Recently, DC began making a huge move that pushed Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s legendary series Watchmen into the wider DC comics canon. And now that they are a part of that canon, DC would very much like you to pay a silly amount of money for new, premium versions of Watchmen again.
Exclusive photos of the only person in existence yet to own a copy of Watchmen in some form.
I’m not saying that they shouldn’t try, or that people shouldn’t want a new print of Watchmen — people get into reading comics all the time, and easy access to one of the most important and influential superhero comics in history is absolutely a good thing. But this new Watchmen Collector’s Edition Box Set shows that DC are going about it in the weirdest way possible.
This new set, out in November, gathers each individual issue of Watchmen, 12 in total… but then keeps them separate as individual hardback issues. I can’t even remember the last time I read Watchmen as separate issues rather than collected in a single tome. But beyond that, who the hell needs a hardback version of a single issue?
That’s weird enough, but this swanky new box set is also $170. You can get the hardcover deluxe version of Watchmen for $44 on Book Depository right now — a much easier form of reading the series than having each issue as its own hardcover book. The out-of-print Absolute Edition, containing a bunch of extra material this new set seemingly doesn’t have, is going for $108. (And the paperback collection of Watchmen? Going for $25.) Who the hell wants to pay $170 for 12 individually hardcovered comic books?
DC hopes they’re out there, somewhere. While they’re at it they hope they will also pick up the incoming black-and-white version, Watchmen Noir (itself $67), too. What’s next? I imagine Watchmen 3D will be available for purchase by 2019.
Comments
4 responses to “DC Comics Is Pretty Sure You Need Another Fancy Edition Of Watchmen”
You know what? Absolute Editions suck. They’re heavy and cumbersome and one might say dangerous to read in bed. I like reading single issues, and savouring chapters – I have absolute editions of Parker, New Frontier and others, I’ve read and re-read single issues countless times, but touched absolutes maybe once or twice.
All comic book reading experiences should aim to be more like Tin Tin.
Tintin ftw!!!
Was the ‘dangerous to read in bed’ a joke?
What… you never had an absolute edition hit you in the face before?