WATCHMEN - TOMORROW - JIZZ PANTS

[lithy]

Haven't seen the movie but have been reading the book...erm graphic novel.

Cool read so far. Some pretty incredible stuff better happen in the last 2 or 3 chapters (I think I'm on 10) though or else it seems like it will be pretty thin on content overall.

Maybe I'll see the movie eventually...probably not though I see maybe two movies a year.

 

[evil wasabi]

Actually, I was talking about the 1997 opus, Batman and Robin, in that post.

From what I've heard, the Watchmen movie is pretty close to the comic; as close as it was ever likely to be. I haven't seen it yet, either. Been planning to and almost made it a couple times last week, but work keeps coming up.

Batman and Robin was a terrible movie. Is that even a possible discussion, or just a given.

 

[aria]

Haven't seen the movie but have been reading the book...erm graphic novel.

Cool read so far. Some pretty incredible stuff better happen in the last 2 or 3 chapters (I think I'm on 10) though or else it seems like it will be pretty thin on content overall.

Maybe I'll see the movie eventually...probably not though I see maybe two movies a year.

The strength is the storytelling, not as much the main story. It comes to conclusion pretty quickly, sort of felt like "oh shit, we only have two issues to end this..." I liked it, but it wasn't the reason to read it.

 

[lithy]

No offense STK, you are one of my favorite members

Well I finished.

It was a nice read and anyone is free to pile on here but...

A few of the beer guys and I have come up with this saying with regards to cheap beers like say a Cream Ale. "It's good...for a cream ale."

Not original at all I know but has a point, the top rated of that style are above average when viewed in the entire scope of beer. If it is what you want, it is a good choice, if you just want a good beer, not as much.

So much like comic books, when most of them are utter shit, an above average effort becomes to standard bearer for the style, but the story telling can be blown out of the water by an decent novelist.

It would be like if I was the best writer of children's books alive.

Now I know this is slightly farcical, I mean part of what makes comics great is the mixed mediums. Though I was never a big comic reader I remember having the Death of Superman storyline (at least most of them...memories fuzzy) and being enthralled by them when I was 8ish.

Shit, what the hell was I on about? I've been drinking, none of this is a slight on the Watchmen, I thoroughly enjoyed it, just meant to stir discussion.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Well I finished.

It was a nice read and anyone is free to pile on here but...

A few of the beer guys and I have come up with this saying with regards to cheap beers like say a Cream Ale. "It's good...for a cream ale."

Not original at all I know but has a point, the top rated of that style are above average when viewed in the entire scope of beer. If it is what you want, it is a good choice, if you just want a good beer, not as much.

So much like comic books, when most of them are utter shit, an above average effort becomes to standard bearer for the style, but the story telling can be blown out of the water by an decent novelist.

It would be like if I was the best writer of children's books alive.

Now I know this is slightly farcical, I mean part of what makes comics great is the mixed mediums. Though I was never a big comic reader I remember having the Death of Superman storyline (at least most of them...memories fuzzy) and being enthralled by them when I was 8ish.

Shit, what the hell was I on about? I've been drinking, none of this is a slight on the Watchmen, I thoroughly enjoyed it, just meant to stir discussion.

I don't believe that any media are inherently bad. Just because there hasn't been any Shakespeare in comics doesn't meant that it's never going to happen. Besides, it's a bit unfair to hold this standard anyways.

Comics have only been taken seriously in the past 10 or 15 years by the mainstream creators. Sure, there was the odd breakout (like Watchmen), but most guys writing Superman in the 80s didn't really give a shit about character development.

What I'm getting at is the medium is really, really new. And by your own admission, you're not really a big comics reader anyways. Just because you haven't heard of mind-blowing comics doesn't mean they don't exist. Believe me, they're out there.

 

[SouthtownKid]

What I'm getting at is the medium is really, really new. And by your own admission, you're not really a big comics reader anyways. Just because you haven't heard of mind-blowing comics doesn't mean they don't exist. Believe me, they're out there.

I'd agree, but with the qualifier that those mind-blowing comics don't feature super-heroes.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

I'd agree, but with the qualifier that those mind-blowing comics don't feature super-heroes.

Well, the vast majority don't. Starman, say, is pretty remarkable, and I feel sad every time I read the ending. But that's definitely the exception and not the norm.

 

[OrochiEddie]

I'd agree, but with the qualifier that those mind-blowing comics don't feature super-heroes.

Bingo
Superheroes are just a concept you can't honestly take seriously.

 

[SML]

Lithy: Read Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles."

 

[SML]

Everyone else: Read Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles."

Take it from a guy who knows next to nothing about comic books: It's the best comic book ever written.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Bingo
Superheroes are just a concept you can't honestly take seriously.

They can be fun. I grew up with them and I work in the industry, so I will always like and enjoy them, but it really doesn't matter how you try to dress them up, use them as allegory, deconstruct them or whatever. Underneath everything, no matter what you do with them, super-heroes are an adolescent male power fantasy. It's no surprise that the vast majority of adults in the world are going to have a problem really taking them seriously. What is surprising is when a comic fan expects them to, just because something happens to be a really good example of the super-hero genre.

Watchmen may be a brilliant deconstruction of super-hero comics, but to really get what the authors want you to get out of it, you kind of have to already care about what the story is deconstructing. And most normal people aren't going to. It also helps tremendously in your enjoyment of the book if you come to Watchmen with some knowledge of the history of the Golden and Silver Ages of comics to put things in context, and most non-comic fans don't have that.

 

[BryLmoo]

They can be fun. I grew up with them and I work in the industry, so I will always like and enjoy them, but it really doesn't matter how you try to dress them up, use them as allegory, deconstruct them or whatever. Underneath everything, no matter what you do with them, super-heroes are an adolescent male power fantasy. It's no surprise that the vast majority of adults in the world are going to have a problem really taking them seriously. What is surprising is when a comic fan expects them to, just because something happens to be a really good example of the super-hero genre.

Watchmen may be a brilliant deconstruction of super-hero comics, but to really get what the authors want you to get out of it, you kind of have to already care about what the story is deconstructing. And most normal people aren't going to. It also helps tremendously in your enjoyment of the book if you come to Watchmen with some knowledge of the history of the Golden and Silver Ages of comics to put things in context, and most non-comic fans don't have that.

i had no previous knowledge of the history of comics, and i really enjoyed reading watchmen. i'm probably going to read it again once i get done reading batman RIP.

 

[SouthtownKid]

i had no previous knowledge of the history of comics, and i really enjoyed reading watchmen.

I'm not saying you can't, especially if you're partial to the genre. But you're only getting out of it a fraction of what's there.

 

[jro]

Y'all check out Tales of the Black Freighter?

I watched it the other night. Liked it quite a bunch. Under the Hood piece was excellent, too, I'd say.

It was hard not to think that Kind Leonidas was telling me all about building himself a nasty-ass raft, but once I got past that, I was good on BF, and Under the Hood was impressive, say the least.

Will be interesting to see how smoothly Black Freighter can get integrated back into the Director's Cut of Watchmen.

 

[ferrarimanf355]

I was thinking about getting it. Thanks for the thumbs-up.