Editing Watchmen (section)

== Background and creation ==
{{quote box|align=left|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|width=40%|quote="I suppose I was just thinking, 'That'd be a good way to start a comic book: have a famous super-hero found dead.' As the mystery unraveled, we would be led deeper and deeper into the real heart of this super-hero's world, and show a reality that was very different to the general public image of the super-hero."|source=—Alan Moore on the basis for ''Watchmen''<ref name="cba" />}}

In 1983, DC Comics acquired a line of characters from [[Charlton Comics]].{{sfn|Eury|Giordano|2003|p=117}} During that period, writer [[Alan Moore]] contemplated writing a story that featured an unused line of superheroes that he could revamp, as he had done in his ''[[Marvelman|Miracleman]]'' series in the early 1980s. Moore reasoned that [[MLJ Comics]]' [[Mighty Crusaders]] might be available for such a project, so he devised a murder mystery plot which would begin with the discovery of the body of the [[Shield (Archie Comics)|Shield]] in a harbor. The writer felt it did not matter which set of characters he ultimately used, as long as readers recognized them "so it would have the shock and surprise value when you saw what the reality of these characters was".<ref name="cba">{{cite news |title=Toasting Absent Heroes: Alan Moore discusses the Charlton-Watchmen Connection |url=http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09moore.html |work=[[Comic Book Artist]] |issue=9 |date=August 2000 |access-date=October 8, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113124711/http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09moore.html |archive-date=January 13, 2013 | url-status = live}}</ref> Moore used this premise and crafted a proposal featuring the Charlton characters titled ''Who Killed the [[Peacemaker (character)|Peacemaker]]'',<ref name="TCJ116">"[http://www.tcj.com/a-portal-to-another-dimension-alan-moore-dave-gibbons-and-neil-gaiman/ A Portal to Another Dimension: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Neil Gaiman]". ''[[The Comics Journal]]'' #116 (July 1987). [https://web.archive.org/web/20130209015518/http://www.tcj.com/a-portal-to-another-dimension-alan-moore-dave-gibbons-and-neil-gaiman/ Archived] from the original on February 9, 2013.</ref> and submitted the unsolicited proposal to DC managing editor [[Dick Giordano]].{{sfn|Eury|Giordano|2003|p=124}} Giordano was receptive to the proposal, but opposed the idea of using the Charlton characters for the story. After the acquisition of Charlton's Action Hero line, DC intended to use their upcoming [[Crisis on Infinite Earths]] event to fold them into their mainstream superhero universe. Moore said, "DC realized their expensive characters would end up either dead or dysfunctional." Instead, Giordano persuaded Moore to continue his project but with new characters that simply resembled the Charlton heroes.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_cQEAAAQBAJ&dq=Moore+Charlton+Comics+acquired+DC+Comics+Crisis+on+Infinite+Earths+Beetle+Atom&pg=PA211 |title=Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity |isbn=978-1-4968-3057-9 |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909084120/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_cQEAAAQBAJ&dq=Moore+Charlton+Comics+acquired+DC+Comics+Crisis+on+Infinite+Earths+Beetle+Atom&pg=PA211 |url-status=live |last1=Kruse |first1=Zack |date=February 2021 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&dq=Giordano+encouraged+Moore+original+Characters+old+Charlton&pg=PA219 |title=Italian Americans: The History and Culture of a People |isbn=978-1-61069-995-2 |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-date=September 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909084121/https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&dq=Giordano+encouraged+Moore+original+Characters+old+Charlton&pg=PA219 |url-status=live |last1=Martone |first1=Eric |date=December 12, 2016 |publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref><ref name="EW article 2">{{cite magazine |last=Jensen |first=Jeff |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120854_2,00.html |title=Watchmen: An Oral History (2 of 6) |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=October 21, 2005 |access-date=May 28, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121113337/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C1120854_2%2C00.html |archive-date=January 21, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Moore had initially believed that original characters would not provide emotional resonance for readers but later changed his mind. He said, "Eventually, I realized that if I wrote the substitute characters well enough, so that they seemed familiar in certain ways, certain aspects of them brought back a kind of generic super-hero resonance or familiarity to the reader, then it might work."<ref name="cba" />

