Support NeoGAF

[LordOfLore]

This is a really good look at one of the things I love about comics, the grids.

The current crossover between DC’s Batman and The Flash titles, “The Button,” is delivering on a promise made in Rebirth #1, the title that relaunched DC’s entire line last summer. Rebirth had Batman finding a button: a blood-stained smiley-face pin recognizable to anyone who has ever read Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1987 magnum opus.

That button teased the introduction of those characters to the DC Universe, but a year on — with today’s Batman #22 marking the three-quarter mark of the crossover — the details are still fuzzy. It’s not clear which of Watchmen’s cast we can expect to return, or whether its world will truly merge with the DC Universe.

But there is one connection back to Watchmen and Rebirth #1 that is visible from the very first page of Batman #21, the first issue of the crossover. It’s not a familiar face or setting, but a piece of visual language that defines how the story is told.

MEET THE NINE-PANEL GRID

Full article at the link. It's worth a read. Beware of spoilers for Omega Men, Watchmen and The Button.

 

[Father_Brain]

The Watchmen pastiche serves no narrative or thematic purpose and is arbitrarily abandoned for the rest of the storyline, probably simply in the interests of expediency, but keep on gushing over it, sure.

Read Pax Americana instead.

 

[Bronx-Man]

I'd rather they just leave Watchmen alone.

 

[OldRoutes]

I'd rather they just leave Watchmen alone.

Why? It has interesting characters. It stands on its own. Why can't they just expand on them within the DC Comics universe?

I really don't understand this...

 

[A Link to the Past]

Why? It has interesting characters. It stands on its own. Why can't they just expand on them within the DC Comics universe?

I really don't understand this...

Because expansion isn't inherently going to have a positive end

 

[Inferno313]

Because expansion isn't inherently going to have a positive end

Sure, but it's not like they're going to take the original work away from you.

At present, we have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the worst case scenario: we still have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the best case scenario: we get a second classic and wonderful Watchmen story.

That's generally my train of thought when it comes to reboots/remakes/revivals, etc. Let them try, at the very least.

 

[LordOfLore]

So is anyone going to actually read the article about the grid?

 

[Glix]

Why? It has interesting characters. It stands on its own. Why can't they just expand on them within the DC Comics universe?

I really don't understand this...

Because they didn't exist in the DC universe. The story only works if it is not the DC universe.

They are all take offs of characters that previously existed that Moore was NOT ALLOWED TO USE.

Just use those characters instead.

If I was Moore I'd be so fucking annoyed.

This is totally different then the "beyond Watchmen" they did, which took place IN the watchmen universe AND had a series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke the GOAT, RIP.

So is anyone going to actually read the article about the grid?

To say what? That it was an extraordinarily well done homage to an earlier age (while also being in service to the story they were telling), when Gibbons did it, and this was a cheap recreation of it that served no purpose other then fan service?

 

[SixMachine]

9 punches in 2 seconds seems pretty slow for Reverse Flash, iirc a boxer can do 5 in 1 second. Batman is getting his ass handed on his own level. Lightspeed Flash in One Punch Man did this kind of fight better and it was the crappy drawing original version made by ONE.

 

[MartyStu]

Sure, but it's not like they're going to take the original work away from you.

At present, we have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the worst case scenario: we still have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the best case scenario: we get a second classic and wonderful Watchmen story.

That's generally my train of thought when it comes to reboots/remakes/revivals, etc. Let them try, at the very least.

Agreed. Works deserve to be judged on a case, by case basis.

Also, nice to see the grind used more. Loved it in Omega Men.

 

[OldRoutes]

Because they didn't exist in the DC universe. The story only works if it is not the DC universe.

They are all take offs of characters that previously existed that Moore was NOT ALLOWED TO USE.

Just use those characters instead.

If I was Moore I'd be so fucking annoyed.

This is totally different then the "beyond Watchmen" they did, which took place IN the watchmen universe AND had a series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke the GOAT, RIP.

Seems like a petty reason, to me... I mean, even if they were based on DC's characters originally, they're vastly different (dare I say more interesting, too?) than current iteration of those characters.

I can see this making for a very interesting story.

 

[HStallion]

Sure, but it's not like they're going to take the original work away from you.

At present, we have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the worst case scenario: we still have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the best case scenario: we get a second classic and wonderful Watchmen story.

