Before Watchmen

I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to writing about the semi-controversial new comics coming out from DC, "Before Watchmen."  To clarify to any of our non-comic reading fans out there, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's "Watchmen" is held in pretty high esteem as one of the best, if not the best, comic book series ever created.  It transcends all conventions and is about as close to high art as anything may ever approach in the medium.  That being said, there are a lot of fans out there that cringe whenever somebody else plays in that universe (see Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" film).  And i had my doubts at first too.  And kind of still do, even though we are a couple of issues into the individual series.  But i'm treading lightly...even if i'm having a lot of fun doing so.

General reaction upon hearing about this project:  "Come on, they're only gonna fuck it up."
General reaction upon hearing about the creative teams behind the project:  "Go on..."

Here's the rundown:
"The Minutemen" - story and art by Darwin Cooke
"Silk Spectre" - story by Darwin Cooke, art by Amanda Conner
"Comedian" - story by Brian Azzarello, art by J.G. Jones
"Nite Owl" - story by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Andy and Joe Kubert
"Ozymandias" - story by Len Wein, art by Jae Lee
"Rorschach" - story by Brian Azzarello, art by Lee Bermejo
"Dr. Manhattan" - story by J. Michael Straczynski, art by Adam Hughes

These are some pretty adept comic book creators, so excitement is only natural.

Still, the worry is that even with such talented people on board, the new stuff will only sully the original series.  That's understandable, but i don't think the intent is to really mess with anything (at least so far).  At its best, it feels like a bunch of writers and artists just having a lot of fun with some really awesome characters.  At its worst, it's glorified fan fiction.

I think it's been pretty damn fun so far, so check it out, if for no other reason than it's the last work from the late, great Joe Kubert.

Get more info here.