BEFOREWATCHMEN_MINUTEMEN2.jpg
DC is having a special focus group to show off a binder full of BEFORE WATCHMEN pages at the Diamond Retailer Summit. Sadly the press wasn’t allowed—since we’re the only press at the summit, I guess WE weren’t allowed.

But we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that…the Darwyn Cooke pages of MINUTEMEN look great, as do the Amanda Conner SILK SPECTRE pages.

How do we know?

Duh. It’s Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke. We’re not on board with this fanfic, but it is definitely going to lift the third quarter bottom line. And when you hire the best in the business to do fanfic, it tends to look great.

DC also revealed they’ll be running an extensive TV advertising campaign for BEFORE WATCHMEN, as they did for the New 52, starting in June. The ads will run on the CN, IFC, AMC, TBS, and so on.

BEFOREWATCHMAN_SILK SPECTRE2.jpg

40 COMMENTS

  1. Really looking forward to this. Darwyn Cooke’s work is always a must buy for me. I could care less about all the “hoopla” surrounding this project, I just want to read comics and be entertained.

  2. Many of the titles and characters from the big two (and it’s thinly veiled analogues) already read like fanfic. So this is par for the course, I guess. Although I am interested in the two Cooke titles. Can’t go wrong with Connor and Cooke.

  3. Yup that pretty much sums up comic fans. As long as Bruce Wayne is Batman everything is good, not a whole lot of depth keep it light. Keep telling me the same story…..
    And you can go wrong with Cooke, New Frontier had perhaps one of the weakest endings of recent memory it could have been a Marvel event or a Millar book. Cooke copys 50’s advertising I don’t get what’s brilliant about that. It all looks like a Krispy Kreme doughnut ad.

  4. “I could care less about all the “hoopla” surrounding this project, I just want to read comics and be entertained.”

    For consumers of a genre built on good people doing heroic things, superhero fans are weirdly amoral. :/

  5. What shocks me most is that some of my favorite creators are revealed to have no integrity. DC and these “artists”are shitting down the neck of creator’s rights.

    How would Mr. Azzarello feel about someone writing HIS Minutemen without his approval.

    But the people involved are talented and everyone gets paid. Perfectly justifiable.

  6. How would Mr. Azzarello feel about someone writing HIS Minutemen without his approval.

    I guess the same way Len Wein might have felt about someone writing HIS Swamp Thing without his approval.

    I find the hate around this project a little curious. Why are people are cool with revisiting Deathlok or Animal Man but not this?

  7. Had Alan Moore used the original Charlton characters as he originally planned there would be an already existing prequel. Story-wise I see little difference.

  8. @ filippod. Perhaps you are a little mind-addled from continuity changes. Moore did not use Charlton characters. Therefore supposing what did not happen makes no sense. Do you see how that works? For example, if the US and Russia destroyed each other in a nuclear war in the 1980’s we would not here.

  9. @Chris, actually, filippod has a good point. Where was Alan Moore’s righteous indignation when he was originally working under the premise that the story WOULD include the Charlton characters, whose creators were still alive in some cases?

  10. I love that one adaption Alan Moore did when he adapted the Charlton superheroes for his adaption of “The Architects of Fear.” Loved that book. What was it called. . .

  11. Phil is dead on – not sure why you’re derisively calling this “fanfic” when pretty much everything DC and Marvel are publishing nowadays reads like fanfic. Really, it’s been that way since fans started becoming professionals in the 70s and 80s…

  12. Let’s get a clue here people: If “DC” or “Marvel” is on a paycheck – it’s not ‘fan fic’. Get over it.

  13. @JimShelley: The difference is that Alan Moore produced Watchmen with the understanding that the characters and setting were his property*, while the creators of Swamp Thing, Animal Man, and most other DC properties knew going into it that they were… DC properties. Both situations suck, but the situation with Watchmen sucks more.

    *The switch from the Charlton characters happened early on in the process.

