New Releases 7/1/14

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Hardcovers

A1 Presents: The Weirding Willows Vol.1 by Dave Elliott and Barnaby Bagenda

After years of studying under scientists like Charles Darwin and reading the essays of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, Doctor Philippe Moreau moved to the country to continue his experiments in artificially advancing evolution.

His wife left him, and took with her their daughter, Alice.
All her life, all Alice has known the Weir across from the Wild Woods.

Aged 9, Alice wandered into the Wild Woods and made her first startling discovery. A portal to another world. A world called Wonderland.

Now aged 18, Alice has found three more portals in the Woods, with rumors amongst the intelligent animals that inhabit the Weir of many more.

Along with a team comprised of Badger, Mole, Ratty, Toad, Frankenstein's Monster, Mowgli, Benjamin Bunny, Peter Rabbit and the White Rabbit, Alice now guards these gateways from those who would exploit them - or those who would invade our world through them!

All Those Vanished Engines by Paul Park

In All Those Vanished Engines, Paul Park returns to science fiction after a decade spent on the impressive four-volume A Princess of Roumania fantasy, with an extraordinary, intense, compressed SF novel in three parts, each set in its own alternate-history universe. The sections are all rooted in Virginia and the Battle of the Crater, and are also grounded in the real history of the Park family, from differing points of view. They are all gorgeously imaginative and carefully constructed, and reverberate richly with one another.

The first section is set in the aftermath of the Civil War, in a world in which the Queen of the North has negotiated a two-nation settlement. The second, taking place in northwestern Massachusetts, investigates a secret project during World War II, in a time somewhat like the present. The third is set in the near-future United States, with aliens from history.

The cumulative effect is awesome. There hasn’t been a three part novel this ambitious in science fiction since Gene Wolfe’s classic The Fifth Head of Cerberus.

William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher

Hot on the heels of the New York Times best seller William Shakespeare’s Star Wars comes the next two installments of the original trilogy: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back and William Shakespeare’s The Jed Doth Return. Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!

Paperbacks

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair by Len Wein, Jae Lee and John Higgins

A New York Times Best Seller!

Discover what happened before WATCHMEN. The team of legendary writer Len Wein and acclaimed artist Jae Lee--in his first DC Comics' work in nearly a decade--delve into the mind of the smartest man in the world: Ozymandias. How does one go from the son of immigrant parents to becoming the world's smartest man? Adrian Veidt begins his journey, both spiritual and physical, that will one day make him one of the most pivotal players in the world-changing events of WATCHMEN.

Collects BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS #1-6, "Curse of the Crimson Corsair."

Gilded Lily by Delphine Dryden

HIDDEN IDENTITIES, SCANDALOUS SECRETS…
DEADLY ATTRACTION.

Frederique Murcheson’s introduction into society hasn’t gone smoothly—some would even call it a disaster. Only Freddie considers her debut a success. Her scheme to become a makesmith has gone off flawlessly. The only thing that could upset her plans now would be if someone discovered that brilliant tinker Fred Merchant is, in fact, a lady in disguise.

Wooing a spoiled heiress is not exactly Barnabas Smith-Grenville’s idea of high espionage. However, considering his brother disappeared on the job, supposedly into the most iniquitous of opium dens, he cannot expect much better. At least the assignment will afford him time to search for his brother, whom he suspects is in spy-related trouble rather than a drug-addled haze.

But when Freddie proves to be both irresistible and the key to the answers he seeks, Barnabas finds himself not only entwined in a scandalous mystery involving lethal submersibles and deranged dirigibles, but also in a dangerous game of the heart…

The War of the Grail by Geoffrey Wilson

The third volume in this enthralling alternative-history series takes the English rebels led by Jack Casey to a head-on clash with the occupying Indian forces who have conquered Britain in the 1860s

In Land of Hope and Glory Geoffrey Wilson imagined a world in which an Indian empire rules Europe through the power of magic. Here, Jack Casey—an old soldier who never meant to be a hero—became England's only hope. Now it is 1856, King John is dead, and the war that Jack has dreaded since the start of the English rebellion has finally begun. Regiments of Rajthanan troops are massing to the south of free Shropshire while to the north, refugees bring stories of attacks by the devil himself. Both friends and enemies fear that unless Jack can find the elusive Holy Grail, there is no hope. A strange set of maps that Jack discovered in Scotland could hold the key to England's freedom. Kanvar, the rebels' enigmatic Sikh ally, believes the charts will unlock the secrets of the Rajthanans' magic and perhaps guide Jack to the Grail itself. But can Jack harness the power of the Grail before the conqueror's overwhelming forces destroy the dream of a free England forever?

E-books

"The Color of Paradox" by A.M. Dellamonica

"The Color of Paradox", by A.M. Dellamonica, is a science fiction story about one of a series of time travelers sent back to the past in order to buy more time for the human race, which in the future is on the verge of extinction.

The Gutbucket Quest by Piers Anthony and Ron Leming

Slim’s a Texas bluesman of a certain age, down on his luck and just about broke—but hey, that’s what the blues are all about. He loves his music: “Not the popular blues, homogenized, synthesized, and zombilized; but the real down-home gut-bucket blues.” Then one day the music loves him back. In a single hot burst of lightning that comes straight up out of the ground, Slim finds himself in Tejas. It’s a little bit magic and a whole lot different, but the blues are the same.

And the blues—manifest here in the form of a maple-necked, pearl-gray Fender Stratocaster with blue-chrome pickups, aka the Gutbucket—need him and need him bad. The Strat’s fallen into the hands of T-Bone Pickens and his Vipers, who want to suck up all its power and turn it to evil. Slim’s off and running on the Gutbucket Quest, with the help of his new mentor, rhythm guitarist Progress T. Hornsby, and a purely unstoppable blues singer named Nadine.

To fans, authors and publishers...

Is your story going to be published in time for the next New Releases? Contact us at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.  We are looking for works of alternate history, counterfactual history, steampunk, historical fantasy, time travel or anything that warps history beyond our understanding.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Best of 2013

Another year of exploring the multiverse has come to an end. Its time once again to recap what we learned this year and pick out the best alternate history of the year.

