Topic: The Watchmen thread.

[K-man]

And purchase The Watchmen.

While everyone else was buying Harry Potter the other night, I waited in line with a copy of this.  This book is epic and very deserving of your attention.

GO NOW

[Quemaqua]

Refresh my memory on this.  It's a comic, right?

[K-man]

Yep.  12 issues, now in TPB.  Epic

Off topic, i'm trying to put up a new avatar but the site is telling me that my pic is either too large or not an avatar.  It's 100x70 at 5.5 kb.  What am I doing wrong here?

[Quemaqua]

Make sure you're using a supported filetype... otherwise, I have no idea.  100x100 should be fine.  Try converting to .JPG or .GIF or something?

[K-man]

It is a jpg =/

how weird.

[Quemaqua]

I don't know dude.  Do you have the URL for it?  I'll look at it and see if I notice anything.

And that's sweet about the comic.  I love when things get collected and stuck into nice big books.  I recently picked up the giant-ass Compendium for The Darkness for like 30 bucks, which is fucking amazing (it wasn't the hardcover one, though... I can't seem to find the paperback one I got).  1280 pages.  That's a lot of freaking comic.

I've been meaning to check out The Watchmen, though.  This might be a good time to do it.

This the edition you got?

[K-man]

Yep.  That's the exact edition. 

And the file url is
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1628/rorschachzb0lf1.jpg

[K-man]

And with that i figured out the problem.  It didn't resize

[Quemaqua]

I'll have to track that book down.  It's cheap!

[K-man]

It's considered the standard for graphic novels.  Should be available at any bookstore

[TheOtherBelmont]

Watchmen is good stuff, one of my favorite series besides The Sandman.

[HxCeddie]

If you pick up the Watchmen, it's a good idea to pick up The Absolute Watchmen edition. Everything is recolored and it has a ton of sketches, scripts, and other awesome extras.

Now let's just hope that Zack Snyder can turn this into a decent movie.

[gpw11]

Trailer is out

Looks pretty good.  I borrowed the book after my friend finished reading it at the lake this weekend and read a bit on the drive back down.  I think I'm roughly five issues in and it seems pretty serious and awesome. 

[ren]

After watching the trailer I've decided to get this sometime before the movie comes out.

[Quemaqua]

Trailer actually looks pretty boss.  It certainly isn't a guarantee of goodness, especially with the dude who did 300 directing this (I liked the movie, just thought it indulged itself a bit too much, or way too much in some cases), but it definitely looks tasty.

I've been in a comic mood lately, I really should get around to picking this up.

[gpw11]

I'm not a huge comic fan, but this is actually pretty awesome all around.

[Cobra951]

Now I'm extremely curious.  I'll be reading the comics shortly.  March '09 for the movie, though.  So far away.

[Quemaqua]

I picked this up along with the whole Sin City library.  Am also currently reading The Dark Knight Returns, which is just as awesome as everyone said it was.

[gpw11]

Ok, I finished this a day or so ago and to be perfectly honest I was a bit let down.  It's not that it wasn't really good for a comic book, it's just that it had been built up at something more and as someone who's not a huge comic book fan (although I did purchase some Fables books on a whim at the bookstore last year) it just kind of didn't pan out into the epic literary masterpiece I was lead to believe it would.

Again, I thought it was really good, but people hyped it up way too much. It does, however, seem like it would translate into a movie well.

[Quemaqua]

That's the impression I've been getting from what I've read on the internet.  A lot of people consider this and The Dark Knight Returns to be the best comics ever, but then on the other hand a lot of people considering The Dark Knight Returns to be the best comic ever and Watchmen to be nowhere near comparison.  It's kind of interesting how one-sided it is in that regard.  Your description of it sounds like what I've heard from a lot of comic vets who don't happen to be so far on the side of loving both, and I suspect that's probably where I'll fall into things as well.  But I'll reserve judgment until I read it... and I'm quite sure that I'll enjoy it regardless.

I really do have to bestow more praise upon TDKR, though.  It's very cool to read after seeing the Dark Knight film.  Obviously the things aren't related, but you can definitely see how much inspiration was drawn from the thing in terms of tone.  And if you want a literary work, you've got one there.  Sure, it's still just a comic, and maybe some of the stuff is just slightly inflated for the sake of an idea or two, but it's really quite a beautiful thing that (thus far, at least) hasn't felt at all cheap or exaggerated.  I'm really impressed, and I think it's definitely the kind of thing that bears several repeat readings due to its depth.

