Who Watches the Watchmen? by JCKnife

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Who Watches the Watchmen?

POSTED BY: JCKNIFE
UPDATED: Monday, June 28, 2004 15:34
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Monday, June 28, 2004 4:27 AM

I'm not sure this is the right forum but I didn't see a better one--a comic book series from the '80s called Watchmen by Allan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It's still in reprint (collected in graphic novel format) and if you have not read it, I highly recommend it.

Premise is what if there really were heroes in society--only one of them is super-powered, and he is basically government property and fuel for the raging cold war. The rest are vigilantes with human foibles. An interesting story-within-the-story is "Tales of the Black Freighter," a pirate comic book being read by one of the side-characters. The premise of that is very like what happened in "Bushwhacked."

If you haven't read Watchmen pick it up!

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Monday, June 28, 2004 4:31 AM

EMBERS

I read that, back in the 1980s...and I remember loving it, and the artwork...
but I sure don't remember the 'story within the story' (I guess it was too long ago...but of course the graphic novels had a lot of texture, a lot of really interesting subplot stuff, so I've probably forgotten a lot about it).

and here I was just going to be getting Ben Edlund's The Tick for the first time....

Not to mention Joss' Astonishing X-men

So many comics...so little time.

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Monday, June 28, 2004 5:03 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

I've also read Watchmen, many times, and agree, it's excellent (though, I admit, on most rereads I tend to skip the Black Freighter bits.. yeah, I know it's important, but after the first couple times it just bored me so I found myself skipping ahead).

Although by the forum, I thought you were posting of some news of a TV miniseries or something. I know there's still talk of a movie version of Watchmen, but I just can't see it working as anything less than a miniseries (and even then, they'd probably screw it up in an attempt to 'update' it. I think an animated, adult miniseries would be the best way to go, personally, more or less a direct adaptation of the comic with no reimagining, if they were going to do it at all)

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6

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Monday, June 28, 2004 5:19 AM

JCKNIFE

Yeah, there's been talk of a movie for many years. At one point there was even a director and a script, I believe. Just shows how fickle the industry can be.

Didn't mean for the title to be misleading but it's a repeated "tagline" from the story.

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Monday, June 28, 2004 5:42 AM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

Oh, I know that, that's not what threw me, it was that it was in a 'Other SF Series' forum. No biggie, though.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6

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Monday, June 28, 2004 9:32 AM

SOUPCATCHER

This is the only comic from my collecting days that sits on my bookshelf. I've carted it around with me over numerous moves because it's such a good read and I love the message. I must admit that I do tend to gloss over the Black Freighter sections since I've always found them creepifying. But that's a great comparison JCKnife to the Reavers. To kind of go off on a tangent, I've never been convinced by people who post the thesis that the Reavers were created by the Alliance, or Blue Sun, or are related to what was done with River. They're just people who moved too far off the edge and lost some humanity in the process. We have plenty of examples from our own history of the degeneration of those beyond the fringe. Those who roamed the ocean and struck without warning have been the boogeymen for centuries. No reason to think that would change once we got off this rock and stated stretching our legs.

I shaved off my beard for you, devil woman!

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Monday, June 28, 2004 10:46 AM

JCKNIFE

Huh, funny, aintitcool is reporting this project once AGAIN has a script and a director. I heard the same thing in the early 90's so I'll believe it when I see it...

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17410

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Monday, June 28, 2004 11:43 AM

HJERMSTED

Quote:
Originally posted by JCKnife:
Huh, funny, aintitcool is reporting this project once AGAIN has a script and a director. I heard the same thing in the early 90's so I'll believe it when I see it...

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17410

Man, if Darren Aronofsky (Pi; Requiem for a Dream) directs Watchmen that would be very interesting. He could certainly give the material a unique edge.

IMDB has him listed to direct as well: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004716/

This rumor is still not as cool as the earlier rumors of Terry Gilliam directing (yes, he was the director associated with the early '90s Watchmen movie rumors). I still wish that would have happened somehow.

mattro

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Monday, June 28, 2004 3:34 PM

JCKNIFE

That's right! Terry Gilliam! I was trying all day to remember who that was! Man, that would have been cool. Twelve Monkeys is one of my all-time favorites. He would have done a great job.

I don't know this Aronofsky guy.

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