This Week in Comics – Week of June 3, 2012

Featured Release: Before Watchmen

This week marks a landmark event in the comics industry.  One some comic book enthusiasts have been eagerly anticipating or looking toward with dread.  Nearly 25 years after the original series ended, DC Comics is releasing the first issue in their new Before Watchmen series.

DC Comics is launching six new series based in the Watchmen universe, occurring in a time period prior to the events in the original series, in the time prior to the ban on superhero activity in the United States.  Each character of the original series will be getting their own books – The Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the Silk Spectre – as well as the title that launches this week, Minutemen.

The Minutemen is the team of heroes from the ‘40s and ‘50s, including the original Silk Spectre and Nite Owl (if you only know The Watchmen from the Zack Snyder movie, the original Minutemen were those featured during the opening credits of the film).

If you don’t know what all the controversy is surrounding the title, it deals with a war of words between publisher DC Comics and Watchmen creator Alan Moore and what type of say the writer has on his creation.  Since the final issue of Watchmen, DC has been offering Moore countless incentives to create more Watchmen.  Each time, Moore has rebuffed DC’s efforts stating that there were no more stories to tell in that world.  So, against Moore’s wishes, DC is proceeding with Before Watchmen without his input or blessing (matter of fact, Moore is adamantly against it and will tell anyone within earshot about his displeasure).  DC has brought in some of the industry’s best writers and artists to work on the titles, so it will be interesting to see what stories they choose to tell and how the public reacts to it.

Before Watchmen: Minutemen goes on sale today.  Each week a new series will arrive, starting with Silk Spectre next Wednesday, followed by Comedian, Nite Owl, and Ozymandias.

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Top 20 “Most Pulled” Comics for the Week of June 3, 2012
Presented by Comixology

1. Action Comics #10 (DC)
2. Detective Comics #10 (DC)
3. Avengers vs. X-Men #5 (Marvel)
4. Animal Man #10 (DC)
5. Swamp Thing #10 (DC)
6. Invincible Iron Man #518 (Marvel)
7. Uncanny X-Men #13 (Marvel)
8. Ultimate Spider-Man #11 (Marvel)
9. Earth 2 #2 (DC)
10. Red Lanterns #10 (DC)
11. X-Factor #237 (Marvel)
12. Justice League International #10 (DC)
13. Avengers Academy #31 (Marvel)
14. Dark Avengers #175 (Marvel)
15. Stormwatch #10 (DC)
16. Winter Soldier #6 (Marvel)
17. Green Arrow #10 (DC)
18. World’s Finest #2 (DC)
19. Hulk #53 (Marvel)
20. Morning Glories #19 (Image)