Just a reminder, there really is nothing scientific about my selections. The works we honor could have been published this year or decades ago. I only honor subjects we covered this year. Some are picked using my own subjective opinion, while others are based on the most page views received. So without further ado (I'm on a budget so I was only able to buy a little ado this year) I bring you the BEST OF 2013!

Best Book

Out of all the books we reviewed this year, I felt the best reviewed book on The Update had to be Dominion by CJ Sansom, reviewed by Alison Morton. This alternate WWII book which features a Britain that made peace with Germany in 1940, won this year's Sidewise Award and was described by Alison as being "an exciting, but moving account of people who become heroic but remain very human."

Best Anthology

We didn't review many anthologies this year, but my vote has to go to Alt Hist 5 edited by Mark Lord. Although there were a couple stories you could skip, it was still another good entry for the only alternate history periodical on the Internet. Please continue to support original alternate history by either buying a copy or sending your own submission.

Best Short Story

I was split on this decision, so the honor for this year's short story goes to "43*" by Jeff Greenfield and "Adrift on the Sea of Rains" by Ian Sales. "43*" gets a shout out for the dubious distinction of being reviewed not once, but twice, on this blog. "Adrift", meanwhile, in my humble opinion should have won the Sidewise short form award. Go check this out.

Best Comic

The honor for this distinction has to go to Before Watchmen, which was reviewed in its entirety through a series of posts by longtime contributor Sean Korsgaard. Check out Sean's introduction to his reviews and read all of his opinions on the prequel to Watchmen using this tag.

Best Film

Although it might be debatable whether this is actually alternate history, Django Unchained gets the nod for best film this year. This revenge fantasy set in the Old South caused quite a bit a controversy, but it was rather entertaining movie. I certainly recommend it.

Best Television Series

I was surprised by how much traffic this review brought in this year so I could think of nothing better than Samurai 7 to pick as the best television series. Reviewed by Sean Korsgaard, who called it the "best anime I've ever seen" is a steampunk-retelling of Seven Samurai. So if you would like to see some steampunk not set in Victorian England, this is a good pick for you.

Best Map

Daniel Bensen submitted a lot of great maps to The Update, but his American Nation-States has to be the best:

Read the article to find out how the map was made.

Best Article

With so many alternate histories about whether the Nazis won World War II or whether the Confederacy won the American Civil War, it is refreshing to see a truly original what if like Ben Ronning's Alternate History and Superheroes. In this article Ben describes the comic industry's experimentation with counterfactuals over the years. Go and check it out now!

Best Interview

This was a difficult category to pick a winner, but if I had to pick the single most interesting person I interviewed this year it was podcaster Jordan Harbour. Host of Twilight Histories and the upcoming Battles of Rome podcast, Jordan has continued to produce great content and is a true fan of our favorite genre. More importantly, he is an interesting guy who has led a full life. Learn more by reading my interview and checking out his podcasts.

Best Contributor

This year's best contributor goes to...everyone who submitted a guest post to The Update in 2013. Yeah, maybe this is a cop out, but this year has been full of excellent guest posts. From contest entries, to author promotions and fan posts, I couldn't have provided such great contest all by myself. Thank you to everyone who submitted this year. I look forward to seeing more work from you, and hopefully new faces as well, in 2014.

Well that's it for year 2013. See you all next year when on January 6th, The Update returns to a full schedule.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Before Watchmen Finale: Conclusion

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

With the Before Watchmen series concluded, and the previously announced epilogue cancelled, now comes the time we ask ourselves the ever important question: how does Before Watchmen measure up, to both its rightly revered predecessor, and on its own?

A number of the series actually hold up pretty well regarding both questions – the four I’d single out as the successful titles would be Ozymandias, Minutemen, Silk Spectre and Dollar Bill. All shed light on corners of the Watchmen universe we’d barely seen details of before, and did so with compelling stories that, given time, can and should be considered a part of the greater Watchmen universe, creating a greater application for both themselves and Watchmen.

Conversely, most of the other titles were midrange at best, or in the case of Comedian or Nite Owl, completely terrible, and somewhat justified the fears that the Before Watchmen lines would be rushed cash-ins. I doubt even the worst of their number (Nite Owl, in case you were wondering) will besmirch the Watchmen name, as I don’t expect them to stick around in the popular consciousness long enough for them to have an effect on it. Which, given some of the titles, may be for the best.

So needless to say, the results have proven something of a mixed bag, and especially after all the behind the scenes drama, compared to the highly promoted beginnings, Before Watchmen ended on a real whimper. Sales were midrange, reviews have been all over the place, and a lot of comic fans don’t know what to think. So when considering the possible impact and legacy of Before Watchmen, there are two questions one needs to consider – does it measure up to Watchmen, and does it stand up on its own.

Does it measure up to Watchmen? Of course not, and there was very little chance of that happening, which is part of the reason there hasn't been any follow-up with Watchmen until now. Ignoring it’s critical laurels and sales numbers, Watchmen is so beloved in part at least because at the time, it was unlike anything else people had ever seen from a comic book – it was dark, thoughtful, contemplative, and deconstructed many of the familiar comic book tropes and went against what many people expected a comic book should be. It changed the way people looked at, read, and made comic books, even close to three decades after Watchmen’s original publication.

That last bit may be the most important to consider with the Before Watchmen titles – in the decades since Watchmen was published, comics with themes or pathos, or considered dark and mature, or that play against type have become the norm – there is a reason why the post-Watchmen age of comic books is known as the Dark Age of Comics after all. When Watchmen came out, there was nothing else like it on the market – since then, we've seen Batman get his spine shattered, Superman die and return to life, Spiderman sell his soul to the devil, the Marvel universe fight a Civil War, and the DC Universe reboot itself entirely with the New 52. We've also seen the comic book industry experience all-time low sales, all while their contents flood the cinemas. Watchmen has the impact it did because it was so different and as such, changed comics forever. Any follow-up could not do the same because comics like Watchmen are now no longer the exception, they’re the gold standard.

Which brings us to the next question – how do the Before Watchmen titles stand on their own? Mixed results aside, at least the four I mentioned before are great, and I’d wager they’ll be looked back on as classics in their own right in the future, albeit classics not as great as Watchmen. Even the other lines, though disappointing or lackluster, are arguably among the better titles on the comic racks currently, with few exceptions.

