Watchmen 2? Oh, FUCK no.

[ThatNickGuy]

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/02/03/alan-moore-watchmen/#more-95

Well, it seems to be happening a lot sooner than I thought. I understand now that this considered a pet project of Dan DiDio, SVP-Executive Editor. That he is determined to impress new bosses by building on DC’s biggest selling comic book of all time with multiple prequel comic miniseries and spinoff ongoing projects.

Right, you know what? This happens? I am done with DC. This includes the comics, movies, cartoons, etc. There's no way in fucking hell I'll support this shit.

The only exception I'll make are selected Vertigo books, because Vertigo is essentially a separate company with their own business practices.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Just find some old copies of Charlton Comics...

 

[Dave]

I hope they follow this up with the prequel to the Bible.

2 hours of nothing but blackness. The last second you hear a voice say, "This is boring. I think I'll make a Universe."

Roll credits.

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

Yes, because sequels automatically make the original less valuable and enjoyable. Who can blame them for wanting to make more money? And who cares? You can still read Watchmen.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Not the argument to make, bud. Yes, Watchmen was a result of the Charlton characters, but as a result of some tweaking, it became its own thing. The same happened with Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin character and Sherlocke Holmes. There's nothing wrong with taking some characters and tweaking them, changing them to become something new. The originals may have been the inspiration, but new things can come out of it.

This? This is a blatant money-grabber. Fuck that.

 

[Gusto]

I guess I'm more curious than anything.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Yes, because sequels automatically make the original less valuable and enjoyable. Who can blame them for wanting to make more money? And who cares? You can still read Watchmen.

It's not just sequels. It's prequels, spin-offs, mini-series, events probably, etc. I can still enjoy Watchmen, yes. This is the same argument I use for the movie, since I still firmly believe it didn't need to be made into a movie. I just won't support a company who, up until this point, had respected the work as a self-contained comic masterpiece. When the comic first came out, there was talk of doing spin-offs and such, but cooler heads prevailed.

I just won't support a company that wants to suddenly throw 20 years of previous respect for the book out the window. This is simply not a business practice that I'll support. It's crap like this that I've started to get away from mainstream comics in the first place.

 

[Dave]

The problem is not so much about current fans as future fans who will be introduced to the story by the spin off bullshit. Listen to the kids today talking about Star Wars through Return of the Jedi. They constantly talk about how boring they are and how the stories were better for the first three. It's the watering down of the characters and story that will be a damned shame.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Exactly what Dave's saying: it waters down the product. Look at Lucas whoring out Star Wars and all the product and novels, comics, cartoons, etc that've come out of that. Some have been good, admittedly, but compared to the original trilogy? Not so much.

You don't see anyone trying to create sequels and prequels to Casablanca, do you?

 

[ElJuski]

I was with you, Nick, until you yourself mentioned that great things can come from taking existing characters and tweaking them. Sherlock Holmes was a masterpiece itself, you know. Poe didn't really need to fuck with that, but he did.

 

[Gusto]

Entitlement is at the core of most nerdrage. I'm just interested to see what they could possibly do with a Watchmen sequel. If it sucks, whatever, Watchmen is still Watchmen. If your average consumer doesn't know that the cool original is more valid than the shitty sequel, that doesn't affect my personal enjoyment of anything. Why get angry?

That said, I'm looking forward to seeing Charlie's fanfilm, Pearl Harbor 2: Pearl Harder.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I was with you, Nick, until you yourself mentioned that great things can come from taking existing characters and tweaking them. Sherlock Holmes was a masterpiece itself, you know. Poe didn't really need to fuck with that, but he did.

You've got it backwards, my friend. Poe's Dupin character came before Holmes.

 

[ElJuski]

Haha, woops. What the hell was I thinking? But my stupid literary error aside, the point still stands. Though I still would never read any new Watchmen things.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

If people didn't tweak with other's works, we wouldn't have a lot of things. A lot of writers were inspired, for example, by the Greeks. Hell, Shakespeare's work was all inspired by soemthing. Midsummer's Night Dream was inspired from The Fairie Queen, Othello was based from several other plays. Heck, a lot of his tragedies were inspired by The Spanish Tragedy. One of his more original works, The Tempest, had lines stolen right out of explorer's travel logs.

Borrowing, inspiration, referencing and tweaking is part of the literary game, my friend.

 

[Dubyamn]

I guess I'm alone in wondering what happens after the end of Watchmen. Do the USSR and America link arms and start singing Kumbayah or do they start sniping at each other the first month there isn't a new alien attack. Does Rorshach's journal make it into publication? Do people believe it?

Even if it isn't a "true" addition I'd still love to see somebody's answer to it.

 

[Dave]

Nick...your last post confused me. Are you now FOR the thing?

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Nope. There's a difference between borrowing from something else to create something new...and creating sequels and spin-offs from the original story and characters, most especially without the original creator.

To further that point: if Alan Moore was heading up the project (HAHAHAHA! That'll happen!), I might be a little more forgiving about this.

 

[Gusto]

I'm surprised Alan Moore would go in for these shenanigans.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I guess I'm alone in wondering what happens after the end of Watchmen. Do the USSR and America link arms and start singing Kumbayah or do they start sniping at each other the first month there isn't a new alien attack. Does Rorshach's journal make it into publication? Do people believe it?

