is Watchmen not that well-known?

[Quinzel]

alot of people tend to head towards the more familiar titles.

Batman, spiderman,superman, and all that such.

But it you're always hungry for more comics, you know watchmen.

 

[Octoberist]

watchemen's buzz is growing. I was at comic con and there were a geniune facination with the movie/book with non-fans

 

[Octoberist]

please delete if a thread like this already exists, or move if it needs to be elsewhere.

i was just curious, i got back from seeing TDK a third time, and they've shown the watchmen trailer every time. i know i'm kind of a comic book geek, but literally every time i've seen the trailer in theaters the audience just seems like "wtf is this?" is the graphic novel really not that well-known? even at the TDK midnight showing, where i expected all my fellow comic book fans would be present, only me and three other people cheered for it. so just wondering, how has the trailer been received when you saw it in theaters? is watchmen really this obscure?

but i think you think of their 'wtf' as a bad thing, instead of a good thing. No matter if they know watchmen or not, they didn't forget the trailer so it worked.

 

[Quinzel]

yeah, i found out in August that they were making a movie.

I was so excited i squealed. lol.

 

[darkseid26]

i heard about watchmen last year, at that time the only thing i read by alan moore was TKJ, then i heard they were making a movie and i got to the nearest barnes and noble and bought the book.

when my friend saw the trailer for it in front of TDK he was like woh that looks cool, so i told him about he was intrested and i lend him my copy.

 

[storyteller]

Superman,batman, spiderman,iron , all had saturday morning cartoons and live actions series. Of course they get people into the theater. Batman is certainly no exception with all the media. He's the poster boy for mass market.


Unless you are a comic book reader, you have no clue about watchmen. If its not on tv, non comic book readers have no clue.

 

[TNC9852002]

Just look at Iron Man. It was even less popular than Watchmen, but after the release of the film, it became a very popular and even got its own brand

Who told you that Iron Man was less popular than Watchmen??

-TNC

 

[hame4479]

The book is one of Time's 100 best novels, it is the most famous graphic novel of all time. Trust me not everyone knows but many do. And as one person already stated that trailer really did get alot of people interested, and a hell of alot of people who are already in the know telling them, "go ****ing read read the book". But with a trailer like that who wouldn't be interested, naked glowing blue men attract just about anyones attention.

 

[Octoberist]

i mean, because of the trailer, the book's sales have tripled on amazon.com

 

[Sandman138]

Check most book sales after the trailer for their adaptation comes out.

 

[Watson]

Batman, Superman, and the rest don't get recognition in Time Magazine and New York Times Best Seller Lists. They don't get taught in college literary analysis classes with as much frequency. Watchmen is known, it's just known in different circles than most comic books.

The irony of this is, I think, that you need to be familiar with other comic books to really get some of the themes of Watchmen.

I think people will start reading it thought. My brother has already asked to borrow my copy.

 

[StorminNorman]

Who told you that Iron Man was less popular than Watchmen??

-TNC

Common Sense?

 

[StorminNorman]

The irony of this is, I think, that you need to be familiar with other comic books to really get some of the themes of Watchmen.

I think people will start reading it thought. My brother has already asked to borrow my copy.

I have had four or five friends ask to borrow my copy since the trailer

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

Yeah, a friend is borrowing it from me now after seeing the trailer.

 

[Katsuro]

Common Sense?

Not at all, man. Maybe Sandman is right and it's just different circles, but I know growing up, I'd never, ever heard of Watchmen. I'd barely read a single comic bok until after high school, but I knew who Iron Man was. He had a cartoon show very briefly, he was in Marvel vs. Capcom, and I thought that Black Sabbath song was about him. Iron Man, before his movie, was slightly more well known than Green Lantern, and even my Green Lantern t-shirt gets recognized here and there.

 

[Sandman138]

The irony of this is, I think, that you need to be familiar with other comic books to really get some of the themes of Watchmen.

