Good News!

Arguably the coolest graphic novel in the history of using images and word bubbles to tell a speculative story, The Watchmen will actually hit the big screen more or less on schedule. Advance buzz on the film was good for fans of Alan Moore, who have seen his work turned into everything from decent-but-hardly-hitting-the-awesomeness-level-of-the-book (From Hell) to someone-ought-to-get-shot-for-bringing-this-painful-crap-into-the-world-when-the-original-was-so-awesome (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

Copyright disputes between Fox and Warner Bros. threatened to cancel the premiere entirely, but recently, saner heads have prevailed and the two studios have come to agreement that, yes, everyone can have some money. I would argue that stories on the level of The Watchmen belong to the world (See South Park episode 88: "Free Hat") and that as long as Moore and people actually involved in making the film get their cut, it's kind of demented for large corporations to argue about who "owns" a story.

I hope Moore uses his share to buy some spiffy new Aleister Crowley robes so he can move comfortably as he casts a spell to give all the studio execs laryngitis and hand paralysis that keep them from operating their Blackberries.

The film should premiere later this year. If you are too lazy to read books, for $19.99, you can also download the complete, uncut book as a "motion comic" from the iTunes store, with every panel intact, narrated, and slightly animated. As of this writing, I think they've gotten up to chapter 9 (of 12).