In 1986, the comic-book world experienced a profound paradigm shift, thanks to writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. Gone were the long-held notions that crime-fighters always did the morally right thing for the intellectually right reason, that heroes and villains were rigidly defined constants, that good always prevailed over evil, and that happy endings were a foregone conclusion. In their place, there was Watchmen.
Since the release of Moore’s seminal deconstruction of the superhero genre, others have revisited Watchmen‘s dystopian setting in the form of a film adaptation, role-playing books, prequel comics, and multiple video games, all built upon the foundation that Moore and Gibbons laid down thirty years ago. With DC Comics soon to bring Watchmen‘s characters into its mainstream continuity, and with a Watchmen TV show reportedly in the works, it’s time to reexamine all that has come before.
Rich Handley’s Watching Time: The Unauthorized Watchmen Chronology, now available from Hasslein Books, offers:
- A detailed history encapsulating every recorded event from all corners of the franchise—not only the comics, games, film, and RPG books, but also viral videos and websites, trading cards, unproduced scripts, and other ancillary sources, some quite obscure.
- A mini-“crimeline” summarizing the careers of masked crime-fighters and supervillains throughout Watchmen history.
- A foreword by noted comic guru Brian Cronin of “Comic Book Legends Revealed” fame, whose thousands of meticulously researched articles have enthralled comics fans for years.
- A nostalgic essay by Duy Tano, creator of the popular blog The Comics Cube, explaining why Watchmen is simultaneously dated and timeless.
- And a gallery showcasing more than 250 covers from the Watchmen comics, trade-paperback collections, DVDs, Blu-rays, reference books, and video games.
Designed both for long-time and new fans alike, Watching Time tells you everything you need to know about Alan Moore’s highly influential and Hugo Award-winning epic and its spinoffs. The book is now available at Amazon, CreateSpace, and Barnes & Noble. For more information or to place an order, visit hassleinbooks.com/pages/book_watchmen.php.
About the Author
Rich Handley’s previous works include Planet of the Apes: Tales From the Forbidden Zone for Titan Books; Timeline of the Planet of the Apes, Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes, The Back to the Future Chronology, and The Back to the Future Lexicon for Hasslein Books; The Sacred Scrolls: Comics on the Planet of the Apes, Bright Eyes, Ape City: Examining the Planet of the Apes Mythos, A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe, A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Exploring Star Wars Comics, A More Civilized Age: Exploring the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics for Sequart; and IDW’s five Star Trek comic strip hardcover reprint books.
About Hasslein Books
Hasslein Books (hassleinbooks.com) is a New York-based independent publisher of reference guides by geeks, for geeks. In addition to Watching Time, its lineup includes unauthorized genre-based reference books based on Planet of the Apes, Back to the Future, Red Dwarf, and Doctor Who, with future volumes slated to feature G.I. Joe, Alien vs. Predator, James Bond, and more. To stay informed regarding the company’s projects, follow Hasslein Books online at facebook.com/hassleinbooks, twitter.com/hassleinbooks, and hassleinbooks.blogspot.com.
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