Not most of them, and what is more important than being familiar with comics is being familiar with the publishing history of comics. You don't need to have read the actual comics to understand the archetype for each hero and the clash of philosophies. In fact, in some ways, it kind of makes it easier because while most people on this board will first compare Rorschach to Batman or The Question, people less familiar with comics lore are more likely to be reminded of Rand and Kant (who were themselves major influences of Ditko which is again why I say publishing history is kind of key here). Where comic book fans see Superman, Captain Atom, or the Silver Surfer in Dr. Manhattan, they are more likely to think first of Nietzche. In the Comedian the fans see Captain America, The Punisher, Peacemaker. People coming in from this other vantage point might see Camus, and so on for the rest of the group.

Watchmen is certainly about superheros, but more than that it is about 20th century America viewed through the lens of superheroes. The heroes represent not only other comic book characters, but ideologies. Yes, having a knowledge of comics is important to understanding Watchmen, but it is about more than comics and comic book fans can often miss that. Of course, sometimes this other audience only sees superheroes, and an ingrained bias leads them to overlook the philosophical debate, the historical analysis, and the and all that other stuff that comic book fans run the risk of missing. Fifty-fifty I guess.

 

[Cinemaman]

I'd definatley say Iron Man was more well-known before its film came out than Watchmen. I didn't get into comic books until a few years ago, and I always knew who Iron Man was. He was nowhere near the levels of some of the other characters, but he had his fair share of cartoon and video game appearances. He was also at least popular enough to be referenced in a movie like Bio-Dome, "Iron Man, Iron Man, does whatever an Iron can".

I don't really know about you, but since 1986 Watchmen has been using as a symbol of cult and commerce. Yes, it's not like Marvel or McDonalds, but many people are aware of that graphic novel.

 

[Quinzel]

I'm realllly excited about this movie.

But i'm not excited about the bandwagon-eers. lol.

But i'll put up with it if it gives watchmen good ratings. lol.

 

[Katsuro]

I don't really know about you, but since 1986 Watchmen has been using as a symbol of cult and commerce. Yes, it's not like Marvel or McDonalds, but many people are aware of that graphic novel.

Cult, being the keyword. It's always been an underground thing, that you have to either be a fan of comics or literature to have heard of. Unfortunatley, both of those things are down in popularity in mainstream America.

Regardless of comparisons to anything else, it's obvious that yes, Watchmen is not that well-known. Reactions to the trailer make it obvious. I heard a guy behind me during The Dark Knight, during the beginning of the trailer, "is this The Flash? I think it's the Flash"

 

[Simon Phoenix]

most people I know are not into comics...so I have found myself having to explain what Watchmen is a lot recently...usually I just say "it's awsome now go buy it, read it, love it."

 

[Quinzel]

most people I know are not into comics...so I have found myself having to explain what Watchmen is a lot recently...usually I just say "it's awsome now go buy it, read it, love it."

Haha, same here, and the fact that i'm a girl for some reason throws people off. But when i talk, normally people listen. So i've talked people into the whole B-man thing.

My next project is watchmen, and since the viral may be happening soon, i think that'll help alot.

Especially since as much as i talked about the TDK viral, alot of them wanted to start one, but didn't know where to find one.

Now they will! YAY!!

 

[Simon Phoenix]

Haha, same here, and the fact that i'm a girl for some reason throws people off. But when i talk, normally people listen. So i've talked people into the whole B-man thing.

My next project is watchmen, and since the viral may be happening soon, i think that'll help alot.

Especially since as much as i talked about the TDK viral, alot of them wanted to start one, but didn't know where to find one.

Now they will! YAY!!

yeah..I think it might be cool if they start the virals when the first Night Owl's book comes out...because I have a feeling a lot of the exerpts from the book will be left out of the movie...I have no source on that..just a gut feeling most if not all will be cut for time

 

[The Guard]

A word of caution to anyone who lends WATCHMEN to a friend.

You're likely going to need to purchase another copy.

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

A word of caution to anyone who lends WATCHMEN to a friend.

You're likely going to need to purchase another copy.

That bastard better give it back, I know where he lives.t:

 

[StillTheKing]

I can't convince my friends to read it. They love the trailer and I tell them about the amazing graphic novel and they just don't seem interested.
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