I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the announcement the other day that DC Comics is going to be publishing prequels focusing on the characters in the Watchmen, the legendary and ground breaking series from the 1980s written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.  I was a huge fan of the series, buying them as they came out.  A sophomore in college who for the first time lived near a direct sales comics outlet, the complexity of storytelling really rocked my world.

I don’t see an need for prequels, especially not if Alan Moore isn’t going to be involved.  And given the history between him and DC, I expected pigs to fly before that happens.

Other than the occasional graphic novel or collections, I haven’t followed comics closely in a number of years, mostly due to time, money, and space concerns, but lately I’ve considered picking the habit back up, at least in electronic format.  I’m only familiar with a few of the people working on the various projects in the Watchmen prequels.  I do respect the ones I’m familiar with, but none of them will be enough to entice me to buy these comics.

There are other issues at play here, though, besides should a self-contained story be added to.  Depending on who you listen to, Alan Moore was cheated out of the rights to his creation.  Or not.  Over at Black Gate, Matthew David Surridge has summarized the situation, using extensive quotes as well as his own opinions.  If you’re a comics fan and haven’t seen it already, it’s worth a read.