How DC Could Capitalize Off Watchmen AND Be Smart About It

Watchmen's only increasingly rabid following means big cash for DC. They already have a new hardcover coming out, in addition to a rerelease of the Absolute edition and reprints of the individual issues.

The bottom line is that DC is using ever possible avenue they can to make more money off the only comic book included in Time Magazine's 100 greatest novels list. If they want to push profits further, the only thing they can do is release some kind of original work having to do with the Watchmen properties. Hell, they strongarmed Frank Miller into doing a Dark Knight sequel, which might have occurred even if Miller hadn't been inclined to do it.

It doesn't take Alan Moore to say that Watchmen really doesn't need a sequel. Sure, a sequel would sell, but I suspect it would to do the franchise what the new Star Wars trilogy did for Star Wars, namely that there would be high initial sales but an overall decrease in interest in the property.

But could DC potentially do something cool and original with Watchmen?

I personally think they could. Imagine this.

A total remake of Watchmen in the style of film remakes - the original scripts, completely unchanged or unedited, are given to 12 esteemed artists in the field. Artists like Frank Quitely, Bryan Hitch, Gary Frank, and Alex Ross - really awesome artists. They're all told to draw an entire issue of the book and instructed specifically not to reference Dave Gibbons execution.

I personally think that could be really cool to read. No substitute for the original work, but would be an interesting read nonetheless.

Comics I Read LAST Week: 9/18/08

Since I was lazy last week and didn't update, I figured I should still write a thing or two about the comics that came out last week. I'm fighting the lethargy by rocking to Silkworm as I type this.

1. INVINCIBLE #52
   Writer: Robert Kirkman
   Artist: Ryan Ottley
   
   Invincible, much like The Walking Dead (and perhaps everything Kirkman writes) is ups and downs. Overall, I find it's strongest when it's more character driven, as most of the main characters in the cast all have interesting back stories and play off each other well. The villains - not so much, so when the story focuses on them I find it gets a bit boring.
   
   The first thing I noticed while reading this is that the new colorist makes the art really shine and stick out. To illustrate the difference, let me just say that if this were an animated series instead of a comic, the old colorist made it look like TV, whereas the new colorist makes it look like a movie. There's a much more subtle gradation between the hues and... Hell, you just have to see it. I'm not artistically inclined enough to describe it accurately.
   
   This issue felt kind of standard when it began: a big rescue mission in which Invincible and his kid brother get sent in. Invincible is being bossy, much like the young Obi Wan, and surprise - kid bro is rebellious and eager to prove himself. I was about ready to think I had already read the thing before when HOLY SHIT! There was a hugely graphic splash page surprise.
   
   I won't spoil what happened, but lemme just say that if anybody was worried it would just be a book about him changing the diapers of his kid sibling sidekick, don't worry - it doesn't seem like this arrangement is going to last that long.
   
   
2. DEADPOOL #1
   Writer: Daniel Way
   Artist: Paco Medina
   
   How can you not like a smart-mouthed, armed to the teeth, smart-mouthed Merc that happens to be aware that he's a comic book character?
   
   Anyone that doesn't is just being too cool for school.
   
   Deadpool is almost invariably hilarious, but there were really only a couple of laughs in this issue. I'm not sure if it's because the comic is just not going to be funny or if it's just because the book hasn't hit its stride yet. I'm hoping it's the latter. Way clearly has a grasp of what makes the character appealing because he was pretty entertaining to read in Wolverine: Origins.
   
   My biggest disappointment is that there is no "Dear Deadpool" column. What the hell? Not only was that the best part of reading Cable & Deadpool, but what is Deadpool going to do with himself if he can't read his own fanmail? Besides that, all he has is killing people, really.
   
   
3. CRIMINAL #5 (Bad Night part 2 of 4)
   Writer: Ed Brubaker
   Artist: Sean Phillips
   
   While this was a pretty good issue, it still felt pretty damn similar to the first issue of the arc: nerdy guy is in deep shit, fucks girl, gets into deeper shit. As much as I like this comic, it really feels like the longer story arcs really feel much more fitting in the trade format. The first story arc, "Coward", for instance, read beautifully in one sitting and felt almost like a full-length crime film.
   
   One thing I never get tired of from reading this comic is viewing Sean Phillips super sexy and gorgeous art. I think if I had the choice of living in a Sean Phillips stylized world over this one, with neon lights splashing together with the reflections off the street puddles and the cars' headlights, with heavily contrasted colors and light, I would take it in a heartbeat. I would even compromise for just one Sean Phillips stylized woman. What bombshells he draws.
   
