Moore stated in 1985 that if the Watchmen limited series was well-received, he and Gibbons would possibly create a 12-issue prequel series called Minutemen featuring the 1940s superhero group from the story.[1] DC offered Moore and Gibbons chances to publish prequels to the series, such as Rorschach's Journal or The Comedian's Vietnam War Diary, as well as hinting at the possibility of other authors using the same universe. Tales of the Comedian's Vietnam War experiences were floated because The 'Nam was popular at the time, while another suggestion was, according to Gibbons, for a "Nite Owl/Rorschach team" (in the manner of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and also in the sense that the original Charlton characters Blue Beetle and The Question had worked together as a team from time-to-time). Neither man felt the stories would have gone anywhere, with Moore particularly adamant that DC not go forward with stories by other individuals.[2] Gibbons was more attracted to the idea of a Minutemen series, because it would have "[paid] homage to the simplicity and unsophisticated nature of Golden Age comic books—with the added dramatic interest that it would be a story whose conclusion is already known. It would be, perhaps, interesting to see how we got to the conclusion."[3]
In 2010, Moore told Wired that DC offered him the rights to Watchmen back earlier that week, if he would agree to prequel and sequel projects. Moore said that "if they said that 10 years ago, when I asked them for that, then yeah it might have worked ... But these days I don't want Watchmen back. Certainly, I don't want it back under those kinds of terms." DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee responded, "DC Comics would only revisit these iconic characters if the creative vision of any proposed new stories matched the quality set by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons nearly 25 years ago, and our first discussion on any of this would naturally be with the creators themselves."[4]
Following months of rumors about a potential Watchmen follow-up project, in February 2012 DC announced seven prequel limited series under the "Before Watchmen" banner: Rorschach, Minutemen, Dr. Manhattan, Comedian, Silk Spectre, Nite Owl, and Ozymandias. The books were written by J. Michael Straczynski, Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, and Len Wein, and drawn by Lee Bermejo, J. G. Jones, Adam Hughes, Andy Kubert, Joe Kubert, and Amanda Conner. Every issue featured a two-page installment of the backup series "Curse of the Crimson Corsair" written by Len Wein and drawn by original Watchmen colorist John Higgins. The backup was inspired by the Tales of the Black Freighterstory within a story from the original Watchmen. A Before Watchmen: Epilogue one-shot was announced but never published.
Gibbons stated,
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.[5]
Moore criticized the project, calling it "completely shameless", and stated he was not interested in monetary compensation, but rather “What I want is for this not to happen.”[6] Moore elaborated,
What the comics industry has effectively said is, 'Yes, this was the only book that made us briefly special and that was because it wasn't like all the other books.' Watchmen was something that stood on its own and it had the integrity of a literary work. What they've decided now is, 'So, let's change it to a regular comic that can run indefinitely and have spin-offs.' and 'Let's make it as unexceptional as possible.' Like I say, they're doing this because they haven't got any other choices left, evidently.[7]
Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, recounts his exploits with The Minutemen during the 1940s, while in the midst of his retirement, he faces opposition to the publication of his tell-all autobiography, Under the Hood in the early 1960s. Although it heavily retconned certain characters' backstories by suggesting that a large part of Under the Hood was dirty lies and cover ups, it debuted to positive reviews.[9][10][11]
Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre (four issues)
Writers: Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner. Artist: Amanda Conner[8]
The story follows Laurie Jupiter as she rebels against her mother Sally's efforts for Laurie to replace her as the Silk Spectre. Laurie runs away with her boyfriend to discover herself in the San Franciscocounterculture of the 1960s. The story debuted to mixed reviews.[12][13][14]
The plot takes place in the early 1960s, where 17-year-old Daniel Dreiberg is trained by Hollis Mason, the Nite Owl who led the vigilante team The Minutemen, as he narrates his first adventures as the second Nite Owl. Dreiberg and Rorschach did not get along, but they started an early partnership when they begin looking at a series of prostitute murders. Each recalled the abuse their mother suffered when they were children. Nite Owl inadvertently allows seduction into his world of vigilantism, courtesy of the dominatrix madam The Twilight Lady, while Rorschach turns toward religion, bringing the duo back together to solve the case. The story debuted to mostly positive reviews.[19][20][21]
