[I drafted this a week ago and left it in the cheese cellar to age. If it smells that means it’s good, right?]While I was home for Christmas I rediscovered my old comic book collection, specifically The Dark Knight graphic novels, written by Frank Miller in 1986. Credited with rescuing Batman from camp and restoring him as a tough guy icon, who even now is enjoying an even meaner, dirtier third coming with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and forthcoming The Dark Knight, Miller's gritty, nuanced story peeled back the mask, revealing the bent psychology that motivates one to dress up in tights and punch crooks in the face. Hard.
Right around the same time, 1986-87, Alan Moore, who also wrote the graphic novels upon which the lame movie adaptations From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen* were based, wrote a similar story about an entire world of superheroes entitled Watchmen. I never read it. I bought issue #1 of the mini-series on the advice of Greg The Pusher at my local shop. (Now valued at $12 by comicspriceguide.com. The comic. Not Greg.) But that was one of the last comics I bought before moving on to more adult collectables, like torn concert tickets and old W2 forms.
Now, considering the critical lather it’s whipped up in the last 20 years, I figured it was time to give it a shot. Good stuff. What Miller accomplished in miniature, Moore conjured on an interwoven, global scale with an all-original posse of costumed freaks like Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian, Nite Owl and Rorschach. It starts off slow, but builds to a satisfyingly complex crescendo.
So I was excited to learn recently that Zack Snyder is adapting, and given the home run he hit with Miller’s 300, yeah, I’m a little fired up. And, hey, Gerard Butler’s cool, but check out who he’s got signed on now: Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino (rrrowl), and in a hand-in-glove bit of casting, Jackie Earle Haley is the personification of how deeply odd and imbalanced a masked, self-righteous vigilante would be: Rorschach.
Yes, what’s 1986 is awesome again. This includes me. Tip your waitresses, good night!
*Instead, I recommend you see this goofy pro bowling documentary: A League of Ordinary Gentlemen.
