The Watchman comes to Birmingham

By Neil Elkes on Sep 25, 08 08:02 PM

A HIGHLIGHT of the International Comic show next week will be the ticket only Watchmen event hosted by artist Dave Gibbons.

With the Watchmen Hollywood film gearing for release in March and interest in the graphic novel stronger than ever its co-creator Gibbons is soon to become very hot property indeed.

So Speech Balloon was delighted to grab a quick chat with him as he prepares for his weekend in Birmingham where he will be promoting his new book Watching the Watchmen.

The book, published by Titan next month, details his collaboration with writer Alan Moore and the origins of the comic and he says will be stuffed with pages of original scripts, sketches and artwork.

Visitors to the comic show will be given an early glimpse of the book, with slides and explainations from the man himself.

He said: "It goes right back to when Alan Moore and I created the Watchmen in the 1980s.
"I kept a whole load of sketches, scripts, notes, pages, memorabillia, and thought it would make a good book. I've really enjoyed doing it."

And he says with the movie around the corner there was no problem in getting it published.
But two decades ago did the authors believe that the Watchmen would have such a lasting impact?
Dave said: "To us it was just a 12 issue comic book series. But it was in time to be one of the first graphic novels.

"It was popular, the way I drew it was accessable. And it was a complete story; there was no background history and nothing happens afterwards.

"This meant comic store assistants felt confident reccommending it as a starting point for readers.
Those who had never picked up a comic could read it."

His career has included working on 2000AD, DC Thomson titles, Dan Dare, Batman, Captain America, Superman and Doctor Who, as well as his own creation The Originals.

But he is more than comfortable that after more than two decades the Watchman remains his most celebrated work. In fact Dave has cleared his diary for the next few months to work on promotion for both his book and the film.

"I am enjoying the circus ride," he says.

It is in stark contrast to writer Alan Moore who has been famously disappointed with the cinema adaptions of his stories to date.

Dave said: "Alan is not so keen on Hollywood in general. I don't think he has a particular problem with this film. He has not been involved in discussions with the movie."

His own view is that he would rather that director Zak Snyder, as someone with the respect for original work, try and fail than some hack director work on it.

But so far Dave has no worries about the execution. He has been given the VIP treatment on set and is impressed at how closely the costume, set and vehicle designs mirror his artwork.

"I was impressed with the attention to detail and the reverence the crew have for the work - the actors would ask me about the characters. I think it's being done really well. Just fantastic."

Director Zak Snyder has shown him a rough cut of the film.
"Some parts have come straight from the page - the scene in the trailer with the Owlship lifting from the water, and Nightowl with his costume hanging up - very beautiful.
"Some of Alan's dialogue is still in there, word for word."

He added: "It's the perfect time for a Watchmen film. It has the right director and right cast doing it justice.
"Audiences are familiar with the conventions of superhero movies, just as our readers were familiar with the conventions of comics," he added.

Dave has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Birmingham International Comic Show - appearing at both the debut event at the Custard Factory in 2006 and last year's show at Millennium Point.

"I think Birmingham is putting on a really good show. It is really well run and puts comics in a positive light. I'm looking forward to it."