Pretty much ever since Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic book series Watchmen was released, there have been rumors of a sequel. And now, with those rumors rearing their ugly heads again, and fans in an uproar, I’ll chime in with my two cents: I think a Watchmen sequel is a great idea.

I mean, with caveats, of course.

The current batch of rumors – which haven’t even been addressed by DC Comics, of course, is that the Watchmen sequel will actually be a prequel of sorts… Four linked mini-series, each focusing on a separate member of the Watchmen before the events of Moore and Gibbons’ book. Furthermore, rumor states, Darwyn Cooke - of DC: The New Frontier and more – will be essentially “showrunning” the books, making sure the tone stays consistent and they dovetail with each other.

More rumors! One series drawn by Andy Kubert, with J. Michael Straczynski, John Higgins, JG Jones, and Dave Gibbons all involved. Whether this is true or not, we probably won’t know for a good long while… And in fact, I don’t necessarily want to comment on these rumors, this is just so you’re up to speed.

However, if DC IS in fact working on a Watchmen 2, yes, there’s a chance it could be extremely bad. But there’s also a chance that, with care, it could be really good.

The first thing I’d put out there is that I’d imagine DC Comics is very, very well aware of the legacy Watchmen holds for not just the comic book reading audience, but the general audience, as well. Watchmen is THE comic book gateway drug. Ninety percent of the time someone tells me they started reading comic books, they mean, “I started reading Watchmen.” Knowing that to be true, there’s no way DC would want to tarnish the memory of the original book in any way, potentially damaging sales in the long run.

That’s a thing that happens, by the way: bad sequels invariably don’t disappear, they worsen your memories of the original. At worst, you want to aim for something so bland, innocuous, and inoffensive that fans will find the sequel ultimately disposable, and pretend it doesn’t exist. At best, of course, you want something that surpasses the original, and of course any Publisher or creator will want to aim for that… With what is widely considered the best comic book series ever written, that’s a pretty high mark to surpass, and I imagine DC understands that won’t happen. Instead, I do firmly believe they won’t want to do a Watchmen 2 will want to do something that is “good,” rather than “shockingly different,” and be satisfied if they merely hit, “Pretty good,” or “Okay.”

The second thing is, sales. This is pretty obvious, but a Watchmen 2 is going to sell, whether it’s out of mere curiosity, or – hopefully – good reviews. Beyond the comic book shop, though, like we’ve already mentioned Watchmen is a book that sells in bookstores to the general public. You plug something called “Watchmen 2” right next to it on the shelf, and the guy or girl who’s wondering, “What do I read next after Watchmen?” already has their built in answer. And I get the artistic integrity versus monetary gain thing here, but we live in a Capitalist society, so shut your yap, artists. Seriously though, a company like DC that has a bottom line, and people they need and want to hire can’t look at piles of cash that will potentially pay dividends in both the short and long term like a Watchmen 2 collection (or four, even), and say, “No thanks!” That’s just bad business.

I’m going to go out on a limb even further into pure speculation here… DC Comics is probably in a better position right now than they have been in a decade. Sales for the first two months of the New 52 were through the roof, and it seems like things won’t drastically slow down in month three. But they are gonna slow down at some point, that’s just simple point of fact. Heck, the entire comics blogosphere has been poised and ready for months now, ready to proclaim the “failure” of the New 52 plan and what it means for the demise of the comic book industry or whatever. Don’t think two great months are going to stop that… The great sales are only stymieing the naysayers, and making their eventual gloating even worse.

Again, DC HAS to be aware of this. I don’t think anyone has been more critical than me of DC’s sometimes tone-deaf understanding of modern media in the past, but post New 52 they’ve stepped up their game a hundred fold. They know the bubble will – if not burst – then at least become a bit smaller as we get past three months, and into six months, then a year.

So how do you keep interest in DC at a maximum, when interest has started to flag? Well, I’d bet my bottom dollar there will be some sort of crossover involving that weird Purple Woman in the next year or two. But an even better way to blow the roof off and keep all eyes on DC in 2012? Howzabout Watchmen 2? That wouldn’t just dominate the comics press (like even a whisp of a rumor is doing this week), it would blow up the mainstream press, too… And once again, bring lax or newer comic book fans back to the comic book shops once released. That’s a bit of armchair marketing for you, but it also fits neatly into DC’s professed reasoning for the New 52, and is a way of getting that same attention back to comics One Year Later.

What I’ve talked about so far is why Watchmen 2 would be a good idea for DC, and perhaps the comic industry as a whole. But the better question is, would Watchmen 2 be good for the readers? I think, if we assume points one and two above, the answer is definitively, “Yes.”

If it was a pure sequel, like, “The Squid hits New York, then what happens?” And Doctor Manhattan is all like, “Not to my namesake island!” pulls out some guns and starts blasting. Sure. No, no thanks everyone.

But we’re assuming from above that DC knows this would make the world collectively wince, knocking the Earth off its rotational axis, so instead the Prequel route makes the most sense, and could surely work.

I’ll say: I’m not a fan of prequels, as a whole. They’re always about winkingly filling in the gaps, when often the stuff in the margins is left to the imagination. But something that truly is a prequel, a story that just takes place earlier in time than the original, isn’t loathsome in and of itself. In fact, something that intimates connections in the same way – presumably – the original did is actually kind of nice. It allows more exploration of character, themes, and perhaps even presents contrasting viewpoints. Basically, it works as supporting material to the main work.

Hey, how is Watchmen structured again? It’s a main story, as well as articles, short stories, and more that support the main work, right? Interesting.

So if we imagine that we’re not getting different events, so much as Silver Age set stories of the original Watchmen characters, why wouldn’t that be great – in the right hands, of course? We LOVE the characters in Watchmen, that’s why the book has had such a lasting and continuing aspect. Why not spend a bit more time with them on the comic book page?

Random example: a stand-alone adventure with The Comedian in World War II. Yes, we know where he’s going to end up, and how dark he’ll go. But using his eventual fate as subtext in the story could be illuminating, and possibly even a lot of fun.

Or how about Dr. Manhattan? We barely get to see anything with him, and there’s certainly the implication that he did far more than get gigantic and end Vietnam early.

Heck, how about Dollar Bill or Mothman? Or Hooded Justice? We barely find out anything about them, or see them in action.

Point being, seeing Silver Age adventures of these characters could be a brilliant addition to the Watchmen chronology. Sure, Alan Moore will disavow all knowledge and take his name off. But that will actually work to the advantage of the series… It will be seen a supporting work, which it will be, rather than a straight up sequel or easy cash-in.

So bring it on, DC… Who reads the Watchmen sequel? Me, for one. And then probably everyone else.

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