In early 2012, DC Comics announced that they would be moving forward with a series of prequels for ‘Watchmen’, the iconic graphic novel from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Titled ‘Before Watchmen’, these new books would explore the lives of characters Rorschach, The Minutemen, The Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandius, and Silk Spectre prior to their involvement in one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Later, Moloch and Dollar Bill joined the fray as well. Now, the prequel event has come to an end and the stories are just about ready to be collected into trades, which will be released this summer along with a new edition of the original ‘Watchmen’.
Thanks to Buzzfeed, we have our first look at the covers of the ‘Before Watchmen’ hardcover deluxe editions by Chip Kidd. Known for his work as a renowned designer and art director, Kidd created art for Michael Chricton’s ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Lost World’, David Sedaris’ ‘Naked’, Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s ‘Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again’, and more.
In the gallery below, you can see the covers designed by Kidd featuring art from the likes of Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke, Andy Kubert, and Lee Bermejo, just to name a few:
Though I wasn’t a fan of the ‘Before Watchmen’ books that I picked up like ‘Comedian’ and ‘Rorschach’, apparently the ones that I wasn’t reading like ‘Minutemen’ and ‘Silk Spectre’ were the ones that were good. Now, curious fans and I will have the opportunity to pick up the full runs of these stories in a nice, neat, little package in a few months.
Do you plan on checking any of these collections out? If you read ‘Before Watchmen’, which of these trades would you recommend picking up? SLet us know what you’re thinking in the comments.
‘Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre’ and ‘Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair’ sail into comic stores on June 26, then ‘Before Watchmen: Nite Owl/Dr. Manhattan’ and ‘Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach’ crash onto shelves on July 10.