   I also have to hand it to the guy's storytelling abilities - the faces and body language are incredibly expressive. I think if anybody else was doing the art, so much of the subtext in the interpersonal scenes would go out the window entirely. And I'll be honest, as much as I like Ed Brubaker, much of his work feels kind of sterile and serious, so I think Phillips' subtle painting of emotions in scenes is a big part of why their collaborations feel so much more vibrant than Brubaker's other work.
   

FLOP - On the comic book issue format

I don't have much allegiance to the comic book issue format. This in large part is due to the fact that I wasn't raised on reading issues - I had already read well over a thousand pages of trade paperback collections before I had read a few comics in issue format. I confess that the only real reason I started buying comics in issues was to give me an excuse to show up every week at Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz, CA.

Anybody that has gone to Atlantis probably understands why I did this. Anybody that hasn't... Well, the unique thing about Atlantis is that unlike other comic book stores, nearly everybody that works there is female. And unlike other comic book stores, almost every body that works there is really attractive.

Can you put two and two together, then figure out why I wanted to be there more frequently?

As many comics as I bought in issues this week(five tends to be a lot for me), there were still others I wanted to buy. Air was one of them. I've heard good things about it, and G. Willow Wilson's debut graphic novel, Cairo, had a wonderful sense of storybook imagination.

Why would I buy a whole bunch of Marvel and DC stuff and not buy the cool, creator-owned comic that I really want to read?

The trades. Creators are increasingly complaining about the "wait-for-trade" mentality, while simultaneously, more and more stories are becoming next to unreadable in the issue format, especially when plagued by long delays. At the same time, the trade is sexier on the shelf, is easier to reread and loan to a friend, and often comes a lot cheaper than the issues.

Take Northlanders for example, the newest Brian Wood comic that is turning out to be the only comic by him that I really like (though I haven't read Local). I bought the entire first story arc in issues, all eight of them. It was difficult to read from month to month, as I had forgotten many critical story details and got some of the similar looking characters confused.

But what was the real kicker that made me wait for the trade?

...when this was released - a ten dollar trade paperback collection. An overall more practical product than the eight floppies I bought, at less than half the price of my copies (24 dollars for all 8 issues).

See what I mean?

If creators really want people to buy books in issues, then they should make the issues solid reads in and of themselves. Casanova and Fell are wonderful examples of this - they tend to be so jampacked with story that it's hard to believe what you're getting is just 16 pages (and also that it's just two bucks an issue).

If only more people would jump on that format. And if only Casanova and Fell came out more frequently...

Comics I Read This Week 3: 9/17/08

I totally skipped last week.

Yeah, I'm totally lazy.

Coming in a couple of days will be the first ever "Comics I Read Last Week". Hopefully that will make amends to you viewers. All two of you.

I bought several things this week, though I wasn't totally pleased with the results. Here's what we got. I'm listening to Torche's Meanderthal as I write this, so expect my sentences to punctuate in concordance with their totally awesome heavy metal rhythms.

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1. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #12
   Writer: Grant Morrison
   Artist: Frank Quitely
   
   The final issue of the Morrison/Quitely run of the series!
   
   Was I excited! Hell yes! However, I must add that that excitement was mixed with sort of a melancholic longing for the book to continue on. Even though it's been, what, 4 years for these 12 issues to come out, the three or months between the sharply written and drawn, mostly done-in-one stories is part of what made seeing it on the stands such a thrill.
   
   Unfortunately, as much as I was looking forward to this one, this closer was kind of a letdown.
   
   Maybe my expectations were just absurdly high. Maybe I thought it would close with a Quitely-stylized Superman bursting from the pages into my living room, telling me all the things deceased friends had wanted to tell me while they were alive, and smiling as he departed into the sunlit sky.
   
   You know what, I take it back. I don't feel that bad about expecting that. Morrison is (or at least he alleges he is) a chaos magician after all, in addition to being a wonderful writer, so why can't he combine his magic with his wit and imagination and make something like this happen? If he can't, then what's the point of the whole magic business in the first place? It's certainly not making him grow any hair.
   
   Anyhoo - this issue had some smart moments and some surprises. Superman using a gravity gun isn't just "Wouldn't it be cool if Superman used a gun? LOL" fangasming, but actually has a purpose (I expect nothing less from Morrison). The dialogue was smart, the end of Lex Luthor's plan was actually satisfying (unlike most Superman stories in which his overconfidence provides a gaping weakness), but I still felt like it could have been so much more.
   
   Take the ending to issue #10 for example, in which the world that Superman created eventually came to mirror our own world more than the one contained within the pages and closed with Siegel and Shuster's creation of the character. Can't you imagine Morrison ending the book with Superman dying, but his existence as a fictional character in the world he created ending up saving more lifes and providing more inspiration than his own life ever could have?
   
