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DC festival Of Heroes: Asian Superhero celebration #1

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There’s been a few suicide Squad reboots over the years, but considering that The new 52, there’s been a few constant team members: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and the leader of “Task force X,” Amanda Waller, pulling the strings. In Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, we return with all of them, plus some new faces that, as Harley promises on the cover, are dead by the end of the issue. but for the first time in ages, the roster will have a major shakeup: Amanda Waller is quitting task force X. and the new boss? Not quite the same as the old boss.

The new man in charge of the suicide Squad

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

So, who is this Lok and must we take him as seriously as Amanda Waller? Well, first off—no. no one can ever replace Amanda Waller. This is like in Skyfall, when they replaced Dame Judi Dench with Ralph Fiennes. maybe it was time for Dench to retire the role of M, but she’ll always be Bond’s boss in our hearts. It’s the same with Waller. someone else might be in charge, but he’ll never feel right.

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And Lok…he’s trying way to hard to be the new Waller, including doing something really twisted and unethical, but we’ll get to that soon. but Lok? He’s like affluent white privilege shoved in a low carb sandwich wrap with a lotta mayo. and the Squad hates him from the first buy he gives them, even before they know Waller quit. His exchange with Harley Quinn after he zaps Deadshot with a cattle prod kind of says it all:

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

Tom Taylor introduces Lok’s new “Flies” on the suicide Squad

Tom Taylor starts suicide Squad #1 starts with a group called the Revolutionaries attacking three brand new nuclear-powered ships in Australia, and so Lok calls in task force X. Waller is still there to “ease the transition.” Lok starts by handicapping the team with two useless new members. Magpie, a thief with no powers, and Cavalier, a swordsman who thinks he’s an actual Musketeer. There is one other new member, Zebra-Man, a telekinetic, and no…he has no reason for the Zebra theme.” Yeah. two of them are dead at the end of the issue, but they aren’t the only new members

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

Lok isn’t going after the Revolutionaries to stop them—he wants to control them. He has Deadshot shoot them with the tiny bombs that will blow up their heads if triggered…the trademark suicide Squad stick. He wants them for his new task force X, joining Harley, Deadshot, and King Shark. Yeah…he has the suicide Squad attack and kill some of them and then forces the Revolutionaries to work with them. It’ll be a fun disaster moving forward.

Harley Quinn and Deadshot respect Amanda Waller

(Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

From the beginning of suicide Squad #1, Taylor makes it clear that Quinn and Deadshot don’t like Waller, but they don’t hate her. In fact, they kind of admire her. When Lok starts giving orders, they aren’t bothered by the orders themselves really, but that Waller isn’t the one delivering them. and when she announces her departure, they’re blindsided and upset. and why shouldn’t they be? Waller has always been with them even when she was deep behind the curtain. If she’s gone…her policies and methods are gone too.

I’m looking forward to a lot more of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s run after suicide Squad #1. The new members, new dynamic, and Redondo’s action scenes were great. Can’t wait for more.

Grade: Eye-Popping

poor . Okay, it’s Cavalier and it’s a dazzling scene. (Image: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s suicide Squad #1, DC Comics)

(Featured Image: Suicide #1, DC Comics)

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Robert Greenberger

by Robert Greenberger

“Give me your worst-selling book as well as I’ll make it your very popular book,” Jack Kirby stated to DC Comics publisher Carmine Infantino.

Challenge accepted. Infantino was on the verge of approving Leo Dorfman as well as George Tuska as the new team on Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen however provided it instead to Kirby, whom he just lured away from marvel Comics in 1970.

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen #137

Kirby didn’t like the concept of putting recognized skill out of work, so agreed, taking over with problem #133 as well as utilizing it as a introduce pad for his ambitious fourth world line of titles that would rock readers’ senses however stop working to satisfy the company’s sales expectations.

After years of tepid stories that had much more to finish with his bizarre transformations as well as doomed romances, the series all of a sudden had a point of view as well as a purpose. Jimmy, intrepid reporter for the everyday Planet, was all of a sudden whisked around the world in breathless adventures that simply hinted at a larger cosmology, something the DC world didn’t completely accept at this point.

