The Comics Professor

Watchmen officially gets a prequel--seven of them, in fact

Hardly a secret at this point but finally officially confirmed, DC Comics unpeels its plan for seven prequel miniseries to Watchmen, the 25-year-old classic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Creators for the new series include Darwyn Cooke, J. Michael Straczynski, Amanda Conner, Andy and Joe Kubert, and Len Wein.

Get the complete details from the LA Times' Hero Complex or USA Today.

Guess I should get working on a sequel prequel to this, then. (Does Before Watchmen and Philosophy sound good?)

New chapters on Captain America and Thor exclusive to free "Superheroes" Kindle book

Wiley just released their free Kindle book, Superheroes: The Best of Philosophy and Pop Culture, featuring one chapter from each of the superhero-themed books in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, including the forthcoming titles on Superman and the Avengers, as well as two new and exclusive chapters, written by yours truly, on Captain America and Thor.

Here are the contents:

PART ONE: Superheroes Exclusives

1: Lord Odin Have Mercy: Justice and Punishment in Asgard—Mark D. White

2: Captain America and the Virtue of Modesty—Mark D. White

PART TWO: DC Superheroes

3: Is Superman an American Icon?—Andrew Terjesen (from Superman and Philosophy—edited by Mark D. White)

4: The Blackest Night for Aristotle’s Account of Emotions—Jason Southworth (from Green Lantern and Philosophy— edited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White)

5: Why Doesn’t Batman Kill the Joker? —Mark D. White (from Batman and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp)

6: Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor—Jacob M. Held (from Watchmen and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White)

PART THREE: Marvel Superheroes

7: Forgivers Assemble! —Daniel P. Malloy (from Avengers and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White)

8: Does Peter Parker Have a Good Life? —Neil Mussett (from Spider-Man and Philosophy, edited by Jonathan J. Sanford)

9: The Stark Madness of Technology—George A. Dunn (from Iron Man and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White)

10: Amnesia, Personal Identity, and the Many Lives of Wolverine—Jason Southworth (from X-Men and Philosophy, edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski)

New blog: Law and the Multiverse

Courtesy of Brian Cronin of Comics Should Be Good, here's a new blog about superheroes and the law: Law and the Multiverse.

Some of my favorite posts: Is Batman a state actor?, Federalism and the Keene Act (from Watchmen), and Resurrection Redux: Crimes, Punishment, and Debt.