As he awaits the final moment for his master plan to come together, Ozymandias reflects on what brought him there and makes an autobiographical recording of his life that spans 1939-1985 (when the story of Watchmen takes place). We see his early studies and adventures, the beginnings of his financial empire and his crime-fighting career, and his first unnerving encounters with The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan—the latter of which prompted him to build his Antarctic fortress of Karnak, aid in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis, and retire from crime-fighting to concentrate on saving the world at any cost. The story debuted to mostly positive reviews.[22][23][24]
The story follows Rorschach in New York City, 1977, where his crime-fighting activities cause him to be targeted by a crime lord running drugs and prostitution in the sordid Times Square. While focused on the gang, Rorschach makes the mistake of allowing another predator to operate unchallenged. The story debuted to mixed reviews.[25][26][27]
The story explores the different universes that Doctor Manhattan alias Jon Osterman simultaneously perceives. It also adds a notable new element to Osterman's backstory by revealing him to be a half-Jewish German immigrant who escaped with his father from the Third Reich to America; in the original Watchmen series, he was not implied to be anything other than American. It debuted to positive reviews.[28][29][30]
Moloch, alias Edgar William Jacobi, was an ex-nemesis of the Minutemen. This story reveals information about Moloch's childhood, his turn to villainy, and new details surrounding his death. According to review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup, the series received an average score of 5.8/10 based on 12 critic reviews.[32]
Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill (one-shot)
Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Steve Rude
The story explores Bill Brady, the corporate-sponsored superhero and Minutemen team member known as Dollar Bill.[33]
Unpublished
Before Watchmen: Curse of the Crimson Corsair
Writers: Len Wein. Artists: John Higgins.
A series focused on Crimson Corsair was planned but Wein left to work on Before Watchmen: Epilogue. Higgins had also written and drawn the Crimson Corsair back-up features that appear in many of the Before Watchmen publications.[34]
Before Watchmen: Epilogue (one-shot)
Writers: Various. Artists: Various
The planned Epilogue one-shot was cancelled.[35] It would have featured a Crimson Corsair story written by Len Wein and drawn by John Higgins.[36]
Collected editions
Title
Material collected
Published date
ISBN
Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-6 and Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1-4
Before Watchmen: Comedian #1-6, Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1-4, Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-6, Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1-4, Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1-4, Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1-4, Before Watchmen: Moloch #1-2, Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1-6, Before Watchmen: Crimson Corsair #1 and Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill #1
The television series Watchmen is set 34 years after the original comic, and includes several events from Before Watchmen adapted in-universe as a television series titled American Hero Story: Minutemen.[37]
Notes
↑ Heintjes, Tom (March 1986). "Alan Moore On (Just About) Everything". The Comics Journal.
Watchmen is a comic book limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-volume edition in 1987. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced Moore to create original characters instead.
Rorschach is a fictional antihero in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics in 1986. Rorschach was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons; as with most of the main characters in the series, he was an analogue for a Charlton Comics character, in this case Steve Ditko's the Question. Moore also modeled Rorschach on Mr. A, another Steve Ditko creation on whom the Question was originally based.
Leonard Norman Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
David Chester Gibbons is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything". He was an artist for 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977.
Doctor Manhattan is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the limited series graphic novel, Watchmen.
The Comedian is a fictional character who debuted in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. The Comedian was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons. As with most of the main characters in the series, he was an analogue for a Charlton Comics character, in this case the Peacemaker. Moore imagined the Comedian as a mix between the Peacemaker with "a little bit of Nick Fury" and "probably a bit of the standard Captain America patriotic hero-type".
Nite Owl is the name of two superheroes in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Nite Owl, Hollis T. Mason, was a member of the crimefighting team the Minutemen, while the second, Daniel "Dan" Dreiberg, became a member of the vigilante team Crimebusters, also known as the titular Watchmen.