One only wonders if DC Comics had taken more time to plan these titles, and avoided the behind the scenes drama, how the entire line may have come out. Alas, now we’re dealing with alternate history.

Overall, even given the poor entries, I’d say Before Watchmen can claim some successes to be proud of, and has a few titles that are well worth your time and attention. Give them a chance and a glance, and maybe a few will surprise you.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Curse of the Crimson Corsair by Len Wein and John Higgins

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

In the Watchmen universe, comics don’t star superheroes, not when you've got costumed vigilantes patrolling the streets. No, instead, they star spacemen, heroes, and other pulp trends, the most recent one being pirates – one such pirate comic, Tales of the Black Freighter, made passing appearances throughout Watchmen, and to pay homage to that, another such pirate title was tacked on to a number of the Before Watchmen issues, a tale of the Curse of the Crimson Corsair. So is it worth your pieces of eight?

Sailor Gordon McClachlan has had a rough time on his first voyage – driven to mutiny by a captain fond of keelhauling his sailors, and only saved from the noose by a Spanish warship that sank his own, he lies adrift for days before being rescued by the one ship no sailor ever hopes to see – the Flying Dutchmen, captained by the Crimson Corsair. The Captain makes clear the cost of his rescue is a steep one – his soul and a lifetime of service aboard the Dutchmen – and the cost of winning back his soul and freedom may be even steeper. What horrors must McClachlan face to win them back? What horrors must he commit? By tales end, he may not have much of a soul left to win back…

The art style is fantastic, helped along by writing that matches the pulpy pirate tale being told. It reads like an old adventure serial, one that leaves you longing for each installment.

If there is one complaint to be had, it’s that this title seems to have been one such victim of the behind the scenes drama at DC Comics concerning the Before Watchmen titles – it cuts off far earlier than it was planned, resulting in a rushed ending that seeks to provide some closure. It’s a real shame given this was up until that point one of the highlights of Before Watchmen.

So in the end, is it worth a look? Absolutely – even if it doesn't sound like your kind of thing, it’s free to read on DC Comic’s website. Go take a look, see for yourself – it makes a fine barometer for Before Watchmen as a whole, with this being a middle of the road offering from the entire line.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Dollar Bill by Len Wein

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

This was a one-issue comic focused on Dollar Bill, the bank-sponsored vigilante most famous in both Watchmen and the Minutemen title for being a well-meaning do-gooder who was rewarded for his efforts with execution by firing squad when shot by bank robbers after his marketing-team mandated cape got caught in a door. I know that, given its nature as a tacked-on obvious last minute cash grab revolving around a hero whose greatest legacy may be a running gag in The Incredibles, you may be skeptical that this may be even worth looking at. I know I did, especially after Moloch. So I’m pleased to say that this was a very pleasant surprise.

Dollar Bill, or William Benjamin Brady as he’s known out of costume, was a Nebraskan All-American collegiate sportsman whom, following a career-ending injury, struggles to find a new purpose. Luckily for Brady, he lands a role as the mascot superhero of National Bank, treating him as a marketing ploy, as do the Minutemen, who take him on board for the publicity it will bring them. Yet it is here, once again in uniform, again before cheering fans, and fueled by adrenaline and renewed purpose, he takes to the role of Dollar Bill with enthusiasm and surprising sincerity – right up until a revolving door saw him on the wrong end of a Chicago typewriter.

The final result is a tale you never thought you needed to know until you read it. The title takes advantage of the fact that we don’t know much about Dollar Bill aside from his time in the Minutemen and his untimely death, and uses it to develop and humanize a character that so many of us wrote off as a joke. The tale of a Dollar Bill suddenly changes from a bank mascot doomed by his marketing team, to that of Bill Brady, a well-meaning and likeable guy who found his second wind in costume, and despite some struggles, gave everything he did his all, and it cost him is life. It cast an entirely new light on the character, allowing you to fully grasp the tragedy of his passing, to the point you may never look at the Dollar Bill the same way again.

Written by Len Wein, who also wrote Ozymandias and The Curse of the Crimson Corsair, Dollar Bill reminds us why he may well be the unsung hero of Before Watchmen, and topped off with a fantastic neo-Golden Age art style by Steve Rude, Dollar Bill managed to do in one issue with what was before a gag character what some of the other titles struggled to do in four to six with the main cast – tell an interesting story that casts new light on the Watchmen universe and its inhabitants, and enhances both in doing so. A pleasant surprise that comes highly recommended.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Moloch by J. Michael Straczynski

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

Moloch is the first of the two additional miniseries’ that were added to the lineup months later to make more money/fill the production gaps depending on who you ask. This two issue series focuses on the villain Moloch the Mystic, as he first descends into the life of a crook, rises as one of the first ‘supervillains’, until in jail, he finds religion – and on parole, as Ozymandias offers him a long-awaited chance at repentance.

The first issue is decent enough, and it was interesting to see just how a villain comes to be in the world of Watchmen. The title really collapses in the second issue, mostly due to the title’s portrayal of Ozymandias, as well as blurring the line somewhat on its own plot line and that of the original Watchmen. The art in both is fantastic, with Eduardo Risso sort of giving the title a darker take on the retro look in Minutemen and Dollar Bill and my only real complain is Moloch looks like Nosferatu.

Overall, it’s a title that, though decent for the first issue, the second issue ultimately ensures that the series falters, ending up as a title worth a quick browse, but not much else.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Doctor Manhattan by J. Michael Straczynski

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

The sole superhuman of the Watchmen universe comes in the form of Doctor Manhattan, whose powers have both elevated him to essentially God-hood, and gradually sees him become isolated from humankind, and one of the big plots of Watchmen was the culmination of his isolation coming in the form of his voluntary exile to Mars. His struggles to retain his humanity, or to deal with threats beyond human comprehension could form the crux of a fascinating character study – and this miniseries deals with that wonderfully.

The story of the series follows Doctor Manhattan as he struggles with his latest perspective of the universe – one where every choice made branches off into a new universe, a multiverse if you will. He sees the outcomes of every action, every possible action, those of himself, those of others, and just how many of these actions add to nothing as these worlds are swallowed in calamity beyond their control. He explores them, analyzes them, and tries to gleam information that may prevent the same in his own current branch of the multiverse time steam – information that may eventually set the event of Watchmen in motion.

