Flashback

Greetings, my name is Jordan! Last time, we talked about Batman 22: The Button Part Three. While this post was originally going to be about the final installment in the four-part saga, it is instead going to be about the background of specific characters/teams: The Watchmen, and the Legion of Superheroes.

Watchmen is a comic series of twelve issues, written by Alan Moore, with illustrations by Dave Gibbons. The series was published from 1986-1987, and eventually was turned into a graphic novel. As a graphic novel, the book has won a Hugo award, and been featured on a TIME list of top 100 books. In 2009, a movie directed by Zack Snyder was released.

The story of Watchmen centers around a group of costumed superheroes: Ozymandias, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan, and Rorschach. The Comedian, the final member of the group, is killed at the beginning of the story, which sets the events following it into motion. Set in 1985, during the Cold War, the book provides an alternate history, something that could have happened had these characters been around. Throughout the series, Rorschach investigates the death of the Comedian, learning of a plot to kill off all costumed heroes and end the threat of nuclear war. While I am yet unsure the Watchmen's involvement in "DC Rebirth", I believe Dr. Manhattan may have been the one to mess with the timeline, and in so doing, open the DC world to a parallel world, containing the Watchmen.

The Legion of Superheroes was created in 1958, originally published in Adventure Comics #247, following a large team of 30th century heroes. There have been four versions as of yet (1958, 1994, 2004, 2007), along with a "New 52" version. The series follows numerous heroes, such as Superboy, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Karate Kid, and Dream Girl.

I hope that the "DC Rebirth" mentions/appearances of some of these characters means that the Watchmen messing with the timeline has somehow transported the Legion to the present. As they have time travel capabilities, it would be very interesting to see the Legion of Superheroes trapped in the past later on in the current universe.

Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed the short background information on two organizations that I have been mentioning since the first post. Tune in next week for the true finale of The Button.