Watchmen: Photo Proof of Our Alternate History
Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 29, 2009
Part of the genius of “Watchmen” is the detail the book goes into to create the alternate 1986 where Nixon took the United States to victory in Viet Nam and continues his strangle hold over the White House. The book includes intermittent documents and testimony relating the history of the masked hero movement leading up to the action taking place within the comic frames. There’s fictional biographies, scientific records,and photographs.
Luckily, that important factor hasn’t been lost on the production team for Watchmen, as they have been leaking some really cool stuff – like the news reel video mock-up celebrating the ten year anniversary of Dr. Manhattan and, now, a ton of images from The New Frontiersman – the fictional newspaper of the alternate universe.
This is the kind of extra material that makes the world of the film that much more exciting. The detail work is rich, and hell, it’s just plain cool to see relics from a past that never happened.
I particularly loved the Dr. Manhattan stuff in Viet Nam, the Operation Wrath of God patch, and the faked order of surrender. All of that stuff breaks the fourth wall in a very cool way, giving us geeks something to freak out about, and taking the world of the film and the book a bit beyond the screen and the pages.
You should definitely continue to check out The New Frontiersman Flickr page for daily photo updates.
What do you think?
Read more articles by Dr. Cole Abaius
