DC Comics is once again kicking around the idea to a sequel/ prequel to The Watchmen. This by all accounts is one the dumbest things in
the world they could and would ever do. The Watchmen, written by that mad
genius Englishman Alan Moore,
stands as one of the best, if not the best, graphic novels of all time. It even
made Time magazine 100 greatest novels along with other stand-outs like The
Dark Knight Returns and Bone. Needless to say it is ground breaking and
important to the comic book industry.
However “Marvel Family” hater (another topic,
another time)
and co-publisher of DC Comics Dan DiDio really wants to go forward with
this. Of
course DiDio has already brought us “continuations” of classic
groundbreaking
works with The Dark Knight Returns’ sequel (The Dark Knight Strikes
Again) and
what writer Frank Miller called it’s prequel (All Star Batman and
Robin). And those were bad. Not just everyday bad, but the kind of mad
that makes you actually start to dislike the good stuff that preceded
it. Like, these couldn't possibly have been written by the same guy,
bad! Seriously, if
you’re lucky enough to have never read them, do yourselves a favor
folks... avoid
‘em like the plague! (If morbid curiosity does get the better of you, at
least
check out the video reviews of TDKSA and ASBAR by Linkara. Hell, check
the
reviews if you have read them. They’re very amusing!)
The “extraordinary gentleman” himself Alan Moore wants nopart of this. I mean, why should he after his treatment at DC and its latest
rounds of destroying everything he built over there? (For those keeping score,
DC has in recent years systematically eliminated or retconned every character Moore created or
reinvented. Seriously, if I was Sodam Yat, I’d watching my ass because more
then likely he’s going to die.) Did Moore’s lack of
involvement (or blessing) stop Dan DiDio and Warner Brothers from making a big
screen adaptation of The Watchmen? No, it was just a minor setback… a speed
bump if you will. That abomination of a
movie was still released and we never got our squid.
Now at this time you must be asking yourself who on earth
could helm a sequel to The Watchmen if the Translucia Baboon (pen name of Alan
Moore) isn’t going to do it? I mean, if
it has to be done (which it doesn’t) at least give the reins to a writer
of comparable skill, right? Maybe his friends Neil Gaiman or Warren Ellis, both
wonderful writers who have given us great comics, could give it a go. I mean, Gaiman
even took over after Moore’s
run on Miracleman (now back to Marvelman). What about Grant Morrison, DC Comics’
own crazy genius? Or how about DC’s golden boy Geoff Johns? Amazingly not one
of their names has even come up for such a monumental task.
What about Frank Miller? He’s done an amazing job tarnishing
his own legacy. Maybe he could start to ruin Alan Moore’s and from there work a
swath of destruction across the legacies of his peers like a cancer until it
affects the entire comic book industry? (Seriously, did you see The Spirit?) Thankfully
Frank is busy writing about a Batman archetype fighting Jihadists.
John Bryne said (jokingly, I hope) that Rob Liefeld should
do it. Are you high?! You want a man who has publicly slammed Moore for his writing to take a shot at
arguably his greatest work? (Picture a massively muscular Rorschach covered in
pouches and brandishing two gigantic guns. Wait, on second thought don’t.) I mean, why not stick Todd MacFarlane on the
book making it a whole tossed salad of bad 90’s wrong?
While names like Darwyn Cooke, JG Jones, Brian Azzerello,
and J. Michael Stracznski have been tossed around in connection with this,
nothing is set in stone as of yet. Clearly this is a motivation purely of
dollar signs to attempt to continue off of such a cherished work clearly
without an idea or story or even a plan.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I like most sane non-money
grabbing people, think this a bad idea. I mean what’s next? Citizen Kane
finally gets that sequel that no one is waiting for? Sequels/Prequels rarely if
ever work out; please note the many failures of movies, comics, books and
television shows. Those that do succeed tend to be built from a labor of love,
not money; the cultivation of an idea or desire to add another chapter to the
story.
So if Dan DiDio or anyone from DC Comics is reading this
(which I highly doubt), please reconsider. No one wants this except idiots.
As I see it there are only ways a Watchmen sequel would work.
ReplyDeleteThe first sets the story a decade or so past the original with Niteowl and Silk Specter mentoring a new generation of "costumed adventurers." But you need a damn good story and the answer questions like "What about Rorschach's journal?" and "What happened to Ozymandias?"
The second would be a completely different story about heroes that would have nothing to do with the original until you find out the "God" and creator of their world is Dr. Manhattan (who as you recall left Earth saying he might create life of his own). But you would need to hide the reveal and I'm not sure calling it The Watchmen 2 would do that.