When DC put out Before Watchmen, their various, prequel mini-series, I remember hearing that Alan Moore gave they money he got for it to the original Watchmen artist, Dave Gibbons. When Marvel was reprinting Miracleman (aka Marvelman, one of Moore's best works) a few years ago he told them he didn't want his name on the book so instead of saying Alan Moore anywhere it said "the original writer." I suppose you could argue either way. Moore is just a senile, old bastard. Or...you shouldn't be fucking with what he created. Granted, he didn't create Miracleman, and Watchmen was based on pre-existing characters, but still, those were his books, he made them famous, they're legendary and he doesn't want them to continue if he doesn't want them to. His contract with DC apparently stated that he would get the rights back to Watchmen when it went out of print. DC sneakily never let it go out of print so they could keep the rights. This is thirty years later, and finally we have a Watchmen sequel whether you wanted it or not. When Before Watchmen came out I wasn't against it. I figured it gave a shot in the arm to the comic book industry and if it was great then it was a good decision. The books turned out mediocre at best. The only true highlight was getting Amanda Connor to finally draw a book (she usually on does covers and once in a blue moon a full book). As for this new book, Doomsday Clock, the best thing so far I can say about it is that they got a great team. Geoff Johns hasn't written a comic book in awhile because he's busy doing DC movie stuff but he's back writing this 12 parter. He got his Superman: Secret Origin artist, Gary Frank, on board, which is good thing. This is a sequel, but didn't most of the characters die in the original? Rorshach is in this, but since he died it's a new Rorshach. And Superman shows up in this, albeit his parents died in a car crash so something is amiss. Supposedly the book will be about how Dr. Manhattan has been messing with the DC timeline. 12 issues is a long haul, though, and so far this is a bit of a mess. I do trust Johns, though, as he usually knocks everything out of the park. The big problem is that Watchmen is such a pillar of legend that nothing is going to come close to matching it. I didn't even think Watchmen was all that great and I still admit that this first issue is a very poor imitation. So what ultimately is the point of doing this if even going in you know you're setting yourself up to fail? Money, I guess. Slap Watchmen on a comic and people'll buy it. Which is the problem, really, and Moore understands this, no matter how much of a senile old bastard he might be. *1/2
