Comic Book Resources

Another problem with Watchmen being a “gateway” comic book is that, like Miller’s Dark Knight, it is a deconstruction of the superhero comic genre. After reading this, it would be hard for a new reader to take any regular comic seriously.

I disagree with that assessment because I’ve seen time and time again that Watchmen IS a good entry point into comics for new readers. I’ve hooked numerous friends on graphic novels because of Watchmen. The KEY is to get them to read that first, get them interested, then find out what their tastes lean to and direct them from there. With one friend, Watchmen led to Y the Last Man and the purchase of every volume. With another friend it led to Preacher. Yet still with another friend it led to Dark Knight Returns and Miller’s Daredevil run. Another got hooked on everything Alan Moore. Another became a fan of monthly comics after reading Watchmen and Kingdom Come back to back. The stories go on and on.

Do I think Watchmen is a good entry to turn them into superhero periodical fans? Not likely, but there are many graphic novels, manga, special, etc., that you can point them to that will keep them coming back for more.

The other thing about Watchmen is this — a lot of what long time readers like ourselves get from the story, new readers don’t. It is one of the finest examples of the medium, but there will be things lost on the common reader, BUT once you get them hooked and they come back to it a second time later (and they almost always do), suddenly there’s a shift and new appreciation for the medium.

So, no, it’s not going to turn new readers in to rabid fans, but if you help them along and become a great comics pusher, it could happen.

Wow, all the drug analogies are kind creepy, aren’t they?

“Do I think Watchmen is a good entry to turn them into superhero periodical fans? Not likely…”

On that point we can certianly agree. A more interesting question is what do you use to get readers for periodical superhero comics, if that’s your intent? The feeder books for young readers don’t really reflect what’s going on in the mainline books (though much of the art in the MARVEL ADVENTURES books has a slick modern style that is a good visual lead-in).

Perhaps a lot of my problem with WATCHMEN as a lead-in book is that much of what you might point people at in follow-on really didn’t do that much for me. I’m relatively hard to please (and yet I’ll happily scarf up kirby reprint books even at the stiff asking prices for them. Go figure.)

I would, however, recommend YEAR ONE and Frank Miller/David Mazzucelli’s (apologies if that’s misspelled) run on DAREDEVIL as a good, standalone story for instance. Just like I’d recomend WHITEOUT (though I’ve seen that miss as well as hit with readers) or CRIMINAL (mostly hit) or even Ennis’ PUNISHER run.

And sure, WATCHMEN will resonate more with superhero readers of a certain age/maturity bracket, but there’s plenty in it to make it work aside from the costumes and larger-than-life identities. That’s precisely why it works on its own and *can* as an introduction to comics. But if you’re creating an expectation for that quality level/meatiness on a regular basis, that’s where the disappointment trap lies.

Drug analogies are creepy, but often appropo, for a variety of reasons (from the implied illicitness to the implied coolness and underground society ness of the proceedings.)

>> Using Watchmen as a gateway book seems to me to be a recipe for heartbreak. What do you point people at afterwards? Watchmen is accessible, wonderfully so, because it doesn’t lean on years of backstory. It’s a self-contained work with meaty characters and a beginning, middle and an end.>>

What do you point people at afterward?

SWAMP THING, SANDMAN, TOM STRONG, FABLES, AMERICAN FLAGG, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, USAGI YOJIMBO, GIVE ME LIBERTY/MARTHA WASHINGTON, PREACHER, HELLBOY and/or, I’d be most grateful, ASTRO CITY, MARVELS ARROWSMITH and SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY, if you’d be so kind.

Depending on their tastes in fiction, of course — even the group of people that like WATCHMEN will not all like the same other stuff, so it depends on what else they enjoy.

But that WATCHMEN is a self-contained work doesn’t mean that you can’t recommend a multi-volume series, and that its references to comics history are hidden enough that readers don’t need to know them doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy SWAMP THING because Batman and Sargon show up, or that the references in SANDMAN will stop them cold.

kdb

“Another problem with Watchmen being a “gateway” comic book is that, like Miller’s Dark Knight, it is a deconstruction of the superhero comic genre. After reading this, it would be hard for a new reader to take any regular comic seriously.”

No you’re wrong. The Watchmen can be a great “gateway” COMIC BOOK. Not all Comic Books are superhero comics.

Much like others have posted here, books like Watchmen can introduce readers who won’t normally read illustrated stories into the cadence of reading balloons, looking at pictures and following panels. For those of us who have grown up with comics, reading them have become second nature. We can’t comprehend that there may be many that can’t “understand” the whole concept of following stories done in panel forms.

