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Post by G on Apr 29, 2012 11:49:13 GMT -5
I obviously havent been keeping up with new comics in quite awhile now, so I have no idea what is going on. But a recent headline from a comic fanzine site had me curious what was up. It basically had a poll asking if the events that have taken place in Before Watchmen changed your buying habits and the choices were basically.... I'll buy less comics than before I'll buy about the same amount as before I'll buy even more comics now That whole thing got me wondering what the fuck happened? What the fuck happened that made such a pole question? It sounded really controversial and more or less like something that would piss a lot of fans off. Not only was the poll a surprise, but the results were even more surprising. I dont remember the exact number, but it went something like... I'll buy less comics than before 47% I'll buy about the same as before 36% I'll buy more than ever now 17% In other words most seen it as something that turned them off from buying comics! Hey, not that comics needed another black eye, but these guys at the top have taken their cesspool of followers down to about 10% of what it used to be. So you know these are the true blue (idiot) diehards left now. And now you do something that has nearly half of THOSE people saying....you know, now that I seen THAT, I think Im going to buy even LESS now! WOW!!!! I even seen another title to a article that said something like... Dan Didio (or whatever his name is) and Jim Lee reevaluate their direction on Before Watchmen. Okay, I thought it was stupid of DC to mess with such a franchise in the 1st place because knowing how lame brained comics are today, they are only going to soil the legacy of what Watchmen represented. But, you know...they were going to do it anyway. So now that its been seen as so controversial. I have to ask.... Just what the fuck did they do???
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Post by cyberstrike on Apr 29, 2012 14:12:03 GMT -5
Alan Moore said interview years ago that he had ideas for a prequel to Watchmen but because of his feud with DC he would never do it.
Former DC publisher Paul Levitz who never got along with Moore did at least keep others away from screwing around Watchmen, when he stepped down and replaced by DiBio and Lee they decided to to a bunch of prequel mini-series and one-shots by a bunch of high-profile creators.
Because they feel that the Watchmen Universe is a cash cow that hasn't been milked.
While Dave Gibbons gave his blessing but stated he wasn't going to be involved with it due to his working with Mark Millar on The Secret Service for Icon/Marvel and doing a serial in Dark Horse Presents vol. 2.
Alan Moore said he wished that they wouldn't do it but did get the final insult saying that he found it amazing that creators still couldn't come any fresh ideas of their own so they rip off his ideas from almost 30 years ago.
As much as I loved Watchmen I agree with Moore it was a Universe that began on page 1 of #1 and ended on the last page of #12.
I find the idea of doing a bunch sequels, prequels, side stories, to a masterpiece (regardless if you love it, hate, or indifferent to it) is just fucking stupid and wrong.
Some stories don't need prequels, sequels, or side stories and in my honest opinion Watchmen is one of them.
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Post by defiant1 on Apr 29, 2012 23:03:27 GMT -5
Not sure, but Rob Liefeld made a comment about the online community saying they didn't want it, but that the orders were strong.
He also said that decompressed stories and excessive splash pages throughout comics was a thing of the past.
df1
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Post by cyberstrike on May 1, 2012 11:04:28 GMT -5
Not sure, but Rob Liefeld made a comment about the online community saying they didn't want it, but that the orders were strong. He also said that decompressed stories and excessive splash pages throughout comics was a thing of the past. df1 That's kind of a surprisng comment from Liefeld considering that decompressed stories and excessive splash pages are his stock in trade.
