Could the clock be approaching midnight… for a Watchmen sequel?
While I feel a bit skeptical, that’s the rumor making the rounds of the comicsphere today, courtesy of Bleeding Cool. Rich Johnston has stated that apparently DC SVP Dan DiDio is taking another look at the property, which former Publisher Paul Levitz had apparently put the kibosh on any sequels for, due to not wanting to tick off Alan Moore (or any creatives that sided with him on the Watchmen debate) even further.
Here’s a snippet from Rich on this:
I understand that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have to be offered first refusal before any of these titles could be published. But if they don’t want to work on them themselves (and Alan Moore is never going to agree), DiDio has been sounding out people who might be willing to take on the task.
While some creators are reticent, the argument goes if there are a number of Watchmen spinoff projects, any blame or shame can be spread on many shoulders. The sales are expected to be massive, whatever the hardcore fanboy reaction and such expected sales benefits will be shared amongst the creative teams.
Part of me is taking this with a grain of salt — based on the sales figures and the behemoth ad campaign the Watchmen movie had, I wouldn’t exactly call the movie a box-office success. But that said, I’m sure a lot of people were saying this when they announced a sequel to the Dark Knight Returns — which was met with mixed reaction in 2001 and 2002. And as you’ll recall in the image above, Wizard had a particularly provocative promo image for Countdown: Arena, with a DKR Batman putting the slap-down on Rorschach. What say you, Rama readers? If such a sequel were to come to pass, what would you think about it?
February 4th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Conceptually, it borders on comic book blasphemy, not just making a Watchmen sequel, but doing so without Alan Moore writing. (Not to say I think Moore could pull it off either, his best stories are clearly in the rear view mirror)
That said, I would absolutely buy it, either to get a great story by a new writer, or gawk at the colossal car wreck.
February 4th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Only if it’s by Johnny Ryan. No one else*. And that includes Moore and Gibbons.
*Well, okay, I’d accept Ditko.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I’d look forward to this, about as much as I’m looking forward to what Marvel does w/ Moore/Gaiman’s Marvel Man.
. . . which isn’t to say it can’t be done, but wow there no way to please everyone, and the people involved in either aren’t exactly well known for handling high concept ideas very well.
. . . You know, sometimes a great work is just that, a SINGULAR thing that can’t and SHOULDN’T be built upon (DK2 is proof of that, even w/ the original team involved).
February 4th, 2010 at 10:22 am
I’m torn on this. On one side, I would hate DC to ruin the legacy of Watchmen in a sad attempt to make a buck, but on the other hand, I love the characters and would love to see more stories about them, as long as they’re good of course.
– Nick
from City of Kik
http://nickleshi.blogspot.com
February 4th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Sounds good to me. I always wanted to know what happened with Dan and Silk, plus Rorshy’s journal had to do something important!
February 4th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Okay, I know the real answer is “Money,” but artistically, why would this even be considered?!?!? A Watchmen sequel is the stupidest idea I have ever heard for many reasons. The themes in the story are not as culturally relevant, a dark/realistic comic book is no longer groundbreaking, if you show Rorshy’s journal getting out and people taking action based on it, it makes the moral dilemma at the end of Watchmen irrelevant, etc. Ugh, this news just makes me want to vomit.
I agree with JRC that it shouldn’t be built upon. The story is done.
If Didio just CAN’T leave well enough alone, I suggest prequels/character studies might work written by some legendary name (Moore, Gaiman, etc.) that we can trust to do it right.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:25 am
It could be interesting to continue from Watchmen.
Picture a world where the journal was published and has taken on a “9/11 conspiracy” cult following. From there, the story unfolds, taking on censorship and media saturation, similarly to DKSA. The world leaders come to realize what happened, but don’t want the truth to be discovered. Some because they want to keep peace, others because they have become power hungry. With no Jon around, technological breakthroughs have all but stopped, so the US elects Ozymandias in a landslide. The media becomes an elaborate facade to make citizens think there is an ongoing stalemate with aliens. Most of the citizens don’t want to know the truth, because they have become complacent in peace. What do vigilantes do in that world and how has the Keene Act been altered to suppress the underground vigilante movement for the truth that Rorschach’s journal started?
Meh, I don’t know, just thought dumping off the top of my head. It’s a lot of retread ground, and would never be as good as the original, but it could work as an interesting story. It would take one hell of a writer.
February 4th, 2010 at 11:49 am
My money’s on Geoff Johns. He’s been poaching Alan Moore’s work for years. Hey Geoff, Shakespeare was dead 500 years before they made Hamlet 2!
February 4th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
The only way I see this being both a commercial and critical success is if it was a sequel in spirit and not necessarily in direct content. If “Watchmen” was a critique of early 80′s cold-war politics, then the last 20-30 years have yielded a cornucopia of material to work with. You could go after the 24-hour news cycle that has given us such gems as the Monica Lewinsky debacle and the Howard Dean scream/implosion… You could look at the anti-Constitutional behavior of the Bush/Cheney administration, the cult-like appeal of Obama, the silliness that is Fox News. There’s a lot to work with there…
That all being said, however, this would be a bad idea from the very start. Yes, in theory, it could be worth doing. But the reality is that the comics/comics movie market is structured in such a way as to make an artistically valid sequel to the original d@mn near impossible.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
too soon
February 4th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
It might work if they did a series like Moore’s 1963, telling the Silver Age (or Bronze Age) comic book adventures of Doc Manhattan and Co. It might even be cool to bring in artists and writers from the period. I might buy that.
February 4th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Would be the train wreck of the decade.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Oh, DC. Should I love you for so diligently keeping the entire SPIRIT library, as well as any number of brilliant and revolutionary works, still in print? Or should I hate you for constantly defiling some of your greatest creators?
February 5th, 2010 at 12:17 am
I can’t believe it has taken them this long to try this. I’m sure there will be fanboy outrage, but overall it is pointless. The original may be a great read, but it is still just a comic book not some kind of sacred text. Doing sequels does not diminish the original work and it won’t erase if from existence. If you don’t like the sequels then don’t read them.
DC is a company and as such their purpose is to make products to sell to consumer and make the most profit they can. Why would the thought of exploiting this or any other property be surprising? People will buy it, if it is good, and they will make money. I think it is a great idea.
February 5th, 2010 at 8:57 am
It bears repeating: Dan Didio must die.
February 5th, 2010 at 9:17 am
The author of LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN and LOST GIRLS having “his” characters (which are only his because he wasn’t allowed to use ready-made ones) taken by other hands? Indignation is misplaced.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Joe – A very valid observation. If he’d used the Charlton characters as had been originally anticipated, this would never be a question.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
I’d take a movie sequel with just Kovacs any day over a comic book sequel/prequel. You know the comic will suck. They’ll get a bunch of amateurs to draw each issue and it will look like a horrible kindergarden drawing.
February 7th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
@ Shaun
I concur. Didio has no shame.