What Happened "Before Watchmen"?

~released cover of Dr. Manhattan in the Before Watchmen event

In light of the fantastic success of The Watchmen 12-issue series (1986) over 25 years ago, DC Comics announced this morning that they will be running prequels for the dark-heroic characters popularized by writer Alan Moore, with art and colors from Dave Gibbons and John Higgens. Titled Before Watchmen, these seven titles start sometime in summer 2012.

The titles as announced will be:

Comedian #1-6, with writer Brian Azzarello and artist J.G. Jones.

Dr. Manhattan #1-4, with writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Adam Hughes.

Minutemen #1-6, with writer and artist Darwyn Cooke.

Nite Owl #1-4, with Writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists Andy and Joe Kubert.

Ozymandias #1-6, with Writer Len Wein and artist Jae Lee.

Rorschach #1-4, with writer Brian Azzarello and artist, Lee Bermejo.

Silk Spectre #1-4, with writer Darwyn Cooke and artist Amanda Conner.

There will also be a Before Watchmen: Epilogue one-shot released before the others, showing some of the artwork and starting a special side-story called "Curse of The Crimson Corsair".

If you're interested in following the series event, please join us at Before Watchmen Summary Page which will show artwork, checklists, and possibly a reading order (if one is necessary).


Recommended: The Watchmen (2009) Blu-Ray, Director's Cut

If you haven't been introduced to The Watchmen, there is a movie release in Blu-Ray that has the best graphics and is very close to the original 1986 series. This is the Director's Cut, which puts you in the perspective of what was fully intended.

You'll definately need to have read the series or picked up the movie to know what's going on in Before Watchmen.

The extended director's cut restores 24 minutes of connective tissue to the 162-minute film, most significantly the last scene of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl. Other elements help restore and fill in details that had been in the graphic novel.

I highly recommend the this Director's Cut version simply because it goes beyond the normal movie and isn't restricted by time constraints. Warning, though, this is movie is rated-R.