   Wouldn't that have been neat? Or would that have been too obvious, too wannabe Animal Man?
   
   In an interview at the NY Comic Con in the spring of '08, Morrison mentioned he loved writing this book so much that he wouldn't mind continuing with another artist. I can't wait for that.
   
   
2. THE WALKING DEAD #52
   Writer: Robert Kirkman
   Aritst: Charlie Adlard
   
   This is a stark contrast to All-Star Superman. Why? Because here's a book in which I can't stand how long it often takes to come out. It's so addictive, that I want it weekly, dammit. It can't be that hard to pull off. Kirkman could make it his full time job and hire a few extra artists.
   
   This book is pure comic book heroin. And like heroin, usage doesn't so much make you feel good or satisfied as it merely temporarily lulls your addiction. Actually, I've never used heroin before, but that's my best guess as to what it's like.
   
   My take on this book is constantly changing. One month, I'm saying it's the best comic out right now that's coming out in issues, with each issue having a solid kick to the gut punchline. Another month I'll be saying that nothing happens in the comic, wondering why I read it in the first place, and threatening to cancel my subscription if it goes on like this for another few issues.
   
   This month's issue fell more into the latter. Not much advanced the story, not much that was terribly original happened that you can't already guess from the cover. To boot, the thing took less than 5 minutes to read. Kirkman's down to using an average of like 2 panels per page now, perhaps under the mistaken impression that most people that read comics need reading glasses and can't make out the small panels of a 6 to 9 panel grid.
   
   Give me my three bucks worth.
   
   
3. WAR HEROES #2
   Writer: Mark Millar
   Art: Tony Harris
   
   It's picking up. The last issue was pretty dull, mostly giving kind of a retrospective look at the last few years in a world in which the military decided to start giving superpowers to ordinary soldiers in order to increase enlistment and give an edge to the soldiers on the ground in Iraq. There was only a slight introduction to the main characters and what would be the main story, and so now we're getting to see more of it.
   
   However, while it is picking up, it's still not completely there yet. There were a lot of fangasm splash page moments of soldiers doing ridiculous things like lifting up tanks or shooting fire and ice, in addition to there being a Mark Millar shock value moment, but aside from that, I still don't feel like the meat of the story has really been hit yet.
   
   It's funny - in an interview for Fresh Ink, Millar mentioned that if the U.S. Governemnt really did give out superpowers, he would happily enlist and fight in some Middle Eastern country. He is in fact, totally horny for soldiers lifting up tanks and using super speed, and seemed to imply that he sincerely intended this book to be more of a "Wouldn't it be awesome?" idea than a hypothetical, what-Big-Government-will-do-to-win-a-war book. Which in my opinion, is kind of a breath of fresh air, because the latter take is very heavy handed and obvious.
   
   
4. UNCANNY X-MEN #502
   Writer: Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker
   Artist: Greg Land
   
   Uncanny X-Men has turned out to be a pretty solid book ever since the end of Messiah Complex, way back in issue #495. Basically, all of the characters from Astonishing X-Men got bored of only seeing the light every four months, so they invaded the pages of Uncanny and kicked out a lot of the characters that weren't as popular. Star power always wins out, and the mutant world is no exception. Though I don't really feel all that bad for that douchebag Havok.
   
   The X-Men have been living in San Francisco, taking it easy, and now are fighting a reincarnation of the Hellfire Club. The last issue was pretty cool, though this issue felt a little more standard to me. There's a brawl, there's Cyclops acting tough and decisive, and an enemy telepath. Mostly, it felt like a transitionary issue.
   
   As much as I have a crush on Matt Fraction's writing, I'm a little disappointed with his wit in this book. He kept mentioning in interviews that he was really excited about writing Cyclops, and my response was "Yeah! We'll get to see him exhibit at least two dimensions... possibly three!" But so far, it seems like we've mostly just seen the tough decisions, hard-ass leader Cyclops, and less of the conflicted and emotionally isolated side of him that makes him interesting.
   
   Fuck - talking about how Cyclops can be interesting just makes me really really want to read Joss Whedon's run of Astonishing X-Men again. Then again, maybe my standards are unfair - I certainly wasn't that impressed three issues into his run.
   
   
5. ACTION COMICS #869
   Writer: Geoff Johns
   Artist: Gary Frank
   
   I've actually been digging Geoff Johns' run on the big blue guy. You'd think I'd be an artsy fartsy snob and say that nobody but Grant Morrison should write the character, but nuh-uh. I've been picking up the book since Escape From Bizarro World debuted, and honestly, I thought at the time that storyline came out, the book was better than All-Star.
   
