Comics NEWS! DC announces Watchmen sequel!! (sort of)

Here's something will definitively annoy old fans..but no doubt please the always demanding younger crowd.

They did it! DC Comics finally did it!!
They're gonna produce more WATCHMEN material!

That's right! Alan Moore timeless classic is finally getting a sequel...in the form of various prequels!!

DC Entertainment has announced that this summer they will publish all-new stories to expand on the acclaimed series. They understand that there will be some controversy with this decision but have decided to take the plunge. DC Comics will put out seven inter-connected prequel mini-series which will "build on the foundation of the original WATCHMEN." All titles will be under the BEFORE WATCHMEN banner.

Oh, my...

Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee said:

It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant. 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.

Getting a bit pro-active regarding this cult classic they own?

Wanting to cash-in on the success of an Alan Moore tale? Who do they think they are... Hollywood? XD

Why did all these sort of things keep happening under DiDio/Lee??

Anyways, they're not kidding around when they're talking about expanding this classic.
They have unied an all-star cast of creators to work with these characters.
And are planning quite a lot of upcoming titles, such as:

- 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

I see lots of personal favorites of mine amongst these names.
Though that doesn't make this whole idea any better honestly..

Each week, these issues will also feature a bonus back-up tale to follow.

Called "Curse of the Crimson Corsair", and written by original series editor Len Wein with art by the original series colorist John Higgins.

This seems to be the only part of this whole experience that I've been actually liking.

There will also be a single issue named BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, by various writers and artists as well as a another Crimson Corsair story by Wein and Higgins.

I suppose you won't heard any comment coming from Alan Moore regarding all this.
He likes to create stories and enjoy expanding them sometimes, as long as he's in complete control of all this.
(like with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Tom Strong)

Though Dave Gibbons, the original artist on WATCHMEN and its co-creator already said the following:

The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC's reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire.

My own opinion? Honestly I'm not liking this at the moment...
Why does everything need to get a sequel? Why all these remakes? Why all that?
Simply because some people nowadays wanna make some money out of something that isn't theirs, something with proven success, something they can "ride" alongside to see how much they'll make out of it.

Some of these comics might turn out fun. Even great perhaps. But it was greed that started it all.

Blah :/

Eyz does Wonder Woman!~

For the Daily Sketch Challenge over at the Outcast studios forums, I was able to finally try to draw Wonder Woman in her current new costume.

And I gotta say, it isn't that bad, like I already wrote about.

I gotta admit, shaking the WW mythos like this was a good idea from Straczynski. Not as series-defining and ground shaking as what Geoff Johns did with GL and The Flash, but at least people talked about this new costume on various medias. (which was honestly the point, I'm sure)
I didn't read much Wonder Woman comics myself, apart from George Perez's run. But I guess I'll be pickin' up this new arc in TPB later on.

I like the little Greek-ysh details of this costume.
I tried to give her a facial apparence as such.
And here's just for fun:



Cheesy? yes. But iconic nonetheless!
...well a bit silly too.

Wonder Woman new look~

So, Wonder Woman will change her costume for issue 601, after using mostly the same costume for nearly 70 years....
And I'm thinking... maybe you'd like my view on it? At least a comment on the whole deal from my own point of view. (well you're still reading these very lines, aren't you?).

So here goes: (warning, long-ass paragraph ahead)


First of, I'd like to comment on the fact that this whole idea is part of J. Michael Straczynski's "big plan".
He's a very good professional comic writer. For years he has been creating original tales at the house of ideas (that's Marvel's comics). His last stories were pretty darn creative. Including The Other, a Spider-man story I was really loving, introducing new concepts (a "totem" view on Peter Parker's life and enemies), new ideas (power changes, a "evolution" for Spidey...), etc.. But Joe Quesada being an ass like usual the man he is, had to scrap everything, for you see this Editor-in-chief didn't like evolution or change. Straczynski wanted to quit Marvel but his contract forced him to stay until the very end of the One More Day story line (aunt May's dying, Peter makes a deal with Satan, Peter and MJ marriage "never happened", story resets, he's back living with his aunt, not a professor anymore but a photgraph for the Bugle again, how does it work?!? - Hey! It's magic!)

Anyway, Straczynski joins the ranks of one more good writer that had to run from Marvel to DC because of "creative differences". He joins now Joe Kelly (Deadpool writer in the past but has been making some Marvel since 2008 again), Fabian Nicieza (awesome Deadpool creator & writer now on everything Robin/Red Robin) and Judd Winick (Exile's writer and since then has done Shazam!, Green Arrow,..), etc..

Back on Wonder Woman~
So Straczynski has always been a big fan of Superman, he said that many times on interviews (ign, comicbookresources..), Superman's been since he was a kid his "window to the comic book world". Through Supes he discovered the JLA, Bats, Wonder woman...
But he isn't happy with Wonder Woman current condition, you see she's supposed to be one of the "big try", DC's Trinity. While in fact she isn't a very loved character...
The mainstream audience knows her very well, as much as Supes and Bats, but her book doesn't sell that much. Heck, Green Lantern sells a ton more! (thanks to Geoff Johns...)

From Superman #700 and Wonder Woman #600, Straczynski will be writing both series.
And since DC is doing the awesome "no big comic event/crossover for a year, which I appreciate and offers the books a chance to breath (where Marvel is putting big events one after the other; Skrulls, Dark Avengers, Siege, World Ward Hulks, Heroic Age, Shadowland, etc..)...
Superman will have a year to travel America and then the world.. Which is nice, brings back Supes to his "popular roots".
And Wonder Woman...well, Straczynsk's goal is to bring her back to Superman/Batman level!

And he seems to be on the right way!
He had the fantastic artist Jim Lee redesign a new costume for her.

It looks very different from what you imagine when you think "Wonder Woman".
Kinda "street"-like. Not very far from Black Canary (and less trashy- sorry Dinah!), modern and seems practical!
I've seen some great reaction from comic readers and geeks alike!
Already fans talking about doing cosplays of this new costume (true!)

But on the internet you'll always find people dissing it, the usual~
And now the mainstream audience is talking about and bashing it... It has been mentioned on the New York Times... It seems the mainstream audience criticise it while in fact they're not the ones who will buy the books!.... Bah...


Final words? I like it. It's different, it's creating a huge response and the attention of medias, exactly the goal Straczynski probably had while having Jim Lee redesign it I'm sure. I'll leave you with these quotes now:

“I think Wonder Woman has a mind of her own. And I think she was just kind of ready for something new. She’s got an attitude and if this is the new thing that she wants to wear, well, by God, she’s going to wear it. And I like that. And I hope that in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, get over it!" [From the Daily What.]
--Lynda Carter, speaking to ABC News.

"Now, I want to ask Adam West of his opinion on this matter."
--JWMC

In the pages, it looks pretty kickass~