Watchmen Prequels: BEFORE WATCHMEN

[Hypo]

Squirrelling Out Details On Watchmen 2

Sometimes all you do is have to mention its name, and lots of bits spill out.

Two days ago, Bleeding Cool mentioned that Watchmen prequels at DC were back on the agenda, after the success of the New 52. That meetings were happening this week. That it had the code name “Panic Room”. That names mentioned included Dave Gibbons, John Higgins, Darwyn Cooke, JMS, JG Jones, Andy Kubert and more.

Indeed I am now told that there will be four Watchmen miniseries, all prequels. Working off an over-arching uber-plot by Darwyn, who will be writing and drawing on aa book or two.

I believe the phrase I’m looking for is “this shit just got real”. Sorry, I was in America for a few days, that kind of language rubs off on me. Let me try again. “Pip pip, that’s some bally cricket, what?” Better.

However a word of warning. There have been three names mentioned to me, Amanda Conner, Kevin Smith and Adam Hughes which have all proved to be false. It may indicate that the names were more of a wish list, people who would be approached rather than who actually signed on the dotted line.

But MTV Geek found a comment from Darwyn Cooke from earlier in the year when he said;

And Little Bleeder chatting to Andy Kubert over the weekend discovered that;

What, indeed. DC declined to comment.

via Bleeding Cool

The Phone Call That Confirmed Watchmen 2

That was the phone call I got at 3 o’clock in the morning my time, 10 in the evening in New York. It was clearly from a bar, it was from a DC editorial type, and it was clearly in reference to the Watchmen prequels I’ve been talking about that, post new-52, are back on the table with Darwyn Cooke taking artistic lead. And it had been kept such a secret that certain employees of a relatively senior level had not heard a thing. And, on reading the Bleeding Cool articles, had made some enquiries.

What is also clear that a decent sized chunk of DC is not on board for this. That they love Watchmen as it is, and see these prequel mini-series as diluting that. But there are also those who see not doing this as blatantly laving money on the table at a time when they can least afford to. And from a moral and creative viewpoint, no different to what Alan Moore has done with the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Indeed, some relish the tas, especially with Dave Gibbons on board.

And with Grant Morrison creating his own Watchmen-styled Charlton treatment in Multiversity, it looks like there’s going to be a lot of cod-Watchmen going around next year.

I also had some more phone calls from NEw York bars in the last couple of nights. More on that to come later.

via Bleeding Cool

[Mister Ed]

I'm trying right now to think of prequels that I thought were particularly worthwhile. I mean, I guess you could call origin tales prequels, and I've enjoyed a lot of those. But this just seems, on the surface, like a bad idea.

If nothing else, it should be entertaining to watch Alan Moore's head explode when these come out.

[myuserid]

I'm with Ed. Prequels, as a whole, are generally a bad idea.

[ns2]

Originally Posted by Mister Ed

If nothing else, it should be entertaining to watch Alan Moore's head explode when these come out.

That was my first reaction when I head the news

[W.West]

Believe it when I see it.

[Keyser Soze]

I'm still dubious that, even in the comics world, anyone could go ahead with such a monumentally bad idea. It would be like Hollywood making a Casablanca prequel, it's such a parody of a textbook awful idea that surely no one would seriously attempt it. But, if this is seriously happening, it's sacrilege. Even as a defender of much of what DC has done, I'd want no part of it. I won't be buying. And I can only hope that all the other people disgusted by the very thought of the project don't decide to buy it out of morbid curiosity. If you do so, you will only be contributing to the problem.

[Mister Ed]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

I'm still dubious that, even in the comics world, anyone could go ahead with such a monumentally bad idea. It would be like Hollywood making a Casablanca prequel, it's such a parody of a textbook awful idea that surely no one would seriously attempt it. But, if this is seriously happening, it's sacrilege. Even as a defender of much of what DC has done, I'd want no part of it. I won't be buying. And I can only hope that all the other people disgusted by the very thought of the project don't decide to buy it out of morbid curiosity. If you do so, you will only be contributing to the problem.

