Gubaba

What is it with you and thinking I'm someone famous...?

I've said it before, but the thing I loved about the comic that could never make it on to the screen were all the little touches...the way Chapter 5 is completely symmetrical (in that the first page mirrors the last page, the second page mirrors the second-to-last page, and so on until you get to Adrian killing his would-be assassin in the middle), the way that text comments, mostly ironically, on what's going on visually (most of the "Black Freighter" text is like this), all the puns visual and verbal ("FALLOUT SHELTER" getting reduced to "ALL HEL" because of "camera angle" and smoke, the bodybullding ad on the back of "Black Freighter" advertising "THE VEIDT METHOD: I WILL GIVE YOU BODIES BEYOND YOUR WILDEST IMAGININGS"), all that stuff put in the background to be discovered sometimes only on your fourth or fifth reading of the comic. The plot is interesting, but not the best (Alan Moore himself has managed to top it on several occasions). Ditto the characters. The formal characteristics are what make it so powerful and groundbreaking, and those can't be filmed. But hey, just as long as they don't try to make a Promethea movie next, my complaining is done. Unless my curiosity gets the better of me and I end up renting the DVD of Watchmen when it comes out, and i end up hating it more than I thought I would. But that's unlikely.

Poor, poor Max Shea...we hardly knew ye.

Hmmm. I don't know about elsewhere, but the poll results here at least are more positive than not. Admittedly, the professional critics haven't been terribly kind. Neither have most people I've talked to in, y'know, real life. In fact, the only positive review I heard from from the guy I met (which I talked about some ten or twenty pages back) who had worked on the movie. He said the three-hour cut was much better than the two-and-a-half-hour version. I haven't seen the movie, so I can't be harsh directly...all I can say is that the things I love in the comic are unfilmable, and nothing i've heard leads me to believe that I'll like the movie. Speaking theoretically, I think with adaptations of this sort, so much gets lost that changes NEED to be made. A lot of 'em. Watchmen the comic is quite avant garde and experimental, so I think any film of it should have been as well. But people generally don't like experimental movies, and studios DEFINITELY don't like them...and a major studio is the only place the funding needed to make the movie could be raised. I dunno. (I'm also against the implicit idea that movies need to be made out of EVERYTHING, but I'll save that rant for another place and time.)

Yep, I hate everything ever made. There's absolutely nothing I like. At all. I'm a bitter shell of a man who drinks chilled puppy blood. (Really, now...just because some of us are not thrilled or supportive of this movie, that means we don't like ANYTHING? Please...)

It's Maaya Sakamoto.

I totally understand not wanting something to get out beyond the rather close-knit community here, but not even to be quoted by someone replying to you...Man, even I think that's going overboard!

It's a story-within-the-story that comments directly upon the action in a number of scenes, and acts out the larger themes of the story in miniature. Again, he didn't have to kill three million people to gain money, power, and influence. He already hobnobs with world leaders and and is a multi-millionaire. What did he possibly gain in terms of power that he didn't already have? Dr. Manhattan's LOVER barely convinced him to go back to earth, and even then, he only stayed briefly. Living person, dead person...it's all the same to him. He doesn't feel much connection to humanity (it's even in his name: "Osterman" = "Ostracized Man"), and shows repeatedly that the future of mankind is really not terribly interesting to him. As Adrian says, it's like asking a person to care deeply about the life of an ant. What "logic" could Adrian use that would persuade him?

Again, he already had a lot of power and influence...how could he gain more by implementing a plan that no one could ever know even WAS his plan? He's already got his fingers in nearly every pie out there. If he can have a custom giant feline created especially for him as a pet, he's got some serious pull. No, the guy definitely had good intentions, and wanted a permanent solution. Peace talks wouldn't have changed people's mindsets; neither would dismantling the nuclear arsenal, even if Dr. Manhattan had gone along with it. Making the world have to band together against a common enemy really DOES seem like a good solution (to me, anyway). Again, Adrian is pretty whacked-out, but I do think he is honest and forthright to his former colleagues; and I believe him when he said that he made himself feel every death that he caused. He knows what he did was a grand-scale atrocity, but he really thought it was the only way. But again, the key to everything is the Tales of the Black Freighter, which has a lot to say about what happens to people willing to commit atrocities to save their home...

Nah. Grace doesn't smoke, and she's not blond (although I'm sure she COULD be if she wanted to). So she doesn't count. That said, purple-haired girls with glasses are also a-okay in my book.