{{multiple image|align=right|image1=Alan Moore (2).jpg|width1=165|image2=DaveGibbons.jpg|width2=150|caption1=[[Alan Moore]], writer of ''Watchmen'' |caption2=[[Dave Gibbons]], artist of ''Watchmen''}}

Artist [[Dave Gibbons]], who had collaborated with Moore on previous projects, recalled that he "must have heard on the grapevine that he was doing a treatment for a new miniseries. I rang Alan up, saying I'd like to be involved with what he was doing", and Moore sent him the story outline.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080802171345/http://comiccon.titanbooks.com/watching-watchmen/ Get Under the Hood of Watchmen…]". [[Titan Books]] (2008, date n.a.)  Retrieved October 15, 2008. Archived from the [http://comiccon.titanbooks.com/watching-watchmen/ original] on August 2, 2008.</ref> Gibbons told Giordano he wanted to draw the series Moore proposed and Moore approved.{{sfn|Eury|Giordano|2003|p=110}} Gibbons brought colorist [[John Higgins (comics)|John Higgins]] onto the project because he liked his "unusual" style; Higgins lived near the artist, which allowed the two to "discuss [the art] and have some kind of human contact rather than just sending it across the ocean".<ref name="TCJ116" /> [[Len Wein]] joined the project as its editor, while Giordano stayed on to oversee it. Both Wein and Giordano stood back and "got out of their way", as Giordano remarked later. "Who copy-edits Alan Moore, for God's sake?"{{sfn|Eury|Giordano|2003|p=124}}

After receiving the go-ahead to work on the project, Moore and Gibbons spent a day at the latter's house creating characters, crafting details for the story's milieu and discussing influences. The pair were particularly influenced by a ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' parody of Superman named "[[Superduperman]]"; Moore said: "We wanted to take Superduperman 180 degrees—dramatic, instead of comedic".<ref name="EW article 2" /> Moore and Gibbons conceived of a story that would take "familiar old-fashioned superheroes into a completely new realm";<ref name="Blather Moore Interview 2">Kavanagh, Barry. "[http://www.blather.net/articles/amoore/watchmen2.html The Alan Moore Interview: Watchmen characters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110102845/http://www.blather.net/articles/amoore/watchmen2.html |date=January 10, 2010 }}". Blather.net. October 17, 2000. Retrieved on October 14, 2008.</ref> Moore said his intention was to create "a superhero ''[[Moby-Dick|Moby Dick]]''; something that had that sort of weight, that sort of density".<ref name="strange">{{cite news |last1=Eno |first1=Vincent (Richard Norris) |first2=El |last2=Csawza |url=http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/?p=53 |title=Vincent Eno and El Csawza Meet Comics Megastar Alan Moore |publisher=Strange Things Are Happening via JohnCoulthart.com |date=May–June 1988 |access-date=October 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705062035/http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2006/02/20/alan-moore-interview-1988/ |archive-date=July 5, 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> Moore came up with the character names and descriptions but left the specifics of how they looked to Gibbons. Gibbons did not sit down and design the characters deliberately, but rather "did it at odd times [...] spend[ing] maybe two or three weeks just doing sketches."<ref name="TCJ116" /> Gibbons designed his characters to make them easy to draw; [[Rorschach (comics)|Rorschach]] was his favorite to draw because "you just have to draw a hat. If you can draw a hat, then you've drawn Rorschach, you just draw kind of a shape for his face and put some black blobs on it and you're done."<ref name=illustrating>"[http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/102308-dave-gibbons-watchmen-comic-illustrator.php Illustrating ''Watchmen''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103151227/http://watchmencomicmovie.com/102308-dave-gibbons-watchmen-comic-illustrator.php |date=January 3, 2010 }}". WatchmenComicMovie.com. October 23, 2008. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.</ref>

