Alan Moore could not be reached for comment as he was busily writing season three of "Watchmen Babies" for Nickelodeon.

And I thought denial was just a river in Egypt...

In all seriousness, I agree with everything in this post, with the caveat that people can also be greedy enough and stupid enough to still attempt it. And when it happens, that's when Alan Moore will be on the run for justified rape and murder of Dan Didio.

And yes, I said justified rape and murder.

The only reason I like the rumor that popped up, is all of the crazy stuff that people who aren't worried are coming up with. I've seen some pretty funny stuff on twitter.

I agree that a lot of people need to chill out. Wait till there's solid proof before getting all worked up.

The problem is, Johnston tends to be right about these things. And I love the term "DC Overlords", I always refer to Diane Nelson as the DC Overlord.

They aren't in the market of appealing only to their established fan base anyway. From their point of view, who cares if a bunch of older nerds flip a lid. The ones who do will probably keep buying the books they've always bought, because they're obsessive that way. What DC wants to do is bring in new people, the people who watched the movie, maybe bought the book, and who don't have the history of caring about the integrity of the work.

Money talks.

Personally, I think wether they do it or not it won't matter. Some people will bitch an moan, but even if Watchmen II isn't a commercial success, at least the attention the controversy creates will act as free advertising.

Either way, I don't care.

It's not a "theory". Check my rep and my previous work. Been doing this for sixteen years...

Alan Moore is a pretentious s.o.b., so who cares what he thinks.

If DC Comics, the LEGAL OWNER of the book wants to make a sequel, it's their option to do so. I'm so tired of hearing about all this respect heaped upon the "great" Alan Moore for all his "amazing" contributions to the comics industry. His stories are weird and often uncomfortable. Also, why does he feel that all his work for Marvel and DC is supposed to be off limits for others to build upon? He was talking smack about The Blackest Night, because it's all from, "my work". He has no concept of a shared universe and/or continuity I guess.

I hope he enjoys his two wives while he worships his ancient snake god. He needs to just stick to creating his own stuff and stay the hell away from mainstream stuff.

(Yeah, I'm still upset about his crippling of Barbara Gordon....I owe him a punch in the gut and a beard cutting off.)

Hey Rich be careful wha you ask for! No offense, and you may turn out to be more right than I would like to admit, but you've had some whiffs over the years.(coming from a guy who constantly visits your site)

Mainstream stuff?!?! What the hell bill. Does watchmen strike you as mainstream? Christ on a cracker. Ipray to all that is good in the universe that there is no sequel but if there is i will mourne watchmen like i did indiana jones and star wars

Quit being the voice of reason, Rob.
Some folks need to be riled up.
Gives 'em something to do.

I'll probably get lynched for saying
this, but I always thought a Watchmen
PREquel would be cool. Set it back in
the 1940's and have it star the Original
Minute Men. That way they could do
"Mainstream" Cape and cowl stories
without having to mess around with
the story that Moore told.
....just a thought?

I don't believe DC would take a giant dump on one for their most revered, and lucrative, properties just to make a quick buck. That said, I do believe that somewhere in the depths of the DC offices there is a proposal and outline to a sequel that has been tinkered on for 25 years. God help us all if it ever sees the light of day.

Who cares? Does this in any way diminish the original work, a novel designed to stand entirely on it's own?

No. There have been countless examples of sequel madness to classic stories that most people don't even know exist. If it sucks, it sucks and we all move on with our lives. It doesn't magically destroy all memories and copies of the original.

Warren ellis has said in the comments on my site that he won't be involved in this in any way

Check it out here

I think that this will be the general consensus of many comic writers and artists

If the thought of a pre/se quel upsets you and IF (and that IF is fu*king huge!!) they make the movie, then just pretend it doesn't exist!

Oh god....

This would be a pretty stupid project, practically speaking. The reason the book sold so well in 09 was because of the movie and the hype surrounding it. Now people have moved on and forgotten about it. A Watchmen sequel would not attract comic fans, and non-comic fans would not know or care about it when/if it ever comes out. Also, BLASPHEMY!

given how the orignal actully leaves the thing open for a sequel and that Dc can not rest till it milks something dry no doubt a sequel to watchman has been talked about for long that one is could become reality even though Dc will risk Alan moore screaming about it. plus DC loves running something hot into the ground. for the worse it winds up bombing and teaching them not to try anything like it again or alan moores twilight of the heroes gets published because of it.

I find this surprisingly plausible. I have always gotten the impression that DC views Watchmen as an Elseworlds type story that happened to turn out really well and they churned out half-assed sequels for the rest of the successful ones. They may just be severely underestimating how respected Watchmen is. Also, does anyone remember if the Watchmen universe is alive and kicking as one of the 52 remaining in the multiverse? There was a character in the Superman: Beyond! part of Final Crisis that *could* have been Dr Manhattan and if it actually was him then that continuity could be one of the ones that survived. Just a thought that if they are going to do that is one possible way they could go about it.

