Originally posted by NEWSARAMA
Open up this week’s Entertainment Weekly, page past the articles on Charlize Theron and Robert Downey Jr, and you’ll come across one of the biggest, meatiest articles on a specific comic work to grace a mainstream publication in months, if not years.
“Watchmen: An Oral History†by EW Senior Writer Jeff Jensen takes a look back at the landmark comics work, while serves as an introduction and “why you should care†guide to EW readers who’ve never heard of it.
“Entertainment Weekly often does oral histories on pop culture classics, exploring their origins, impact and legacy,†Jensen said when asked of the origins of the piece. “Watchmen is a pop culture classic, one with a creative legacy that extends into mainstream pop culture and is being felt today, and we wanted to acknowledge that.â€
The idea to turn the focus of one of their Oral History articles on to Watchmen came late last year, admittedly, when the Paramount movie seemed to be moving full steam ahead with director Paul Greengrass (the project was officially killed at the studio in early June).
“In light of that, we thought it would be interesting to explain and explore the significance of the comic book itself,†Jensen said. “But once we began talking it through, we realized this would be a cool idea even if the movie never came to pass--and it didn't.
“Watchmen is certainly one of the most influential comic books of the past 20 years. With Dark Knight, it is the reason why superhero comics are taken seriously today by the mainstream media. We also knew that many people in Hollywood claimed Watchmen as an influence on their work. Joss Whedon and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof--these are the kids of Watchmen, and their work bears its mark. Personally, I'm fond of stories that illuminate the not-so-obvious classics and track their impact across time. Watchmen seemed to more than fit the bill.â€
But still – five pages in EW is pretty valuable real estate. If you consider text only, the cover feature of this week’s issue on Charlize Theron only had four pages (plus one full-page photo. Page-wise, it’s one of the, if not the longest article in the magazine this week.
And it’s for a comic book.