Moore began writing the series very early on, hoping to avoid publication delays such as those faced by the DC limited series ''[[Camelot 3000]]''.<ref name="TCJ106">Heintjes, Tom. "Alan Moore On (Just About) Everything". ''The Comics Journal''. March 1986.</ref> When writing the script for the first issue Moore said he realized "I only had enough plot for six issues. We were contracted for 12!" His solution was to alternate issues that dealt with the overall plot of the series with origin issues for the characters.<ref name="EW article 3">Jensen, Jeff. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070314195901/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120854_3,00.html Watchmen: An Oral History (3 of 6)]". ''Entertainment Weekly''. October 21, 2005. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.</ref> Moore wrote very detailed scripts for Gibbons to work from. Gibbons recalled that "[t]he script for the first issue of ''Watchmen'' was, I think, 101 pages of typescript—single-spaced—with no gaps between the individual panel descriptions or, indeed, even between the pages." Upon receiving the scripts, the artist had to number each page "in case I drop them on the floor, because it would take me two days to put them back in the right order", and used a highlighter pen to single out lettering and shot descriptions; he remarked, "It takes quite a bit of organizing before you can actually put pen to paper."<ref name="S&S116">Stewart, Bhob. "Synchronicity and Symmetry". ''The Comics Journal''. July 1987.</ref> Despite Moore's detailed scripts, his panel descriptions would often end with the note "If that doesn't work for you, do what works best"; Gibbons nevertheless worked to Moore's instructions.<ref name="CBR Amaya 2008">Amaya, Erik. "[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18266 Len Wein: Watching the Watchmen]". [[Comic Book Resources]]. September 30, 2008. Retrieved on October 3, 2008. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809193051/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18266 |date=August 9, 2011 }}</ref> In fact, Gibbons only suggested one single change to the script – a compression of Ozymandias' narration while he was preventing a sneak attack by Rorschach – as he felt that the dialogue was too long to fit with the length of the action; Moore agreed and re-wrote the scene.<ref name="Comics Bulletin">{{cite web |url=http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/12289382257709.htm |title=Watching the Watchmen with Dave Gibbons: An Interview |publisher=[[Comics Bulletin]] |date=n.d. |access-date=December 12, 2008 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216101134/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/12289382257709.htm}}</ref> Gibbons had a great deal of autonomy in developing the visual look of ''Watchmen'' and frequently inserted background details that Moore admitted he did not notice until later.<ref name="strange" /> Moore occasionally contacted fellow comics writer [[Neil Gaiman]] for answers to research questions and for quotes to include in issues.<ref name="EW article 3" />

Despite his intentions, Moore admitted in November 1986 that there were likely to be delays, stating that he was, with issue five on the stands, still writing issue nine.<ref name="S&S116" /> Gibbons mentioned that a major factor in the delays was the "piecemeal way" in which he received Moore's scripts. Gibbons said the team's pace slowed around the fourth issue; from that point onward the two undertook their work "just several pages at a time. I'll get three pages of script from Alan and draw it and then toward the end, call him up and say, 'Feed me!' And he'll send another two or three pages or maybe one page or sometimes six pages."<ref name="Pebbles116">Stewart, Bhob. "Dave Gibbons: Pebbles in a Landscape". ''The Comics Journal''. July 1987.</ref> As the creators began to hit deadlines, Moore would hire a taxi driver to drive 50&nbsp;miles and deliver scripts to Gibbons. On later issues the artist even had his wife and son draw panel grids on pages to help save time.<ref name="EW article 3" />

Near the end of the project, Moore realized that the story bore some similarity to "[[The Architects of Fear]]", an episode of ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'' television series.<ref name="EW article 3" /> The writer and Wein (an editor) argued over changing the ending and when Moore refused to give in, Wein quit the book. Wein explained, "I kept telling him, 'Be more original, Alan, you've got the capability, do something different, not something that's already been done!' And he didn't seem to care enough to do that."<ref name=WeinDaddy>Ho, Richard. "Who's Your Daddy??" ''Wizard''. November 2004.</ref> Moore acknowledged the ''Outer Limits'' episode by referencing it in the series' last issue.<ref name="CBR Amaya 2008" />