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WATCHMEN CHAPTER 1 - JMS
- Thread starter Looney
- Start date
Looney
Regular
"Hasn't been done to death" yet.
Kidding aside I hope this is the start of several of these involving JMS..... as long as it doesn't takeaway from more B5.
hypatia
Regular
Same here. I was under the vague impression that there might be more animated work coming from the B5 universe after the animated feature did well. Here’s hoping we can get more of JMS’s writing on multiple fronts."Hasn't been done to death" yet.
Kidding aside I hope this is the start of several of these involving JMS..... as long as it doesn't takeaway from more B5.
LateArrival
Regular
Will try to hide until Part II is released, although if JMS is staying close to the original work, we already know how it will turn out. But still want to 
SEE the animated version!!
SEE the animated version!!LateArrival
Regular
So how was Part I?
Looney
Regular
(Sorry this took so long. There are no plot spoilers, but I will be spoiling some of the cast.)
I loved it, but I have a triple bias.
1. Adapted By JMS
2. First Voice heard is that of Rorschach - Voiced By Titus Welliver ( I Really Like Titus Welliver, so that was a very pleasant surpise.)
3. Another VERY pleasant surprise is that several of the voice cast have Babylon 5 ties - Adrienne Barbeau, Jeffrey Combs, Dwight Schultz, and newly ordained (
) Phil LaMarr.
Also I've never read the Graphic Novel, but I really like film from 2009. This felt like an expanded version with its own style. Loved the animation style. Really liked the music. BUT it really is a Chapter 1 and it ends at a chapter break - so now I am annoyed that I have to wait for Chapter 2.
I loved it, but I have a triple bias.
1. Adapted By JMS
2. First Voice heard is that of Rorschach - Voiced By Titus Welliver ( I Really Like Titus Welliver, so that was a very pleasant surpise.)
3. Another VERY pleasant surprise is that several of the voice cast have Babylon 5 ties - Adrienne Barbeau, Jeffrey Combs, Dwight Schultz, and newly ordained (
) Phil LaMarr. Also I've never read the Graphic Novel, but I really like film from 2009. This felt like an expanded version with its own style. Loved the animation style. Really liked the music. BUT it really is a Chapter 1 and it ends at a chapter break - so now I am annoyed that I have to wait for Chapter 2.
LateArrival
Regular
Was glancing around randomly yesterday and learned there was a twelve issue sequel published from 2017-2019.
https://watchmen.fandom.com/wiki/Doomsday_Clock_(comic) - it is called "Doomsday Clock".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock_(comics) - Graphic Novel version Oct 2022.
Ubik
Regular
Oh man, you have to read the comic. It's one of those things that really uses the medium to great effect. Lots of very clever mirrored page layouts, the comic within the comic (Black Freighter), newspaper clippings, etc. It changed the landscape of superhero comics. Sadly many creators missed the point entirely (see the many 'gritty for the sake of it' comics that followed). Essentially Moore is asking the question, 'what if superheroes existed in the real world?' and the answer is 'really not good'. I think this is also something that Snyder fails to communicate in the film.
Defo grab a copy. I wouldn't bother with the follow ups and spin offs that weren't sanctioned by Moore. Just DC Comics milking the cow for more cash.
I did, however, feel the HBO live action show was really good and did interesting things with the source material.
LateArrival
Regular
From what I read of the summaries of the "Watchmen Sequel" it looks like all reboots and rebrandings of DC comics in the last 5-10 years were basically caused by Dr. Manhattan showing up and poking things with a stick.
Jan
Regular
Except he never sanctions anything, does he? I've heard some great things about the Before Watchmen minis, some of which JMS wrote. Thoughts?
Ubik
Regular
Hey Jan, hope you and your loved ones got through the recent hurricane okay? Looked a bit dicey!
Personally, I got very little out of those Before Watchmen spin offs. Some great creators attached for sure, but it all rang a bit hollow. It just wasn't needed. The cynic in me feels like it was for the money and not the creative need to expand on the universe. For me, Watchmen is a one and done story. There are plenty of good argument that others should be allowed to play with the same toys. After all, a lot of the Watchmen characters are loosely based on classic Charlton Comics characters, but the context is obviously VERY different.
As for Moore. I feel like he can come off as curmudgeonly... but it's hard to ignore that he has been treated badly by DC Comics and was duped into signing away the rights to many of his creations. There's a long history of creators being treated badly by Marvel / DC. We need only look at Joe Shushter (original Superman creator) and Steve Ditko (Spiderman) for more examples of this. I do like the fact that Moore did the classy thing and asked for his name to be removed from his work and gave all his royalties to the artists attached to the books. This is true for the Watchmen film and the V for Vendetta film. He's stuck to his guns, even to his own financial detriment. I think Moore is also strongly of the opinion that these stories were intended for the comics medium and do many things that can only be achieved in that medium. I kinda like that and respect it. He sat down with Terry Gilliam in the late 80s to attempt to film Watchmen and they both agreed it shouldn't and probably couldn't be done right.
I think, if B5 were spun off using other creators, with JMS being vocally against it, we'd likely support him in that too. It's a hard one. Wasn't a fan of JMS being a bit snarky about Alan, seemed in really bad taste to me.
So, I'm largely on Moore's side when it comes to DC milking his classic creations. All that said, if the spin offs were utterly phenomenal, fair play, I might be more behind it. But I'd still agree that Moore has his right to dissent and disagree. But it's a hard one to balance for me. For instance, I quite liked the HBO show because it veered quite wildly away from the source material. But was it necessary? Did the story need it? Not really...
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Ubik
Regular
Oh man, really? That sounds awful.
Ubik
Regular
Out of curiosity, I'll probably give the animated feature a look when both chapters are out there so I can watch it in one go. I've read positive and negative reviews, but it seems very faithful and Dave Gibbons was looped into the process, which I approve of. JMS clearly has a lot of respect for the source material, but again I wish he'd lay off ragging on Moore. He'd be livid if the tables were turned and we'd never hear the end of it.
I'd likely be better off reading the comic again, but that's just me.
I'd likely be better off reading the comic again, but that's just me.
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Jan
Regular
<chop>
Thanks, it was very dicey in a lot of areas but in mine it was just really scary since it came through at night.
Now, see - I bristle at the idea of anybody requiring 'necessary' when it comes to art. Because none of it is 'necessary', it's only a matter of whether the artist (of whatever sort) sees it as worth doing.
As for JMS, he's far more practical when it comes to IP that he sold. He knows he has no say in the matter. Would I be likely to consume anything he came out against? Probably not. I sure wasn't interested in the Mongoose novels even though I gave the ones I ran across a fair shot. It simply turned out that JMS was right - they weren't worth consuming.
