One of the first articles this site ran when it first started (two years ago today) was on the rumor of a Watchmen prequel, a rumor that was very quickly shot down by DC President Daine Nelson. As it turns out, she was just delaying an announcement (that wouldn’t come for quite some time) as today DC Comics made that very announcement. Yes, a Watchmen prequel is happening.
This summer you can expect to see a stunning seven different inter-connected mini-series fleshing out the Watchmen universe. The books, under the banner Before Watchmen, all have much better creative teams than you’d expect; one would think these people would have left this project alone.
The series consists of
- Rorschach (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
- Minutemen (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
- Comedian (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
- Dr. Manhattan (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
- Nite Owl (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
- Ozymandias (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
- Silk Spectre (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner
… as well as a one-shot Before Watchmen: Epilogue. Each issue will include a two-page back-up story called Curse of the Crimson Corsair, written by Len Wein (editor of Watchmen) with art by John Higgins (colorist on Watchmen).
According to the press release the decision to go ahead with the project was explained by Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, maybe speaking in unison or possibly finishing each others’ sentences.
“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”
Note the phrase “the Watchmen are classic characters”. Yea, I’m sure that’s going to help win over Alan Moore.
