we all know the watchmen were somewhat representative of other superheroes, that DC either wouldn’t let him use, or he choose not to label themdirectly. but i was wondering who you thought the characters inspiration were, if any. some seem simple on the surface to equate; but to me looking deeper at their psychology things can become a little muddier.
so who were the watchmen?
They were going to be the properties aquired from Charleston, but DC decided not to use them that way. Rorschach was The Question, Nite Owl was the Blue Beetle, etc.
The Charlton Heroes were really a jumping-off point, and DC were right to not use them, Watchmen would have made them impossible to integrate into the main DC line further down the line, at least at that point, now it could be different, but it’s only different because of The Watchmen.
Rorschach = The Question. (Steve Ditko’s Randian philosophy cranked up to absurd levels.)
Dr Manhattan = Captain Atom. (Seriously, Captain Atom can do ANYTHING and wanders around fighting muggers?)
Nite-Owl = Blue Beetle (both Nite-Owls line up well to both “classic” Beetles)
Ozymandias = Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt (I know the least about this guy, he’s not really shown up in any modern-age stories I’ve read)
Comedian = Peacemaker (Both are basically nutbars that kill people to ensure peace… Peacemaker’s the son of a Nazi big boss rather than a rapist though)
Silk Spectre = Nightshade “officially” but the costume is pure Phantom Lady, and the mother/daughter dynamic is pure Black Canary
Check out the last issue of “52” for a one panel look at what might have been…
If you can find it (not that hard) may I suggest you search for Alan Moores Twilight Of The Superheroes proposal? Thats another interesting take on the mythos.
The Question had his own comic with DC for awhile, I don’t know how long it lasted though… I actually own a few of them.
And Blue Beetle was a member of the Justice league, and was even involved with that whole Crisis of Infinite Earths series! In fact I believe it was his performance during that crisis that drew the attention of the League to him, and opened the door for his membership.
And I seem to remember seeing Captain Atom comics on the shelves back around that time period too… So I think DC did get some mileage out of that deal. That was a long time ago… God I feel old.:o
They roll them all out periodically, so as to maintain the trademark (it’s IP that is infinitely renewable!)
Pretty much all the Charlton characters are stilla bout, in one form or another. The Question did indeed have his own series for quite some time, and he was one of the leads in 52, until he died.
The NEW Question is the co-feature in Detective Comics now, and i like her a lot, I have ever since Batman The Animated Series.
Blue Beetle may be the “Biggest” character to come out of the whole thing. He had his iwn series for a while but then became mainstay in the Justice League International books for more than a decade, he became part of a much loved comedy super-team with Booster Gold, and then he was murdered.
The NEW Blue Beetle is the co-feature in Booster Gold now, he’s okay.
Captain Atom had his iwn series for a while, and then moved into the Justice League International books. He was supposed to actually turn into an evil demigod in the early 90’s, but thanks to a fan phoneline he avoided that fate, and didn’t become the Evil Demigod until about 3 years ago.
The other Charlton characters are sorta wandering the background of the DCU, Peacemaker is a co-star in the Blue-beetle books for example. Watchmen really would have ruined these characters, at least in the sense that they could never be used in the main DC books again, and that would be sad really.