Certainly a great deal headier than most of the other Before Watchmen titles, to the point it may warrant being read again to make sure you didn't miss anything, but ultimately it’s also looking into just for some of the places it dared to tread. The way the series gives a detailed exploration of the multiverse theory is one of the best I've seen on paper, and for fans of science fiction of alternate history, it alone is worth looking at the title.

Of course, that headiness does backfire in regards to the fact that it doesn't really tell a compelling story, or add much to the character or narrative of Doctor Manhattan or Watchmen, not bad, and certainly worth a look, but overall, it just missed being truly great.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Rorschach by Brian Azzarello

Guest by Sean Korsgaard.

Of all the characters introduced by Watchmen, perhaps the breakway character from both the original series and the film adaptation was the inkblot-masked nihilist Rorshach. Gruff-voiced and notable for his objectivist worldview and moral absolutism, he was the one masked vigilante to both refuse to cease fighting crime following the Keene Act as well as to refuse to stay silent in Ozymandias’ role in the attack on New York, refusing to compromise his principles, even if it cost him his life. Between his brutal war on crime, his brooding quotes and his refusal to compromise what he sees as right, he’s arguably the closest thing Watchmen had to a protagonist, and is inarguably one of the highlights of the work.

So needless to say, the Before Watchmen title following Rorschach had a high standard to strive for, especially since he’s one of the relatively few members of the original Watchmen series to have his backstory explored, having been an orphan driven to become a vigilante following the Kitty Genovese incident, one driven to further and further brutalities by the cruelties of the criminal element. So it’s both somewhat expected, and very disappointing that the title does very little to develop the character further, and by and large is bland to the point of needlessness.

The story follows Rorschach as he both targets the latest underworld Kingpin in New York, the Bard, and becomes a target of the same psychopathic kingpin himself. All the while, his alter ego, Walter Kovacs, makes small talk and comes close to forming a relationship with a woman at a diner he frequents.

The story certainly had potential, and you can see it on page from the various intertwining subplots of the series. You could have explored the idea that Rorschach’s increasingly brutal war on crime is one reason why the criminals are becoming increasingly brutal, and the villain known as the Bard plays with this somewhat. You could have seen Rorschach, well-known for his laser-like focus on warring on societies criminal underbelly, tempted to give it up for a normal life with the girl from the dinner. The problem is, these and some of the other ideas you see throughout the story are both presented half-baked and half-finished, ultimately resulting in a story that fails to touch on much of anything, and adds and changes nothing to the ultimately bland plot, especially given the rushed and abrupt ending forced on the comic.

I will say on the plus side, the grim artwork is fantastic and on occasion a joy to look at, and there are a few notable momentary shout-outs in the series – the most notable being when a wounded Rorschach hitches a ride in a taxi and shares a moment with the sympathetic cab driver, whom is revealed to be Travis Bickle.

Ultimately, little touches like that don’t change the ultimate truth about the title, that were it not for Rorschach’s name at the top, this feels like it could have been a comic about anyone – there’s nothing that really ties it to either the Watchmen universe or Rorschach’s character, and it does nothing to develop either of them. Worse, is that, while not terrible per say, there’s very little in the title to give you a reason to read it anyway – the plot is fairly middle of the road at best, and at worst, is often boring.

While not the worst of the Before Watchmen titles, it is on the lower end, and there is nothing really for me to recommend for you to do much other than pass over it. It plays it too safe and presents little reason on its own to even warrant a look.

Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon. I just wish someone had told Brian Azzarello.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Nite Owl by J. Michael Straczynski

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

This was, in many ways, the kind of output people feared Before Watchmen as a whole would resemble. The story is at once, uninteresting, often repulsing, and barely tied to the Watchmen universe at all – worse, is it thinks that some swipes at religion and some sex and violence will make up for this.

As mentioned before, at least initially, the title followed Dan Dreiberg as he first takes up the mantle of Nite Owl, this quickly is set aside in favor of a caper where Nite Owl II and Rorschach hunt after a ripper who is killing prostitutes, a caper which is also set aside in favor of Dreiberg enjoying a tyst with a dominatrix masked vigilante called the Twilight Lady and Rorschach enjoys a brief affair with religion. It is then wrapped up and forcibly tied to a passing line from the original Watchmen, is if it felt the need to remind us we could be reading that instead.

Where do I even begin with what’s wrong with the writing? The story, in addition to being rather dull, is all over the place, and feels that controversy will make up for the lack of a true story. What sorts of controversy you ask? For starters, as much shoehorned nudity and sex as possible, especially regarding the frustratingly showcased relationship between Nite Owl II and the Twilight Lady – I’m no prude, but it was painful to read and look at, to say nothing of being in extremely poor tastes. Then we have a cheap swipe at organized religion that would make Richard Dawkins head to confession, in the form of a priest who is killing prostitutes under the ‘will of God’ – I literally had to force myself to keep reading at this point. Then you have the fact it uses child abuse, mentioned and shown in passing, in a failed effort at character development, and you start to get the idea of just how bad the title is.

The art, starts off well enough, until the death of Joe Kubert saw that the title was delayed and that the art would be done by his son Andy Kubert. Not that there is a serious decline, but you can tell the moment they swapped artists, and it further distracts in a title that can ill-afford more distractions.

The Nite Owl title offers the all-around worst of the worst in Before Watchmen – writing over reliant on shock and controversy that just comes across as a sort of lazy fanfiction, a story that not only is uninteresting and unenjoyable, but at times uncomfortable to read, and art that for the most part meanders on mediocre. To call it a lazy cash-in would be generous – this strikes me like a story taken from the worst offerings of the 1990s dark age of comics with a new title slapped onto it, and the end result completely dishonors the memory of both Nite Owl and Watchmen. The only reason you should even consider picking up this title is to see it destroyed – aside from that, stay as far away as possible.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Ozymandias by Len Wein

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

With the possible exception of the Minutemen series, the smartest man in the world is the one who benefits most from his Before Watchmen title, with the original Watchmen antagonist given a treatment that ends up perhaps the best title that ends up perhaps the best in the Before Watchmen line.

