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Each of the seven prequels being printed under the banner “Before Watchmen” will feature a different character from the bestselling graphic novel. The plan is to publish one book every week over the summer with a one-shot epilogue completing the event. The creative teams announced were as follows:

- RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
- MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
- COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
-  DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist:  Adam Hughes
- NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
- OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
- SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

There will also be a serialized back-up from Len Wein and John Higgins titled “Curse of the Crimson Corsair” running throughout the books.

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee in a statement released this morning. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Watchmen writer Alan Moore

When contacted by the New York Times original series writer and creator Alan Moore called the move “completely shameless” saying it was reminder of the “draconian contracts” he signed with DC back in the 1980s. “As far as I know, there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ‘Moby-Dick’. ”

Some people may remember  back in 2010, Alan Moore told Wired that DC offered him the rights to Watchmen if he would give his blessing on prequel and sequel projects. At the time Moore told Wired “… I don’t want Watchmen back. Certainly, I don’t want it back under those kinds of terms.”

While Alan Moore has always been adamant about not wanting other creators to touch the world of Watchmen he may not have always been against the idea of a sequel. Moore stated back in 1985 before the original series was published that if Watchmen were to do well, he and Gibbons might create a twelve issue prequel series titled “Minutemen” but that idea never come to fruition. After falling out with DC Entertainment over the ownership rights to his work Moore has since become a constant criticizer of the mainstream comic book industry as a whole.

Though also not involved in the new series, Watchmen co-creator and artist Dave Gibbons had a more positive approach. having this to say; “The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire.”

Rorschach Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

After over 100 issues, William and Dane sit down and welcome writer Matt Fraction back to the show as they close out 2011. This one has it all: Casanova, Fear Itself, variant endings, the inner workings of Marvel editorial retreats and more: there’s plenty of Fraction-related-awesome for everyone.

You can stream the episode or subscribe in iTunes.

Full show notes after the break.

Between the Between the Panels: Issue #135 – Matt Fraction Interview 
Run time: 1:02:42

• Episode start
• 6:09 – Defenders
• 21:56 – Casanova
• 41:49 - Invincible Iron Man
• 48:05 – Avengers vs. X-Men
• 52:44 – For God and Country

Here’s our first interview with Matt as well as our Casanova special from earlier this year.

GQ has the entire ‘For God and Country‘ comic in case you missed it. Also, you can pre-order Mike Doughty‘s The Book of Drugs on Amazon.

Remember to join our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and visit Instock Trades to get your copy of The Mighty Thor!

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in our comments below!

William and Dane return from an extended break for an extended discussion about the current status of X-Men: Regenesis, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Eric Trautmann‘s Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 and take a look at the New 52′s progress a full three months in.

You can stream the episode or subscribe in iTunes.

Full show notes after the break.

Between the Panels: Issue #134 – Comics Discussion for November 30, 2011
Run time: 54:56

• Episode start
• 1:53 - X-Men: Regenesis Discussion
• 12:56 - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man
• 17:34 - Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1
• 28:21 - Discussion: The New 52

Here’s Chris Sims’ review of Uncanny X-Men. Also, here’s my ‘Thought Catalog’ piece in case you missed that as well.

Make sure you also check out our interview with Eric Trautmann about Flash Gordon.

Remember to join our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and visit Instock Trades to get your copy of X-Men: Prelude to Schism!

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in our comments below!

In the heat of the New 52 relaunch, we had the pleasure of sitting down with writer Sterling Gates to chat for over a hour about his work. From Hawk & Dove to Captain Victory, there’s plenty of great stories and insights into Gates’ career. Also, we discuss a little book we enjoyed called Supergirl. Don’t miss this one folks!

You can stream the episode or subscribe in iTunes.

Hit the jump for the full show notes.

Between the Panels: Issue #133 – Sterling Gates Interview
Run time: 1:28:54

• Episode start
• 1:07 – Hello and Welcome
• 24:04 – On Getting into Comics
• 41:44 – Supergirl
• 56:01 – On Characters and the New 52
• 1:13:25 – Captain Victory

Remember that time Rob Liefeid was in a Levi’s ad?

Also, if you haven’t checked out last week’s release of Captain Victory, here’s a preview.

Remember to join our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and visit Instock Trades to get your copy of Who is Superwoman?

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in our comments below!

Is this thing still on?

I am not sure how many of you are still paying attention to us. I know it’s only been a bit over a month since we posted anything here, but it feels much longer than that. Maybe that’s because the last time we posted an episode was about three months ago, outside of this appearance on Media Junkyard from a couple of weeks ago.

It always seems that Fall has a habit of just derailing anything Dane and I try to do podcast wise. It happened to us a little bit last year, but it has been bad this year. More on that later.

So. How do you start back into the process of running a website and a podcast after you’ve had the year I’ve had? Short answer? I’m not quite sure. For now, I just have all these random thoughts in my head related to comics, music and other general things (however, I’ll just stick to comics this time around). I haven’t had the time or the venue to really sit down and talk them out. I found myself with some free time this evening and decided it would be best to write it all it, if not for anyone but myself.

Here’s some context on where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing and what’s next.

You’re still here? Okay. Here we go.

I’ve been reading a lot of 4th Letter recently. Gavok, David Brothers, and the rest of the fine folks at the site have inspired me to consider my writing style and how I approaching the running and maintaining of this site. I’m not going to transform the site in any major way, but depending on how this post is received may determine the future of some content I have been thinking about. I’m tired of copy and paste ‘journalism.’ I think that’s part of the reason I’ve been reluctant to come back and write. I started Between the Panels to do comics differently. I never had plans to be the Lester Bangs of comics, I’m not that talented enough to do that, but I did want to bring something unique to how we covered the industry.