Even if it isn't a "true" addition I'd still love to see somebody's answer to it.

There's no way to tell if it worked out in the long term, but there's a strong hint that it doesn't.

Veidt: I did the right thing, didn't I? It all worked out in the end.
Manhattan: "In the end"? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.

And I'll bet that exact quote will be the name of the sequel. Watchmen 2: Nothing Ever Ends.

---------- Post added at 11:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------

I'm surprised Alan Moore would go in for these shenanigans.

He's not and wouldn't.

 

[Dave]

I thought it was a prequel. Like talking about the rise & fall of the Watchmen as a team.

 

[Green_Lantern]

Right, you know what? This happens? I am done with DC. This includes the comics, movies, cartoons, etc. There's no way in fucking hell I'll support this shit.

No offense, but you will crawling back before the next batman movie, bet on it.

 

[Dubyamn]

I guess I'm alone in wondering what happens after the end of Watchmen. Do the USSR and America link arms and start singing Kumbayah or do they start sniping at each other the first month there isn't a new alien attack. Does Rorshach's journal make it into publication? Do people believe it?

Even if it isn't a "true" addition I'd still love to see somebody's answer to it.

There's no way to tell if it worked out in the long term, but there's a strong hint that it doesn't.

Veidt: I did the right thing, didn't I? It all worked out in the end.
Manhattan: "In the end"? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.

And I'll bet that exact quote will be the name of the sequel. Watchmen 2: Nothing Ever Ends.[/QUOTE]

And I've always argued that but I'd still love to see it in a comic or on the big screen. Something to mull over with friends, to debate about the assumptions made in the movie the conclusions they formed using the original comic book as a source to debate the merits of something new.

I personally am looking forward to what they do once they are off the training wheels of the original watchmen.

Sure it could turn out monsterously bad but that's true about every movie.

 

[Gusto]

Right, you know what? This happens? I am done with DC. This includes the comics, movies, cartoons, etc. There's no way in fucking hell I'll support this shit.

No offense, but you will crawling back before the next batman movie, bet on it.[/QUOTE]

Oh snap, Nick, I think he's got you.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

He doesn't. I'm dead serious about this. If this goes through, I'm done supporting anything with DC outside of Vertigo.

 

[Covar]

I thought it was a prequel. Like talking about the rise & fall of the Watchmen as a team.

Minutemen. Watchman is just the title

Honestly don't care about this. The spinoffs will suck compared to the original, which is overrated anyway.

 

[Dave]

He stands outside the comic shop, his hands trembling slightly with what he tells himself is the cold. Peering through the window he sees the new books are in. His left eye twitches.

He thought he was out. Now, though, he feels the old familiar hunger gnawing at his insides. I need this, he tells himself. He is both sickened and excited about the way his stomach twists at the thought of holding the comics again, reveling in the scent of newly printed ink. Unable to stop himself he opens the door. The bell rings merrily above his head.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, he thinks. Oh God, it tolls for me.

He reaches for his wallet with shame...

 

[Green_Lantern]

He doesn't. I'm dead serious about this. If this goes through, I'm done supporting anything with DC outside of Vertigo.

but, what batman, superman, flash and above all ME, have done anything to deserve to be abandoned by you?

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

If you think DC Comics wasn't in the business of making money for one second of its existence, then I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Gusto]

If you think DC Comics wasn't in the business of making money for one second of its existence, then I don't know what to tell you.

Yeah this.

DC Comics, a subsidiary of Time-Warner, and parent company of Zuda Comics.

They will take all your money/intellectual property eventually.

 

[Allen who is Quiet]

I hope they follow this up with the prequel to the Bible.

2 hours of nothing but blackness. The last second you hear a voice say, "This is boring. I think I'll make a Universe."

Roll credits.

Dave, you forgot the part where you're telling stories of what the inky blackness was like when you were God's age.

 

[General Specific]

The main problem with a Watchmen sequel is who would it be about? Dr. Manhattan is gone, Rorschach is dead, Silk Spectre & Nite Owl are in hiding, and Ozymandias has already achieved his goals for humanity.

So, there's really no one left unless we want to follow Laurie and Dan on the run, which doesn't sound like that great of a movie. They'd HAVE to create new characters and without the brilliance of an Alan Moore running it, I don't hold out much hope for it.

A prequel would be interesting, but runs into the problem of the first movie telling pretty much all of the backstory for all of the characters. I guess you could have some of their missions from earlier that were unrelated, but the teamup of "The Watchmen" never actually happened. I guess it could be another instance when they all teamed up, but I kinda thought the point of the original comic was that it was their greatest adventure. It certainly would not be as good of a story.

So, I will probably be interested in seeing where this goes even if I do not agree with making a sequel or spin-off, etc.

 

[Dave]

The biggest issue I can see is that DC has not promoted this as a mere comic book, but as art & literature. Which is why doing a sequel/prequel seems more like blaspheme than one to something like Superman or Batman.

 

[Gusto]

Oh man.

Black Lantern Rorshach.

Think about it.

 

[Allen who is Quiet]

Gusto, your ability to make me sad is like knife. Very good.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Maybe we can finally get Saturday Morning Watchmen...