“Watchmen” books advance film
WORD BALLOONS
“Watchmen,” the Zack Snyder adaptation of the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, hits theaters next month. In the meantime, DC Comics and Titan Books have created books and merchandise to take fans into the alternate 1980s world of “Watchmen.”
First, the story itself. Named one of Time magazine’s 100 greatest novels, the “Watchmen” graphic novel is available in a variety of formats.
Most impressively, the oversized “Absolute Watchmen” ($75) features 48 pages of supplemental material beyond the 12-issue series. It contains the series proposal, pages from the original script, and additional art. The art was remastered and recolored for the original printing of “Absolute Watchmen,” and it’s now used for all of the “Watchmen” reprints.
Also available are a “Watchmen” hardcover ($39.99), a “Watchmen” trade paperback collection ($19.99) and a single-issue reprint of “Watchmen” issue No. 1 ($1.50).
In addition to the book, DC’s toy division, DC Direct, has created action figures, busts and props of the “Watchmen” characters.
Titan Books, meanwhile, has released four tie-in books surrounding the “Watchmen” film.
“Watching the Watchmen,” written by Dave Gibbons, comes in two editions. The comic-store exclusive edition has a cover featuring the character “The Comedian” and additional pages. It’s also signed by Gibbons and comes with exclusive prints. This edition retails for $50. The standard edition retails for $39.95 and has a cover featuring Dr. Manhattan.
“Watchmen: Portraits” ($50) features black-and-white portrait shots of people in the film, ranging from stars to extras, and was shot by official movie photographer Clay Enos.
“Watchmen: The Film Companion” ($29.95 hardcover, $19.95 softcover) was written by Peter Aperlo and explores the behind-the-scenes making of the film. Aperlo also writes “Watchmen: The Art of the Film,” ($40), which features storyboards, photography and preproduction art. Possibly most intriguing for comic-book fans will be the new art created by Gibbons, as well as alternate takes on the characters by comic-book artists John Cassaday, David Finch and Adam Hughes.
All of the Titan Books releases contain spoilers for the film and graphic novel, so read the book or see the film prior to reading the ancillary material.
Judging from the books, Snyder and company look to have created a rich alternate world, and tried to respect the graphic novel, which has engrossed readers for more than 20 years.
– Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
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