I first read the original Watchmen miniseries in 1987. It was interesting but also disturbing. It spoke to concerns of the time in an unique manner. I understood it at a level and then I re-read it several more times over the years and each time, I understood it at a different level.
Twenty Five years after the conclusion of the Watchmen, DC will be putting out prequel comic books. They are not going with a traditional miniseries but will have several small miniseries. The “Before Watchmen” comics will have the following books: Rorschach-4 issues; Minutemen-6 issues; Comedian-6 issues; Dr. Manhattan-4 issues; Nite Owl-4 issues; Ozymandias- 6 issues; and Silk Spectre- 4 issues. That is 34 issues to find out what happened before the Watchmen series and it should cost somewhere between $101.66 and 135.66.
Who is asking for a prequel from a comic in the 80’s was my first thought. Yes, I know it is the Watchmen and many of the fans have been dying for more stories in this Universe. But is there really enough demand for this? I don’t think there is but maybe I am wrong.
My second thought was about the number of issues and the price. I spend under $20.00 on the originals. I know my budget cannot handle over 100.00 for this story. And I have to ask, would I really read 34 issues? Probably not.
As I thought more about it, I really don’t care about what happened before the original story. We had flashbacks to the past in the Watchmen. Why would people want to know what happened before especially in this much detail?
Instead, I would be interested in a sequel to the original. How about a story set 10 years in the future from the ending of the original. You could answer a lot of questions that I have pondered. Has the world developed into the utopia that Ozymandias designed or is it a bigger mess? Has the peace really lasted or is the world still close to the destruction? How has Nite Owl handled the knowledge of the deception of the world? Did Rorschach’s journal ever get published by the Newspaper and if so does anyone believe his story? Did Dr. Manhattan ever come back to Earth? A six to 10 issue series to answer these questions in a similar style to the first would peak my curiosity and I probably would fork of the money to read it.
By the way, the writer of the original series, Alan Moore is very opposed to these prequels being made. DC has all the rights to the characters and is justified in making this without Moore’s approval but why do this now without one of the key creators of this universe? It sounds like a money grab to me.
The failure of The Dark Knight Strikes Again continue to spring to the forefront of my mind. I hope I am wrong on this whole prequel thing. Some fans will buy this just because it is related to the Watchmen but this fan will not. I will be passing on the new prequels to the Watchmen know as Before Watchmen..
Twenty Five years after the conclusion of the Watchmen, DC will be putting out prequel comic books. They are not going with a traditional miniseries but will have several small miniseries. The “Before Watchmen” comics will have the following books: Rorschach-4 issues; Minutemen-6 issues; Comedian-6 issues; Dr. Manhattan-4 issues; Nite Owl-4 issues; Ozymandias- 6 issues; and Silk Spectre- 4 issues. That is 34 issues to find out what happened before the Watchmen series and it should cost somewhere between $101.66 and 135.66.
Who is asking for a prequel from a comic in the 80’s was my first thought. Yes, I know it is the Watchmen and many of the fans have been dying for more stories in this Universe. But is there really enough demand for this? I don’t think there is but maybe I am wrong.
My second thought was about the number of issues and the price. I spend under $20.00 on the originals. I know my budget cannot handle over 100.00 for this story. And I have to ask, would I really read 34 issues? Probably not.
As I thought more about it, I really don’t care about what happened before the original story. We had flashbacks to the past in the Watchmen. Why would people want to know what happened before especially in this much detail?
Instead, I would be interested in a sequel to the original. How about a story set 10 years in the future from the ending of the original. You could answer a lot of questions that I have pondered. Has the world developed into the utopia that Ozymandias designed or is it a bigger mess? Has the peace really lasted or is the world still close to the destruction? How has Nite Owl handled the knowledge of the deception of the world? Did Rorschach’s journal ever get published by the Newspaper and if so does anyone believe his story? Did Dr. Manhattan ever come back to Earth? A six to 10 issue series to answer these questions in a similar style to the first would peak my curiosity and I probably would fork of the money to read it.
By the way, the writer of the original series, Alan Moore is very opposed to these prequels being made. DC has all the rights to the characters and is justified in making this without Moore’s approval but why do this now without one of the key creators of this universe? It sounds like a money grab to me.
The failure of The Dark Knight Strikes Again continue to spring to the forefront of my mind. I hope I am wrong on this whole prequel thing. Some fans will buy this just because it is related to the Watchmen but this fan will not. I will be passing on the new prequels to the Watchmen know as Before Watchmen..