Kirby refused to pencil from somebody else’s plots ever once again as well as told Infantino he’d draw from somebody else’s scripts or compose it himself. because the publisher desired unfettered imagination, he chose the latter, which was possibly for the very best although by letting Kirby edit himself, nobody might tell him exactly how “off” the dialogue sounded. All his in home get in touch with E. Nelson Bridwell did was proof the pages as well as bring them to production. However, Infantino as well as business chose they desired Kirby’s creativity however not his rendition of their flagship character. To Kirby’s displeasure, either Al Plastino or Murphy Anderson was tasked with revising the Superman heads. King Kirby had overall state beyond that, letting Vinnie Colletta as well as then Mike Royer ink his work.

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby

Kirby lasted on the series from #133-139 as well as #141-148 (#140 being a reprint special) as well as those tales are now being collected in Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby. In the very first problem alone we satisfy Morgan Edge, new owner of the world who assigns Olsen to cover a younger gang as well as their fantastic Whiz Wagon. Meantime, edge is exposed to have criminal ties to Intergang as well as orders them to take out the nosy Clark Kent.

We were then introduced to a contemporary handle the Newsboy Legion, the kids of the original gang that Kirby as well as Joe Simon produced when they very first shown up at DC in the early 1940s. huge Words, Gabby, Scrapper, Tommy, as well as the recently introduced Flipper Dipper (an African-American added for diversity) were protected, when more, by Jim Harper, the beat police officer turned costumed hero the Guardian (although we concerned discover he was a clone of the original).

Speaking of clones, when much more Kirby was on the bleeding edge of scientific theory as well as provided the world job Cadmus where cloning was just one of the numerous fairly doubtful activities conducted by Simyan as well as Mokkari, who hailed from some location called Apokolips. Later, we satisfy one of their creations, Dubbilex, who would stay a part of the series as well as beyond.

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen #134

We were rapidly introduced to fantastic locales such as the Wild Area, house to the tree civilization of the Outsiders. We see them in the shadow of the mountain of Judgment, about to render some decision against Superman (under a fantastic Neal Adams cover).

At the end of the second issue, on a monitor, we see Edge’s true boss, an alien named Darkseid. No one, then, understood exactly how essential this character would be to the DC world as well as its parent business in the complying with decades.

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen #139

It wasn’t all cosmic wonderment. We segue from the cloning capers to a two-parter guest-starring comedian Don Rickles as well as his doppelganger Goody Rickles. Credit, or blame, rests with Kirby’s younger assistants Steve Sherman as well as mark Evanier. As Evanier explained in 1997, “Steve as well as I, at the time, were huge fans of Don Rickles. like numerous people during that time who were our age, all of us went around doing Don Rickles, insulting each other. Rickles utilized to say, ‘I never chosen on a bit guy, I only pick on huge guys.’ Somehow, this provided us the concept that we ought to have Don Rickles make a cameo appearance in Jimmy Olsen to insult Superman. It was gonna be like a three-panel thing. So we composed out a couple of pages of Don Rickles insults. one of them was, ‘Hey, huge boy, where’re you from?’ as well as Superman says, ‘I’m from the world Krypton.’ as well as Rickles says, ‘I got jokes for eight million nationalities as well as I’ve gotta run into a hockey puck from Krypton!’

“So we took these out to Jack. Jack was a huge fan of Rickles. as well as he says, ‘That’s great, that’s terrific.’ And, of course, he utilized none of it. He said, ‘We’ve gotta get consent from Don Rickles for this.’ So Steve contacted Rickles’s publicist, as well as they provided us consent to have Don Rickles do a cameo. then Jack tells [DC Comics publisher] Carmine Infantino about it, as well as Infantino believes this is great; this is something promotable; it’s gotta be a two-issue story arc. So instead of us composing two pages, it’s now Jack composing two issues.”

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen #142

Things go back to “normal” after that as Jimmy encounters Transilvane, which was a world where the film monsters were made manifest starting with count Dragorin. then we’re off to Scotland in browse of the Loch Trevor monster while Superman as well as the Guardian go to the Cosmic Carousel club.

There were shorts behind many primary stories, checking out the “Tales of the DNA Project” that added to the lore as well as provided us the lovable upset Charlie.

And suddenly, he was gone. In the letter column, Bridwell wrote, “Jack feel’s he’s prolonged himself a bit as well far…he’s fallen a bit behind in his schedule, so he’s turning this mag over to Joe Orlando with the next issue. He needs much more time for his other mags – including a new one he has in the works!”

