On Watchmen Merchandise

So.

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel Watchmen is about to hit theaters in an adaptation directed by 300‘s Zach Snyder.

The trailer for it was fantastic. It had the right look. It had the right feel. Every new poster I see, and I get a little more excited. Moore has said at length that the book is unfilmable, and I cannot help but think that Moore is wrong.

And then.

There’s going to be Watchmen merchandise. Moore famously nixed a line of action figures a few years ago, but now there’s going to be action figures, posters, lunchboxes, magnet sets, journals, beanies, masks, keychains, baseball pennants, playing cards, and who knows what else. All based on the movie. Much of it using Dave Gibbons artwork.

And I’m excited. I’m really thinking about getting a Watchmen lunchbox, but I can’t decide — do I want a Dr. Manhattan lunchbox or do I want a Rorschach lunchbox? My friend Todd asked a pertinent question: “Do you think the sight of Dr. Manhattan’s blue penis will keep you from enjoying your lunch?” Fortunately, I’ve seen the design online; I don’t think I have Dr. Manhattan’s nude form to worry about. And they both come with drink containers, like those old tin lunchboxes I used way back in elementary school.

Honestly, I’m leaning more toward the Rorschach lunchbox.

My basic point, since I’m really off on mental tangents here, is this — there’s Watchmen merch! Okay, okay, it’s not in stores yet, but I’ve seen it in catalogs, and some of it looks cool.

And I wonder if its mere existence dismays the famously prickly Alan Moore to no end. 🙂

Buy Watchmen merch, and somewhere an angel gets throttled by Alan Moore!

Yeah, that’s a pretty good reason, I think. 😆

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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