Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

By David Hyde

This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed WATCHMEN universe. As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original WATCHMEN, the bestselling graphic novel of all time. BEFORE WATCHMEN will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics.

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Stepping up to the challenge is a group of the comic book industry’s most iconoclastic writers and artists – including Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL), Darwyn Cooke (JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER), John Higgins (WATCHMEN), Adam Hughes (CATWOMAN), J.G. Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK), Jae Lee (BATMAN: JEKYLL AND HYDE), J. Michael Straczynski (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and Len Wein (SWAMP THING).

BEFORE WATCHMEN includes:

RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones

DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes

NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert

OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee

SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a CRIMSON CORSAIR story by Wein and Higgins.

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire,” said Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist.

“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”

I'm gonna pass on Wein and Strackzsinsky, but Azzarello and Cooke? Inspired choices.

I bet Azzarello will write the adorable crazy maniac even better than Moore.

I wish/hope it was one issue per week (across all the titles), so if you want you can get one each week and follow them all.

I'm also glad it has A-list talent on it. They're taking this very seriously.

This seems like such an obvious idea in retrospect.

I know it says interconnected, but I hope you don't need to get them all. I really have no interest in the two writers I mentioned.

I'm surprisingly actually anticipating this. Azzarello was the missing key.

I don't really want an interconnected story. But with the backup feature starring Captain Corsair or whatever, it might be fun to get one each week.

JMS has written stuff I've liked in the past, so I'll check out his books, too. Excited about the Cooke and Azzarello stuff. I'll give the whole thing a shot.

I might get the Minute-Men solely for Darwyn Cooke's art, but I just can't get over how lame this whole idea is. It's like getting some hotshot director to do a prequel of Citizen Kane or the Godfather... or doing various television series about the four Seinfeld characters before the show began.

If you're incompetent in milking Superman and Batman for comics, I'm not hopeful you'll be able to milk the Watchmen to any great results.

I know he's famous for 100 Bullets, but has he ever written a good superhero story (not baiting an argument, genuinely asking)?

I've read Superman: For Tomorrow and Luthor, and both were pretty middle-of-the-road.

I thought his Superman was pretty horrible, myself. Pairing him with Lee was a really bad decision.

Azzarello has a knack for writing sick and twisted characters really well. They couldn't have found a better fit for Rory and the Comedian.

Batman: Lonely City was a really good Batman story. Current Wonder Woman is (I think) great. He had some acclaimed stuff at Marvel (Banner with Richard Corben and an issue of Spider-Man's Tangled Web).

Watchmen prequels are the only way to go if you want to revisit that universe, obviously. Moore gave us tantalizing glimpses into the back stories of all of these characters, and I'd often wished there was more. With the talent involved, this could be very good. I'm going to check it out for sure.

If they couldn't get Alan Moore, the only other writers that I personally think could pull this off and maintain Moore's level of quality would be Grant Morrison or Warren Ellis. Darwyn Cooke is the closest writer I've seen on this list at that level.

All of those writers are top notch from one time or another of their careers. None of them are Alan Moore's level, no...but they're no slouches. Granted, some of them have done a bad turn on a character (JMS with Sins Past; Azzarello with For Tomorrow), but overall, they're quality writers. I don't think I'd want Morrison anywhere near this. Ellis, I could see.

Granted, but Superman and Batman have been milked for decades. This is the first milking for Watchmen, so the milk might be pretty good.

Yeah but the bar seems so much higher for Watchmen. There's decades worth of awful awful Superman and Batman yarns -- there's only one Watchmen tale and it's pretty darn good.

Gotta start somewhere!

I don't subscribe to the theory that Watchmen is some sort of holy writ that can't be returned to for more stories. It's been plenty of time for it to have enjoyed a special place.

If they do a good job with it, it could be good. If not, then bleh.

WANT

Minutemen




Silk Spectre

I really positive about this whole thing. You could even say I'm anticipating it. Breathlessly.

With grim satisfaction.

The best kind there is.

I think 'Holy Writ' is going a little too far, but I think it's more akin to my earlier analogy of Citizen Kane or other classic works. It's not that it's "wrong", it just feels like a lame attempt to cash in. DC's comicbook publishing division is fighting to remain relevant, so they're trying anything they think will boost cash.

It'd be one thing if they had a single creator who had a great idea of a mini-series prequel and it sounded so good that DC couldn't turn it down -- but this whole line of books just smacks of 'let's do a Watchmen line of comics and figure out creators and stories later'.