Superman’s buddy Jimmy Olsen #146

Was it as well bizarre for a generation increased on Editor Mort Weisinger’s Superman Family, as well distanced from the other fourth world titles, ahead of its time? That’s left as much as you the reader. However, this short chapter in Kirby’s huge output is well worth taking a look at to see just exactly how much energy as well as enjoyment there was in the title. Or, as the cover blurb to problem #139 proclaimed:

“Kirby says, ‘Don’t ask, just purchase it!’”

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Robert Greenberger

by Robert Greenberger

From the dawn of the marvel Age of Comics, the company was very canny about providing up reprints of their earlier stories to keep new readers in the loop. After all, the idea of comic shops and back issue bins was much more than a decade away. But, in 1986, the company provided up something bold and different, creating a reprint series with so much essential new material that readers had to purchase it.

For 44 issues, classic X-Men represented the new X-Men stories, starting with 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1 and included new interstitial material to expand on elements or seed threads. much more than that, under the fantastic Art Adams (and later, Steve Lightle) covers there were also new stories from Chris Claremont and John Bolton, emphasizing, foreshadowing, or deepening what was happening in the main story.

Classic X-Men #7

By 1986, when this series launched, Claremont had developed the mythos is such a complex way that he could enrich the first few years with all this added material. It was audacious on the surface, but the ad-less, $1.25 comic was unequaled for a reprint and shown extremely popular with fans.

One such example was Wendy Browne, who wrote at women write about Comics, “I learned so much from those stories—specifically, the back-up stories that delved into who these amazing characters are. starting me off this way firmly recognized me as a Make Mine marvel kind of girl.”

X-Men classic Omnibus

Marvel is now collecting all this new material in an 1,040 page X-Men classic Omnibus that will come complete with comparisons and text articles discussing what was changed, what was added and why. They’re billing this as a great companion volume to their other X-Men titles and frankly, it is many certainly that.

While Claremont handled all the interstitial writing, spanning the first 27 issues, the art was handled by a broad variety of talents, some blending better with the original Dave Cockrum or John Byrne pages than others. These stalwarts include Chuck Patton and Kieron Dwyer.

Classic X-Men #16

These were interesting and welcome, but it really was the short stories that made the reprint title worth having. Claremont and Bolton shown an adept pairing and I adored their work on Marada She-Wolf and Black Dragon. Here, they present quieter, much more introspective and character driven tales.

When these were first collected in X-Men Vignettes, Claremont wrote, “These were short stories, practically vignettes, focusing on a single character. As such, they rapidly became surprisingly and intensely personal ones for me as a writer. I was getting into the characters’ heads and souls with a focus that often wasn’t available in the regular book, and doing so with a perspective of better than a decade’s worth of work on the title. With John [Bolton] I had an artist who could deal with pretty much anything the story demanded in terms of setting, in terms of characterization, in terms of visual panache. […] With him I could tell stories that simply wouldn’t fit in the fast-paced, widescreen, mega-action adventure ensemble of the main series itself. I could take a slower pace. I could focus. I could stretch some boundaries (even if they were only internal) and maybe break some rules.”

Classic X-Men #34

While Claremont and Bolton formed the bulk of these stories, there were others who got a shot as deadlines forced Claremont to miss some issues. Jo Duffy was first up in #20 with a storm story and with #25, Ann Nocenti efficiently took over as the lead writer. She was an editor turned writer better known for her work on Daredevil but here shows some good character spotlights. Letterer Tom Orzechowski makes two rare writing appearances in issues #25 and #40.

Bolton misses his first story when Claremont was back in #29 with art from June Brigman and Roy Richardson. It’s a good focus on Colossus as he returns home for a visit in Russia. assistant Editor Daryl Edelman takes a turn in #35 with a fun Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde tale and future X-writer Fabian Nicieza wrote a good Banshee spotlight with art from mark bright and Joe Rubinstein.

Interestingly, issues #37 and 38 are devoted to focusing on new member Dazzler, the first from Nicieza and Rick Leonardi and the second from Nocenti and the marvelous Kyle Baker. There’s also an interesting two-parter in #41-42 from Claremont and Mike Collins that inserts Mr. Sinister into Scott Summers’ time at an orphanage.

Classic X-Men #43

One of the most poignant stories is also from Claremont and Collins; in the aftermath of Jean Grey’s death, has a conversation with a construction worker who was the personification of Death.

