AHC: Prevent the "dark age of comic books"
- Thread starter Hadley
- Start date
Orville_third
Banned
What if DC listens to Gerry Conway and returns to a more traditional JLA format following JL Detroit? He could still be considered the definitive JLA writer, a lot of comics might be different- and Zatanna might be a bigger name...
The thing was, Alan's original idea was Watchmen. The reason he remade the Charlton characters was because DC intended to use them in continuing series, & what he had in mind wouldn't allow it.unclepatrick said:
So, if he's going to use the Charlton characters, unchanged, it's not Watchmen at all. Not anything like we know it, anyhow.
Nietzsche
Banned
Eh, I could see Watchmen retaining the general flavour it has. The story, I believe, would remain mostly unchanged. You've still got Thunderbolt/Ozymandias trying to better the world, even if he has to do something unspeakable to get it. Then there's Captain Atom/Doctor Manhattan, who I honestly don't see changing very much at all, because in terms of their powers, Manhattan is Atom. The way Manhattan thinks has bled into Captain America as it is, albeit not because he's losing his humanity, but because Captain Atom is the most powerful force in the DCU. His existence works as a sort of "gateway" to parallel realities, and thus he's sort-of-connected to each and every iteration of himself. Thus, Manhattan bleeds through at times.The thing was, Alan's original idea was Watchmen. The reason he remade the Charlton characters was because DC intended to use them in continuing series, & what he had in mind wouldn't allow it.
So, if he's going to use the Charlton characters, unchanged, it's not Watchmen at all. Not anything like we know it, anyhow.
That's something I've honestly never thought about, & you make a good case.
The trouble is, if you do the same story, or close to the same story, how do you avoid making Thunderbolt, & Atom, & The Question unusable afterward (even if Q survives...)?
Could you tell the story without big changes? Yes, & the ersatz nature of the Watchmen all makes it pretty clear. (It's not much different from the Legion of Substitute X-Men in X-Men 108.
) Could you ever use them again? I doubt it.Nietzsche
Banned
Actually, if Moore were allowed to use the Charlton Comics characters, between this and "Whatever happened to the man of tomorrow?" we could see the Elseworld publication much sooner, albeit likely under a different name.That's something I've honestly never thought about, & you make a good case.
The trouble is, if you do the same story, or close to the same story, how do you avoid making Thunderbolt, & Atom, & The Question unusable afterward (even if Q survives...)?
Could you tell the story without big changes? Yes, & the ersatz nature of the Watchmen all makes it pretty clear. (It's not much different from the Legion of Substitute X-Men in X-Men 108.
(Thanks for catching the Captain America slip up. Don't know where my head was)
Nietzsche
Banned
Think Marvel's "What if?" line. They tended to do -very- different things with it than Marvel, though.Not enough a fan of DC to know what that means...
Nietzsche
Banned
I heartily recommend Gotham by Gaslight, Red Son, and the first Batman Red Rain.Sounds really interesting.
I remember somebody complaining about how everything is so grim, and it wasn't like that back in the old days. Naturally, I said "you obviously never read any Shakespeare."
I also recall that Batman had its dark side as early as the 1940s, but by the 50s, that comic code authority jumped on them.
I also recall that Batman had its dark side as early as the 1940s, but by the 50s, that comic code authority jumped on them.
Nietzsche
Banned
Batman started dark. The Golden Age Batman was very much like many other vigilantes of the era. Be they the Shadow, the Phantom, list goes on.
Nietzsche
Banned
Mmm, Robin was something of a hit and miss. There were some pretty dark things in the early Robin years. However, Batman has somehow managed to remain dark & gritty...even though his aversion to guns and killing is almost a mental disorder.The change to a "kinder, gentler" Bats was Vin Sullivan's work, wan't it? No guns, no killing--& then Robin.