[TheOtherBelmont]

That's the impression I've been getting from what I've read on the internet.  A lot of people consider this and The Dark Knight Returns to be the best comics ever, but then on the other hand a lot of people considering The Dark Knight Returns to be the best comic ever and Watchmen to be nowhere near comparison.  It's kind of interesting how one-sided it is in that regard.  Your description of it sounds like what I've heard from a lot of comic vets who don't happen to be so far on the side of loving both, and I suspect that's probably where I'll fall into things as well.  But I'll reserve judgment until I read it... and I'm quite sure that I'll enjoy it regardless.

I really do have to bestow more praise upon TDKR, though.  It's very cool to read after seeing the Dark Knight film.  Obviously the things aren't related, but you can definitely see how much inspiration was drawn from the thing in terms of tone.  And if you want a literary work, you've got one there.  Sure, it's still just a comic, and maybe some of the stuff is just slightly inflated for the sake of an idea or two, but it's really quite a beautiful thing that (thus far, at least) hasn't felt at all cheap or exaggerated.  I'm really impressed, and I think it's definitely the kind of thing that bears several repeat readings due to its depth.

Glad to hear you're enjoying TDKR.  You should consider picking up Batman: Year One, which was written by Miller as well and was used as some of the basis for Batman Begins, though very lightly.  The Long Halloween is another good one and elements of it show up in The Dark Knight movie.  You may or may not end up liking The Dark Knight Strikes Again which is the sequel to TDKR, but done in a completely different art style, which turned a lot of people off and is a lot weirder in both the writing and art department, not as good as TDKR but still a great read.

[K-man]

Ok, I finished this a day or so ago and to be perfectly honest I was a bit let down.  It's not that it wasn't really good for a comic book, it's just that it had been built up at something more and as someone who's not a huge comic book fan (although I did purchase some Fables books on a whim at the bookstore last year) it just kind of didn't pan out into the epic literary masterpiece I was lead to believe it would.

Again, I thought it was really good, but people hyped it up way too much. It does, however, seem like it would translate into a movie well.

Watchmen is one of those series that benefits greatly from a second read through.  The first time around you're very concerned with keeping up with everyone and everything.  Plus, some things become apparent during the second read that you wouldn't notice or know to look for the first go round.

[Cobra951]

Read thru 4 chapters and going thru 5th.  I love the comprehensive detail.  There are multiple interrelated layers weaved together.  The storyline has my full attention so far.

[JacksRag(e)]

Just picked up Dark Knight Returns and Absolute Watchmen.  Borders has this sweet 40% off coupon code so I got it for a decent price.  yay

[Cobra951]

I'm done.  Good reading.  While the plot is definitely comic book, the way the tale was constructed made it more interesting than usual.  Don't skip over any seemingly superfluous tangents.  Now to hope they don't screw up the film.

[ScaryTooth]

I've always wanted a shirt that says "Who Watches the Watchmen" And maybe have the bloody smiley face on it somewhere. But I have never seen anything like that.

[ScaryTooth]

New Watchmen Trailer!

Oh man. I can't wait to see this.

[Cobra951]

Very cool.  Love that Philip Glass tune from Koyaanisqatsi.  It really fits well in GTA IV, and I heard it plenty of times there.

[ScaryTooth]

No one else saw this?

Whoever hasn't watched this is a d-bag. That is all.

[beo]

yeah, watched this shortly after you posted it. it looks badass. think i'm going to watch it again now, actually...

[Quemaqua]

I think I liked the original trailer better, but I have to say, that was still damn good.  I really need to get off my ass and read that.  I have it sitting in a drawer with my other comics waiting to be read, and I've just kept putting it off.  I still need to finish the last bit of The Dark Knight Returns too.

[K-man]

Word is they may have changed the ending in the movie.  If that actually happened I'll be pretty disappointed.

