Wow. I never thought that this would happen, but it looks like we are going to getting more Watchmen comics. (Does this mean another movie down the line also?)
DC just announced that they will be releasing 7 mini-series under the umbrella of Before Watchmen. These prequels will tell the story of the Minutemen prior to the events of the seminal classic Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons series.
Industry and fan reaction is very mixed. I'm super curious about this as well. The line-up of creators looks amazing -- including JMS, Len Wein, Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, The Kuberts, Lee Bermejo, Amanda Conner, Jae Lee, J.G. Jones, and Adam Hughes.
So what does Alan Moore have to say? Well, he's not happy with this. Obviously.
Dave Gibbons is quoted in the PR release as saying: "The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC's reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire."
What do I think? As a kid who bought the original series in single issues and as an adult fan who has read the collection repeatedly through the years -- I'm skeptical. The fan in me wants more (and the lineup of creators seem like a great team), but the artist in me wants to leave the canon alone. But yeah, I'm probably going to be buying it -- at least out of curiosity's sake.
We'll see how it all turns out this summer. The clock is ticking....
(Happy new year, by the way!)
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