Tag: Watchmen

Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?

SupermanNot long ago I came across an NPR article about a special hardcover edition of “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”

In 1986, DC Comics decided that Superman’s dense 48-year history had grown too confusing for new readers. Worse, his backstory contained elements that seemed slightly twee in light of the tonal sea change that was beginning to take place in comics. It was the year of grim, violent books like Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which showed readers the superhero genre’s sinister side.
Superman, on the other hand, had over the years featured such sunny conceits as Krypto the superdog, with his tiny red cape.
So DC cleaned house, rebooting the Superman franchise from scratch. Going forward, nothing would remain of what readers had come to know about the Man of Steel. Henceforth, he would be the lone survivor of Krypton — no dog, no cousin Supergirl, no shrunken Kryptonian city in a bottle, peopled by hundreds of thousands of microscopic (though similarly super) people. Gone, too, the Fortress of Solitude. Even archnemesis Lex Luthor would morph from mad scientist into billionaire businessman, trading his skintight purple getup for a crisp bespoke suit.

In 1986, DC Comics decided that Superman’s dense 48-year history had grown too confusing for new readers. Worse, his back story contained elements that seemed slightly twee in light of the tonal sea change that was beginning to take place in comics. It was the year of grim, violent books like Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which showed readers the superhero genre’s sinister side.

Superman, on the other hand, had over the years featured such sunny conceits as Krypto the superdog, with his tiny red cape.

So DC cleaned house, rebooting the Superman franchise from scratch. Going forward, nothing would remain of what readers had come to know about the Man of Steel. Henceforth, he would be the lone survivor of Krypton — no dog, no cousin Supergirl, no shrunken Kryptonian city in a bottle, peopled by hundreds of thousands of microscopic (though similarly super) people. Gone, too, the Fortress of Solitude. Even archnemesis Lex Luthor would morph from mad scientist into billionaire businessman, trading his skintight purple getup for a crisp bespoke suit.

I also learned that the book was written by Alan Moore, who has written other comics such as the “WATCHMEN“, “V For Vendetta“, and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen“. When I learned that Alan Moore had written “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow” I had to pick up. Which I did and read it in one sitting.

I found “Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” to be a very good ending to the original Superman story line and think anyone interested should read it. It really is good and worth the cost. The Deluxe Edition that I picked up also includes a couple of other Superman Comics written by Moore. “Superman: FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING” as well as another story between the man of tomorrow and Swampthing.

Who Watches The Watchmen

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Today I went and saw “Watchmen” At the movie theater with Hannah and some friends. Back in November I read the Watchmen graphic novel and really enjoyed it. I read it knowing their was a movie coming out and I wanted to be educated with the source material.

In the end I liked the graphic novel more then the movie. But saying that, I know that I will be getting the DVD when it comes out because it was still good. Speaking of good, without giving anything away let me talk about the good in this movie.

  • The directing was amazing! Just WOW.
  • The movie was very graphic
  • The sound track was really good.
  • Acting was really good.
  • For the most part (I strain when I say this) it was pretty accurate.

Now for the bad

  • Things where left out from the graphic novel. The movie was almost 3 hours long and I have been reading that when the DVD comes it it will have 20 extra minutes. But even with the 20 extra minutes they will still be leaving things out from the comic.
  • They dropped the ball on picking an actor who played Richard Nixon and his makeup. Frost Nixon‘s Nixon it’s not.
  • I feel that the way Dr. Manhattan lives in time was not represented well.
  • The ending is different from the comic book. I don’t think it affects the story really. But I don’t understand why it was changed in the first place.

Finally. It’s worth seeing. I am going to get the DVD when it comes out. But like most movies that are adapted from books, I wish it was truer to the source material.

Watchmen Book Review

I recently finished reading the “Watchmen” graphic novel. It was written by Alan More, with artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins and came out between 1986 and 1987 as a 12 issue comic book by DC Comics.

I wanted to read the Watchmen because of the movie coming out based on the graphic novel. I found most of the book very difficult to read. It’s a very wordy book with less action then your average Batman comic book would have.

Along the way of reading Watchmen, I found through out the book supplemental fictional documents about characters, or just random back story elements that really did help me tie the whole Watchmen story together. Things like this in a graphic novel really do separate it from all the others on the book shelf.

The whole thing for me really didn’t pull it’s self together till the very, very end. It truly was a mind fuck that you don’t see coming. I found myself suddenly pulled into the story and mentally putting all the mixed up pieces together. The closest thing I can compare this book to is the movie “Unbreakable“.

Watchmen is set in an alternate reality which closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s. The primary point of divergence is the presence of superheroes. Their existence in this iteration of America is shown to have dramatically affected and altered the outcomes of real-world events such as the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon. In keeping with the realism of the series, although the costumed crime fighters of and the presidency of Watchmen are commonly called “superheroes”, the only character in the principal cast who possesses obvious superhuman powers is Doctor Manhattan. The existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the nations. Additionally, superheroes have become unpopular among the public, which has led to the passage of legislation in 1977 to outlaw them. While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents, and Rorschach continues to operate outside of the law.