We're on our way to see the Watchmen. I remember when it was first released. That happened during the period when I was collecting comic books, when I was making weekly trips to the comic book store to pick up my subscriptions and check out what was new with my friend Larry. The first issue didn't seal the deal for me. It was different - very dark, moody, and a little too slow paced for what I was used to. But it was interesting enough that I came back for the second issue, and the third. By then, I was hooked. I couldn't wait for each new installment. I read each issue over and over, and I have since purchased the trade paperback and read it every few years. Reading the whole series straight through is obviously a very different experience than having to wait 30 days between issues. I think I'm lucky to have experienced it as a proper series because that experience can't really be recreated. Anticipation can be a wonderful thing.
I'm looking forward to this movie and I'm trying to keep my expectations in check. Movies aren't books. You can't make a good movie by using the original text as your shooting script. You have to make changes any time you transmediate material and I expect changes in this case. I'm hoping that the creative team was able to make a good movie and stay faithful in principle to the original work. I also know that no movie can match the experience of a fifteen year old me, walking to the comic book store to pick up the new issue of the graphic novel that changed the form.
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