I respect and enjoy the original 12-issue limited comic series (and later graphic novel) (and later movie) (and later TV series) Watchmen. What Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons did with their comic story was nothing short of revolutionary and inspirational. Where else can you take re-interpretations of the old Charlton Comics superheroes and turn them into an allegory on life and sacrifice and corruption? Because, yeah, if you’re going to build a Mount Rushmore of comic book legends, and you don’t at least include Alan Moore, Jack Kirby (and then fight over Siegel / Schuster, Kane / Finger, William Moulton Marston, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont and Kurt Busiek), then don’t even talk to me.
One of the scenes in the Watchmen comic takes place when the radiation-inflused Dr. Manhattan participates in a photography shoot. Unhappy with the 1950’s-era costume and logotype that’s forced upon him in the moment, he instead goes to extreme lengths to create his own vision of his personal image.
Yep. Dr. Manhattan burned the symbol for a hydrogen atom into his skull. That’s hardcore, man.
But I’m thinking to myself … what if I was Dr. Manhattan? What if I had the powers that he possessed? Would I burn a hydrogen atom into my skull as part of my image? Would kids today even KNOW what a hydrogen atom looked like?
Yeah, no.
So let’s do this. If Chuck Miller was Dr. Manhattan …
Ha. This is fun.
Hey, at least I didn’t do something stupid like brand Dr. Manhattan with a red MAGA camp, or a Yankees logo, or something turgid like that. 😀
Chuck The Writer 