Watchman HC

[bobpfef]

I've been on an Alan Moore kick lately, reading The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore by George Khoury, and rereading a bunch of comics and trades. Some old (V for Vendetta, his Superman stuff), some new (Top Ten and Smax, both highly recommended). And I got to thinking that the only Alan Moore thing I didn't have that I sorta want is the Watchmen HC. But I am not really sure if it is worth it.

 

I know there is extra stuff in there, but is it anything that is worth the $100+ it would cost me to get a copy? Does anyone here have one? What is in there? I believe some pages of the -script and some drawings, right?

 

Bob

[Dr_Neff]

It has a slipcase and everything, signed by Moore and Gibbons, extra pages, gold leaf pages and a really cool bound bookmark. The secondary value is multiples of $100.00 probably settling around $250.00

 

back when they were screaming hot we got over $1,000.00 for a copy

 

I would hold out for the new one which should be out before the end of the year.

It will be super deluxe and probably $75.00 - $100.00

[Dr_Neff]

Have you read the secret origins (phantom stranger) and the Batman annual as well as Action Comics # 583? All by Moore - I send them to your for free if you PM your address.

 

Also have the Watchmen Portfolio featuring all the U.S. and U.K. promo materials as well as covers. (that's not free though:))

[bobpfef]

It has a slipcase and everything, signed by Moore and Gibbons, extra pages, gold leaf pages and a really cool bound bookmark. The secondary value is multiples of $100.00 probably settling around $250.00

 

back when they were screaming hot we got over $1,000.00 for a copy

 

I would hold out for the new one which should be out before the end of the year.

It will be super deluxe and probably $75.00 - $100.00

 

I thought that Moore wouldn't be a part of the new HC so DC dropped it, along with the action figures and stuff, or was that just for the 15 Anniversity addtion and what you are talking about is something new?

[kidcolt]

I paid $230 for my Watchman SC, worth the money.

[Dr_Neff]

Watchmen

[bobpfef]

I paid $230 for my Watchman SC, worth the money.

 

I assume you are talking about the Hardcover. The Softcover is easily available at $20.

[jbud73]

Its funny this thread should come up today - last night I sat back and read all 12 Watchmen comic books straight through. It had been at least 10 years since I had read them, my impressions have somewhat changed a tad though overall I still think it to be a high water mark for story telling in the comics medium.

 

SPOLIER ALERT BIG TIME *********************************

 

 

 

 

I think the main issue of contention with Moore and WM is that he may be a tad too whitty for his own good. Its almost like he paints himself into a corner and then has a metaphysical, philosophical, human moral dilemna dialogue to get out, or achieve some sort of ending. Sure he's trying to prove a point - that the world is not black and white - that good guys loose and love and humanity do not conquer all - and I'm not argueing for a tidy ending here, on the contrary, I'm a fan of the 'noir' genre in all things. However, the last 3 Issues of Watchmen are, shall I say it anit-climactic and a tad boring. Somewhere after they bust Roschark - can never spell it right, out of prison and discover that Ozzy is the bad guy its all hurry up and wait.

 

The last issue in particular has a number of flaws, there is no reckoning on a grand scale, for such a grand scale book. He never solves the omni-potent power issue, Dr. M gets imploded for about 1 minute, him and Oz have a talk and poof the world is saved its a better place - minus half of New York not a bad idea that.

 

But his reasoning is flawed - I mean I've read a ton of Political Philosophy too, understand the common enemy overcoming prejudice arguement, the Allagory of the Island and all that. But I mean an isolated Alien incident and we are all chummy again??? And look I also understand the ending as a point - not all things are neat and spoon fed, there doesnt need to be some huge Immovable object vs Irresistable force Dust up. By a finale that equates to a philosophical discussion about the morality of man bewtween Hobbes and Locke, or Nietzche etc etc etc I think Moore may have forgotten the medium while taking care to page homage to it.

 

The incident that probably irks me most is his dealing with Roschark over the last two issues. He goes from this Anti-Hero Punisher, Wolvie, more Constantine actually, guy to being insignificant and his demise is almost trite - as is the Original Nite Owls, which does nothing for the plot or stir up any emotive in the narrative. Again the randomness and the sheer out of his league (in Roschark's case may be the point) - but when did Ozzy get so tough as well as smart. Dr. M ya but I think Roschark is made too feeble in the final issues -after his brilliant use in the whole previous narrative.

