Before Watchmen is announced.
Get some of the top creators to do some prequels for one of the best superhero stories every written. I hate prequels, but I am intrigued enough to give this series a try. And it was only after seeing who the creators are that I was sold on the idea.
This is something that DC has been trying for years. Then the changing of the higher ups in DC sorta relaxed the stance of the previous administration that said no to anything Watchmen. So here we are. Covers of the new comics and all.
I like the creators on this project. I think that they will be decent and the stories won't necessarily suck, but probably won't be anywhere near the level of regard that Watchmen is currently held at by all comic fans.
My own thought is that this is how they want to do it? The idea is to tell 35 issues worth of prequel material about a comic universe that was defined and had its story told in 12 issues. I don't like prequels to begin with, and while there are some characters in Watchmen that could benefit having a closer look at, there isn't much you can do with the characters.
Prequels to me don't have the payoff of character progression that we can get from a new story. Prequels also dictate that certain events will happen later in the lives of the heroes, and the characters have to be in a position at the end of the prequel that will lead into how their character is in the main story. So unless you are throwing their character way back into their life in a time when they were ignorant before they were ignorant, then the stories don't have much anywhere to go.
Granted, there are many stories in the character's pasts in Watchmen where a story could be done. But the main resolution of that story has already been told, so why would I care to go back and look at it again? Now, set these characters in a universe that is different from where Watchmen took place, which is essentially rebooting them the same way DC did all their main heroes, and then this takes an interesting turn. To me, that would be more ballsy. That would make me want to buy this based on that alone. Right now you have strong creators who have to work in a confined space, and while that may give a few moments of goodness, it will be no where near as good as it could be.
But let's look at the covers and the books themselves more closely.
OK, DC. You just had to open with the big guns, didn't you? I love both of these creators. I think that Bermejo can do an excellent job with the art that gives a level of realism that Dave Gibbons had in the original art for the series. If you need one comic to understand how much potential this one series has, check out the Joker graphic novel by the same creative team. If this comic matches that, it will be well worth the price of admission.
This is another one that I can get behind. The Minutemen were mostly very important background characters in the main series. Give this a Silver Age feel with Darwyn Cooke at the helm and this tells me it could be golden. Cooke showed some excellent Silver Age nostalgia goodness with The New Frontier. There was a movie adaptation that you could catch, and it is well worth reading as well. This I could seeing really being able to stretch its wings but then get that twist of real world reality at certain points. Fun, yet it will have a turning point.
6 issues for THIS series? Really? There must be some sort of a good story here. If it is nothing but Azzarello having Comedian shout about how bad superheroes are on every other page, then I may pass halfway through. If the focus of this comic shows some of the Vietnam War, I think this could have potential for another issue or two. I foresee Azzarello decompressing the story to a point of boredom. Really, 6 issues?
DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam HughesIt looks like Dr. Manhattan is banging Silk Spectre on the cover. This is a series I am absolutely against and see as being pointless. One big thing about Dr. Manhattan in the main series is that he is experiencing time and space all at once in all directions. So anything that he experiences in this series happens at the same time as the main events in Watchmen. I don't see how this series could have any significant event that wouldn't be brought up in the main series itself. There will be a lot of jumping through hoops that this story will have to take in order to tell a story, and I foresee a really, really bad imitation of the Watchmen issue where Dr. Manhattan explains how he sees the world.
Now this could be interesting. But I can tell you how it will end: with the two Nite Owls getting together for drinks. Seriously. Anything that was significant that happened in this character's life happened during Watchmen. Besides the time he hung out with Rorschach, what else was of significance to this character's past? There will have to be a gripping story from the start for this to work. Anything I've read by JMS has been a great start, but a lousy ending. I expect the same here.
OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
This character had his entire back story explained. All this series would act as would to flesh out the scenes between the panels. I have low expectations for this series. And this one is at 6 issues as well? Why? WHY?
My hope upon hopes is that this splits the focus between the two Silk Spectres. It would be nice if Nite Owl did the same thing: just focus your story between the two time periods and show the heroes as they faced similar stories but reacted differently. Outside of that, I don't know where you go with this comic. And how ironic is it that the one comic that features a female lead is drawn by a female artist? I am waiting for the fan reaction of how there aren't enough females on this project and DC will point to this book for a defense. However, I must say that this cover is one of my favorites out of the bunch. This may be a book that I want to get for the art more than the story. I find that fact hilarious.
There will be more about this. This is just my initial reaction, and maybe after seeing some preview pages and buying the comics, I hope that my opinions change and these comics live up to at least half the expectations that will surely be laid on them.
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