That Rorschach splash just shrank my pants.

In addition to making a good point, KG made me crack up.

But I agree. Everything I see looks interesting, promising, or both.

Looks like a nice mix of work that’s reverential to Gibbons with stuff that isn’t so much.

I just got a chubbie in my manties. Looking good.

Did anyone doubt that this was going to be pretty to look at?

Oh mindless consumption by those who wish to relive a specific moment in their lives…is there anything you can’t make money from?

I’m not really excited about these being “Before Watchmen’ projects in the least.

But I am excited about new work out of Darwyn Cooke, Amanda Conner, Brian Azzarello, JMS, JH Jones, Adam Hughs (??!! interior???), Jae Lee (the best of the bunch, artistically), and Lee Bermejo.

I fully anticipate these projects being great. Not because they are trading on the Watchmen name — that is pure marketing, it has no positive or negative correlation to quality in my midn — but because the creative teams are dynamite.

You can say something like “Flashpoint” was as a concept and conceit creatively empty, but Azzarello’s “Dark Knight of Vengeance” was undoubtedly a strong, compelling, surprising piece of work.

Looks nice; I’m glad my initial impression (that this was some double-page spread from a single comic) was mistaken. The fact that I wasn’t sure at first says something, I think, about the state of mainstream comic book art ca. 2012.

“Oh mindless consumption by those who wish to relive a specific moment in their lives…is there anything you can’t make money from?”
congrats regularsyzedmike, you just passed basic poli-sci rhetoric. onward to a rewarding life of meaningless sloganeering!

@gnarlk: Sounds like I have a bright future at DC!

or as another online alan moore lapdog…

You could put Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner on a Jar-Jar Binks spin-off, and it would look incredible. Don’t mean it’ll have anything original, important, or clever to say.

But that’s not why you guys buy comics, is it?

Some people buy comics to be entertained, and some people have different standards for what constitutes “entertainment”. Is it really strictly necessary to turn the comment thread on *every* internet posting about Before Watchmen into an endless series of ad hominem attacks on its readers, detractors, creators, publishers and/or Alan Moore?

Looks fine, doesn’t it?

But there’s reasons why Gibbons chose to stick with the three-tiered, 9-panel page layout for the Watchmen. Artists who abandon it risk also abandoning the Watchmen’s tone and mood. Maybe they don’t care.

I should just be grateful these Before Watchmen comics weren’t given to Rob Liefield or Jim Lee to “interpret”. I would be forced to burn a cross on DC’s front lawn. If they had a lawn.

Yes, that Rorschach piece is fantastic.

@gnarlk: He’s over rated, too.

Protect your lap!

People should only be allowed to buy comics based on my opinion. Why can’t everyone understand this????

“Maybe they don’t care.”

If they did, this wouldn’t be happening at all.

Oh, c’mon. If you’re buying one of these series because you like the artist involved, that doesn’t make you a slave to DC’s marketing tactics. If you’re buying books you otherwise wouldn’t because they’re Watchmen-related, then yeah, you’re a pawn or whatever epithet these fanboys are latching onto.

@RegularMike

Thanks for saying it. I would have said something very similar, but you beat me to it