Having not seen the movie, I can't really comment on the specifics of the "Frame Dr. Manhattan" Project. Dr. Manhattan in the comic probably wouldn't have done the things you suggest. As the Comedian said, Manhattan could have saved lives if had wished, but he was "becoming a flake." He would've gotten bored and left earth anyway, and THEN where would people be...? Exactly where they were when he left earth the first time. And I don't think Adrian did it for the money and power. He genuinely thought he was saving the world. He HAD money and power, and he gave it all up. Then he rebuilt his empire, starting from scratch. He already HAS anything he needs, and has had it twice over. He really DOES want a peaceful world, although murdering three million people to get it is of course indefensible. His intentions are impeccable. The method, however... Anyway, the point is kind of moot since I firmly believe Rorschach's journal WILL get published, someone with authority WILL believe it, and the whole thing will unravel. Anyway, my original point still stands: Yes, Adrian's a douche. But Rorschach's a douche, too. The Comedian's a douche. Of course, the rest of the cast isn't much better, which is one of the things that makes it so great.

Thanks! Oh, and I have to say that the Shammy bit at the end of Part One really is the absolute best thing on the entire album. Second best is the interplay between Mari Iijima and Arihiro Hase, who really DO sound like a couple of old friends joking around. But that's for next time...this time, we've got the earliest chronological appearance of Kenji Machizaki, who Shammy threatened much later (remember? She said she'd rip his pants off, and he ran away. Yes, THAT guy.) NEXT: Hikaru gets nervous, and Minmay Does Dylan.

Thanks for the link! I was afriad it was gone for good...turns out I just had the wrong search words... Are you implying that hot blond scientist chicks lighting up cigarettes isn't sexy?

If you can explain how the Comedian's near-rape of Sally Jupiter averted the nuclear annihilation of the world, then yes, I'll agree that Adrian was the bigger douche.

Is there really THAT much of a difference, though...?

In the comic, yes, Ozymandias lives. Rorschach dies. A decent burial is out of the question; there isn't enough of him left. And I'm sure Dr. Manhattan could kill anyone any way he wished. He's pretty much all-powerful, after all. And yeah, while Adrian is indeed a douchebag, Rorschach is one, too. I think the Comedian is the only one douchier than either of them, and that's just because he's "a pig ann'a rapist."

There's a HUGE difference between Moore's work on something like WildC.A.T.s (or Spawn, or Batman) and his other work. "From Hell" is, I believe, among the finest comics ever made, and the best treatment of Jack the Ripper in any medium. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is likewise stellar. (I thought Promethea was quite excellent as well, but I can understand why a lot of people lost patience with it.) The problem is that no matter how many times people say his work is cinematic, it really isn't. It's too long, it's too dense, and most of the things that are most characteristic and clever in his work are impossible to translate to film. Anyway, judging a writer based on movie adaptations is like judging a director based on novelizations of his or her movies. No one's been able to make a good movie based on James Joyce's work, either. Does that make him a bad writer?

Okay...finally, after a very, very, VERY long time, my work on "Miss DJ" is nearing its end. There's still a little bit in the last five minutes that's inaudible (to me) that I need to get one of my japanese friends to check, and I still need to type up most of Part 2, but I should be able to get all of that done this coming week. I also edited some of Part 1, so I'm presenting the whole thing again...enjoy! I have to admit, though, there are still a few things that I'm not sure I got right...so if anyone else has any corrections, I'll be happy to accept them. NEXT: A couple of otaku need dating advice, Hikaru depresses the hell out of everyone, and AHHHG!! ZENTRADI ATTACK!!! Oh yeah, and there's a bit about diapers and a Minmay doll. Some freaky sh*t's about to go down!

Yeah...it was from "Macross Zero on Drugs," which for some reason I can't seem to find anymore. Has it been taken down? Too bad, if so...it was funny and pretty accurate.

To pass the time until you find it, here's more eye-searingly awesome MacZero art:

So, "Tales from the Black Freighter" was added at DC's request? I hadn't heard that, but it makes me respect Alan Moor and Dave Gibbons even more for making it integral to the main story. And I do have the single issues, and all the back-up material is there. The only thing that's missing (sometimes, not always) are the chapter titles and ending quotations. But strangely, there's space made on the page for them. I'm assuming it was a rights issue, but I have no proof of that. Really? I Googled "Segruder Film" and got one, lonesome hit, which may or may not have anything to do with JFK. The Zapruder Film, however, is quite famous.

Animes may have had happy endings, but general release Japanese movies didn't. Do you know Momoe Yamaguchi? Big, BIG star in the late '70s. She had a long string of huge hit singles and albums, and she made quite a number of movies. All of them involve her dying at the end. A lot of old manga, too, had tragic endings. So I don't think it's new...it's just more common in anime now.

Aw, you left out my favorite! Stratagem: Megatarts. And to keep it on-topic, here's a great MacZero pic:

That's a nice one... But really, nearly all of the Nanase pics I have are either screenshots from the show or else official art (from Newtype, or DVD covers...like my current avatar). I think the cosplayer that I used to have, and the "Kira!" pic are the only non-official Nanase pics that I have. Sorry.

And "SkullLeader VF-X" spelled backwards is "Taksraven," so...whoa...