This is all too believable. If you think that movies are creatively bankrupt when it comes to sequels, prequels, reboots and rip-offs, then you haven’t seen the comic book industry, where nothing is sacred, anything can be retconned and any story – no matter how finite, no matter how classic – can be continued.
You want to talk about creative bankruptcy? How about Watchmen 2? Or Untold Tales of Watchmen? They could be coming.
According to noted comic industry gossip Rich Johnston, Paul Levitz stepping down from his position as President and Publisher of DC Comics has opened the door for the company to cash in on their best-selling comic book of all time. Executive Editor Dan DiDio, already hated by fanboys across the globe, has apparently made it his personal mission to ride off the continued sales success of Watchmen with prequels, spin-offs and possibly sequels.
Johnston explains that this has been a long time coming. The Watchmen world was going to be included in 52, DC’s multiverse spawning event, but apparently Levitz stopped that. Now with DiDio free to do as he pleases we’ll get to see the original adventures of the Minutemen, the team ups of Nite Owl and Rorschach, and possibly what comes after the attack on New York City.
You can’t be too surprised. What you can do is promise to not buy this. No matter who is writing or drawing it (even if it’s Dave Gibbons, as Johnston hints), no matter how good you hear it is, do not buy it. Show DC that you have some sort of backbone and that you’re not the easily fleeced fanboy they think you are.