A Word From One of the Creators
From the desk of Eric Ratcliffe
Okay, so right off the bat this week, I do want to mention that New Comic Day is still looking for a new artist. We of course have a letterer and a colorist so all we’d need is some pencils and inks and honestly just someone awesome who will gel well with myself, Brant and Alyssa. We do have several interested parties. (One of them is a new friend and I’m still heavily looking forward to seeing what he comes up with) So if you’re at all interested, shoot me an email at Eric@newcomicday.net and we shall go from there!
Alright so…the topic at hand, Before Watchmen. Let me be as blunt as possible on this one: I’m not reading this; I have only a little interest in it and I’m not sure why it’s happening. I know Dan Didio’s reasoning was something along the lines of “After people saw the trailer for the movie, 1,000,000 copies of Watchmen were sold” but how exactly does that translate into: “Alright, folks, a series that had a beginning, middle and end totally needs a bunch of prequel material”
It doesn’t. I’m not saying that Watchmen was the most original thing ever here because a large portion of comic fans know that Moore originally wanted to use the Charlton characters so Captain Atom, Blue Beetle and The Question would have been in the respective roles we see in the book filled by Dr. Manhattan, Rorsach and Night Owl. But at the same time it was a limited series that told a full story, it gave you hints into a backstory and really fed you all the information you needed.
Not everything needs a full on prequel. Especially something that had its complete story already told. I love a lot of the creators involved. Darwyn Cooke, Amanda Connor and a few others are incredibly cool, but I just don’t get what the idea was that made editorial go “hey, let’s add more backstory into this world!”
I honestly believe that no matter what, these prequel stories will hurt the original story and mythology in that book. A book that, might I add, was essential to the history of comics when it came out. It’s one of those books that showed a growing audience that comics just weren’t for children, that they could very much be this amazing artistic medium that could give you this mature, dark and unique story.
I mean, I really am trying not to be jaded on the whole thing, but I can’t recommend people read this stuff. I’d honestly just tell them to check out the original book.
Next week…the countdown to Chad’s last few New Comic Day strips continue as things in the Watchmen arc get a bit more…explosion centric? Find out what I’m talking about in 7, folks!
So nobody figured out I was in the Rorschack costume! And just to play Dutch Uncle here, WATCHMEN remains a great comic book, as THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. DC never stop doing more Batman stories after that one, I see no problems with doing more Watchmen stories. None of these books will in any shape or form diminish the relevancy and historical positioning of Moore’s classic. Go buy the comics and enjoy them.
I agree that Watchmen was a complete story that doesn’t require prequels or sequels, but we can’t expect them not to do it. What nerd-appreciated thing hasn’t been mined for sequels, spin-off, and such? Heck, a lot of literary classics have been as well, even Moore himself has used characters from books that didn’t need sequels or prequels either. I’m not attacking, I’m jsut not sure where the idea that Watchmen should be treated unlike anything else comes from.
(And, yes, I realize that some things have so far been left alone, like Sandman, Preacher, and Hitman. Barring contractual obligations, I’m not going to be surprised to see something eventually.)
I disagree with the idea that the prequels will weaken it. If they are bad they’ll simply be ignored, like Dark Knight Strikes Again, or whatever that awful sequel to the Dark Knight Returns was called. That was the original creator coming back, and doing a horrible, horrible job of it. On the other hand, this is Darwyn “New Frontier” Cooke and I can’t pass that up. I’m not getting them all, I don’t have that much interest, my choice on which ones to pick up is based on the creators involved.
Now, on the strip at hand, I love it. Great stuff that made me laugh. And the costumes are all great. Chad really hit it this time.