Comic prequel receives backlash

Last week, DC Comics dropped a bombshell by announcing the Before Watchmen line, a set of miniseries designed to serve as a prequel to the landmark 1986 series. The seven titles, plus a stand-alone wrap-up issue, are set for release this year and the announcement set off a flurry of heated discussion among comic book readers.

Before Watchmen is a huge deal because Watchmen is considered by many to be an essentially sacred title — but not this columnist.

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ series is the only comic book to make it on Time’s list of 100 Best Novels. It inspired books on philosophy, influenced shows such as Lost and, to this day, fans continue debating the book’s ending.

Many of the comments against Before Watchmen argue that it’s just DC exploiting a classic series without the approval of Moore and that the company is using a loophole to keep ownership of the series.  Disapproving fans are treating this as if it’s a defilement that is cheapening the series. And Alan Moore himself has said that the story is finished and no more can or should be done with it.

But let’s think about it from a purely practical sense. For one thing, the argument saying that Moore was cheated out of ownership of the series is wrong — the deal stated that rights would revert back to Moore and Gibbons a year after Watchmen went out of print. Watchmen, however, was such a hit that it’s been in print constantly since it’s release in 1986.

And, Before Watchmen offers the comic book industry a way to get fresh blood in the market. Watchmen is one of the biggest names in comics, and one of the few comics free of heavy continuity brought on by the nature of ongoing titles. It’s a gateway series for the world of comics. Before Watchmen is a way for people with the occasional interest in comics to pick up a book and join in.

And not only that, DC put together an amazing set of creative teams for the prequel books. It’s clear that the company didn’t attach the Watchmen logo to a series it hastily put together to make some quick cash. These are creators who might not match the tone of Moore and Gibbons’ work, but each creative team lends itself to a certain style that work with the narrowed focus on individual characters.

Darwyn Cooke, the creator whose retro style made him perfect for the recent adaptations of Donald Westlake’s Parker series, is helming two books, while Watchmen’s original editor — and long-time comic writer — Len Wein is writing the Ozymandias title, coupled with artist Jae Lee, who spent the last few years adapting Stephen King books to the comics medium.

Add to this the other creators — including Lee Bermejo, Adam Hughes and J. Michael Straczynski — and it’s really easy to get excited for this line of books, even for someone who doesn’t like Watchmen.

Granted, there are some problems with the idea behind Before Watchmen. Dr. Manhattan aside, the Watchmen universe is entirely devoid of superpowers, and on top of that, it presents the struggle between superheroes and villains as a dull, colorless world. Moore and Gibbons made an effort to play up the banality of it all.

Unless the creative teams want to alter the world they’re setting their stories in— which is unlikely, considering Watchmen’s revered status and the amount of effort being put into these prequels by DC — there’s a strong chance these series will find themselves constrained and unable to offer a truly strong story.

At the same time, there’s the fear these might serve solely to offer jokes about Watchmen itself. Much of the characters’ backgrounds were already explained in the main series, so could these just be four to six issues focusing on asking readers if they caught that foreshadowing of Rorschach’s absolutist lunacy or Ozymandias’s idealism?

It will take a lot of creativity to find fresh stories inWatchmen’s established history. The creators are capable, but it’s still a daunting challenge.

But even if Before Watchmen falls into those pitfalls, it’s still a good thing for the industry. Watchmen is a milestone for comic books, and this is a way to draw readers in. Yet, these series, going off of the quality and talent of those involved, could be good and enhance the Watchmen universe. If it isn’t, Watchmen will still stand on its own, and not be dragged down by these prequels.

 

Nicholas Slayton is a junior majoring in print and digital journalism. His column “Panel to Panel” runs Thursdays.