I agree, if you are only morbidly curious, try your local library after the trades come out. If it is anything like mine, they will likely have at least a couple copies.

[Hypo]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

But, if this is seriously happening, it's sacrilege.

Eh. If it's good I'll buy it, if it's bad I'll ignore it. I never view things likes this as "sacrilege" as you put it.

[JuanMal]

hmmm, not sure how to feel about this...but instinct tells me nothing good can come of this.

[W.West]

Originally Posted by hypotherion

Eh. If it's good I'll buy it, if it's bad I'll ignore it. I never view things likes this as "sacrilege" as you put it.

Agreed. I never worshipped Watchmen so I won't be throwing a fit if this happens. If someone made a We3 prequel, I'd say "WTF!" and move on. It's a business. And at least they sound like they want it to do well. Some big names attached to it. Now would be the best time to do this. I mean you can't be any more hated than you are right now.

Krypto's death > Superman's marriage > Watchmen

[Mister.Weirdo]

They can't be serious, sometimes one good work is enough, you don't need to cash in on it, with unnecessary sequels/prequels.

[JohnnyV]

You know who likes prequels? Communists...that's who.

[Hypo]

Originally Posted by Mister.Weirdo

They can't be serious, sometimes one good work is enough, you don't need to cash in on it, with unnecessary sequels/prequels.

Except it's a business and the end goal is always profit.

Will this really hurt your enjoyment of the original series? Do you think the prequel will leave some sort of "taint" on the original? (I'm not directing those questions at you specifically but anyone in general who seems to think this is outrageous).

[Maverick_GL]

I don't really see the need for this. Watchmen gave us everything we could need to know about all the characters involved. I love the story, I've read it countless times, and never have I thought "I wish I knew more about X".

Still, IF it happens, I'll give it a shot.

[CaptainFrxz]

Well Alan moore is gonna kill somebody because of this, Imo we don`t need this still i`m gonna give it a look

[Keyser Soze]

Originally Posted by hypotherion

Except it's a business and the end goal is always profit.

Will this really hurt your enjoyment of the original series? Do you think the prequel will leave some sort of "taint" on the original? (I'm not directing those questions at you specifically but anyone in general who seems to think this is outrageous).

I don't know. Sometimes, you can just happily ignore lame sequels/prequels to classic stories: I can happily enjoy Jaws or Halloween or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and just pretend the subpar follow-ups or in some cases the pointless remakes don't exist. But then there are other cases, such as the sequels for The Matrix or The Pirates of the Caribbean, where each subsequent movie is not only bad, but also mucks with the mythology of the series, to such an extent that you don't just hate the sequels, but are left wandering if the original film was all that good in the first place if this is where the story was going. In this case, unnecessary expansions of the mythology ARE damaging.

And Watchmen is a classic. It's not my favorite comic by any means, but from an objective perspective I can say it's a solid contender for the greatest graphic novel of all time. And there are certain classics that - in any other medium - would be sacrosanct. Nobody is going to have the audacity to go back to Citizen Kaine and tell a prequel going into more detail about the adventures of a boy and his bobsled, and you're not going to get a modern author writing The Son of Moby Dick and finding a credible publishing house willing to put it out on the shelves. We take this for granted, we hold these mediums to a certain standard of good taste where things like this would be unthinkable. But with comics, anything goes? And where everything else has been shilled and exploited and retconned and resurrected to death, Watchmen has always been that one entity within the Big Two wheelhouse that has been placed on a pedestal, and viewed as a piece of true literature: unblemished, definitive, complete.

So you see, making more Watchmen stories is about more than writing lame, unnecessary prequels. It's about tarnishing that status, and acknowledging that Watchmen is just another "franchise" to be milked like all the others. And fans willing to read it are no better than publishers willing to do it in the first place. You're all saying the same thing: that comics are just a throwaway trash medium that shouldn't be treated with the respect of an artform. And if the folks on the inside have that perspective, no wonder the folks on the outside think that way too.