I love Watchmen and Moore's work in general, and I think it would be perfectly legitimate to do a sequel or (as one poster mentioned) a prequel. I think there'd be plenty of writers willing to take on the project -- Grant Morrison would probably do it just to piss in Moore's cornflakes.

In fact, Morrison already laid the groundwork for more comics set in the Watchmen universe (or at least a Watchmen-esque universe) in Final Crisis with the Dr. Manhattan superman.

I'm also not one of those people for whom a bad sequel/prequel spoils the original. I still enjoy the first three Star Wars movies despite the prequels.

I give Rich more credit than just about everyone else covering comics online, but I'll file this under the 'Superman and Batman will be reborn as New Gods' file for the moment. Not that I'd put ANYTHING by DiDido without Levitz around to moderate him; he's like Vince Russo after he got away from Vince McMahon.

That said, Rich, good to see you popping up again - with your column gone, I stopped even bothering to visit CBR anymore.

This project has Bendis written allllll over it.

"...what comics writer or artist would ever, ever agree to work on a Watchmen sequel?"

Mark Millar. He has just the right combination of contempt for the comics reading public and hubris.

DC is already doing a "Watchmen" like project. Grant Morrison is doing the Watchmen story with the Charlton heroes that the Watchmen were inspired by.

So if Didio is doing this, doesn't he risk pissing off Morrison?

Here's my idea to further the rumors:
Of course no other artists are going to touch a Watchmen sequel... so DC throws millions (yes millions) at Dave Gibbons so he'll do the artwork. As part of the deal, Gibbons can give some of the money to Alan Moore in exchange for writing the book.
Okay, yes, Moore will have to accept money from DC, but what is his "selling out" point? At what point does the offer from DC become too much for him to turn down?

Let's just make it clear: the idea of ever having a Watchmen sequel or prequel is not bad, it's just that inevitably the quality is probably going to be terrible. Consider the fact that Moore and Gibbons toyed with the idea but just couldn't find any angle that worked.

What rubs us all the wrong way isn't the idea of more Watchmen stuff, it's the fact that we know it's motivated more as a cash grab than because there's an actual good idea in the works.

I heard a rumour that legacy characters based on "The Watchmen" may be appearing in D.C. comics as part of some sort of Tangent Comic scenario, which would be more palpatable. The Superman 3-D comic from a couple years ago basically had a alternate Dr.Manhattan as one of it's other-world Supermen. The Nite Owl isn't that much different from the Owl in costume either. If any of the Watchmen characters had shown up in that reality-hopping story arch from Countdown to Final Crisis, it would have been pretty f'ing awesome. I actually had an idea that someone could become the new Rorschach after reading his journal. Maybe even that fat dude at that rag paper. Maybe I should grow a beard, put on some rings, and write this s$%t.

If these even looked like it was getting its feet off the ground, Alan Moore would anally rape everyone even remotely involved. It is a well known fact that he does just that to anyone that even toys with the idea.

What? You never heard anyone claiming to have been raped by Moore? Well that is probably because they were all torn in half by his massive girth and then devoured by his beard.

It seems likely to me that Dave Gibbons would be willing to work on a Watchmen sequel, and the characters/world are just as much his as they are Alan Moore's. With the movie out, he's been all over the place promoting it and the graphic novel, and himself. Why wouldn't he consider doing a sequel? I highly doubt Dave Gibbons would become a pariah for doing so, either.

That said, he probably wouldn't do it if Moore didn't give some sort of approval on it.

What about prequels? I could easily see a series of books about the adventures of the characters pre-"Watchmen." And why not? A sequel is probably a horrible idea, because you can't top the original-- but prequels? You don't need to top the original, you'd just need to tell engaging, interesting, and maybe even fun stories about the characters before their vigilantism was criminalized. I'm just sayin'...

This whole thing reminds me of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WowZdkMRqp4

You know what I miss? Alan Moore's America's Best Comics.

Actually, reading the article, comments, and follow ups, it seems Rich has said he has sources working with DC... but none want their names to go on record. So I guess it's all how much you belive that Johnston actually has sources on the inside telling him his. Knowing his past scoops, he might just be on the money.

Now whether or not DiDio gets his way and he actually gets someone to do this is anther story.

Let's not forget, DiDio is the same idiot that thought Dick Grayson aka Nightwing didn't have a future and DiDio planned to kill him in Infinite Crisis. Fan response at cons was so negative that they had to redraw Dick into the final issue. Plus his to be canceled series got a horrible fill in arc by Bruce Jones that I think most every fan thought was beyond garbage. It seemed that DiDio maybe was going to have Jason take over as Nightwing. Anyway, the whole thing was one of many royal messes that had fans crying for DiDio's head.

Hell, part of me wants to see this published and fail just do DiDio might get the boot.