ActualButt

February 3, 2012 4:29 pm This is the first time I've been among those who are the subject of this feature, and I gotta say that I agree with almost everything that you say Josh. However, I really wish people would stop comparing Watchmen to other ongoing superhero comics like Spider-Man or Superman. The formats are so radically different that it's really impossible to draw any similarities at all.

February 2, 2012 2:13 pm The key is finding the entry point. For my fiance it was Neil Gaiman. She had read Coraline and The Graveyard Book, so getting her into Sandman was easy. I did make a mistake in giving her the Bone One Volume Edition. That was 3 years ago, she still hasn't cracked it and I KNOW she'll love the shit out of it.

February 1, 2012 11:09 am I've been wondering how they got these creators to work on this all morning. Here's the way I see it. Cooke is doing it because he like's a challenge. Azarello because they let him do the interviews. JMS because they have to throw him something once in a while.

February 1, 2012 11:02 am Well said.

February 1, 2012 11:00 am I'll take redundant over contradictory any day of the week.

February 1, 2012 11:00 am Very good points. I agree that DC is just reacting to what people buy, and Marvel does the same, but that's not how we grow an industry people. A lot of the responsibility for this kind of marketing rests on the readers, but a good portion of it rests on the publishers too. True, neither publisher have truly been innovators in a long time. An innovator is not reactionary. That doesn't mean that this is a good idea though.

February 1, 2012 10:53 am Those kids that only know Star Wars because of prequels or the Clone Wars don't actually know Star Wars though. I know this because I've talked to some of them. They don't even know who Luke Skywalker is. They don't give a damn about Han Solo or Death Stars, or anything that makes Star Wars cool.

February 1, 2012 10:48 am He had it coming. @Chris Hargett, I'm not saying that everything he's written stands apart from the original creations. And anyway, Len Wein's Swamp Thing as it existed before Moore got his hands on it wasn't anything spectacular. Moore turned it completely on its head and created the Swamp Thing mythology as we know it today. Without him, it would just be DC's version of Man-Thing or a shlocky horror book. I would venture to say that he's done more to create Swamp Thing than Len Wein.

February 1, 2012 8:49 am Zeppo, Watchmen was a finite story with a beginning and end. Spider-Man and other superhero comics were always meant to be enduring serialized adventures that would keep going until people stopped buying them. Moore and Gibbons had a single story to tell, so they told it. Biiiig difference. And to those who consider Moore a hypocrite for having a problem with people writing his characters while he does things like League and Lost Girls; The stories Alan Moore told using existing public domain characters were new and different takes on those characters. He used their existing context as a setting in order to inform the reader's perception, and give us a frame of reference for the characters. He used our preconceived notions as a setting for his story, not the elaborate on or change the originals. This is just adding to a story that was completed. He has every right to be upset.

February 1, 2012 8:36 am Everything that needed to be said about what happened "Before Watchmen" was said in flashbacks in Watchmen. This is an obvious cash grab, and I'm sure it will sell, even to those who are against it. When you attach a name like Darwyn Cooke, you're gonna get some sales. However, if you as a reader are truly against this series being done, I urge you to say that with your dollar and pass this up. I will seriously read anything done by Darwyn Cooke, but I also have principles. I'm not opposed to unnecessary prequel stories being told, but I am opposed to creatively stagnated cash-ins. Also, "Before Watchmen: Epilogue"? Really? At least Marvel's long ridiculous titles with too many colons make some sense. Oh, and they have a better logo too.