[Space Cop]

I would not read a Watchment, LoEG, or V project that doesn't involve Moore.

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

... and you're not going to get a modern author writing The Son of Moby Dick and finding a credible publishing house willing to put it out on the shelves...

http://www.amazon.com/Perdition-Book...9373557&sr=8-1

[myuserid]

You honestly think that if Simon and Schuster or any other publisher thought that The Son of Moby Dick would sell a million copies, they wouldn't print it?

Of course they would.

[Mister.Weirdo]

Originally Posted by myuserid

You honestly think that if Simon and Schuster or any other publisher thought that The Son of Moby Dick would sell a million copies, they wouldn't print it?

Of course they would.

People were still angry about that happening. Sometimes it's not good to touch a piece of classic literature, especially one like that. But thankfully that never happened.

[Keyser Soze]

Originally Posted by myuserid

You honestly think that if Simon and Schuster or any other publisher thought that The Son of Moby Dick would sell a million copies, they wouldn't print it?

Of course they would.

I don't think Watchmen: The Early Years would sell a million copies, though. At least, I have enough faith in humanity to hope it wouldn't. And I think any gains it might make in monetary terms would surely be cancelled out by the loss of good will and credibility for DC. Or, again, at least I'd like to think so.

[CYLON (13)]

I certaintly wouldn't buy it with a title like Watchmen: The Early Years!

That sounds, honestly, phookin' silly. Then again it is a comic...
Still, though; makes it sound like it'll be too "kiddy".

I would see a Watchman movie prequel, though. Is that weird?

[Mister Ed]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

But then there are other cases, such as the sequels for The Matrix or The Pirates of the Caribbean, where each subsequent movie is not only bad, but also mucks with the mythology of the series, to such an extent that you don't just hate the sequels, but are left wandering if the original film was all that good in the first place if this is where the story was going. In this case, unnecessary expansions of the mythology ARE damaging.

This is exactly how I felt about the first Highlander sequel. It was SO bad, it retroactively tarnished my enjoyment of the first film. AND it forever killed my interest in any of the following Highlander productions, even though I have it on good authority that some of them were quite worthy. After watching that movie, I simply no longer care.

(To those that are Highlander enthusiasts, yes, I know I'm being unfair, and likely depriving myself of further enjoyment to boot.)

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Mister Ed

(To those that are Highlander enthusiasts, yes, I know I'm being unfair, and likely depriving myself of further enjoyment to boot.)

Well, I've seen and own every Highlander movie and show and #1 is still the best by far, so not necessarily. #2 is the worst of the sequels though #5 is close. The show, overall, is significantly better than those sequels.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I worship the ground Watchmen walks on, so I'll buy this when hell freezes over. Or pigs fly.

Unless Moore, Gibbons, and Higgins did everything from top to bottom, this is just a big fucking joke. Kingdoms and DKSA revisited. And honestly? I'll be surprised if this ever sees print before falling apart. DCD couldn't even get their Gibbons' style figures off the ground.

[Ωmega Man]

I really enjoyed a few of the characters and wouldn't mind seeing more of them in adventures pre-Watchmen. I thought both Nite Owls kicked ass, and while we hear about how Manhattan could have...

"...turned the gun into steam, the bullets into mercury, the bottle into snowflakes.."

All we ever saw was simple energy waves and him constructing really complex looking stuff. I wanna see him changing things up and not be so doom and gloom and serious.

Anything with Rorschach would be awesome to see if handled by the right creators. It all depends who's on what books and if the stories connect in any way. I'm also patiently awaiting Multiversity if that's where the Charlton/Watchmen-ish Grant stuff will be happening. Is that where his parallel Earth stories will be going?

~KL~