The story follows Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, throughout his youth and coming of age, where he first begins to hone his brilliant mind and come to terms with his dreams of changing the world, and his rise as a billionaire businessman and innovator by day, and masked vigilante by night. Perhaps most important of all, we see him as he sets the seeds of his plans for world peace in motion, and with it, the events of Watchmen, and more than ever, get a glimpse into his thoughts and reasons for doing so, once again reminding us why the line over whether Ozymandias is a hero or villain all the more blurry.

Told in a brilliantly written first-person narrative by Len Wein, more than any other title, the writing sounds like it is from the voice of the title character, and is told in a way you may well believe it came from the thoughts of the world’s smartest man, as he wrestles with isolation, his plans and goals, and fleshes out the character brilliantly. Better still, is the art by Jae Lee, which thanks to its neo-classical look and almost whispy and fantastical look, is maybe the best looking title of the Before Watchmen line.

I said before that this is the best of the Before Watchmen titles, and I meant it. Though there were other good titles, and even a few that manages to meet the high standards set by Watchmen, Ozymandias alone left me wanting more, wishing that this was a regular series, and may be the only one that stands as a masterwork even without being tied to Watchmen. It comes with my highest recommendations, is undeniably a must read, one that practically begs you to look on this work, ye Mighty, and despair…

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: The Comedian by Brian Azzarello

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

Right off to bat, this will be the title that divides people the most, both for some of the directions – or lack thereof – that the story takes, as well as some of the chooses made regarding the character and the narrative.

The story is somewhat episodic, following some of the Comedian’s behind the scenes missions he performs for the Kennedy family, to whom he is close to several members, as well as some of his black-ops missions he performs in Vietnam, most infamously the Mai Lai Massacre, sparked by the Comedian on a drug-fueled rampage. All the while, he tries to discover who killed JFK – as it wasn't him in this series – and prevent a similar attempt on RFK.

Many of the more faithful readers of Watchmen can tell right off to bat just where this series may start to be divisive, seeing as it was previously canon that the Comedian was the man on the grassy knoll who killed President Kennedy, whereas here, he’s Kennedy’s loyal friend and bodyguard. Combined with some of the other things portrayed in the comic, this will spark no shortage of firestorms from Watchmen fans for years to come.

For good reason ultimately – it might not have been so bad if it had been presented better, but the series has an episodic nature that seemingly jumps all over the place, with some issues barely related to the issue prior. Under a competent writer, with solid direction, some of the, we’ll say artistic liberties, taken with the character might have been more forgivable. As it stands however, all it does is take an already confusing narrative, make it even more confusing, and then add insult to injury by barely connecting at all with the established nature or history of the character the miniseries is supposed to follow.

So here, we have the first real dud of Before Watchmen, largely for the fact it is an incoherent narrative that treats its subject matter’s character and canon as  – pardon my pun – nothing but a bad joke. Skip over this one entirely.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

As mentioned before, the Silk Spectre is the most overlooked character in Watchmen, kind of just glanced over, and the Before Watchmen title sought to provide some much needed back-story and motive to her character. I’m pleased to say, the series succeeds in doing so marvelously on several levels.

The story centers on Laurie Jupiter, daughter of the original Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter, who chafes under her mother’s forcible attempts to train her daughter to take up the mantle in the family trade of a masked vigilante. Needless to say, Laurie, rebellious as all teenagers tend to be, wants to set her own path, and runs off with her boyfriend to San Francisco, where after getting entangled in both the rising counterculture scene and the local drug kingpins that capitalize on it, Laurie may soon discover that she is more her mother’s child than she expected, and that she may take on the mantle as the Silk Spectre for her own sake, and no ones else’s.

Largely thanks to some fantastic writing, the story serves as a sharply written coming of age story for Laurie Jupiter, as she struggles to both live up to and avoid the expectations of her mother, while discovering just what and who she wants to be. It’s a far more personal tale than any other Before Watchmen title, and one which fills out her character in ways that truly help you to gain a greater understanding of both Laurie and the Silk Spectre.

Ironically enough, the title also provides the best look at the Comedian in Before Watchmen, where in a few pages, we see both his twisted monstrous self, and alternatively, a glimmer of a soft-paternal side of Eddie Blake when encountering some of his daughter’s work, and we even see where he gets his now-familiar smiley face button. In literally a handful of pages it did more to develop the Comedian than six issues of his own series had, and is worth checking out the title for this alone.

Of course, it’s worth checking out the Silk Spectre title for more than just that – the series develops on of Watchmen’s most brushed over characters, exploring Laurie’s backstory as she both comes to terms with her domineering mother, struggles to achieve some independence as a person, and takes up the mantle of the Silk Spectre out of her own desire, not her mothers. When combined with a dozen little moments, good writing and the wide-variety of art styles that make up the series – one which arguably is the most faithful to the original style of Watchmen - you have yet another must-read.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Minutemen by Darwyn Cooke

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

As mentioned before, a prequel covering the initial supergroup whose foundation set off all of the events of the Watchmen universe had been in talks for years, and had the opportunity to tell the tales of characters like Captain Metropolis and the original Nite Owl, as well as casting light on a corner of the canon Watchmen universe only given snippets of details in passing.

The title focuses on Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, getting ready to write Under the Hood, as he remembers his time as a masked vigilante, his various adventures with the Minutemen, and the rise and fall of both the group and its various members. We get to see some of the capers the group went on, some of the behind the scenes drama that faced the members of the team, and we watch as the world of masked vigilantes shifts from that of Nite Owl and Dollar Bill to one of Doctor Manhattan and Rorschach.

Let me start by saying that the story is fantastic – told from the perspective of Hollis Mason as he both begins writing Under The Hood and remembers the events of his time with the Minutemen and its various members via flashbacks, we get a look back at the group through events large and small up through the so called ‘Golden Age’ of the masked vigilantes. It certainly benefits from the fact Watchmen said so little about this group of heroes, yet the title wastes no time giving each of them personalities, back stories and identities that perfectly fit in with both the original spirit of Watchmen, and the sort of mental pictures I’m sure some of us had formed of the various superheroes from the team.

