Wednesday Comics

DC Comics just announced it's newest weekly comic.

It's not another big continuity event.

It's not about the biggest superheroes.

It's not even about the supervillains.

Really, it doesn't seem to tie into the DC continuity much at all. It's something you wouldn't expect. They're taking chances in a way I never thought they would. It's not just going to feature unique talent or unique stories, it's going to have a unique publishing format.

Enter Wednesday Comics, a 12 issue weekly series starting in the summer. Each issue is going to be 16 pages in length and will be comprised entirely of one page stories, all by well known and well respected creators like Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Kyle Baker, Brian Azzarello, Kurt Busiek, Michael Allred, and a whole bunch of others. Stories will be about characters like Sergeant Rock, Hawkman, and Metapmorpho, and the whole format will harken back to the Sunday comics you used to read as a kid, so you can add a big slavering of nostalgic goodness to some already good stories.

If you ask me, this is exactly the kind of thing DC needs. With so much of their news having been monopolized by big continuity events and with so many star writers being picked up by Marvel instead of DC, it's refreshing to hear that they're getting back to the basics and understand that having quality talent behind the stories is possibly the best predictor of a story being good.

Let's all cross our fingers and hope it doesn't disapppoint.

Source - Robot 6

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.