The final short story as a Rogue tale from Nocenti and Kieron Dwyer, and then the series dropped the new material entirely and went strictly reprint, changing the title to X-Men Classic. A final story, also by Nocenti, with art by Dave Ross and Joe Rubinstein was finally published in the last issue of marvel Fanfare and is, thankfully, included here.

Purchase

X-Men classic Omnibus

Classic covers from the Grand Comics Database.

The bigger the longshot, the better the payoff. With the DC universe App, who would have thought that Doom Patrol and an animated Harley Quinn show would become their two many popular properties? Well, like her big brother Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn season 3 is also going to HBOMax. kind of makes you wonder why the DC universe app is still a thing.

What Can We expect in season 3 of Harley Quinn?

image through DC Universe

Season 2 left us with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn finally becoming a couple and saying that they love each other. It was a very Thelma and Louise moment. GCPD is chasing them, dozens of Gotham villains and heroes are duking it out all around them, but they’re just driving through the chaos like it’s not even happening. and for audiences and fans of Harley, this was something they wanted because day one. Poison Ivy practically marrying Kite man was a betrayal! (Though, as Ivy says, he kind of grows on you).

For Harley Quinn season 3, we’ll follow the new couple as they figure out their relationship. but not just their relationship either. In the penultimate season 2 episode, Harley stated that she isn’t even sure if she’s a villain anymore. and while this might have been an epiphany to her, Batgirl saw it from the moment Harley began taking down villains like Two-Face, Penguin, and the Riddler.

Other big questions the next season needs to Answer

Make sure you have a BFF like Ivy. (Image: Harley Quinn, WB Animation

Who will the big villain be? From all accounts, it looks like Dr. Psycho. At the end of season 2, he denounced Harley Quinn and her team as a bunch of idiots, so expect him to continue his misogynistic quest for world power.

But the bigger question. The question they have to explore with deep nuance and several episodes…is Joker really a suburban step-dad now?

Every artistic medium has its masterworks, and when the subject is comic books, the history of the Watchmen must be acknowledged. since the publication of the original 12-issue series, a loyal and protective following sprung up around the universe created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. originally published by D.C. Comics, the Warner Bros. subsidiary now owns both the story and the original characters created for the book. Today, Moore and Gibbons (and editor Len Wein) all see The Watchmen as a complete, standalone tale. D.C., however, presses forward with new content for these characters, without their creators. In both the pages of the comic books, in Zack Snyder’s feature film (who might not continue to have a future with DC Comics?!), and on HBO, new storytellers are carrying on instead. Whether or not they can reach the heights Moore and Gibbons achieved is the real question on the minds of fans.

To understand what this story means to both fans and the world of comics, you have to understand the history of the Watchmen in context. Because, as good as the story is on its own merits, Moore’s tale is inseparable from the mid-1980s when he wrote it. much of the political themes in it are born from real-world politics at the time. Also, the statement Moore makes about superheroes, these figures of myth, applies as well. people responded to the pure-of-heart heroes for a long time. but as real-world institutions failed them, so too did their ability to be entertained by the thought of a hero. While Moore’s hero characters are all sympathetic, they are more deeply flawed as human beings than any costumed character to date. This was the first time comics were being deconstructed by people who loved comics.

The Watchmen Introduces A world close To Midnight

A key feature of the Watchmen comics is real: The Doomsday Clock. It is an organization of scientists that warns about the threat of global extinction from nuclear war and/or climate change. In the 1980s, however, it was all about the cold War. many see the time of president Ronald Reagan as the beginning of the end of that tense time. However, during his first term, Reagan refused to even engage with the nuclear-powered rival. Domestically, people lost faith in the institutions they were meant to rely on. specifically of concern to Moore was the increasingly draconian view on criminal justice popular during the time. These heroes didn’t want to save innocent lives or take responsibility for the power they’d been given. They wanted to see people punished in violent and permanent ways. This was a society angry at the world.

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Arguably, the political arc of the 1960s and 1970s reflects what was happening in comic books at the time. during the 1960s, people responded to real-world turmoil by turning to Silver Age comics. Costumed heroes who were good guys fought costumed villains who were bad Guys. like all good sci-fi they were both silly and serious. However, as the upheaval of the sixties cooled into the malaise of the seventies, people didn’t trust those kinds of heroes anymore. The Watchmen is one of the first works to deconstruct the idea of costumed superheroes with both cynicism and tenderness. The history of the Watchmen is the history of the world and its relationship to symbolic figures of authority. and its ultimate message is: Don’t trust any of the bastards.