This is made all the better by the fantastic artwork that in many ways, showcases the very best kind of artwork the Golden Age of Comics had to offer. Darwyn Cooke, who did both the writing and the art, has earned a name for himself on new retro titles like The Spirit and The Rocketeer, and he brings that same infusion of Golden Age spirit to a title that manages to deconstruct that eras comics as much as it pays homage to them – all the while connecting it to the greater Watchmen universe, and fleshing out its most overlooked chapters.

This series grabbed me from the first issue, and save for Ozymandias, is the best of the Before Watchmen titles. It fleshes out the Minutemen and the greater universe of Watchmen, tells interesting stories while fleshing out a cast whose rise and fall we bear witness to, and is a joy to read and look at. A top notch title, and comes with my firmest recommendations – for those who loved the original Watchmen, Minutemen will very easily find a place next to it on your shelf.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Before Watchmen Finale: Introduction

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

Hello again my dear readers. It’s been a while since we've talked about Before Watchmen hasn't it? I do apologize for the delays – and I will get into that in a moment – but for now, let’s reflect on that, several months ago, with much attention and controversy, DC Comics announced and began to release a number of prequel mini-series to the revered and influential comic and alternate history milestone series, the Watchmen, under the self-explanatory umbrella title Before Watchmen.

I managed to take a look at the first few issues of these various miniseries as well, and though mixed in quality, I was looking forward to the next few, and sharing my opinions with you. Alas, it was apparently around the time of my last review that there began the first of a long-stringed series of behind the scenes issues at DC Comics concerning the various Watchmen lines. This ranged from the death of artist Joe Kubert, who worked on the Nite Owl miniseries, causing delays with that line, the additions of two more miniseries, based on Moloch and Dollar Bill respectively, along with the apparent cancellation of the epilogue comic, which only further threw off the release schedule, which in turn led to the Crimson Corsair comic-within-the-comic ending prematurely, all topped off with behind the scenes feuds, several creative shakeups and yet further release delays. In summary and in short, behind the scenes at least, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, and often times this meant that issues came out weeks, if not months after they should have.

While I can’t say whether or not this effected the comics’ quality at all, it certainly didn't help the already shaky publicity and reception, and one has to wonder that given better circumstances, some of these may have been better or turned out differently. Before Watchmen, now finished, has received deservedly mixed reviews – some of the miniseries are fantastic, some decent, some questionable, some bad. Thankfully, with the possible exception of one of them, none do any real damage to the Watchmen name, some complement it nicely, and a couple may someday be looked back as true and positive additions to the overall world of Watchmen.

So now that the end is nigh for Before Watchmen, join me as I take a look back over each miniseries, discuss the strong point’s and weaknesses of each title, how they hold up on their own and when compared to Watchmen, and perhaps most importantly to each of you, if they are worth your time and money as the trades come out this summer. So join me, my dear readers, in one final look back at Before Watchmen!

[Editor's Note: Check back every Friday for two articles, one in the morning and the other in afternoon, on Before Watchmen.]

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Review: Before Watchmen

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

The early titles of the Before Watchmen series have been coming out for almost two months now, and I’m sure I can guess the questions on everyone’s minds: is it as bad as we’d feared? Is it worth a look, or even pretty good? Do we dare hope it even measure up to Watchmen? While it may be too early to tell that last one, I do have some brief summaries of the issues and titles currently out, as well as which ones I feel are worth a look. Read on!

Minutemen #1 and #2

A Watchmen prequel following the adventures of the Minutemen has been talked about for decades, and was even briefly considered being done by Watchmen-creator Alan Moore, so it should come as little surprise that such a title focused on such has been included in the Before Watchmen series.

Following the original group of masked vigilantes that sparked the POD of the Watchmen universe, the first two issues of the title introduce us to each member and the origins of the team by means of a flashback from Hollis Mason (aka, Nite Owl I and author of Under the Hood). It fleshes out the origins and personas of each character, while also dropping hints at the fates that eventually befalls each of them. To top it all off, the title boasts very crisp artwork that immediately hearkens back to the Golden Age of comics, while with its nine panel format, follows the format that served Watchmen so well.

Two issues in, I can easily say it’s the best title in the Before Watchmen line so far, both in terms of story and art, and more than any of the others, feels like a Watchmen title. If you can only pick up one title of the set, this is the one you want to buy, and I am fairly certain that it will only continue to be more so as the rest of the Minutemen issues come out.

Silk Spectre #1 and #2

Of all the main cast of Watchmen, the Silk Spectre is the one we really know very little about, which leaves plenty of room for her Before Watchmen title to explore. At least so far, I’d say the title has done so marvelously.

The story briefly looks at Laurie Juspeczyk’s childhood, as her mother Sally Jupiter tells her some cold truths about life, before fast forwarding to her teenage years. Here her life is dominated by both her desire to be a normal teen and her mother constantly training and pushing her to follow in her footsteps. She, like so many other children of the sixties, runs off to find herself and gets caught up in a caper in San Francisco that may just prove she is her mother’s child.

The story so far is much more intimate and personal than any of the other titles, providing the basics of a coming of age story while also showing how Laurie begins to accept her succession to the Silk Spectre mantle. It helps that it the line is coupled with some truly stunning artwork, one filled with little nods to Watchmen, such as opening to Laurie dropping the snow globe after hearing her parents arguing. Though it stumbles a bit in the second issue, the first issue hit the nail on the head enough that I expect good things from future issues – I hope I’m right.

The Comedian #1

You’d never think that a character killed in the first chapter of Watchmen would leave as much of a mark as the Comedian, and yet the psychotic anti-hero casts a shadow on all the events that follow. In the process, The Comedian became one of the most legendary anti-heroes in comics, so needless to say, his Before Watchmen title has some big shoes to fill.

The story opens with a friendly game of football between President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and Eddie Blake, aka the Comedian, amidst flashbacks of him killing Marilyn Monroe by command of Jackie. It seems the Comedian is an old war buddy of JFK, and one of his most trusted men when it comes to dirty work. One such bit of dirty work happens to be taking down a drug ring operated by Moloch the Mystic – a bit of dirty work assigned to him the same day JFK gets shot in Dallas. Something stinks, and The Comedian is right in the thick of it.