[Quemaqua]

You know, I'm having trouble getting into the book, too.  Not because I don't appreciate what's there, but because I think I'm afraid it's going to turn into a giant political rant like V for Vendetta, which I completely hated.  Because I can't get behind Moore's political views even a little bit, but was led to believe that Watchmen was less political and more psychological.  But after reading the first bit, I'm beginning to think I was lied to.  This displeases me.  Moore is a really smart guy in a lot of ways, and uniquely creative, but fuck if I know why anybody wants to listen to his views on anything that actually matters.

[ScaryTooth]

Watchmen, sort of a behind the scenes video. It's like 4 minutes long. But awesome!

[gpw11]

You know, I'm having trouble getting into the book, too.  Not because I don't appreciate what's there, but because I think I'm afraid it's going to turn into a giant political rant like V for Vendetta, which I completely hated.  Because I can't get behind Moore's political views even a little bit, but was led to believe that Watchmen was less political and more psychological.  But after reading the first bit, I'm beginning to think I was lied to.  This displeases me.  Moore is a really smart guy in a lot of ways, and uniquely creative, but fuck if I know why anybody wants to listen to his views on anything that actually matters.

I know this is old, but I got through it alright and didn't really notice anything being overly politicized.  There's obviously some shit in it, but only at the level where you can take it as a part of the story and not some sort of manifesto.  I also didn't really see anything overly psychological or deep in general, but that might just be me.

And I hear you about Moore.  That guy is a fucking clown.  Note that I'm judging him based off of his looks and like three quotes of his that I've seen. 

[ren]

If this clip is anything to go from, I won't be watching the movie anytime soon.

[Quemaqua]

It does seem like they're trying to add a bunch of action to something that didn't really have much, but it's a movie about superheroes, what do you want?  This is the same director as 300, which was a bloody fun action flick even though it tore most of the soul out of the original material, so it wouldn't surprise me to see something at least somewhat similar happen here.

Plus, it's very hard to judge a scene like that out of context with the rest of the movie.  Cheesy superheroes, but that's kind of the point.  Besides that, it was obviously unfinished, missing a bunch of audio, etc.  I see no reason to be *that* skeptical over it.

[Pugnate]

Yea it looks like a B-movie scene.

But Que is right, it probably looks worse out of context.

edit:

I agree that it is unfair to judge with the scene unfinished and lacking final audio, but it does bother me how overproduced it already is. There is a lot of action forwarding and slo mo'ing for affect, which is quite cheesy in a music video sorta way.

[Quemaqua]

Again, look at the last comic movie the guy did.  Certainly no masterpiece of faithful recreation like Rodriguez with Sin City.  A fun flick, pretty, and with an extremely well-cast lead role, but a movie that was a shadow of what it was on the page.

[Pugnate]

Sure, but 300's action oriented content still fell in line with the movie, even if the movie was brainless. The Watchmen, I feel, deserves different treatment.

Anyway, it is too early to say anything. That is just one scene, and it isn't even the final version. Who knows how the raw footage was edited in the final cut. And Jack Snyder has only done a few movies, so I can't say that just because he did 300 a certain way, he will give the same treatment to every film he ever does.

Besides, Kevin Smith really liked it, and I am inclined to trust his opinion on something like this.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/08/watchmen-update.html

Kevin Smith (pictured) — who apparently was invited to see the film at Snyder’s invitation shortly after Comic-Con last month — has posted an unabashed rave for Watchmen over at MySpace: “I saw Watchmen. It’s f---ing astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off. Remember that feeling of watching Sin City on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you’ll come close to watching Watchmen.”

Of course, depending on how you felt about Sin City, Smith’s assessment may or may not strike you as impressive. So EW.com asked Smith — currently prepping his R-rated lewd laugher Zack and Miri Make A Porno for a Halloween premiere — to expand just a smidge: “My God, the flick is amazing.” Okay. And? “Anything more and I start getting phone calls.” Fair enough.

But all is not rosy...

Smith’s gush might be encouraging for those who’ve long doubted that even a good film could be distilled out of Watchmen’s dense, complex story, let alone one that’s “f---ing astounding.” But there is still reason to worry: as EW reported in July, Snyder is currently endeavoring to trim a nearly three-hour version of Watchmen (which is believed to be the iteration Smith saw) down to two hours and 25 minutes, the studio’s desired running time, even though Snyder’s preference is that the movie be released as long as possible.

I understand studios being a bit apprehensive about length, but after TDK, you'd think they'd let it go at 3 hours.