The Watchmen Characters and Their Comics Counterparts

Image via DC

One of the first flashes of inspiration for the Watchmen was that Moore wanted to write a murder-mystery. Specifically, he wanted a series that opened with the murder of a popular costumed hero. At the time, a number of Silver Age comic houses were closing up shop, unable to evolve their kid-friendly heroes into characters modern readers wanted. Moore originally wanted to use the characters from MLJ Comics’ series Mighty Crusaders. After this, he tried to use the roster from Charlton Comics, but D.C. recently purchased them. even though Moore worked for D.C., they wanted to protect that investment. So, instead Moore created his own characters, which was ultimately better for the story.

The Comedian

This character is based on the Charlton character, the Peacemaker. In the comic books he was a pacifist diplomat who used non-lethal violence to fight for good. As the series went on, it got darker and he became a killer. The comedian wears a mask and uses guns, possessing far-above-average fighting skill. He is still a working hero, sanctioned by the government to do dark and violent things in the name of freedom. He thinks life is all a big joke, hence the name. Also, the only original “Minuteman” still operating. From what we see of him in the story, the comedian was never actually a “hero.”

The Silk Spectre

Based on the character Nightshade from the Charlton line-up,the Silk Spectre was one of the most popular original heroes. She, along with “Captain Metropolis” started the 1940s super-group, the Minutemen. She gave birth and retired, but her daughter assumed the Silk Spectre mantle during the 1970s and 1980s Watchmen era. The first Spectre’s sexual assault at the hands of the comedian is a plot point, as is the reveal that the second Spectre is the Comedian’s daughter.

The Nite Owl

The Nite Owl is directly inspired by the blue Beetle, both mantles more than one person wore. The original Nite Owl from the Minutemen era was Hollis Mason. A cop, Mason started wearing the outfit in response to villains “masking up” in outlandish costumes. Dan Dreiberg assumes the mantle in the Watchmen era, though his version of the Owl more resembles Batman. though both Mason and Dreiberg are more Peter Parker, than Bruce Wayne. They are the figures that almost everyone in that world likes.

Rorschach

This character is based on Steve Ditko’s character The Question, who had a featureless face. Rorshach, however, comes with a mask containing a kind of black and white liquid that changes shape based on his emotion. This gives his mask an effect similar to a Rorshach test for mental illness. Interestingly, Rorshach is one of the most mentally unstable characters. He’s ultra-violent, and very right-wing, looking down on sex workers, the poor who turn to crime, and LGBT+ individuals. Still, he represents the anarchist heart of the core group of heroes.

Ozymandias

This character is based on Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, in the Charlton line. Both characters were regular mortals, but they learned to push their bodies beyond average limits. A rich heir, Adrian Veidt become a showy superhero with essentially enhanced reflexes and fighting abilities. He’s also super-intelligent, rich, and even merchandised his and the other Watchmen’s alter-egos. As fans of the Watchmen know, Veidt devises a conspiracy that effectively ends the cold war by uniting humanity against a common threat. However, in creating this false threat, he kills millions of people.

Doctor Manhattan

Based on the character “Captain Atom,” who (along with the blue Beetle) made his way to the Justice League, this is the only Watchmen character with actual superpowers. Dr. Jonathan Osterman is caught in a nuclear accident, becoming a god-like being who sees himself as more than human. seen as the great hope of Americans for protection, Ozymandias turns them against him. Dr. Manhattan, meanwhile, leaves earth on his own to live a more cosmic existence.

Why We care about The Watchmen Characters So Much

If Moore and Gibbons adapted storied characters whose backstories most people knew, this tale might not work as well. If Nite Owl were Blue Beetle or, even, Batman the audience would bring their own experiences with those characters into the story. For example, people who grew up with the Batman TV show prefer the campy Schumacher movies to the more serious “Dark Knight”-inspired takes from Burton, Nolan, and even Snyder himself. By using new character, Moore and Gibbons could drawn on superheroic archetypes without any of the emotional baggage associated with even the Charlton heroes. We see the things we like about Batman, the Punisher, Superman, and other characters in the Watchmen. The history of the Watchmen, specifically the characters, was an unknown quantity to the audience.