Of all the titles in Before Watchmen so far, this is going to be the one that sparks the most debates. From the get go, there will be people who will hate it because it’s an unofficial part of Watchmen lore that the Comedian short JFK. Others will hate it because seeing the Comedian playing football with the Kennedys is a far cry from the blood-drunk rapist anti-hero Watchmen immortalized. I can see where they’re coming from… but the story is told so well that I can’t bring myself to criticize it, not yet at least. I do think the Comedian exploring the Watchmen-verse Kennedy assassination has the makings of a great story, and while I’m cautious, there is enough here that I will give it a couple more issues to see where it goes with the story.

Nite Owl #1

Of all of the original Watchmen characters, the Nite Owl serves as the most accessible character, acting as an everyman of sorts for the reader to relate to. While good from a narrative standpoint, for a prospective prequel about Nite Owl II, it poses a problem as it gives the most free reign and the most room to go off track, and as a result, we get the first title of the Before Watchmen series to go off the rails.

The story opens with a young Nite Owl-obsessed Dan Dreiberg, as he uncovers the secret identity of his predecessor Hollis Mason, then trains with him as his replacement, and then an immediate team-up with Rorschach on his first night on the job. Along the way, we see his abusive childhood and his first encounters with his Watchmen teammates, including first sparks with Silk Spectre II.

More so than any other title, Nite Owl was a major letdown. Discounting the artwork, which was great, there really is nothing special about the comic itself to tell you it is a Watchmen title aside from the characters. Of course, even if it weren’t a Before Watchmen title, it would still be below average. The back story given for Nite Owl II never really reels you in, is so generic and impersonal it could be any heroes back story, and at the same time feels very rushed. While we’re only one issue in, this is the kind of handiwork I’m sure a lot of people feared when they announced Before Watchmen. My fingers are crossed that changes with issue two, because if not, this will be the first title of the series to have failed to justify its existence.

Ozymandias #1

Smartest man in the world and the central antagonist of the original Watchmen series, the title that follows Ozymandias had perhaps the most potential as a character study, as aside from Silk Spectre II, Ozy is the character we really know the least about, in terms of both who he is and what motivates him. If Ozymandias #1 is an indication, it may very well cast some light on him while telling a great story in the process.

The opening issue opens to Adrian Veidt, aka, Ozymandias, recording his life story prior to him commencing his plan to prevent nuclear Armageddon that we saw unleashed in Watchmen. He recounts his birth and origins, his struggles with both his intellect and his identity, and how a journey through Asia in the footsteps of his namesake and idol, Alexander the Great, would change both him and his vision to change the world forever.

Thanks in part to the fantastic neo-classical art style, as well as the masterful first-person narrative style which so perfectly nails Veidt’s own voice, the entire story has an epic feel to it, and more than any other title, captures the very essence of the character the title follows. Along with Minutemen, it is the only title that truly captures the same tone and feel of Watchmen, as well as casting a light in some truly fascinating areas for us to look at. With issue one ending just as Adrian decides to become a vigilante, I can’t wait to see where the title will go next.

Curse of the Crimson Corsair – parts 1-7

As a number of you might remember, in the Watchmen universe, because costumed vigilantes are a fact of life, comic books don’t focus on superheroes, instead featuring a variety of stories about soldiers, cowboys, spacemen, and even pirates. One such pirate title, Tales of the Black Freighter, showcased as a comic within a comic in Watchmen, told a story about a man adrift and alone on the open sea, with events happening in the comic usually foreshadowing events going on in Watchmen. To pay homage to this, each of the Before Watchmen comics features two pages of another pirate story, The Curse of the Crimson Corsair.

The story focuses on young idealist sailor Gordon McClachlan, whom after witnessing a crew member keelhauled for a minor offense, and feeling his captain unjust, leads a failed mutiny, and is only saved from the noose by his ship getting sunk by a Spanish frigate. After surviving adrift for days, he is rescued by a passing ship – a ship, known as The Flying Dutchman.

While I’m not a fan of how they limited this story to two pages per issue, I have to admit, it’s good enough I look forward to the next installment as much as I do the next issue itself. The story of Gordon’s misadventures at sea is enrapturing, and the art style of the story is fantastic and fits the tone perfectly. I’ve always enjoyed comics that go beyond the superheroes that most follow, and the salty pirate tale her does quite nicely. While your mileage may vary, and some would be fast to dismiss it as filler, I think it holds its own against any of the other titles. Can’t wait to see how Master McClaclan fares aboard the Dutchman!

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So how do the early titles of Before Watchmen hold up to the hype, let alone their inspiration? Pretty well actually, the stories told are enjoyable so far, the art is fantastic all around, and with the possible exception of Nite Owl, so far, Before Watchman is some of the best stuff on the comic rack. Perhaps most importantly, once again, excluding Nite Owl, all of it feels like it deserves the Watchmen pedigree, each title fits the character it focuses on perfectly, and little shoutouts to the original Watchmen abound the better titles.

Is it as good as Watchmen? I think it’s too early to tell, but it’s certainly proved it’s more than a quick cash grab, and has earned my continued attention. Does it deserve yours? So far, I’d heartily recommend Minutemen and Ozymandias, and give a cautious endorsement to both Silk Spectre and Comedian, but if any of those titles sounds like you might enjoy it, I certainly recommend you give it a chance. So far, I’d say Before Watchmen has earned that chance.

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Preview: Before Watchmen

Guest post by Sean Korsgaard.

Few names in either comic books or alternate history carry as much reverence as Watchmen. The tale of a world on the brink of nuclear Armageddon, a world where masked vigilantes have existed since the 1930s, Vietnam is a US state and President Richard Nixon was just sworn in for his fifth term has been a magnum opus of both mediums since its publication back in 1986, for the striking artwork of Dave Gibbons, the dark and compelling story by Alan Moore, and for a dozen different details and nuances which have made the series a classic. Few works of any genre or medium can claim to have had the impact or legacy of Watchmen.