 

Again it is obvious that Moore is out to kill cliche's while paying tribute to the Golden Age of comic book characters in his own What If - a sort of dealing with the GA hero's in a believable and decidedly Anti-Crisis sort of way. But his understated Humanism can, well, be a little bit too understated and ho hum so what. I think in the end, he could have taken a few pointers from Miller here and his dealings with Superman in DKR. Miller tackles the daughnting task of a Batman Superman fight and makes it believable. Moore on the other hand can't seem to reconcile it and therefore casts his Non-omnipotent heros aside, after using them to carry the first 10 issues and has the all powerful beings sit and chat for an ending.

 

In the end I am not denying the brilliance of the Watchmen, it is one of the most finely crafted tales to ever reside in the medium - it just seems to me that the audience that is versed enough in philosophical dialogue would emote the sentiment "Ya I get it so what" and the audience that isn't would go "well that ending sucked" I think to sum it up I'll rely on a famous quote related to one of my favorite movies, Apocalypse Now (which shares many traits with Watchmen).

 

Its half Great and half Guff.

 

Though in both cases I'd say 3/4 great is more accurate.

 

[Dr_Neff]

The Horror...The Horror

[kidcolt]

Quote:

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I paid $230 for my Watchman SC, worth the money.

 

 

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I assume you are talking about the Hardcover. The Softcover is easily available at $20

 

 

 

OPPS (SC) Slipcase hc not soft cover

[*paull*]

If you think that the ending to Watchmen doesn't seem realistic, consider a comparison to the 9/11 attacks in NYC.

[Kevin Boyd]

From Newsarama:

 

WIZARDWORLD LA: WATCHMEN GOES ABSOLUTE

 

Announced at today’s “Beyond the DC Universe” panel at WizardWorld LA was the next addition to DC’s very successful “Absolute” line this fall: Absolute Watchmen. The new edition of the classic Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons story is currently being adapted to the larger, “Absolute” format and recolored by original colorist John Higgins. The edition is being produced with the blessing of Alan Moore.

 

The edition will run 464 pages (and will also double as a blunt object if need be), and will be a complete reprinting not of the original series as published by DC, but of the Graphitti edition, a collection published by Graphitti in the late ‘80s that included 48 pages of extra material.

 

Speaking of the artist, we spoke with Gibbons briefly about the forthcoming collection. As many already confess to be, Gibbons is also a fan of the publisher’s “Absolute” format, and was thrilled when he learned that DC wanted top present Watchmen in this manner.

 

“As an artist, I love the Absolute books,” Gibbons said. “The pages have much more impact at the large size and the production values are first rate. In fact, many of the foreign editions of Watchmen were done at this larger, album size, so I have a really good idea of how it will look already.

 

“The Absolute volume also gives us the chance to digitally remaster the coloring and correct a few mistakes that have always bugged us. We're not going to redraw or change the look of the book in any way; we'll just bring it closer to what we had in mind all those years ago.

 

”The coloring is being exactly reproduced from the regular edition, then original colorist John Higgins is tweaking the digital files before sending them to me for final approval. Back in the day, John lived a few miles away from me and would bring color guides over to discuss with me. Today, he lives a few miles from DC and is in close contact with them on technical matters, whilst thanks to the wonders of technology; I get daily pages for approval.

 

”Everything is looking really good, crisper and more vibrant than ever and it's great to be working with John again.”

 

Gibbons won’t be adding any new material for the upcoming edition, but he will be designing the package, giving it an authentic feel. “The material that has only so far appeared in the Graphitti hardcover edition will include many sketches, designs, the original pitch, -script pages and an ‘outro’ by Alan and I. Most of the readers won't have seen this before.”

 

As the 2004 Bookscan numbers attested (and agreed with years before), despite closing in on twenty years old, the collected edition of the 12-issue series continues to be a best seller for DC, and to the continual surprise of Gibbons. “All we ever set out to do was a comic book we'd like to read,” the artist said. “It's gratifying to see that others continue to do so.

 

“I think it's become one of those books that are recommended reading for people just getting in to comics. The fact that it's self-contained is a bonus, since no previous knowledge of continuity is required and it has a clear resolution.”

 

And of course, as part of that, Watchmen, to this day, continues generating revenue for its creators. Or, as Gibbons puts it: “It keeps selling, so we keep getting checks!”

 

For the foreseeable future, Absolute Watchmen will be Gibbons’ only involvement with the property, as he has nothing to do with the currently in-production film based on the comic.

 

“I have no involvement, although it's being made close by in England. I'd be interested to see what they're doing but I don't know that they'd want me hanging around making suggestions any more than I'd have the time to do so!”

