DC Comics Announces ‘Before Watchmen’
It’s been rumored for months now, and the official announcement has been made!
“This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed Watchmen universe,” said David Hyde on DC Comics blog The Source. “As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original Watchmen, the best-selling graphic novel of all time. Before Watchmen will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics.”
“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”
Comics creators working on the project will include Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), Lee Bermejo (Joker), Amanda Conner (Power Girl), Darwyn Cooke (Justice League: New Frontier), John Higgins (Watchmen), Adam Hughes (Catwoman), J.G. Jones (Final Crisis), Andy Kubert (Flashpoint), Joe Kubert (Sgt. Rock), Jae Lee (Batman: Jekyll And Hyde), J. Michael Straczynski (Superman: Earth One) and Len Wein (Swamp Thing).
Here’s what will take place as part of Before Watchmen:
- RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
- MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
- COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
- DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
- NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
- OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
- SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner
“Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called Curse Of The Crimson Corsair, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins,” the site reported. “There will also be a single issue, Before Watchmen: Epilogue, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a Crimson Corsair story by Wein and Higgins.”
“The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell,” said Dave Gibbons, Watchmen co-creator and original series artist. ”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.”
“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Straczynski was asked how he became involved with the project. “The short answer is: I was asked. The long answer: Ever since Dan DiDio was handed the reins (along with Jim Lee) over at DC, he’s been making bold, innovative moves that might have scared the hell out of anyone else. At a time in the industry when big events tend to be ‘Okay, we had Team A fight Team B last year, so this year we’re gonna have Team B fight team C!’ Dan has chosen to revitalize lines, reinvent worlds and come at Watchmen head-on. It was, I think, about two years ago that he first mentioned that he was considering the idea, and he’s to be commended for fighting to make this happen.”
Was he nervous about working on a follow-up to Watchmen?
“Anyone who sets foot into the Watchmen universe and isn’t just a little nervous should be given a few days of electroshock therapy,” Straczynski said. “I’ve always considered Watchmen to be one of the best graphic novels ever written, and when it came out back in 1986 I was as blown away as everyone else. Just masterful.
“The thing is, though, writers are always being asked to play in amazing universes created by other people, and you can’t let that scare you. If Darren Aronofsky can plan for a Noah’s Ark movie, Steven Spielberg can consider tackling the story of Moses, and Mel Gibson can do another Bible movie, I think it’s safe to say that the Watchmen universe is fair game, provided that you approach the work with clean hands and good intent.”
“The perception that these characters shouldn’t be touched by anyone other than Alan is both absolutely understandable and deeply flawed,” he said. “As good as these characters are – and they are very good indeed – one could make the argument, based on durability and recognition, that Superman is the greatest comics character ever created. But I don’t hear Alan or anyone else suggesting that no one other than Shuster and Siegel should have been allowed to write Superman. Certainly Alan himself did this when he was brought on to write Swamp Thing, a seminal comics character created by Len Wein.
“Leaving aside the fact that the Watchmen characters were variations on pre-existing characters created for the Charleton Comics universe, it should be pointed out that Alan has spent most of the last decade writing very good stories about characters created by other writers, including Alice (from Alice in Wonderland), Dorothy (from Wizard of Oz), Wendy (from Peter Pan), as well as Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Jeyll and Hyde, and Professor Moriarty (used in the successful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). I think one loses a little of the moral high ground to say, “I can write characters created by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Frank Baum, but it’s wrong for anyone else to write my characters.
“The whole point of having great characters is the opportunity to explore them more deeply with time, re-interpreting them for each new age,” said the Babylon 5 creator. “That DC allowed these characters to sit on a shelf for over two decades as a show of respect is salutary, but there comes a time when good characters have to re-enter the world to teach us something about ourselves in the present.
When asked why DC is making a prequel rather than a sequel, Straczynski said, “Alan spends a lot of time in the original Watchmen teasing out details of the history of our characters before the time in which the graphic novel is set. In so doing, he gave us an excellent road map that would let us hew more truly to the characters than by telling a story that takes place after those events. The first time all of us got together in New York to solidify the storyline, we each had copies ofWatchmen in hand and whenever a question was raised about what happened to whom and when, we’d flip through looking for the slightest clue. I joked at the time that it looked a lot like Saturday afternoon Bible Study.”
When asked if the books will interact with each other, he said, “There’s some overlap here and there, but it’s more thematic than plot-oriented. I think DC wanted to give each writer the room to really play with the characters he was given without worrying too much about tying it in with everyone else’s story. At some point, the integrity of each of the miniseries would be compromised trying to do that. Instead, we were free to really follow the story of each hero cleanly. One of the things that has bugged me about recent comics publishing ‘events’ is that the individual characters or titles are too often sacrificed to the vested interests of that event; here, DC turned the formula upside down and let the ‘event’ serve the individual characters.”
Three of the covers can be seen with this article!
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available!
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