So it should come as little surprise given its golden reception (and revenue) that publisher DC comics had been trying to do a prequel/sequel almost literally since the original got off the presses, with ideas ranging from Rorschach’s Journal to the Comedian’s War Diary, to one following the Minutemen, with the one thing holding up such projects being Moore and Gibbons refusal to return to Watchmen. Even that would only keep DC at bay for so long from trying to hatch a few more gold eggs, and after months of rumors and speculation, last February, DC Comics announced they were launching a number of prequel miniseries:

•Before Watchmen: Minutemen (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
•Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre (4 issues) – Writers: Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner. Artist: Amanda Conner
•Before Watchmen: Comedian (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J. G. Jones
•Before Watchmen: Nite Owl (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
•Before Watchmen: Rorschach (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
•Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
•Before Watchmen: Ozymandias (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
•Before Watchmen: Epilogue (One-Shot) - Writers: Various. Artists: Various

To say the least, the move has attracted a great deal of controversy and attention, with most people either furious that DC would have the gall to add on to what is widely hailed as the greatest comic book of all time, or cautiously optimistic at the possibility of further enhancing it. I myself am one of the latter, with DC’s New 52 having rekindled my childhood interest in comics somewhat, and for your reading pleasure, I shall be handing Weekly Update’s look at the return to one of alternate history’s most acclaimed and beloved works. I will be giving issue-by-issue reviews, looks back at the original Watchmen comics and movie, discussing the impact of the original, and of course, letting you know if Before Watchmen is worth looking into every step of the way.

Who watches the (Before) Watchmen? For now, I do, and I’ll let you know if you should too!

[Editor's Note: Sean has posted a review of the issues he has read.]

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Soldier, scholar, writer and web-voyeur, Sean CW Korsgaard has been active in the alternate history community since 2006, and was recently elected to succeed Mitro as President of the Alternate History Online Facebook group. In addition to his contributions at the Alternate History Weekly Update, he writes for several websites, including his own, which can be found here.

Weekly Update #50

Editor's Note

Wow.  This is my 50th Weekly Update, an impressive milestone.  It would be even more impressive if I did not screw up the numbering system early on.  Originally my plan was to have one news post a week, hence the name.  Not content to allow days to pass without updating the blog, I posted more than one news post during the week.  Instead of adding a ".1" or ".2", I just titled it by the next number.  So no, I have not been doing this for 50 weeks.  I could go back and renumber all of my earlier posts, but that seems like a hassle and there are more important things to do.

I started a poll to see the level of interest there was in an AH Con.  Judging by early voters, location is important to potential attendees.  So I have created a new poll focusing on what nation(s) you would like the AH Con to located in.  I chose the top ten nations based on the readers of the blog, so my apologies to the fans in Iran and Gabon, you guys are not there yet in numbers.  Disclaimer: there are no concrete plans by myself or anyone else involving an AH Con.  This is simply a hypothetical scenario I am running to gauge interest.  While I would love to promote/attend an AH Con, I have neither the time nor money to organize and finance one.  Still, a guy can dream...

I am going to be extremely busy this week with my real life.  Expect a New Releases post and a review for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, but I cannot promise you anything else for the time being.  Please have patience with me and I promise by next week things will return to normal.

And now the news...

Submissions Wanted

If you can write alternate history, don't just spend your time contributing to AH.com or the Wiki.  There are publishers out there who are looking for new writers.  Here are a few:

World Weaver Press (a publisher of fantasy, science fiction and nonfiction) will be open for unsolicited submissions on May 1st.  They are looking for both fiction and nonfiction.  They also will be publishing anthologies for works under 30,000 words, but there are currently no anthologies in the works.

The Geek Partnership Society is holding their 14th annual writing contest.  They are looking for original, unpublished works of science fiction that are 5000 words or less.  Deadline is May 15th.

May December Publications, a publisher of horror and speculative fiction, has several open calls for anthologies involving general horror, spiders and zombies.  They also are accepting query letters for full length novels.  They request, however, that you do not send your completed novel until they request a copy.

All three of the above publishers will likely accept an alternate history tale as long as it meets their other requirements.  In the meantime, if you would like to participate in the publishing industry besides being an author, then you are in luck.  Alt Hist is looking for volunteers to help out with publication.  Contact Mark Lord at althist.editor@gmail.com if you are interested.

Before Watchmen News

I am not excited about the upcoming prequel to Alan Moore's excellent piece of alternate history, Watchmen. I would not be living up to the mission of Weekly Update, however, if I did not try and report the updates I find about Before Watchmen.  So with that being said, here are some relevant links to check out:

• Writer Brian Azzarello discusses his work on the Comedian and Rorschach.
• Artist Darwyn Cooke discusses his work on the Minutemen.
• DC is also running an in-universe website known as "New Frontier" after the right-wing/conspiracy theory journal featured in the original comic.

I still do not know whether I will end up reading these comics after all. I really enjoyed the original (and the movie was not bad either), but prequels to classic works rarely work out. If anyone wants to review the Before Watchmen project, please feel free to contact me.

Aether & Iron: A Time Traveller's Day Out

Steampunk fans in New Zealand may be interested in attending the 2nd annual "Aether & Iron: A Time Traveller's Day Out" on Saturday April 28 at the MOTAT in Auckland.  The show promises unique workshops and opportunities to come in costumes for fans of steampunk.  There will also be prizes and other Victorian themed activities for those attending.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Could North Korea Have Struck It Rich? by Stephan Haggard at Foreign Policy.

Interviews

George Guidall: The voice of a thousand characters by J. Michael Call at Standard-Examiner.

Maggie Stiefvater at her journal.

Books

Books by Sam White at All The time In The World.

How are Charlie Chaplin and World War I different in a world of vampires? by Charlie Jane Anders at io9.

Irenicon by Aidan Harte REVIEW done by Jon Courtenay Grimwood at SFX.

Review of 1636: The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett done by Publishers Weekly.

Online Alternate History

1636 The Kremlin Games – Snippet 23 by Eric Flint

Heart of Bronze by Michael Rigg.

The Old Man of the Sea of Dreams at A Space About Books About Space.

Films

The Raven clip reads along by CB Droege at TG Daily.

Video Games

Bat-To-Ball: Out Of The Park Baseball 13 by Adam Smith at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Multiplayer Co-op Trailer by William Usher at Gaming Blend.

RPGs

Servants of Gaius RPG Review done by Megan Robertson at Flames Rising.

Media

25 Team-Ups in History That Would Have Changed Everything at Cracked.com.

Frontier Taggers and Other Alternate History Animated Gifs by Jeremy at Jeremyriad.

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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update. When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.