That's generally my train of thought when it comes to reboots/remakes/revivals, etc. Let them try, at the very least.

This is what I thought about wanting a new Berserk anime series. How wrong I was

 

[rrc1594]

I'd rather they just leave Watchmen alone.

Sadly they won't.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

The sooner they appear, the sooner they can be DLC for Injustice 2.

 

[Parallax]

i hope they do right by the characters. i fear thet may be circling around planetary and i hope they do the same

Seems like a petty reason, to me... I mean, even if they were based on DC's characters originally, they're vastly different (dare I say more interesting, too?) than current iteration of those characters.

I can see this making for a very interesting story.

because the current versions of those characters are a few years old at best if at all. the monarch was a crazy character before the reboot

 

[HStallion]

The sooner they appear, the sooner they can be DLC for Injustice 2.

People can't wait for Doc Manhattan's giant blue dick finisher.

 

[Ross61]

The salt in this thread

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I'm sure Alan Moore is thrilled they are ripping Watchmen off all the way down to the panel layouts

 

[Goldrush]

That article just makes me want to read Omega Men now.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

Why? It has interesting characters. It stands on its own. Why can't they just expand on them within the DC Comics universe?

I really don't understand this...

Because putting Watchmen characters in the DC universe makes no sense. They're just regular people in costumes, not superheroes.

 

[Slayven]

Why? It has interesting characters. It stands on its own. Why can't they just expand on them within the DC Comics universe?

I really don't understand this...

 

[SillyEskimo]

Spolier, Batman and Dr. Manhattan's mother have the same first name.

 

[Imbarkus]

I'd rather they just leave Watchmen alone.

This will eventually end with Saturday Morning Watchmen.

 

[HStallion]

Spolier, Batman and Dr. Manhattan's mother have the same first name.

Both their dicks are blue as well.

 

[Lord Frieza]

I'm sure Alan Moore is thrilled they are ripping Watchmen off all the way down to the panel layouts

Well, I mean it was really Steve Ditko's thing to be honest

 

[LordOfLore]

I'm sure Alan Moore is thrilled they are ripping Watchmen off all the way down to the panel layouts

Gibbons is thrilled King is putting his version of the classic 9 panel grid to good use. Moore had to be convinced while King uses it naturally in his work.

 

[Count Dookkake]

It's gonna be great when Snyder's Watchmen is retconned into the DCEU.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Spolier, Batman and Dr. Manhattan's mother have the same first name.

Her name is Inge

 

[Lord Frieza]

Spolier, Batman and Dr. Manhattan's mother have the same first name.

Spoiler is pretty random to mix with those two

 

[Slayven]

I would pay 500 bucks for the watchmen to rip off their masks and reveal it was the Charlton characters all along.

 

[ElNarez]

Spoiler: The Button started as Watchmen pastiche as a tease but the thrust of it is a coda for Flashpoint.

Batman #21 is big and showy and impressive, to be sure, but King elaborated on the form better with Bagenda on The Omega Men. The piece itself acknowledges that.

 

[Parallax]

I would pay 500 bucks for the watchmen to rip off their masks and reveal it was the Charlton characters all along.

theres pax americana

 

[thehypocrite]

Sure, but it's not like they're going to take the original work away from you.

At present, we have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the worst case scenario: we still have 1 classic and wonderful Watchmen story.
In the best case scenario: we get a second classic and wonderful Watchmen story.

That's generally my train of thought when it comes to reboots/remakes/revivals, etc. Let them try, at the very least.

you make a lot of sense. Hopefully more people see it that way.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I'm sure Alan Moore is thrilled they are ripping Watchmen off all the way down to the panel layouts

Now that they've got the golden goose dissected, they will definitely figure out how to make more golden eggs.

 

[adamsappel]

If I was Moore I'd be so fucking annoyed.

I'm sure he is. When is he not?

 

[Glass Rebel]

If I was Moore I'd be so fucking annoyed.

If you weren't annoyed, you wouldn't be Moore.

edit: dammit

 

[Fancyarcher]

Of course it isn't.

I'd rather they just leave Watchmen alone.

DC wants to milk the brand for all its worth. They can't stop.

 

[deadscreensky]

Read Pax Americana

This is always good advice.

I should probably read the Omega Men.