[Zonker]

If you think that the ending to Watchmen doesn't seem realistic, consider a comparison to the 9/11 attacks in NYC.

 

Reminds me of a conversation some of us were having before in the Modern forum:

 

I've previously thought the ending was the weakest part, and also felt a big letdown based on what had been hinted at that the Comedian had learned. But I'll try to defend it now...

 

At the risk of appearing crass, put this into (fictional, conspiracy-theorist) 9/11 terms: Say you find out someone is planning to stage a disaster in New York City for the purpose of motivating society towards some end. Thousands of innocents are about to be killed in service of a hoax by someone you regarded as an ally. So it's not so much the plot itself that is terrifying, instead it is who is doing the plotting, and the casualness with which thousands are about to be sacrificed. And, just maybe, what's really terrifying is that you agree with what's about to happen, even though you know you cannot live with yourself if you let it proceed. So, was the Comedian's death a murder, or in some sense an assisted suicide? Hmmm...

 

For me, reading the Comedian as an almost-accomplice in Adrian Veidt's plot, and his death as a virtual assisted-suicide makes for a more satisfying resolution.

 

It is also a nice parallel to Rorschach's fate, a similar assisted-suicide by Dr. Manhattan.

[*paull*]

Sorry, this "absolute" edition sounds lame. They couldn't add any more material to the book? That's ridiculous. The Graphitti hardcover is great, but I'm sure they could have come up with something to add to this edition. More -script at least?

[Weird]

Sorry, this "absolute" edition sounds lame. They couldn't add any more material to the book? That's ridiculous. The Graphitti hardcover is great, but I'm sure they could have come up with something to add to this edition. More -script at least?

 

It intrigues me. I have never read my HC edition b/c I don't want to mess with it. Wasn't there a Euro edition of Watchmen (maybe it was a portfolio or something) that Moore and Gibbons did sign?

 

I remember getting Dave Gibbons to sign my Watchmen #1 at the Atlanta Fantasy Fest (Fair? I forget the name) when I was a teen in the 80s. Pretty cool...

[Kevin Boyd]

Since I don't have the original edition and don't want to add to my debt by buying one second hand, and since it is being published in the over-sized Absolute format (and being recolored) I can't wait for this puppy to arrive. I haven't seen the extras that were in the Graffitti Designs edition so that's all "new" to me.

[chrisco37]

Since I don't have the original edition and don't want to add to my debt by buying one second hand, and since it is being published in the over-sized Absolute format (and being recolored) I can't wait for this puppy to arrive. I haven't seen the extras that were in the Graffitti Designs edition so that's all "new" to me.

 

Same here!!!! Super excited!!!!

 

Kev - any word on status of Miracleman?

[Kevin Boyd]

No, seems to be stuck in the mire again. They made that announcement last fall when Bowen solicited the Miracleman statue and then everything stopped dead... the statue did come out in the end, but no sign of the comics.

 

Maybe Marvel's legal department isn't confident enough in Gaiman's right to publish to proceed.

[bobpfef]

Since I don't have the original edition and don't want to add to my debt by buying one second hand, and since it is being published in the over-sized Absolute format (and being recolored) I can't wait for this puppy to arrive. I haven't seen the extras that were in the Graffitti Designs edition so that's all "new" to me.

 

Same here!!!! Super excited!!!!

 

Kev - any word on status of Miracleman?

 

YES, this is great, just what I wanted to here. Would I like some more goodies in there? Sure, but with the relationship between Moore and DC these days I am just glad they are putting ANYTHING out, and this sounds wonder. Is there a ship date for it? What size are these things? Any idea on the price?

 

Oh, and Miracleman, any word if Gaiman going to be writing new scripts or will it just be reprints?

[Kevin Boyd]

Miracleman will be reprints to a point, then the final unpublished storyarc will be completed.

 

Absolute Watchmen will be solicited when the book has been recolored. A process that's still underway but it is on the schedule for an October 2005 release. Price point will likely be around $49.99-79.99.

 

Absolute Editions are: 12.8 inches high x 8.5 inches wide and come in a slipcase. So far there have been 6 Absolute editions:

 

Absolute Authority Volumes 1&2

Absolute Danger Girl

Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Absolute Planetary

JLA/Avengers

 

with 2 more that have been solicited:

 

Absolute Batman: Hush (July)

Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2 (May/June)

 

Recently George Perez announced that he has completed a new cover for:

Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (fall?)