So, not only are Moore and Gibbons able to deconstruct the very idea of costumed heroes, they can also reveal their origins. The idea that the original Minutemen suited up in order to fight masked villains is a great take on the comic book world. In fact, it’s one that the Fox series Gotham used to argue the “need” for a Batman. Yet, because these characters are their original creations, they can imbue their backstory with the themes they want to explore. For example, the 1940s-era hero dollar bill is sponsored by banks to stop bank robbers. They insist that he wears a cape for aesthetic purposes, and the cape catching in a door leads to his death at the hands of a villain. Still, we see enough of these characters’ backstories to care about them as much (or more) than we would more recognizable ones.

The Un-Adaptable series Becomes Zach Snyder’s The Watchmen

Image via Warner Bros.

In the mid-2000s, comic book films were still something of an uncertainty, at least with respect to their long-term box office bankability. The MCU only just started. Still, Warner Bros. tapped Snyder to adapt this to film. Unfortunately, while The Watchmen series arrived at the right time in terms of real-world issues and the industry, the history of the Watchmen film came out at the worst possible time. The geo-political world was in a much different state than in the mid-1980s. during the time Snyder shot the movie, the U.S. elected its first African American president, who ran on a campaign built on “hope.” Meanwhile, directors were just starting to get the hang of making the sort of idealistic superhero films more analogous to the Silver Age than the Bronze Age of the 1970s and 1980s (which the publication of the Watchmen series effectively ended).

The film caused controversy. First, Alan Moore denounced it to the point where he insisted he not be given creator’s credit. Second, the film was a faithful adaptation that changed some of the visual language and specific plot points. Yet, what really caused the film to struggle is that audiences were just not ready for stories like this. Today, with shows like The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol, and Amazon Prime’s The Boys, we might be reaching the point where the comic book film industry is ready for the kind of introspection that The Watchmen series kickstarted. Interestingly, the director’s cut of The Watchmen film aged very well. Snyder, despite the criticism levied at him about his penchant for “dark ad gritty” superheroes, made a film that was at least a decade ahead of its time.

How The Watchmen Film’s Ending might Be just As good As The Book’s

One staple of Silver Age comics, especially for team-ups, is that a giant alien monster of some kind comes to destroy a city. In the books, only Dr. Manhattan has any significant powers. There are no aliens from another planet or things like that. The problem for the heroes, the villains, the governments, and everyone else is just people. So, in the face of imminent nuclear war, Ozymandias engineers both the ostracization of the only true “super” hero and the appearance of a giant space-monster bent on destruction. through convoluted comic-book supervillain means, Ozymandias creates a giant psychic space squid. He teleports it to new York City, where it kills millions with a psychic attack. The creature dies almost immediately, leaving humanity a common, extra-terrestrial threat to face. An ingenious subversion of so many comic book stories, this is the perfect ending for that series.

However, the movie has less narrative space to work with. Thus, Snyder made a rather ingenious switch to Ozymandias’s plan. The super-villain plan is actually deadlier than the comics’ version. using technology that mimics Dr. Manhattan’s “radioactive decay signature,” he destroys a number of world capitals. This effectively united humanity against the threat of an evil Dr. Manhattan. Whereas the banning of masked heroes is seen in the comics as part of what “allowed” the tragedy to take place, the film’s Ozymandias makes one of the costumes Earth’s biggest enemy. Still, this reinterpretation and other things cause some fans to say that Snyder didn’t respect the history of the Watchmen. Yet, even other critics say the film was too faithful to the book, suggesting Snyder was damned either way.

What’s next For The Watchmen?

In recent years, D.C. Comics revitalized the Watchmen universe. They published one-shot prequel novels and the Doomsday Clock series, which sees Moore’s characters interacting with the flagship D.C. heroes like Superman and Batman. Also, this fall, HBO will debut a series headed by Damon Lindelof, of lost and Leftovers fame. The plot of the series, like any Lindelof project, remains shrouded in secrecy. However, it will be a sequel to the comic book series. A shot in the recently-released teaser trailer seems to show the aftermath of Ozymandias’ attack (at a carnival, which itself may be a visual shout-out to Moore’s Batman story The killing Joke). The history of the Watchmen is not finished being written yet.

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created a universe that took a deeply cynical view of heroes, and in doing so raised up their entire medium. So, fans of that universe and deconstructionist stories are in luck. There is plenty more coming your way, with plenty of time to read the books, watch the motion comics, and the movie all over again.