Watch What Becomes of the Watchmen

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Watch What Becomes of the Watchmen
By Philip Schweier
March 24, 2012 - 06:50

A week or so back, I was taken to task for my recent article on enjoying what comics you like, specifically a passage in which I commented that I was not impressed with Watchmen enough to own it. I won’t deny the book’s popularity and success, but for me personally, I enjoyed it enough to read it, but even at the time of its original release, I viewed it as little more than a good – not great – super-hero story.

So the fact that DC Comics has announced its plans to launch a new limited series of Watchmen prequel stories, my reaction was, “Why didn’t it happen sooner?”

After all, Watchmen is without a doubt one of the most popular comic book series – let’s remember it was a 12-issue series before being published in a collected volume – of the past 25 years or so.

The book led to a major motion picture, which is nothing new for established comic book characters, but the Watchmen were created by writer Alan Moore for this single series. For once, Hollywood wasn’t launching a film franchise complete with toy tie-ins and McDonald’s Happy Meals. Instead, it was the story that resonated with filmmakers, enough to invest the $130 million to make the movie.

Alan Moore

Some people might argue that Watchmen needs no other chapters to be told. In fact, Alan Moore told the New York Times, “As far as I know,” he said, “there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to Moby Dick.”

I pray to God that Moore was quoted out of context because I can’t reconcile comparing a 12-issue comic book series with that literary leviathan. Granted, when I read Moby Dick, I found it extremely dull, but I was in high school so my tastes were even less sophisticated than they are now.

The New York Times article also quotes Moore as saying “the endeavor only weakened the argument that comics were an authentic form of literature.”

I don’t know how one defines literature, but let’s remember that to DC Comics, the company does not produce literature. It, like many entertainment companies, produces product, hopefully at a profit. So it seems naive to think that DC Entertainment wouldn’t someday return to very lucrative well that is the world of the Watchmen.

Moore also referred to DC Comics’ plans as “completely shameless.” I can only draw from this comment that he takes issue with the company’s intention to make even more money off the Watchmen’s popularity.

Here’s a news flash, Mr. Moore: That’s why DC Comics exists, to make money. It has employees to pay, as well as a responsibility to its parent company and its shareholders to turn a profit.

It’s an easy mistake to make, that companies engaged in the creation of art – music recording, filmmakers, publishers, etc. – is doing so because it wants to, regardless of the money involved. Nothing could be further from the truth. They do so because they see a market for that art. Does this dilute the integrity of the art? Maybe, maybe not. Art, as I said in my previous column, is in the eye of the beholder.

I will concede the notion that not everything needs a sequel, or a prequel. Not every story is so filled with drama that additional tales need to be told. Thankfully, we’ve never seen Dirty Dancing II: Baby’s Revenge or More Snakes on a Second Plane. But it seems inevitable in regards to super-heroes; their whole life is one big adventure.

Otherwise they’re just a bunch of guys wearing costumes. And who wants to read about that?

Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com.