  14. I guess the same way Len Wein might have felt about someone writing HIS Swamp Thing without his approval.

    Len Wein was the EDITOR of Swamp Thing when Alan Moore was hired to write the book. Do you think he might have been OK with it? If he’s said anywhere publicly that he wasn’t OK with it, I’m willing to be proven wrong. Maybe Len Wein’s participation in Before Watchmen is all part of his revenge on Alan Moore for writing Swamp Thing.

    Why are people cool with revisiting Deathlok or Animal Man but not this?

    I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that for starters, maybe it has to do with the fact that I don’t see the creators of said characters giving numerous interviews in which they state that they don’t want anyone to do anything more with the characters they created.

    Also, those characters weren’t part of a work that was created to have a beginning, a middle and an end. And as much as I enjoy Animal Man and Deathlok, if you don’t see the difference between continuing to publish characters explicitly designed for serialized fiction and exploiting characters from a graphic novel that made Time magazine’s list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923, AGAINST the wishes of one of its creators, then you’re just being silly.

    Finally, if you believe Alan Moore, when he and Dave Gibbons created Watchmen, they were under the impression that they’d own it eventually, as he says in this recent interview:

    “This is something where originally we were told that we could embark upon Watchmen because they knew that we wanted to own our own stuff and they had a contract that would enable us to have the rights back when they went out of print. Now back at that time there was no such thing as a comic that had remained in print for more than six months so we signed these contracts, obviously without reading them very carefully because we trusted these people, then we found out… that DC Comics would own all this stuff forever.”

    Yes, Mr. Moore should have read his contracts more carefully, as he himself admits, but just because DC has the legal right to do Before Watchmen doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

    Some pros have said that the ownership issue isn’t as black and white as fans on either side of this issue are making it out to be, and I’m guessing that’s probably true, but in the end, Before Watchmen is a bunch of people who had nothing to do with creating Watchmen act like they know better than one of the guys who brought it to life.

    So I’m not buying it.

  15. “So I’m not buying it”

    —naw, you’re just gonna come to sites like this and write about it endlessly…face it chad—you are BUYING!!!

  16. I’m not a huge Amanda Connor fan. Despite this very open to being pleasantly surprised. Which DC has yet to do in over a year. The rumor of JMS reinventing things again is truly getting old. Nevertheless DC is encouraging reinvention and tossing all the old in the garbage, his New 52 Comedian will be eaten up by the old DC stalwarts who don’t complain on the internet. After all DC’s own scientific Nielsen market survey research says so.

  17. I can’t wait to see what the people who blindly defend Alan Moore’s use of other characters in LoEG when he releases the book set in 2009 full of modern characters still under copyright (with slightly changed names I’m sure).

    They gonna say Moore is being respectful even after he does his usual schtick of turning everyone into a rapist and/or perv?

    Or will it just be like with James Bond in Black Dossier where they employ hardcore doublethink to say the character both is and isn’t Bond at the same time?

  18. Jim – it’s because Watchmen is a complete narrative and one of the most finely tuned pieces of fiction that the comics industry has turned out. As soon as Deathlok has a story as good as Watchmen, I’m sure you’ll get indignant fans bitching when he pops up in X-Force or whatever.

  19. Yes, Johnny Memeonic, how DARE Alan Moore use established literary concepts like pastiche and parody and homage to write his OWN version of a story. What does Alan Moore think he is, a writer?

  20. I agree that Before Watchmen is NOT fanfic. No fan of Alan Moore would be involved.

    Incidentally, that’s how I feel about all fanfic. If you’re a fan of the work, don’t fuck with it.

  21. Still (and that was the point of my original post) I don’t see how on a purely narrative point of view “Watchmen” is going to be diminished by the publishing of a prequel.

  22. All the people who defend this idea, can you please clear your mind for five minutes? Sit up straight, focus five feet in front of you, and don’t think. Then, see if you feel the same way. Thanks!

  23. Still (and that was the point of my original post) I don’t see how on a purely narrative point of view “Watchmen” is going to be diminished by the publishing of a prequel.

