70 replies to this topic

[Lou K]

Yeah, that does make me want to read that book.

[Avaunt]

That is the stuff!.

The very comic-y style of art for me. if I wanted to watch a movie, I would na of brought a comic book, aye?.

I like how, after a moments observing, it occurs to me Silk Specters' smile and stance and The Comedians slouch and grin are just exactly as much of a threat as the bloke in the forgrounds folded arms and frown are.


"We're superheros. What the fuck are you looking at?".

[Cunning Man]

Moore's response to the charge of hypocrisy is in here:


I'll read these and feel dirty afterward.  I'm not entirely against them because they may spark some new ideas in other writers, ironically enough.  Some of the art is also very nice.

[JasonT]

Cunning Man, on 23 February 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Moore's response to the charge of hypocrisy is in here:

That bit starts around 19:15. Alan's answer is essentially very brief (see below), preceded by about 5 minutes of expansion, but the expansion is quite interesting.

He acknowledged the tradition of working with characters created by past (essentially, dead) writers, but said [ Spoiler : "With taking comic characters that have been created by cheated old men, I feel that that is different." ]

Obviously you'd be better off listening to his words in context.

Cunning Man, thanks for the link.

Edited by JasonT, 24 February 2012 - 01:30 AM.

[Cunning Man]

JasonT, on 24 February 2012 - 01:10 AM, said:

Cunning Man, thanks for the link.

No problem.  Sorry I didn't give the time he started on that topic.  I made a couple of attempts to paraphrase it, but like you said it's better to hear it in context.  The whole thing is pretty interesting.

[Christian]

I have some real trouble feeling sorry for Alan Moore on the subject of Watchmen.
Something like V for Vendetta? Definitely.
But, Moore originally wanted to use the Charlton characters, and the editors were the ones who struck down the idea, thinking about future potential profits with the characters and feeling that Moore's vision would dilute any further use of the characters by DC.
If it wasn't for the corporate editors stepping in, worrying about the "bottom line", what would Moore be complaining about? That DC was using Blue Bettle or The Question again?

[Cunning Man]

lol I'm going to assume he'd kill some of them off in an "imaginary story" and DC would keep using them anyway ala 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?'  Then twenty-five years later he'd say "Contemporary writers using alien squid monsters as psychic bombs only proves this industry is truly devoid of top flight creative talent, as I've been saying since they screwed me out of my 'Batman The Ripper' rights."  
I would have preferred if they'd based original heroes on the Watchmen characters as Moore did with the Charlton bunch.  DC could have made ongoing series with those that would have been more profitable in the long term, as this is probably only a cash grab anyway.  Rather than making recognizable characters unrecognizable out of an editorial obligation to "keep them relevant" I hope somebody in the future still does that.  Otherwise you get something like the "Arkham City" Penguin, updated with a cybernetic eye instead of a monocle.  Ooo, edgy!  

[Christian]

That's the thing. DC did a lot to get top notch creative teams behind most of these titles, but I feel it's probably all editorial fiat that led to the series in the first place. I doubt most of these creators were crying out to be allowed to dig into the Watchmen universe, in any form. So, the line probably didn't have any future, outside of a cash grab, to start with.
Maybe if DC put as much effort into something that's going to last beyond six months and some quick profits, they'd be in a better position (creatively speaking).

[Cunning Man]

It must be a publicity boost is all I can figure.  They're of the "there's no such thing as bad press" school of thought.  Have JMS write up a flimsy article calling the detractors irrational to stoke the flames of fan ire, and they're off.  If they'd made this sort of hoopla about those hypothetical new Watchmen/Charlton-based series instead, just think of all the praise they could have won.  
Excelsior!

[Cunning Man]

Solicits ahoy.


It's of course too early to judge (ha ha try and stop me) but Silk Spectre's line about the world giving you reason to hate runs contrary to her determination to not let awful things happen to her daughter.
Actually, instead of meticulously picking out the flaws in these, I think I'll just drink my way through the whole event.  Bottoms up.

[Cunning Man]

But wait, there may be more!

[Red]

I think all of this looks like absolute bullshit, really. Shameless cash-in-attempt without an ounce of originality. Bleh.

[dogpoet]

That goes without saying, really.
Watchmen is pretty well a told tale, so even decent creators (and there's some very good names on this heap of nonsense) are going to be hard put to find anything worth milking any further there...

[Shawn]

I don't remember which website, and I'm too lazy to find it, but there was an article suggesting an alternative. Rather than Watchmen, do stories about the Charlton characters that inspired them. It'd be a great way to re-introduce Blue Beetle (Ted Kord & Dan Garrett), The Question, Judo Master, etc to the New DCU

[Christian]

That would be a far better idea, considering that DC has this relaunched universe. Maybe they should be spending time fleshing out exactly what the new continuity is and how exactly this world is operating and all of that, instead of just hitting the reset button, throwing it al out there, saying "it's been three years", and then having tons of random cross-overs to try to get more readers to read the books that, frankly, DC don't seem to have put that much effort into.
It'd at least give DC a purpose to getting together some pretty nice creative teams. Other than making a quick buck for a couple of months, before fanboys have forgotten about this project again.

[Shawn]

Absolutely.

Also, it was suggested for Blue Beetle, it could be like Tales of the Beetle or something, featuring stories of Ted &/or Dan
For the Question, it could show Renee as the current Question, with flashbacks to her mentor Vic Sage (I'd prefer the original Question, but...)

I think this would work well, since it establishes some legacies and appeals to the "old school" fans while connecting to the New DCU

[A. Heathen]

Light blue touchpaper and retire to a safe distance.

I have just read the Minute Men and it is everything you'd expect from a Darwyn Cooke superhero book. Nice to look at, well-written, and structured with respect to the source material (comics of the golden age and Alan Moore's & DC Comics' The Watchmen).
There are some nice visual & style references to Dave Gibbons' work and the additional story elements are quite solid so far.

The pirate story by Len Wein and John Higgins is only two pages and so I reserve judgement.

I kind of wish this was the Earth 2 relaunch rather than a Watchmen thing, but
this is a good start.

[Avaunt]

I have it on order. Not sure when we get our shipments.

Depends on how they go, I might get some of the others . I will be interested in reviews by you guys.

[Avaunt]

Got Minutemen today. Some lovely art, in the two or three page pencil sketch sort of bios for the characters. Really good action sketches, especially the one for the character The Silhouette, that, fellows, is worth the buy of this copy just by its lonesome.  "She was an avenging angel."

Very nice use of eyes or their absense to indicate character.  Lovely layout to give the feel of flowing action over time. Quite beautiful colouring, though it is firmly "comic colouring".

"They all wore hats"

Except Crazy Eddie.

I liked it, hope they can keep it rolling.

[A. Heathen]

http://www.bleedingc...three-pictures/

I like that opening paragraph :-D