactly the same problem, why should Activision release anything but Call of Duty when it's pretty much a license to print money and new properties are so hard to sell?

But I'd agree that DC wasn't doing anything exciting up until the new 52, which despite some serious fuck ups (ie Starfire) it's producng some really fantastic books right now. Batman is fantastic psychological stuff, Action Comics has made Superman feel relevent for the first time since the 80s, Wonder Woman is good for once and Animal Man is looking like it's going to be one of my favourite comic books ever. They even made Aquaman a badass, and not in an over the top 90's kind of way.

I'd argue that Marvel is far more creatively bankrupt right now.

But as far as the Watchmen stuff goes yeah your right, there needs to be a good reason to do this. Though I'd argue that it doesn't matter if it adds anything to the original if the comics are good by themselves.

EDIT: I'd also point out that even as a massive comic book nerd I didn't even know about "The Kingdom". So be content in the knowledge that if these books are shit they'll lightly disappear into obscurity before long. I mean no one talks about the Dark Knight Strikes Again.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

The very idea of this will cause Moore to turn in his future grave so fast that it creates a turbine effect, powering a nearby city for decades.

I can't see anything good coming from this honestly. Moore will despise the very idea of it while fans will disown it.

I can see some good coming from it. The aforementioned free power turbine effect.

 

[Kojiro ftt]

Clearly just a cash in. Not interested.

 

[TownTattle]

Rather than be a cynical asshole. I look forward to what these new guys can do with the Watchmen, it could be really interesting. Oh and it is horrible how the article implies (in an awfully unsubtle way) that the guy who initially refused was won over by money.

Say what you will, these guys are taking a risk and I hope they have the skill and the passion to prove you all wrong.