    Because WATCHMEN wasn’t written with a prequel in mind. In any given story, the adult characters will have histories, but the reader knows them only to the extent needed for the story to work. If a writer comes back to them and tries to create a prequel for no purpose other than that a publisher wants one, it will very likely not be as successful artistically as the first story was. The differences in his mindset are everything.

    SRS

  24. I don’t see how on a purely narrative point of view “Watchmen” is going to be diminished by the publishing of a prequel.

    It won’t. Watchmen will still be a great read, and people will ignore Before Watchmen the same way they do all the sequels to Dracula, Gone With the Wind and the like.

    But it’s still not a good idea.

  25. @scott Personally: I love Watchmen and I admire Moore but don’t give a damn about the prequels in the broadest sense. I’m not looking forward to them, I’m not outraged by them. Am I weird?

    While I can to some extent relate to the the fuss about the moral ambiguity of the contractual situation (the whole Moore didn’t expect the book to stay in print forever thing) again, the original Watchmen book is what it is and nothing can change that: prequels, sequels, movies, video games, trading cards, action figures, novelizations, radio dramas, Dr. Manhattan PEZ dispensers or Rorschach sings Sinatra Christmas Albums.

    And now if @Chris will excuse me I will go back to addle my mind with the continuity questions that the meeting of Earth-616 and Earth-1610 Spider-Men will pose. Jeez, some people are really sour.

  26. Yes, Johnny Memeonic, how DARE Alan Moore use established literary concepts like pastiche and parody and homage to write his OWN version of a story. What does Alan Moore think he is, a writer?

    League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is okay cuase it was a, uh, parody, YEAH, parody! Cause Voldemort molesting a woman for 8 pages sure says a lot about them thar Harry Potter novels amirite?

  27. @flippod Unfortunately, that does not make you weird. If you stand by and let a guy get shot and your excuse is that he’s a cool guy, but you just don’t care, is that morally defensible to you? You are in control, but be honest with yourself.

  28. @filippod You know, and I mean this seriously, I just realized I am what’s wrong with comics. I turned 38 this year and I have been reading comics for 30 years. I am married with 2 kids, I made more money last year than I have ever made in my life. AND I am reading and talking about comics like they are written for me. I am like a 25 year old dude at a high school party. I am moving on this stuff is for you younger guys (and gals). Good luck and be well.

  29. @ chris. Please do me a favor and don’t lump me in with today’s comic fans. You don’t know me nor my buying habits. And yes Cooke can do know wrong in my eyes. I enjoy his craftsmanship, design and his storytelling ability both with his scripts and his layouts. That said it is my opinion, sorry you don’t like him but with all the good stuff going on in your life you really shouldn’t be so pissy.

  30. @Chris I’m not a younger guy. I am 42, married, one daughter and I have been reading comics for as long as I can remember.

    I’ve read Watchmen for the first time when I was 17. I’ve been reading alternative b/w stuff since I was 20. I read all sorts of stuff including Japanese, French and Italian stuff.

    I had my disgruntled period. I chose to concentrate on what I like and not on what I don’t – and the magic came back.

    And since we are talking about prequels: wanna read the best prequel ever and feel starry eyed and giddy? Try Jeffrey Brown’s “Darth Vader and son”.

  31. @Chad – I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that for starters, maybe it has to do with the fact that I don’t see the creators of said characters giving numerous interviews in which they state that they don’t want anyone to do anything more with the characters they created.

    Well, perhaps if I had used Blade that would have been a better example as that character was part of a lawsuit.

    Regardless, several people have brought up a point which I was unaware of which is that DC promised Alan Moore the rights of the characters. That does put a bit of a different shade on the whole project.

  32. For those of you who have decided not to buy any Before Watchmen issues, please do those of us who sell comics for a living a favor and not read them at your LCS.

    This request doesn’t apply to those who entertain the idea of buying some depending on the content.

    To the former, I respect your principles, but please try not to have it both ways. Thank you.

Comments are closed.