THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING

Paul Levitz did not allow any Watchmen sequel projects during his tenure as president/publisher of DC Comics.  He believed the fans, Alan Moore, and Dave Gibbons would all have disapproved.  Since Levitz is stepping down, and Watchmen became DC’s #1 selling comic after the movie’s release, you can guess what’s coming next:

I understand now that this [Watchmen sequel] is considered a pet project of Dan DiDio, SVP-Executive Editor. That he is determined to impress new bosses by building on DC’s biggest selling comic book of all time with multiple prequel comic miniseries and spinoff ongoing projects.

I understand that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have to be offered first refusal before any of these titles could be published. But if they don’t want to work on them themselves (and Alan Moore is never going to agree), DiDio has been sounding out people who might be willing to take on the task. [...] In contrast, not only would Levitz not allow any new Watchmen stories but even the video game was restricted to material in the graphic novel and film, nothing brand new was allowed to be invented. [BleedingCool via CHUD]

You like Rorschach? Well how would you like Rorschach . . . with fire-breathing powers and a pet cheetah?!  And the cheetah talks.  With a dandy British accent, but he also has Tourette’s.  And Silk Spectre has a magic wand.  Erectus!  Also, Doctor Manhattan becomes a never-nude.  Anything is possible with retroactive continuity.  Anything, but especially more profit.

In other news (check out that masterful segue), I’m having serious problems with my computer and they won’t do any tech support on it till later today at the earliest.  I tried bribing the guy on the phone, to no avail.  Maybe I should have offered money instead of marshmallows and sexual favors.  Anyway, we should have a normal number of posts here today, but it might get weird(er).

[Banner pic via Nextround]