Before Watchmen
is a series of titles that was beset with controversy from its inception. Years before the launch of the series last year, DC Comics had looked at a prequel concept for the much-ballyhooed Watchmen
mini-series turned graphic novel, but squelched it before anything came of it. Watchmen, continually one of the biggest selling graphic novels, has a sort of sacred status to many. And loyalists believed that if Alan Moore didn’t write it or at least endorse it, then it wasn’t for them. Still, whether you hate or love the original Watchmen, how do you pass up a series of titles from the likes of J. Michael Straczynski, Brian Azzarello, Len Wein, Darwyn Cooke, Adam Hughes, Joe Kubert, Lee Bermejo, and Jae Lee? See our early review of the first issues of the series here and here.
In an era where you can either read single issues or wait out the run—especially with a mini-series—and get the graphic novel in hardcover or trade version, as consumer you have decisions to make. You could read the monthly and then you don’t necessary “need” the trade edition. If you love the monthly you may just want the trade version on your shelf for future reading. With ordinary monthly series waiting for the trade editions actually can hurt the ability to ensure series and creators you love continue, since publishers bank on weekly circulation numbers. If everyone waits for the trades, the publishers may cancel a series based on low sales. That doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case for mini-series, which publishers only plan for a few issues.
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