   In retrospect, it's clear that Escape has really been the strongest part of the run. The combination of the storytelling talents of Eric Powell and Richard Donner obviously aided the book tremendously... but even the aesthetic of that story was really strong. It was a mostly standalone story; a graphic novel that just happened to be released in three issues in one of the main Superman books. You didn't have to do know what was going on in the book, and it certainly wasn't contrived to lead into anything else. What made it so strong, in addition to the wonderful storytelling, was a sentimentalism that most Superman writers lack when they write the character. It wasn't just referencing Superman's small-town Americana upbringing, it was retelling it and feeding it to you in a way that made you understand why his small-town perceptions of the people and the big world surrounding really defined his charity.
   
   Since then, the stories have been more typical of DCU books - they're big big stories with lots of characters and big sci-fi elements. This Brainiac story that has been going has been okay. The main twist to it is that all the Brainiac robots we've seen in the past weren't Brainiac himself, but merely drones sent out from the original Brainiac. We finally see the original Brainiac - a big green alien guy. Lots of continuity buffs are really bummed about this revelation. Not having read any in-continuity Superman stories, I don't really care too much and kind of appreciate the twist. Gary Frank's artwork is also seriously awesome. When I look at his depiction of Superman, I literally see Christopher Reeve.
   
   I'm still kind of confused as to what is going on. Apparently Brainiac can physically overpower Big Blue and his similarly overpowered cousin with ease, and I'm not really sure as to why. Also, the cover is incredibly misleading. Nowhere in the issue is Superman taking it easy with Pa Kent in Smallville, and nowhere is there a Brainiac moon that looks like a level from Starfox.
   

Comics I Read This Week 2: Week of 9/3/08

Yeah, I know, I'm lazy. The update for the week of 9/3 comes a full week late, when new comics are already out.

There was only one comic I even bought for last week. Nothing really appealed to me on the stand that I wasn't already buying. Pretty much the only reason I stopped by the shop at all was because the title that I wanted to buy happened to be one of my favorite ones right now.

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1. INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #5
   
   I must confess that I've never really been a big Iron Man fan. He always seemed like nothing more than a rich douchebag, a Batman with-the-privelege but sans-the-darkness-and-conscience, and nearly everything I read of the guy during Civil War confirmed this. The way he was handled in Civil War tie-ins like Amazing Spider-Man and New Avengers made it seem like he was a borderline supervillain. He cared more about apprehending his colleagues in the superhero community than he did about fighting supervillains, making uneasy alliances with the fucking Kingpin even (see Civil War: War Crimes) just to get at them, without having any sympathy for their side of the battle.
   
   It was like it was a secret agenda to get all the heroes off the board so his own ego could take center stage. Or maybe he had a budding jealousy against them all from the beginning. Either way, it seemed like only evil motives could be attributed to Tony Stark.
   
   So what made me want to read the new Iron Man book that came out? It certainly wasn't reading Iron Man: Director of Shield that did it.
   
   Nope.
   
   It was the Iron Man movie.
   
   Finally, a take on the character that summed everything up about the mythos. Yeah, sure he's kind of a cock in his personal life, but he really is a man burdened by his conscience and past of being a weapons developer. Despite flying around in his own private jet and being a total womanizer, he's a guy that sincerely wants to do good in his life, and wants to be remembered much for that than for his career at Stark Industries. I walked out of the movie convinced that the story told and the summarization of the character was better than any Iron Man comic that had been released (of course, bear in mind that I had not read Warren Ellis's Extremis, which is pretty damn awesome). This statement I retracted once I read the first issue of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca's Invincible Iron Man.
   
   It came out at the perfect time. Right after the movie's release, I was looking for an Iron Man comic to read. Why not pick up the new first issue that came out? I should have no problem following it.
   
   And man, was I surprised by the quality of it. All the characters were written so appropriately. Tony was sleazey, sure, but he was also endearing. He was burdened by the pressures of his lifestyle, the ever-present phone calls and constant "Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!" in the background. The sexual tension between him and Pepper Potts was real, something you could feel, without ever being too explicit or cheesy. And Ezekiel Stane was somebody so sinister and terrifying for a villain. I walked out of reading issue #1 thinking that if all of the issues in the series are this good, then this book could easily rival Ed Brubaker's Captain America.
   
   Now, for issue #5... This one disappointed me a little bit, as most of the cool SHIELD espionage in tracking Stane is over, so we have an all-out slugfest between the two of them that took up more than half of the issue. The fight scenes were pretty well done for a Marvel comic, but still nothing outstanding or anything. Not my favorite issue in the whole run so far, but then again, the dialogue was still clever, and there's a moment of genius in the opening page that's worth the price of the whole comic alone where we see Ezekiel in a tour group wearing a shirt with Captain America's skull on it saying "TONY WAS RIGHT".
   
   Pure genius. I want that shirt.