Silk Spectre is the name of two fictional superheroines in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the original Silk Spectre, Sally "Jupiter" Juspeczyk, was a member of the crimefighting team the Minutemen, while the second, Sally's daughter Laurel "Laurie" Jane Juspeczyk, became a member of the vigilante team Crimebusters, also known as the titular Watchmen.
Adrian Alexander Veidt, also known as Ozymandias, is a fictional anti-villain in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published by DC Comics. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, named "Ozymandias" in the manner of Ramesses II, his name recalls the famous poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which takes as its theme the fleeting nature of empire and is excerpted as the epigraph of one of the chapters of Watchmen.
Watchmen is a 2009 American superhero film based on the 1986–1987 DC Comics limited series of the same name co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse, the film features Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. A dark and dystopian deconstruction of the superhero genre, the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War, as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigate the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy, while their moral limitations are challenged by the complex nature of the circumstances.
John Higgins is an English comic book artist and writer. He did significant work for 2000 AD, and he has frequently worked with writer Alan Moore, most notably as colourist for Watchmen.
Notable events of 1986 in comics.
Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is an episodic video game series that serves as a prequel to the film adaptation of the DC Comics limited series Watchmen. The game was originally announced for release in downloadable installments on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, with the first one released in March 2009 to coincide with the film's theatrical release. The second episode was released in July and August 2009.
Saturday Morning Watchmen is a Newgrounds and YouTube viral video published on March 5, 2009, the day before the release of the live-action Watchmen film. The musical video parodies the DC Comics limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, portraying the opening sequence of a fictional 1980s Saturday morning cartoon based on the series. The video was animated, written, composed and sung by Harry Partridge and voiced by Partridge, Joshua Tomar, and Hans Van Harken. In stark contrast to the comic, it has a cheerful, upbeat tone, poking fun at the tendency of the campy nature of 1980s animation to sanitize superheroes and other violent themes. It features many of the mainstays of 1980s cartoons, like catchy rock themes, and references to the openings of ThunderCats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jem, The Legend of Zelda, and Scooby-Doo. On the Newgrounds site, Partridge stated the video "combines two huge passions of mine, one being the comic genius that is Alan Moore and the other being kids' programming from the late '80s, which I would say is my biggest animation inspiration."
Watchmensch is a one-shot comic book by writer Rich Johnston and artist Simon Rohrmüller released by Brain Scan Studios. It parodies the Watchmen limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, along with the comics industry, the movies they spawn and the creators that get trampled on.
Watchmen is a 2009 film based on the twelve-issue graphic novel series of the same name created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, published by DC Comics between 1986 and 1987. The graphic novel's film rights were acquired by producer Lawrence Gordon in 1986. Many problems halted the adaptation's development, with four different studios and various directors and screenwriters being attached to the project through twenty years. In 2006, Zack Snyder, who at the time was filming another comic book adaptation, was hired by Warner Bros. to helm Watchmen. Filming started in 2007, and following deals with two of the previous companies involved in the development—Paramount Pictures was responsible for international distribution rights after budgetary issues in 2004, resulting in a lawsuit by 20th Century Fox. Fox, which was already contacted by Gordon in 1987, received $1 million of the gross—the Watchmen adaptation was finally released in March 2009.
Doomsday Clock is a 2017–2019 superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics, written by Geoff Johns with art by penciller Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson. The series concludes a tangential story established in the New 52 and DC Rebirth, and it is a sequel to the 1986–1987 graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, making it the first official crossover between Watchmen and the mainstream DC Universe.
Rorschach is an American comic book limited series written by Tom King and drawn by Jorge Fornés, based on the character of the same name. The series is published by DC Comics under their DC Black Label imprint. Rorschach is one of two sequels to the comic book maxiseries Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the other being Doomsday Clock. Ignoring the events of Doomsday Clock, the comic is also tangentially and loosely linked to the 2019 television limited series by Damon Lindelof, set after its events. The standalone story analyses the divisive cultural presence of Rorschach, a deranged superhero who died during the events of Watchmen, while a detective investigates a prolific assassination attempt.
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