this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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But it would be derivative if released nowdays. A part of its appeal was that it was something different in a sea of the same.
There's an incredible irony here too. Watchmen the comic was released after years of superhero comics had played out the tropes to exhaustion. Watchmen was a critique of that comics industry. So to say that it belongs in a post-Endgame world is to acknowledge that the movie adaptation is now working as pre-satire of what superhero movies would become.
But this is why things like The Boys and Invincible are doing so well right. They parody the super hero movie tropes, as well as modern day life and media. The Watchmen movie as it exists was just fine for what it was, but instead of dark parody, like its source material, it went full-on blockbuster superhero. If it was released today and done well, I think it would be a hit
The point you made about the boys and invincible is the point the article is making. If it had realesed around now itd be crazy successful as a tear down of the super hero capeshit, assuming they did it the same justice now as they did then.
But the watchmen movie didn't really act as a takedown. Aesthetically it is completely still convinced superheroes are cool, there isn't a whiff of subversion about the Zack Snyder version. Zack Snyder read Watchmen the same way he read Batman Returns. "Wow! Dark comic is cool! What is subtext???"
Id say the subtext is still there, but ill admit i wish it was there intentionally as a choice of the dircetor and not just seeping through the source material in a watered down way.
Everything I needed to know about Zach Snyder I learned from Sucker Punch. The lack of insight combined with the gall to behave like it was somehow progressive was amazing.
Snyder is the ultimate embodiment of "style of substance"
Rorschach is so cool! What a badass character
Alan Moore: Get the fuck away from me!
It just goes to show how far ahead of the cultural curve comic book authors/artists can be.
I'm waiting for Alan Moore's Promethea to gain traction, but that'll mean the majority of people are ready go to movies that speculate on how to go about becoming enlightened...so I'm not holding my breath.
I liked Promethea, astounding to encounter another fan in the wild! (I liked it enough to try to read Jerusalem, which convinced me that maybe I'm not generally an Alan Moore fan, haha.)
It could probably work well as a limited series, like on Netflix, but I think they'd water down the messaging too much to really do it justice. But it could also be an opportunity to correct flaws as well. I didn't always love how the (almost?) all male creative team wrote women, as one prime example I remember.
Yes, Alan Moore isn't the perfect writer his die hard fans make him out to be, but I'd argue he's one of the more talented writers in the comics world.
I just feel like main stream media is always 10 to 20 years behind what is really pushing the envelope of the cultural zeitgeist... as much as it makes me cringe to put it that way, I'm tired and can't express it more eloquently atm.
In short I don't think it's that these writers are ahead of their time, but rather main stream media can only ever be behind the times, especially since Hollywood can't take risks on unproven IP by capitalistic design.
Anyways, nice to find another Promethea appreciator. ✌🏽
Another Promethea enjoyer checking in. I loved it. Never had time to read Jerusalem though. It's sitting on the shelf next to The Art of Computer Programming. I guess I bought both out of respect for a legend more than to read.
It's been fifteen years since I read Promethea. Probably should give it another look.
When I first read Promethea through for the first time and set it down, I felt like I had just read some sacred text and been visited by a Goddess. And I guess that's the point of the comic, is that each person's imagination is sacred.
Like you, it's been a while since I've had time to give it another read, but I do recall it having a profound effect on me.
The only series of comics I can relate it as akin to is The Sandman series, and even then...Promethea is kind of better imho.