bookmark_borderWhat Makes Watchmen Great, and a Defense of the Watchmen Movie

Thanks to the new TV show from HBO, Watchmen has been in the popular eye more than ever. The original Watchmen was of course a highly influential graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons that helped popularize grim, gritty takes on superheroes. Now that everyone is writing about Watchmen, I’m going to try and take a different approach. In this article, I’m mainly going to be talking about what makes the original comic one of the best comics ever. I’m also going to try and talk about Zack Snyder’s controversial 2009 Watchmen movie. Although the movie has received a lot of criticism over the years, I really like it. Although there are many problems with it, it very faithfully adapts the source material and manages to really lock into what makes the comic good in the first place, making it a worthwhile viewing experience for any Watchmen fan. Also, I’m not going to try and compare the TV show and the movie and pit them against each other. The TV show is a different story that deserves its own, separate analysis.

Rorschach, from Issue 1 of the comic.
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bookmark_borderJohn Cassaday, a Creator Profile

For this installment in my Creator Profiles series, I thought I’d take a look at one of my favorite artists, John Cassaday. There are some artists that make every comic they work on a must-read, and for me, the first name on that list is John Cassaday. Cassaday, a film student and former director, takes a uniquely cinematic approach to comic art, framing his panels as if they were shots in a movie. His art style is clean and practically flawless, making it seem almost as if he captured the images with a camera, instead of pencil and ink. 

Nowadays, Cassaday does a lot of cover art for other series, but for this article I thought I’d spotlight some series where he did all the interior art. Here’s some of the best work from one of the best artists in comics today. Also, before we get started, I’d like to give acknowledgement to Laura Martin, the colorist who works on almost all of Cassaday’s art and helps to give it that distinct look.

Planetary (1998-2009), with Warren Ellis 

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bookmark_borderThe Umbrella Academy and the Comics of Gerard Way

Gerard Way is perhaps best known as the frontman of the iconic emo band My Chemical Romance, but in recent years he’s been a prolific writer of comic books as well. Gerard has a penchant for making bizarre, creative, and very entertaining comics.  One of his best works, The Umbrella Academy, has been adapted into a TV show by Netflix. With that show’s Season 2 on the way and My Chemical Romance announcing a reunion show in Los Angeles, I thought now would be a good time to take a deeper look at Gerard Way’s contributions to the world of comics.

The Umbrella Academy, art by Gabriel Bá

Cover for The Umbrella Academy 1 by James Jean.
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