But believe me, there are many out there who can’t.

Yes, if you’d like to get people to read (or just read) superhero stories, Watchmen would be a horrible jumping on point.

Bt comics, comic books and illustrated stories have been and always been much, much more than just superhero tales.

No, I have an opinion. An opinion which has nothing to do with the quality level of the book in question, but as to the wisdom of using it as “this is what to expect out of comics.”

And I certainly wouldn’t make the mistake of trying to introduce a new reader just to superhero based comics. They’re an acquired taste, much like stout or bleu cheese. Those can be rewarding in time, but when you start out with them, they can be pretty overwhelming.

Frankly, I’d rather people started with AGE OF BRONZE, but that may just be me.

Actually, years ago I gave my father Age of Bronze to read and he loved it — this was after I gave him “From Hell” which at first he said had “impossible to follow artwork” that led to “actually, the artwork is amazing.” He wanted another bit of historical graphic fiction to read and Age of Bronze was the only thing I could think of at the time. He later graduated to the first volume of “Berlin,” which he adored.

Oh, and I started my Father off on From Hell because he was fascinated by serial killer stories (my father did assessments of a number of killers during his lifetime). I handed him Watchmen later and while he liked it, he said he didn’t want anything related to super heroes. I sadly never asked why.

And that’s an approach I can get behind. Tailor the gateway comic to the reader. Now that there’s a sufficient diversity of easy-to-get comics work, you can find just about something for any taste (but for straight-ahead romance it seems). That’s a far more constructive attitude than “let them read WATCHMEN” (not that anyone in this thread advocated such a narrow view). My point was to take an opposite approach and look beyond the one titan in the greater field.

I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that Mr. Busiek wins, so I won’t counter his suggestions. At least not all of them. GIVE ME LIBERTY causes me some pause. As much as I love HELLBOY, I don’t think I’d chase WATCHMEN with it. Picking nits, surely. But there are some people who are put off by “genre” presentations (I’m not one of them) and WATCHMEN may get a pass, but would they hold their nose long enough to take in SWAMP THING? Yes, I realize that’s not the work’s problem to overcome: that’s a potential personal prejudice.

Is SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY available in handy single-volume?

>> I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that Mr. Busiek wins, so I won’t counter his suggestions. At least not all of them. GIVE ME LIBERTY causes me some pause. As much as I love HELLBOY, I don’t think I’d chase WATCHMEN with it. Picking nits, surely. But there are some people who are put off by “genre” presentations (I’m not one of them) and WATCHMEN may get a pass, but would they hold their nose long enough to take in SWAMP THING? Yes, I realize that’s not the work’s problem to overcome: that’s a potential personal prejudice.>>

It’ll also vary from person to person. Some people won’t like the idea of a swamp-monster series, some would find it more palatable than guys in capes. There’s people I’d give HELLBOY to, and people who I think would like something else.

>> Is SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY available in handy single-volume? >>

Sadly, I think it’s out of print at the moment, but it _was_ available in TPB…

kdb

“No, I have an opinion. An opinion which has nothing to do with the quality level of the book in question, but as to the wisdom of using it as “this is what to expect out of comics.”

Matt, I was responding to jdh417′s comment not yours. He stated that Watchmen wasn’t a good gateway book for comics because it was a deconstruction of the superhero genre.

I feel that by inferring that it isn’t a good starting point to read comics because it deconstructs superheroes seems to hold that all comics are superhero books. Which they so clearly are not.

Sorry to be curt, then, not to mention a bonehead.

And no, not all comics are superhero comics. Just that it sometimes seems that way…

“And no, not all comics are superhero comics. Just that it sometimes seems that way…”

Thank you for adding an important addendum to what I said. There are plenty of other types of comic books out there, but superheroes rule American comics. Though Watchmen is ultimately a superhero comic, regardless of its intent, it’s only really a good gateway for people who read superhero comics when they were younger to introduce them to other types of comics.

Then again, most superhero comics don’t seem to be written with kids in mind anyway, more like adult collectors who think they’re reading something that’s profoundly metaphorical and socially relevant. That would be Watchmen’s influence on superheroes. Unfortunately, that kind of attitude is hard to pull off in an on-gong monthly title featuring very valuable licensed characters.

[...] the rapid approach of the Watchmen movie there’s been renewed discussion of the Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons miniseries as a “gateway comic” that could introduce [...]