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Post by defiant1 on May 1, 2012 21:09:50 GMT -5
Not sure, but Rob Liefeld made a comment about the online community saying they didn't want it, but that the orders were strong. He also said that decompressed stories and excessive splash pages throughout comics was a thing of the past. df1 That's kind of a surprisng comment from Liefeld considering that decompressed stories and excessive splash pages are his stock in trade. I agree. I think the negative sentiment from former fans has been catching people's opinion finally. df1
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Post by G on May 2, 2012 19:17:02 GMT -5
This was at the bottom of my page today as an article in my Newsfeeder Application. I found this quote interesting.... as a result of the discussion and controversy, over half the poll's participants (56%) voted they were less inclined to buy the prequels due to the controversy surrounding the series. POLL RESULTS: Has "Before Watchmen" Controversy Affected Interest in the Prequelswww.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38463In the most recent CBR poll, we asked readers if the continuing controversy and discussion surrounding "Before Watchmen" has had any effect on their decision to buy DC Comics' upcoming prequels. (Note: These poll results are only representative of CBR readers and should not be taken as a scientific representation of the entire comic book readership and community.) Over 3000 people voted in the poll, and the results are in. 35.7% of all voters said the controversy and discussion hasn't affected their interest at all, whether it was an interest with intent to purchase or disinterest with no intention to buy. And, while 8.3% of voters noted they were more interested in "Before Watchmen" as a result of the discussion and controversy, over half the poll's participants (56%) voted they were less inclined to buy the prequels due to the controversy surrounding the series. Although discussions about the controversy surrounding "Before Watchmen" have been rampant since the series was announced, beginning with creator Alan Moore's acerbic comments on the idea, much of the public debate has come up more recently, sparked not only by J. Michael Straczynski's comments about Alan Moore's initial contract at the C2E2 "Before Watchmen" panel, but also by a recent opinion piece by David Brothers on creator rights and Chris Roberson's declaration that he would no longer write for DC Comics followed by the writer's subsequent dismissal from future issues of the "Fables" spinoff, "Fairest," by the publisher. Roberson recently spoke with CBR about creators' rights and the controversy over the prequels. "The only thing creators can do is take their creations elsewhere or refuse to take contracts that don't stipulate in every possible specific how they would like them to be exploited," Roberson told CBR. "The only thing that readers can do is vote with their dollars. If there's a thing that you think reflects the way you want comics to be, you should support it with your money, and if there is a thing that does not reflect the way things should be, you should not. Far be it from me to tell anyone how they should exercise their talents and spend their money, but I think the use of talent/money is the only thing that's going to influence the decisions of a large company." Interestingly enough, in a poll taken shortly after the announcement of "Before Watchmen," about 4000 people voted with 33.14% saying the creative teams on the prequels had sold them on the idea while about 41% expressed dissatisfaction with continuing the franchise. As for whether the controversy surrounding the prequels has had an effect on the retail success of "Before Watchmen," one retailer has said they won't stock "Before Watchmen" in their store, while anecdotal reports from many retailers around the country generally indicate a high interest in the prequels.
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Post by defiant1 on May 5, 2012 18:26:37 GMT -5
Not directly related, but this reminds me of DC going to substitute writers.
df1
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Post by bigw1966 on Jun 17, 2012 10:41:43 GMT -5
Well, the sequil to Watchmen already happened. It was written by Moore himself and is still availible. Not as a comic, but as an tabletop RPG. Regarding his statement about DC not coming up with original characters, Moore's stock and trade is taking old characters and twisting them up. WATCHMEN is something that started out as all of the Charlton characters that DC had gotten being used in a comic.
Now I have picked up the first two that have released. MINUTEMEN By Darwyn Cooke. I give it a 4/5 rating. Solid characterization. It feels like it belongs in the same universe as WATCHMEN, but it takes place very early on. Right after Nite Owl retired and wrote his book. This is right before the book is to be published. This was solid all around. Darwyn is one of the best storytellers in comics period. Really good book. I also bought Silk Spectre, but have not had the chance to read it yet. It is written by Cooke also and features art by Amanda Conner. I skimmed it and her art looks great! Very expressive and detailed. I will know more soon enough.
Considering I read WATCHMEN once a year, every year, I was a little off-put by this prequel. But, I am a big fan of all of the creators involved and gave them a shot. I am glad that I did.
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AC
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Post by AC on Jul 12, 2012 11:58:32 GMT -5
I wasn't going to buy any of the Before Watchmen stuff... not for any moral or ethical stance... just the absolute flooding of the market with them... adding a weekly $4 comic to my already bloated pull-list is just not in my best interests right now.
That having been said, I came across the first four BW releases for a song (local shop had an "everything for $1" sale... so I grabbed them up.
They were actually really fun reads. I'm not someone who was terribly blown away by Watchmen... having first read it in the late 1990's when comics were in a less... um, innocent? place than they were prior to Watchmen's initial release. Most of the radical changes Watchmen had ushered in were already firmly in place when I read it... so it was less a shock to the system than I suppose it would've been had I read them in the mid 80's.
Anyways... really fun reads, though I won't be picking the rest up until I can find them on the cheap (Black Friday is the next Dollar Day, so I'll nab'm all then).
Don't really get the pious rage that these series have brought out in people... seems to me like a lot of "hangers on" just looking for something to be angry about.
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Post by G on Jul 12, 2012 17:28:03 GMT -5
I have to say after seeing countless unending looking drek from comic companies over and over, the little bits and pieces I've seen of Before Watchmen at least look somewhat interesting and would have me taking a peak if I found myself in a comic store sometime soon.
I like the fact that they used the same cover designs as the originals and they've actually made some of the covers more interesting than the typical pose or fanout that just drives me nuts. Still a lot leave something to be desired, as a set on a whole, some of the covers don't look too bad and at least draw a little bit of interest.
I would at least be willing to give this comic a chance. And that is saying something these days. Unlike the previously mentioned Marvel Now which sports nothing interesting either in preview synopsis or preview art. The costume designs and fanout pose covers seem like more mindless shit than a talentless hack can dream up.
I can at least say Before Watchmen, while not being anything approaching what I would actually like to see, at least looks like it could have me take a look and at least want to give it a chance.
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