And I feel I’ve failed in that aspect. And yet I don’t know how I would go about fixing that. But I’m not going to let that stop me.

Rick Remender‘s Uncanny X-Force is quietly having one of the best story arcs of the year. After reading a bunch of issues of X-Force for a X-Men related episode that was supposed to happen over the summer, I found myself incredibly interested in what Remender was building and jumped into the Dark Angel arc. I never expected Archangel to be such a compelling villain, but he is. Using the Age of Apocalypse world as backdrop has created some truly compelling storytelling that is creating a true sense of consequence.  I never expected to find myself so compelled by the relationship of Fantomex and Psylocke, but I’m constantly rooting for them. The arc is coming to a close soon, so grab the issues if you can still find them and check it out. Also, Jerome Opeña‘s art is darkly beautiful and fits the tone perfectly.

Over the past couple of months, I find that I keep coming back to two books over and over again. I’ve tried getting into Starman several times, but the first three omnibi sit on my shelf and taunt me. I’ve heard so many amazing things about the series that I wanted to put it away until I could give it the proper time it deserves, but life continues to get in the way. I sat down a couple of weeks ago and read through the first couple of issues and was completely drawn in. I think what I love the most about the series is how James Robinson turned Opal City into a living, breathing city. Growing up in South Carolina, I’ve never had the knowledge of what it’s like to live in a big, sprawling city like Opal and thus held this notion that my surroundings weren’t good enough. This lead into an idea that I had to leave where I was from in order to attain this ‘big city’ desire. A large portion of that has gone away with age and maturity, but I’d like to think that these first issues of Starman had a role in play in that as well. Opal isn’t Gotham or even Metropolis, but it isn’t trying to be. Opal is Opal. The people that live in that city love it and would, in the case of Ted Knight, die to defend it.

The other book is Casanova. We’ve talked a bit about Casanova on the show, but Matt Fraction‘s work on Avaritia, the third arc in the series, has impacted me in a unexpected way. Again, David Brothers has an excellent analysis on just what in the first issue works so well, but here’s a quick outline of the first two issues:

Casanova is having to go around extinguishing complete timelines in order to correct the mistakes of Newman Xeno. Since there’s no good way to find him, it’s just easier to destroy the entire timeline in order to save everyone. That works until Cass discovers the true identity of Xeno, and then is dropped in to kill him at which point it becomes personal. And here’s where Avaritia becomes personal to me:

Cornelius Quinn is dying. Of cancer.

Just a little over a month ago, my father passed way. Of cancer.

Towards the end of Avaritia I, Cass begins to truly  process and understand what’s going on around him. There’s this amazing panel were Cornelius and the rest of E.M.P.I.R.E. are discussing what to do next. The word balloons are there, but are totally empty. People are talking but Cass isn’t listening. He pulls out Sasa Lisi’s domino mask and looks at it. It’s a reminder that he’s not alone.

And that’s what I connected with. That’s the part that killed me. That’s why keep coming back to this issue. Sometimes it does feel like I’m alone, that no one has a true handle how I’m feeling, but that’s not the case. And sometimes it’s the little momentos and moments that remind me of that.

To wrap this up and bring it back to Between the Panels, Dane and I had a conversation last night about what we want Between the Panels to be. We feel that recently we’ve been playing to what the people want and not producing a podcast we want to listen to. Over the past year I’ve realized that if I’m going to do something creativity, it needs to be on my terms. Anytime a project begins to play to the masses, it historically hasn’t ended well.

Where do we go from here? Again, I don’t know, but I do know I want it to be something that I’m interested and engaged in doing. Some people may stop listening. Some people may start listening.

But at the end of the day, I know Dane and I will be making something we’re interested in doing. And frankly, that’s all that matters.

Heavily rumored last week, Warner Bros. Interactive officially announced today that Nightwing will be a playable character in Batman: Arkham City. According to the press release sent this morning, Nightwing will be available as DLC (downloadable content) for the game in the Nightwing Bundle Pack which will release on November 1. The pack will include Nightwing, “complete with his own unique gadget and special moves,” a bonus Animated Series character skin, and two new challenge maps: Wayne Manor and Main Hall.

Also announced, the Robin Bundle Pack, which will follow on November 22 and will contain the Boy Wonder and his two exclusive challenge maps: Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape.

Both packs will retail for $6.99 on the Playstation Network and 560 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

Does the addition of Nightwing add to your excitement for Batman: Arkham City? Sound off in our comments below.

UPDATE: Here’s a embed for the trailer:

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, stars Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson. The team is set to assemble on May 4, 2012.

There is a weird element of: they handed me one of the biggest movies of all time, and I’m making it up as I go.

Whedon also says that the team won’t be all friends, but that doesn’t hold true for the cast members: “I was like, well, if they hate each other, I guess we can use that,” he shrugs. “But they don’t.”

We’ve included all the images after the jump, but outside of Whedon’s quote, we won’t have much to go on until the issue debuts Friday. 

Source: Entertainment Weekly

You can stream the episode or subscribe in iTunes.

Hit the jump for the full show notes.

Between the Panels: Issue #132 – Comic Reviews for September 21, 2011
Run time: 33:30

• Episode start
• 1:35 – Hello and Welcome
• 2:27 – Supergirl #1
• 12:39 – Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #2
• 20:11 – Book of the Week: Batman #1

Here’s that Comics Alliance article about The Dark Knight.

Remember to join our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and visit Instock Trades to get your copy of New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1 Hardcover.

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in our comments below!

Fun fact: It’s still Monday on the west coast! Why did the chicken cross the road? Because a new BTPC strip is up! …That made no sense… hit the break.