What Watchmen Means To Me, Pt. 3

After the publication of the original 12 issue run of the Watchmen comic book series in 1987, I took stock of my life in comics. I decided that since I had such a rich background in the four-color medium, I would do something very dramatic and drastic. After all, I had witnessed the birth of the Silver Age in the late 1950's, when I was 9 I had gotten into a fight with another little kid over an issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, I had in my possession an autographed picture of Stan Lee and I had read every single issue of Watchmen as they were being published. So, I did what any self-repecting comic book geek would do.

I became a comic book retailer.

Indeed, Watchmen pushed me toward becoming a comic shop owner. I knew that Watchmen was high art and went a long way toward giving comics the literary cred that I knew they deserved. Unfortunately, most of the rest of America still thought comics were just for kids. I was out to prove those folks wrong and support my friends, the comic book fans.

I started by selling comics at comic book shows and eventually got to the point where I could open a store. I owned and operated Dave's Comics & Collectibles in Garrettsville, Ohio for 5 years, from 1992 to 1997. I eventually closed the store and went back to school, but those 5 years were fabulous, and I learned a lot about entrepreneurship, marketing, computers and the comics industry. Most of all, I got to introduce people to the comic book medium and Watchmen and other great comic book series.

During this time, Watchmen was flush in its life as a graphic novel, a book, but it was no closer to becoming a film.

Tomorrow: Watchmen influences collection development and comic book scripts.