Don't Panic. Watchmen was a game changer. That's why it ends up on all those lists. It's place in history will not be damaged by a few addendums to the story. The Godfather was enhanced by The Godfather II, and it survived Godfather III. It's still required watching in film school.

Why are they making prequel comics for characters whose backstories we already know? I'd read a prequel about the Silhouette or Hooded Justice before any of these.

Also, separating Rorschach and Nite Owl is a terrible idea. Rorschach needs Nite Owl to ground him, and Nite Owl needs Rorschach to make him not boring.

Time Warner doesn't give a fuck about 10 years from now. if there's even a DC, they won't own it in 2022.

Darwyn Cooke id drawing the Silk Spectre and I'll buy anything drawn by Darwyn Cooke.

The AV Club post included images of cover art, which was mostly okay. Can you post that here?

@2 Rorschach and Nite Owl will likely appear in one another's issues, and their relationship explored.

The only Watchmen prequel I want to see is one exploring the relationship between Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis.

Needs an option for "I don't give a shit about Watchmen in any of its incarnations."

I agree with 2 completely. That said, Rorschach is probably the one I'll be most likely to peep.

Has there been a response from Alan Moore yet? I'm sure he's furious.

J Michael Straczynski is the hack that gave Gwen Stacy twins via Norman Osborne. Fuck that guy.

I agree with Paul (for a change!). This will only serve to dilute the genius of the original mini series. Some shit is meant to be left alone.

The only Watchmen sequel/prequel I want to read is the one written by this guy.

I don't know any thing about Watchmen except the movie, but doesn't it already have its own built in prequels and sequels since it spans like 4 decades and two generations of Watchmen?

This is a travesty, for all the stupid corporate/aesthetic/cultural impact reasons Paul and above commenters have mentioned. It reinforces my decision to stop buying and reading DC stuff after their re-launch, which likewise is totally based on re-branding, not any real artistic purpose...it's not as if Marvel or other comic publishers never makes weird decisions, but this is awful. The richness of Watchmen is based on the fact that you get some much backstory for several characters and that it spans so much time. It's like trying to do a prequel to Citizen Kane.

Fuck you, DC, and the Time Warner you rode in on.

Can we please stop pretending that Watchmen was an original property and not a cobbled together shit-fest of ripped off existing DC characters and plot lines from older sci-fi titles...

...not to mention an example of satire without value to people who aren't pretentious high schoolers and a stupid, stupid, stupid story on balance!

Can we all get that line out there before Moore himself says some dick-head thing about this development...and then we have to read some comic writer tell Moore to fuck off (and people responding to it for 2 weeks) before we all realize that no one really gives a shit anyway?!

Let's just own the narrative from the start. Watchmen is not a paragon of originality and Moore (who sold it) has is a rip off artist who has no right to bitch about the fact that it's being commercially exploited.

Moore might be deserving of a lot of credit for being pro-gay in comics before it was cool, but his work sucks. He's an asshole. And people who were willing to swallow Watchmen in the first place are responsible for the existence of that shitty (god god fucking awful) movie, and V for Vendetta too!

Now that said...I also hate prequels. Does anyone remember that awesome article about how prequels are inherently unethical?! Link it if you got it. I won't be reading this...because it is SURE to suck.

And the character design is so stupid that even Jae Lee's artwork (which I love) is not going to save Ozymandias!

"It's like trying to do a prequel to Citizen Kane."

O.M.F.G. While, yeah that movie would suck, you are such a douche! Can we please get a Citizen Kane rule to go along with mentioning Nazi's on the internet?!

Simpsons did it.

http://i.imgur.com/L4JIM.jpg

@ 16, Smiles. If we have to see a Simpsons movie parody come to life, i'd rather see the Kwik-E-Mart sequel to "I Spit On Your Grave", "I Flip Through Your Magazines"!

How about, "I think this is a terrible idea, but I might be willing to give at least the Azzarello titles a chance"?

What would be a good term for a compulsory sequel to a project that was really good, seems like a bad idea and that some people will like but others will flat out hate?

We can call it a "Shemp". The "Watchmen" sequels will be Shemps.

@13 -- Uh, isn't part of the point that the characters are more-or-less mirrors of popular characters in the mainstream comics lines? That they're not rip-offs; they're deliberate commentaries on existing characters and the cultural psyche of superhero comics as a whole? It was this self-reflection that was original, not the characters or plot. That's what turned the entire comics world on its ear, and you can pretty much pick up any contemporary superhero comic and see its influence...so to argue that no one gives a shit is, patently, inane.

@21: ssshhhhhh. don't scare him off. I still have popcorn to eat.

@21: Okay, I'll take that on faith good point. And yet, I don't think encouraging comic writers to show me the self-reflective side of Ghost Rider is all that much to be thankful for. But when Alan Moore starts commenting...he's not going to be like "Oh, they took my REFLECTIVENESS." He's going to say they took his ideas, i.e. his characters and setting (cause that's the only thing we can expect to actually be similar to the Watchmen)...which were never his...