Watchmen, originally published by DC in 1986, remains i of the nearly influential and unique comics e'er fabricated. With a consummate drove of brand new characters from the mind of Alan Moore and a dark, brooding look into a crumbling lodge that blooms eternally relevant, we rarely question the greatness of the graphic novel. The reverence for Watchmen made writers afraid to touch its intellectual property for decades, but a few creators have been brave enough to tackle the IP since.

The first was Doomsday Clock in 2017. Written by Geoff Johns with art past Gary Frank and Brad Anderson, the series did what no other dared to practise: continue the story that Watchmen began so many years ago while combining it with the most famous characters from DC. The other major sequel to Watchmen came in the form of an HBO telly serial by Damon Lindelof released in 2019, packed with Easter Eggs and an incredible new storyline set 34 years after the comic. Both of these projects, in their own fashion, added depth and intrigue to an already incredible universe.

10 Rorschach's Periodical Cliffhanger is Addressed

One of the nigh memorable catastrophe panels of whatsoever comic book is the journal scene in the original Watchmen. After Adrian Veidt (aka Ozymandias) seems to bring peace to the world through his twisted methods, everything is hinging on Rorschach's journal remaining hidden. As soon as Doomsday Clock begins, the world is fighting over again because the periodical has not only been institute merely published beyond the world. The already precarious nature of Ozymandias' gambit is immediately toppled, and the countries of the world go correct back to confrontation post-obit the revelation.

9 There'due south a New Rorschach in Town

While Rorschach was unequivocally twisted, it however devastated fans when he was atomized by Doctor Manhattan in the original Watchmen. The Doomsday Clock writers knew a sequel wouldn't exist the same without his presence, and so they created a second Rorschach that took up his mantle in the years following his death.

Since this is a new graphic symbol and non a reincarnation, readers can enjoy the character while still respecting the sacrifice of the original. Best of all, they tie this new character back to the original series as the son of the psychiatrist who worked with Walter Kovacs, the first Rorschach. The television show takes a less direct route with Rorschach, featuring a violent gangs that appropriates the Rorschach likeness for their own devious ends.

viii The Superhero and Government Clash Continues

The original Watchmen comic prominently discussed the way that vigilante superheroes and global governments would be naturally at odds because of the drastically different power levels at play, and Doomsday Clock builds upon this concept. Nearly notably, the United States government is accused of creating their own superhuman beings to retain their position as the virtually powerful land in the world, as perpetuated by media reports nigh a "Superman Theory." In the HBO serial, the disharmonism exists on a smaller-scale level, with individual superheroes being criminalized and stopped from acting as vigilantes. Politics have ever been a part of the comic book world, only Watchmen has always depicted them in the nearly realistic calorie-free.

7 A Cogent Look At Race

TheWatchmencomic series covered a wide range of adult topics that were rarely talked about in the format, only in incredibly honest ways that made the move pay off for Alan Moore. The HBO Watchmen prove does something similar, but with race. America is plagued by a racist by, and Lindelof is non afraid to show the vicious truth behind this sentiment.

The first scene of the show is a shocking depiction of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, and, sadly, it was the kickoff fourth dimension about viewers had ever even heard of the event. Lindelof, et al. go along to testify the ugliness of racism throughout the show, including clashes with KKK members and crooked constabulary organizations. What could have been a heavy-handed and misplaced theme ended upwardly being a truly special part of the 2019 show.

6 Physician Manhattan Returns in Many Forms

Love him or hate him, Doctor Manhattan is thought-provoking. His meditations on the significant of life in the original Watchmen were some of the most well-written and deep moments ever put into the graphic novel format. He has equally profound effects on bothWatchmensequel projects.

In Doomsday Clock,his actions add meta details to major DC events like Flashpoint and the New 52. In the television set series, he makes a surprise return later Easter Eggs ample in the kickoff few episodes and becomes a key component to the climax of the testify, both logistically and emotionally.

v To Squid or Not to Squid?

Ozymandias had an aggressive programme to create world peace in the original Watchmen by engineering an external threat for the countries of the world to unite against. While the original comic book serial showed a behemothic squid creature being dropped into New York Urban center to create a mutual enemy for the nations of the world, the 2009 moving picture by Zack Snyder made Doctor Manhattan the martyr instead. HBO'due south Watchmen won back originalists by making many callbacks to the original, only none was improve than its depiction of the squid incident in all its horrible celebrity. In an extended sequence, we get a realistic expect at how the poor citizens of New York and nearby cities would react to such a harrowing event.

4 Meta Correction

Timelines can exist a messy affair in comic books, and DC is known for getting over-the-meridian with their deep dives into multiverses equally seen in famous storylines like Flashpoint and Crisis on Infinite Earths. By the conclusion of Doomsday Clock, Md Manhattan's godlike powers are used to smooth out various timeline bug from the by – effectively fixing major problems like the removal of the Justice Society of America and Legion of Super-Heroes. In a similar capacity to Marvel'south 10-Men: Days of Future Past, the series plant a logical explanation for eliminating things that fans were upset most from the continuity.

iii The Nature of Doctor Manhattan's Powers

When Dr. Jonathan Osterman was transformed into Doctor Manhattan by existence disintegrated by an intrinsic field experiment, his powers seemed to exist completely derived from the incident itself and unique to him. Simply if at that place is i thing readers of Watchmen know, it is that null is impossible when it comes to Doc Manhattan.

In the Watchmen TV show'southward finale, they strongly imply that Doctor Manhattan could imbue his powers into a lowly egg and give it to Angela Abar. While the evidence cuts to black before we see if she has gained his powers and tin can walk on the water of her puddle, the ambivalence is the dazzler of the moment.

2 Who Wears the Hood?

Watchmen introduced ii teams of heroes, the titular Watchmen and their predecessors, The Minutemen. Their dynamic was not unlike that of the Justice League and Justice Club. While Alan Moore explored the Minutemen through flashbacks, the HBO show focused heavily on i member of the original team: Hooded Justice.

They brought a grapheme that was barely touched upon in the original comic to life in a full episode of the evidence entitled, "This Extraordinary Beingness." In this episode, we learn that Will Reeves, a black man, was behind Hooded Justice, as we see him combat an evil KKK plot and bargain with the everyday racism of the time. While he may accept been respected and loved as a hero, when he took off the hood, he was a 2d-course citizen in 1930s America.

1 The Power of Restraint

The HBO Watchmen show and Doomsday Clock did what so few franchises do and ended on a high notation. Both creators had a vision that they saw fulfilled and decided not to add more than to them. Despite both projects garnering acclaim and fans wanting more than content, these teams made the correct phone call by putting nice bookends on their versions of the Watchmen IP.

While there will always exist money to exist made with characters as iconic equally the Watchmen, they remain beloved because at that place have been so few projects with them since their creation in the 1980s. Companies accept diluted many not bad comic characters with project over-saturation, and DC continues to handle this IP differently in the best of ways.

Adjacent: 5 Reasons Doomsday Clock Was A Great Series (& v Why Information technology Was a Disappointment)

Adjacent 10 Hilarious Tricks Spider-Man Used in His Earlier Stories

Most The Author

Frank Esposito (i Manufactures Published)

Frank Esposito III is based in Connecticut and has been writing professionally for nearly a decade. Over his career, he has been the caput writer for many dissimilar companies, creating websites, articles, electronic mail campaigns, and more than. When he isn't writing, Frank loves to lookout the latest movies and head to his local comic store to go new reading material and make full out his collection.

More From Frank Esposito